Chapter 20: A Walk in the Woods
Nick groaned silently as the trail took yet another sharp turn in on itself, still climbing up to that stupid ridge line which simply refused to finally do him a favor and show up. It wasn't that the gradual climb was getting to him – Bogo's fitness requirements for all beat cops meant that even now, at about half an hour into the hike, he hardly felt winded at all, despite it all being uphill. But he meant every word that he told Judy about being a city fox, and the endless trees and bushes that blocked off any interesting views were starting to get on his nerves.
But helping him pass the time, ironically enough, he was busy telling the others the story of the one other time that he had been inside a forest. Or a forest park within Zootopia, close enough. And not that Wolford or Trigger could correct him about that, those two were off in front having their own rather heated discussion about something else completely.
"...and while we were able to quite convincingly convince them that we knew about the lumber, getting a hold of a large supply of it was a whole different problem," Nick was explaining, "which, among other issues, also required yet another government issued license. And, yes, naturally Finn and I both applied for, and waited, for them to arrive before we started the trade. We sold the wood, we received the funds, and after all was said and done..." Nick frowned at the memory. "ironically enough, with all of our effort on avoiding actually breaking any laws, we ended up basically being too on the level. The returns were too low. Wasn't worth the effort, especially the extra hours we put in to see how to cut corners, which get this: I read last year that one of the main suppliers got fined heavily for breaking a few of the more troublesome import laws." He flashed a pleased grin at both Judy and Fangmeyer. "Guess who hadn't done that! Only yours truly! Should have been there, Stripes!"
Judy wasn't the only one to roll her eyes, although with her it was more of a mild disappointment at herself. She had asked everyone to go by their first names for today, because as she explained it, "it would be too weird. We're out on a pleasant walk, not work." While the others agreed to the request, well, Trigger was still Trigger, but that was expected. But Nick… was also simply being Nick. He was never capable of using anyone's name, first or last, anywhere it seemed.
Dahlia let out a huff as Nick cited yet another set of laws, and how he and Finnick were able to work around them, if only barley. "Nick, if you were so clever and active at avoiding breaking the law, why work so hard to look like you broke it all the time?" While her tone was even slightly hostile with the disapproval towards his previous 'career' choices, there was no mistaking that she was also taking pleasure at listening to his story.
Nick winked at her as he shrugged. "Well, among other things, I never did quite report my earnings properly, as Carrots found out. But even then it was more of a appeal to the customer base than anything. I thought back then, that if a fox can only make money by catering to crooks, then they have to think of you as one." He grinned sheepishly as Judy threw him a dirty look. "Hey, I changed now, you know that! Speaking of crooks though, kinda ironic, when you think about it: That the legal timber importers are willing to break the laws when the low-life hustler won't. But yeah, that was why Finnick and I had to make a trip to Hoofdale park. Not the most exciting place, and the lesson I learned there was: When time is money, the last place you want to be is where people go to slow down." He shrugged and motioned with his paws at all the trees around them, tapping on the trunk of one they walked past just for good measure. "Can't say my feelings have changed much about such places since then."
"I'm just glad that it didn't take a lot to convince you to switch occupations," Judy muttered in response to his story. "It's at times like this that I start to fear that you enjoyed hustling too much to let it go for good." Dahlia nodded in agreement to her sentiment.
Nick reached out and ruffled her ears, quickly avoiding a counter-swipe from her paws. "Nah, don't worry about that, Carrots, there's no way I'm going back," he reassured her. "The crowd of mammals you call friends as a hustler is not the type I am at a loss to have, well, lost. Well, except for Finnick, he's an exception, which is why I still talk to him. But... Not like you guys. Not even close." The beaming of approval from both of them was more than enough for the unusual moment of vulnerability from him. He was even more than willing to let this moment slide if he had been paying a bit more attention to where he was going, instead rounding a sharp corner in the trail, and almost walking right into Trigger and Wolford, waiting for them. "What?" he asked gruffly, coming to halt just in time to avoid plowing into them in an embarrassing manner.
Trigger was grinning. "Watch where you're walking, or did you trample all over that group of chipmunks we hiked past?" he warned, before jerking his head to the side. "So, tell me the view ain't worth it!"
For Trigger's information, Nick did notice the group, and did allow them space to pass, he wasn't that dense. With a sigh, he turned his head to look at the view, suppressing the expression on his face to show that yes, he was in fact impressed. The hill the trail was on dipped steeply away from the turn, forcing a parting of the dense trees around them. From this gap, almost like a window, a rather spectacular view of the surrounding forests, farms, and smooth rolling hills going as far as the eye could see contrasted sharply with the woodlands immediately to the sides. Instead, forcing his smug grin back on instead, aided by his large mirrored glasses, Nick turned back to the coyote. "Nope, not worth it. I still don't like you bringing me here," he replied smugly. "The climb's terrible and so is the view."
Trigger's grin faded sharply, ears dropping as his muzzle distorted into a frown. "Fine, be as you may, but I think you're just in denial." He turned his back to Nick, resuming the walk, but also allowing the fox the opportunity to pull his phone out to snap a few quick pictures in secret.
Judy grinned as she spotted the device in his paws. No matter how much her partner would snark and complain about anything that wasn't relaxing or other forms of lazying about, she knew that underneath his jaded mask, there was still that young tod underneath there somewhere that would be amazed by the world around him.
But unfortunately, before she could make her own snappy comment about his rather lame attempt at hiding his photography, a sudden and rather loud yelp from Trigger's direction instantly tore her attention away from Nick.
The pilot was hunched over, furiously rubbing at a spot on his leg and cursing underneath his breath. Next to him, James was having a hard time keeping upright, too busy laughing at the sight.
While the other officers around her excluding him stared in confusion at the sight, Judy was able to spot the problem right away. "Wait, Trigger, did you really just walk into that patch of Urtica dioica?" she asked, pointing to a large bush of wide, fuzzy leaves.
Letting go of his leg, Trigger sighed in frustration, as well as quite a bit of confusion. "I guess? Don't know what they're called, but it was from walking into that bush over there... I always thought they were simply called nettles," he complained. "Completely forgot that they grow here. Should have remembered that they do that considering how many there are." For good effect, before Judy could stop him, he smacked one of the large leaves next to him with an open paw. "Oh, sure and it doesn't sting now, or the fifty times I walked right through one of these in the past hour. Only when I barely brush past it does it decide to sting." He rubbed his shin again before standing back up fully. "Good thing they don't hurt that much." Even as James next to him started to chuckle again, he was able to also see the humor in the situation if the grin he gave to the wolf was any indication.
"Hey, Carrots," Nick started to point out, now that he knew what to look for, and more specifically, what to watch out for. "Whatever these plants are, may I perhaps bring to your attention to the fact that they are literally everywhere!"
Judy grinned back at him. "Why are you sounding like you want to blame me for it? I didn't bring you here." She jerked her head at Trigger's direction. "You want to complain about the plant life here, talk to him. But I- Dahlia, don't!"
Fangmeyer was poking one of the leaves with a curious expression, looking disappointed when nothing happened. "Just a fuzzy leaf, nothing to worry about," she commented, rubbing her fingers on the peculiar surface. Only to suddenly jerk her paw back with a hiss of pain at a sting of her own. "Okay, I see what the issue is." It did in fact not hurt too much, but still quite surprising from such an innocent looking plant. And like Nick just complained about them, they really were everywhere. Hearing more chuckling coming from Wolford, it was her turn to frown as she crossed her arms. "Yeah, go ahead and laugh it up, James. I don't need to be reminded about curiosity and cats." She paused for just a moment, before quickly turning towards Nick. "And you too! No, especially from you!"
Nick grinned widely as he winked down to Judy. "Hey, you mentioned it, Stripes, not me. But since you did bring it up, how -"
"No, Nick! Shut up now or I'll toss you into the bush myself! You too, James."
"Easy now! Just saying."
"Just don't walk into them like I did," Trigger muttered gruffly, but now watching the scene his an amused smirk of his own. "But especially don't go rubbing your pawn all over it on purpose. Wither way, worst case is you get a small sting, nothing serious. Anyways, let's get going, or we'll be late getting back."
And just like they, they were off again, the pilot again in the lead, though now all five of them in one large conversation that more involved swapping silly stories of others being stupid because of boredom. Even if military or police, there was no denying that long periods of doing nothing often lead to unpleasant results to the bored party, and hilarious results to everyone else. And from there, the story swapping somehow morphed into talking about little traditions in the ZPD, or in Trigger's case, the OADF.
"-Yeah, we like to say that you aren't a real cop at Precinct One until you get your tail completely chewed out at by the chief for being assigned a task that you botch up through no fault of your own," Dahlia was explaining, much more for Trigger's benefit since the other officers had already heard the story at least once before. "Usually it's because you are sent to a call only to find out that you are the completely wrong species or the wrong size, and just by showing up you made things worse. Like in my case, when I was called in to a domestic dispute about half a year into my time under Bogo." She shuddered at the memory. "Go figure that it just had to be Chitals. And when they saw that a tiger showed up, uh, they flipped. Not only were they not the nicest of people around, if I may add my personal opinion, but I'm sure they also had certain views about species superiority that I can't agree with. And that made work rather more difficult. But, long story short, just because I was in the closest squad car at the time, a simple domestic dispute turned into a rather… unforgettable hostage situation."
"Oh, yeah, I remember you telling me about that," James said with a smirk. "Way better of a story than my being forced to run into Little Rodentia, but I don't mind not being you with this case." With his own story already known by everyone else, including Trigger, he didn't bother to elaborate on it any further.
She shook her head to clear it. "Bogo knew that it wasn't my fault, but because I was still rather new, but I may or may have not said some things to those jerks that only escalated the scene, which is what I got chewed out at. But when Francine showed up, they acted towards her completely differently." She glanced over her shoulder to Trigger, whom she didn't remember slipping back in the group, but there he was, walking behind her. "So what's your story? When does a pilot become, for the lack of a better word, a real pilot?"
Trigger gave a shy grin. "There is what you can call a rite of passage for us pilots. Especially combat pilots, but really anything that can pull G's. But getting your wings is one thing, but to really be a pilot? Ever heard of the G-fracture?"
While the others shook their heads, it was James who winced and nodded. "Ooh, yeah I know about it. One of my pack cousin's a crew chief in our air force, remember how I told you about Kyle when we were out on patrol? Anyways, he knows a couple of pilots, and they told him about it."
Shaking his tail about to draw attention to it, Trigger continued. "We're always taught to make sure that our tails are kept where they are out of the way of anything important, as well as to keep them safe in case of any sudden, violent maneuvers." He started to run a paw through the fur on his tail, searching for something. "So you know how, uh… yeah, like how much it hurts when Judy steps on your tail?"
Nick chuckled while Judy frowned at the example being used. "Sure do, but go on." He poked her on the shoulder for good measure, dodging the resultant shove from her.
"Now imagine what will happen when she weighs close to ten times as much," Trigger said dryly, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Such as, as an example, you are pulling a nine-G turn, and you failed to notice that your tail is right in between the rest of your body and the hard metal edge of your seat." He held up the tip of his tail, even if there wasn't anything unusual to see. "Healed up quick, but still hurt like you wouldn't believe at the moment. Actually, I'm pretty sure tail injuries are the most common issue with flying short of motion sickness."
He continued to walk for several moments with a slight goofy grin on his muzzle, away in thoughts. It was only after he let out a bark of laughter that he started to talk again in order to explain what caused his reaction. "When we were still flying our trainers, there was a cougar, Screecher, who earned his call sign like that. We were practicing maneuvers, but because there were several of us, we had to radio in before making a move. So he radios in 'Leo Six beginning turn', uh-" Trigger glanced at the others very quickly. "Just our assigned call signs for the day, no meaning behind them. Anyways, his maneuver was, to put it very politely, crap. The instructors were immediately on him for completely failing it, and it wasn't for a good half minute until he was given the opportunity to actually respond."
Starting to chuckle again, he actually had to take a few moment to get himself to talk again. "And when he did, oh, you all should have been there," Trigger suddenly raised the pitch of his voice as much as he could. "'Leo Six reporting that I'm in pain!'" he screeched loudly, barely able to finish as he joined in with the other's laughter. Again needing to take some time to calm down, he finished his story with a simple "And from that day forwards, we all knew him as Screecher. Can't say that my adventure with getting a broken tail was quite as interesting, but that's how the tradition goes. You ain't a pilot 'till you earned it with blood, or snapped bones, as it may."
"So what does that make Count?" James asked with a grin. "Don't think he can even break his tail. I don't know. Judy?"
Judy smirked back. "Nope, don't need to worry about breaking it," she replied smugly. Then to Trigger, she then asked. "But like he said, what about Count?"
Trigger smirked back. "Guess Count's not a pilot," he answered. "Just don't tell him that I told you that." His grin slowly fading away, he did add after a bit of hesitation that "to be honest, I'm not sure what the tradition is for species that don't have tails short enough not to worry about it is, you'll need to ask him about it."
And like that, it was the end of that conversation.
The group walked on, chatting away here and there, when Nick had to point out glaringly wrong about where they were going. Specifically, when they crossed a paved road towards a dusty parking lot with a couple of cars. "Hey, Strikes, you really sure we're headed the right way?"
"Sure are," Trigger reassured him without even glancing back. "I remember this place like it was yesterday."
Even tough Judy was certain that he was more than familiar with wherever they were based on all the time he spent staring at the map of the area, she was also certain that he was not referring to a computer screen with his answer.
"Well, it's just that I want to point out, again, that if I were to turn around from where we are going," Nick whined, "I can actually see the coast. And it's rather far away, I might add. And here we are, going away from it. And why didn't we just drive up here in the first place, rather than march up here like idiots?"
Judy glanced over her partner, worried that the attitude was a sign that her partner wasn't feeling well.
Trigger stopped suddenly, this time earning himself a growl of complaint as Dahlia had to avoid bumping into him. "Well, I mean we could have driven here, but then we would have had to finish the day with what we just climbed up," he explained slowly, uncertainty creeping into his voice. "Just that I didn't think that you would have wanted to end with the most boring part."
Noticing that everyone's eyes were on him, Nick brushed them off with a flick of his paw. "Eh, don't matter much to me, just felt like complaining." Then to Judy's glare, he added, "what? A fox doesn't have a right to complain?"
She rolled her eyes back at him. "If you didn't complain all the time about everything, Nick, I would have started to seriously worry that you weren't feeling well. You sure that you're feeling all right? Maybe this was too much after all, and-"
"Don't worry about me, Carrots, I'm fine," Nick hurried to explain, cutting her off. "Call it being bored, that's all. And seriously, Strikes, when are we actually going to head to, you know, as you said, the coast?"
Trigger pointed at yet another hill looming on the horizon. "That's the top. Then it's a straight shot downhill until we hit water, and there will be no more climbing after that. All flat," he explained. "At the rate we're walking, it will take us less than half an hour." Then with a sigh, he said, "but if you want, I think I remember there being a shortcut down that bypasses that peak. If not, there's that trail right there that goes downhill. Either way, if you don't want to go up, we don't have to… But it does mean missing out on the best view in the park, and I really want to not have to skip it myself." He lowered his ears and tilted his head in the direction of the hill. "Come on, Nick. What do you say?"
Nick glared at their destination. Hadn't they been climbing up to the top for the past two hours, even longer? Since when did that thing sneak up on them? But when he glanced over at the pilot, he couldn't help but burst into laughter. "Strikes, you can cut it out with trying to look cute, I'm partnered with a bunny. Doesn't work on me."
"Hey!" Judy protested. He knows better than to call her that!
"But I admit, you have sparked my interest." Nick completely ignored her as he started to walk again, even having the audacity to wave at the others to keep up and not fall behind. "We will go to the top, and it better be worth it, otherwise I might just call Finnick."
Trigger frowned, not that Nick was able to see. "And what is he going to do?"
Nick smirked, turning his head to make sure that Trigger did see. "Oh nothing much, just bite 'yer face off."
"Ooh, the challenge is on!" James exclaimed. "I'll make sure to have a camera rolling!"
As Trigger's retort devolved into yet another long argument between the three canidaes, Judy allowed herself on settling into a conversation with Dahlia to help pass the time. And as much as she hated to admit it, she even found herself agreeing with Nick that the view better be worth it, for when they started to climb this last hill proper, she quickly found the experience to be rather miserable. It was hot, dusty, and too many spiky plants and shrubs were all too eager to jab at her, with her soft gray shirt barely doing anything to block the branches. In short, it was the worst of farming back home, minus the benefit of growing food, with the added displeasure of having to hike uphill. She bottled water in her backpack was also starting to settle into an uncomfortably warm temperature, so drinking also offered less respite from the heat than she had hoped for. To add to the experience, they all had to squeeze to the side when a pair of deer came barreling down the opposite direction on mountain bikes, barely slowing down as they sped past.
So it was to her surprise that she found her feet suddenly cross from the uneven trail to the sun-baked surface of a road. And not just crossing a road like before, but walking right on along it. The slope was even leveling out, and it really did look like they finally reached the top. As though to prove her hopes, a soft but cool coastal breeze ruffled the tops of her ears, instantly helping remove the heat.
"We're here!" Trigger announced, confirming all doubt. "What time is it?"
Dahlia had her phone out first. "Noon, almost exactly."
"Great! There should be a bench just up ahead. Will make a great place to grab some lunch." But instead of continuing on, he stopped suddenly again, staring at a fenced off pair of sheds. "Oh, so that's what they are..."
James was reading the sign posted next to the gate leading to the sheds. "Wow, they're threatening jail time if we break in. Wait, Mammal Aviation Authority? What's the MAA's jurisdiction here?" He glanced over at Trigger. "You're the pilot here, you explain."
Trigger was grinning. "Sure, this is a VOR beacon," he said, "it's a guidance point, aircraft can use equipment to lock onto it. Predates GPS, and is kept around as a backup as well as for the many aircraft still flying around without satellite navigation." His grin widened in realization. "It's… actually ironic, but last time I was here, I didn't know what it was. Just some sort of storage bin or something. Now I'm here, more than a decade later, and I know exactly what this is. And I even know how to use it!" A paw went for the back of his neck, scratching at the fur. "I mean, maybe by the end of today, I might even stop feeling like I'm in a dream. It's like… like I know everything, because I have been here many times before, but at the same time… it's like my first time again." He gave the others a sheepish grin. "If you don't mind my mindless rambling."
Nick also grinned as he grabbed onto Trigger's shoulders, peeling him away from the sheds. "That's great, but since we're finally at the top, what about the view?" he asked, patting his pocket. "I'd hate to have to make a phone call."
Another trail broke away from the road, waving next to the fence line of the beacon. Wearing a smirk much like Nick's, Trigger turned onto it while still keeping his head looking through the fence inside. "This is the view," he countered, "see? There are the transmitters!" He pointed towards a stack of white metallic devices forming a large circle inside a clearing just past the fence. "But okay, sure, the view is coming up." Just a moment later, and, "Yes, the bench is still here!"
Sure enough, there was a bench on the side of the trail, facing away from the fence and towards the vista offered by the top of the hill. And especially when Judy hopped on top of the bench to get a better view, she had to admit it: yes, the view was worth it. To the right of them, the smooth rolling hills and farmlands from before ventured even further away into the hazy horizon, the view now completely unobstructed as even the few trees around were below the immediate horizon. To the right, the forest descended quickly to a smooth coastline, the water beyond reflecting the noon sunlight. To the front of them, the coast and rolling hills met together in a picturesque elegant curve.
Judy couldn't help but break into her own grin. Yes, the view was worth it. Even the top views in Zootopia didn't compare to this. This time, she almost had to remind herself to take her phone out to take pictures, busy as she was with just taking in the sights.
Evidently though, not everyone in the group had their minds set on sight seeing. James and Dahlia found a wooden picnic table a short distance away from the bench, and used to to settle their backpacks down, grabbing the food stored inside them. Nick joined them right away, letting out an exaggerated groan as he let his weight settle off his legs.
"Come on, everyone, gather closer!" Judy called out, motioning to Trigger to join the group forming by the table. He shrugged looking very unsure, but did as she asked, sitting down on the top of the table next to the others.
James meanwhile tilted his head at Judy, before reaching into his rather stuffed backpack. "You can put your phone away, Hopps, it has a terrible camera anyways!"
Judy huffed both at him reverting to her last name as though they were on patrol, as well as insulting her phone. The camera on it was more than capable of doing the job! But as much as her pride demanded that they use her device, she did feel a pang of jealousy when James pulled out a rather impressive looking camera from his backpack. That thing alone had to be worth at least as much as her phone, without wasting cost on being able to do all of the things that phones can do over dedicated cameras. "Okay, you win, we'll use yours," she relented when he jogged over to her and set his device up instead. She headed to the table, and hopped up to the top where Nick patted down at a space next to him.
With a few button presses on the back of his camera, James raised a paw to signal that he was ready, and with one final additional press, rushed back to them and took his own spot in the group before the timer went off. Ignoring Trigger's protests, he reached out and grabbed him by the shoulders, pulling in the pilot closer. "Don't be shy, pup! It's only a picture! Shame we won't be able to share them around once I'll be done processing them, though."
In the end, they took several pictures. Some were silly, but the most were the five of them just sitting on top of the table, Nick propping Judy up on his legs, and Trigger still within James' grasp with Dahlia, being the largest, forming the back of the group. All five of them were grinning, letting the scenery in the back do all the talking for them in the pictures. Once they took enough, they slid off the top of the table so that they can actually use it to dig into their lunches.
Feeling the gentle breeze flow past her ears, Judy had to admit that this was much better compared to trying to seek relief from the heat of a parked cruiser on the side of the road in the form of a boxed salad. That, and Nick actually seemed hungry enough not to be talking for once. As much as she enjoyed their banter, a bit of peace and quiet was a welcome break compared to the usual. Speaking of Nick...
"Still not sure if the climb was worth it, Strikes," he relented in between bites of a sandwich, "but it's not all that bad, I'll give you that." Judy felt certain that it was Nick, in his usual sarcastic way, admitting that he in fact was also enjoying being up here.
It was around this time that James, having wolfed down his lunch, pulled out a set of binoculars from his backpack and was now looking through them. "Hey, I can see an island in the distance," he announced, "almost invisible in the haze."
Trigger looked up from his protein bar to the coast. "Yeah, there's some islands in that direction. You'll see them better when we'll be down by the beach. Just some rocks as far as I'm aware, nothing special."
Dahlia pulled her phone out and searched for it, needing a good several minutes to find what she was looking for. "Oh, they even have an article on them on Wikipawdia," she informed the others, "let's see what it says." Letting the article load, she started to read from it. "'The Sharktooths is a small chain of islands off the coast just north of Zootopia, and are a popular resting grounds for many migratory bird species. The islands as a whole have been declared a wildlife sanctuary, and the only mammal presence on the islands is a small research outpost where biologists can…" she continued to read on, skipping the more boring parts. "-Oh no," she stopped reading when she got to a lower section, showing the phone to the other cops. The part that she didn't read out loud was short, but impactful: The islands' territory technically belonged to the city of Zootopia, and as a consequence, ZPD officers who needed strong disciplinary action, but not enough to be fired, were on occasion known to be sent to the islands 'to walk a beat on the Sharktooths'. Due to the tightly controlled population of biologists on the only inhabited island, combined with the very small surface area, meant that it was the unanimously agreed on worst assignment by all officers who suffered the misfortune of being assigned to them.
Judy read over the article and groaned, burying her face into her paws while Nick and James started to chuckle when they read what was going on.
Only Trigger was left clueless, sitting a bit too far from Dahlia to see the phone well. "What?" he asked. Fangmeyer leaved over and allowed him to take the phone, which he then took a few moments to read over. "Oh, I see…" he looked over at the others, staring blankly at each of them until something finally clicked in his mind and he started to loudly laugh, pointing at them and struggling not to fall off the table. "You-you're all cops!" he struggled to say as all four of the others glared at him. "An-and with the ZPD! That's too much!" He was literally swaying in circles from laughter, several times nearly falling off the table. His laughing was cut off suddenly, the collar around his neck going off with an angry warning buzz.
Judy froze, eyes wide with worry.
"Damn it…" He tugged at the collar, trying to free up the fur underneath.
"Serves you right," James muttered as Trigger grimaced and rubbed at the spot. Judy just about punched him hard for that comment right then and there. But despite his words, it was clear from his empathetic tone that it was clear that he was also thinking the same thing as the other cops: no one should have to suffer the indignity of being punished for allowing themselves to laugh at a stupid joke. Which was the only thing that saved him from losing a couple of teeth for his remark.
With an annoyed grunt, Trigger hid the collar back beneath his shirt. "Someone ought to take a look at it to see if it's broken. Besides, you've got to admit that it was really funny," he then said, a grin returning to his muzzle. "I genuinely didn't know that. And, uh, yeah, don't think it's a good idea to ask Bogo about it though. He might just send you there if you do." He leaned over and gently punched Wolford in the shoulder. "Come on, it's funny!"
James grinned back. "Guess you're right, pup," he relented, returning the gesture, almost throwing the pilot off the table, "but don't look at me like that. If anything, it's Officer Hopps who's most likely to be sent to those rocks. Her, or Wilde. Or both of them, with their antics and what not." With a sly grin, he pumped fists with Nick, who unlike Judy, didn't mind the accusation.
Judy herself relaxed a little, despite them joking at her expense, it meant that Trigger wasn't effected by the collar much. Never the less, the mood was ruined, and Trigger at least went back to eating what remained of his lunch, letting the others mind their own business.
Finding that there was now room to do so, Nick was more than happy to stretch himself out along the top of the table, making a show of closing his eyes and letting his tongue slide out of the corner of his mouth. This left Judy polishing off her plastic container before sliding it back into her backpack. Looking up, she noticed that Trigger was still holding onto one of his bars, staring at it with a frown on his muzzle. "Um, Trigger, you okay? You're staring rather intensely."
He blinked, giving out an embarrassed chuckle upon realizing that several pairs of eyes were now on him. "Oh, it's uh, nothing really. Just thinking…"
"...About?" Judy offered, hoping that she wasn't making a mistake by urging him on.
"We really should get going, still got a while to go." Trigger slid off the table, ignoring Judy's question.
"Trigger-"
"It's nothing, really! Nick, get up, unless you prefer to spend the rest of your life stuck here." He poked the fox on the muzzle, earning a groan of complaint from the officer. "I was just thinking about this morning, about what might happen if the Urusians succeed in creating a nighthowler bomb."
Judy stopped in her tracks. While she couldn't say that she felt surprised that the subject came up again, she did wonder why here and now of all times it cropped up again. But as Trigger did start to actually explain what he was thinking, she found out very quickly that he wasn't worried about it.
"-and even if it does work, all it will be is another terror weapon," he was explaining as they made their way down, tone completely casual. "Urusia has nukes, as do we, and doesn't even pretend not to have them, and doesn't use them. Same with chemical weapons. The last thing Urusia needs is the rest of the world to invade them because they decided to use a nuke. What will make a nighthowler bomb any different?"
"That's great and all," James mumbled, "but you're forgetting that the reason we're out here today is that two of us got nighthowlered recently. It's not a pleasant experience, and I personally hope that you will never have to experience it."
"Yeah… but you're still here, talking to me. All I'm saying is that the Urusians will be very stupid to use such a bomb. I mean, I thought you don't even remember anything while under nighthowlers, or at least, that's what Clawhauser told me. So it can't be that bad."
James grunted. "No, I guess not. Unless you wake up in a hospital and be told that you tore apart your own partner while you weren't in control of yourself."
Trigger winced and looked guilty. "Oh, jeez. Did that ever happen?"
"No," Dahlia answered before James could. "But only because we got lucky so far. And for that matter, because nighthowlers are still very rare. I personally hope that everyone who thinks that nighthowlers are a neat idea will get over it before that stuff becomes common."
There was a bit more back and forth, but with James understandably being squeamish about the topic, and Nick being… Nick, sporting his usual smirk to hide any discomfort due to the topic, the conversation did not last very long. Near the end though, Trigger did admit that he was rather more worried about getting back to flying after all the time spent stuck on the ground.
"-With those lines on my tail, all of Urusia will be gunning for me. I am hoping that at worst, I will still be good enough to just stay alive," he admitted with a sheepish grin, looking around to make sure that they were still alone. "I uh… might have read up on some of the stuff that both the Urusians and Ocelotia were writing up about Three Strikes, and I really wish that even ten percent of it was true. Both side expect me to just about pull miracles out of my tail, if they are to be believed. I'm just hoping that that assessment coming up that Count and I will need to do…I just hope it will be enough."
Nick slapped Trigger over the shoulder. "Don't you worry about that, coyote. Miracles were always your thing."
Judy eyes widened in shock as Trigger gave Nick a curious look. "Did… you just make a dig at my species?"
"What, me? I would never!" Nick batted his eyelashes innocently. "All I'm saying is, if miracles are not enough for you, you can always chase some roadrunners."
Trigger rolled his eyes, but his own grin showed that he was enjoying where this was going. "And that's what the fox says. Tell you what, I stick with my roadrunners, you can enjoy all the henhouses you want."
"Boys, stop!" Everyone all looked down at a glaring Judy, both paws clenched into fists. "You are not going to have this conversation. Not now, not ever!"
"Aww, come on, Carrots! I was just getting started!"
"No, Nick!"
Trigger cleared his throat in order to grab Judy's attention. "Well, actually, he does have a point there. Whether we use these stereotypes or not, it won't change the fact that they exist. So might as well laugh at them and have some fun."
"Fine, whatever," Judy grumbled, allowing herself to slip to the back of the group. "Forget it."
So sure enough, despite how much she didn't want them to, Nick and Trigger ventured off on another random conversation, this time about the coyote and fox stereotypes. Apparently, Trigger found the time to read up on the material he was given from that event, and was now able to use to use that information, but why did it have to be this? It got even worse as James and Dahlia joined in as well, offering their own two cents whenever they felt like adding to the conversation, comparing the two to wolves and tigers as well where it was possible. Sure, it was all fun and games for the other four, but she honestly was struggling to find the humor in it all. Not that they listened to her when she tried to get them to stop, only shrugging her off at every attempt and leaving her fuming in the back.
"-so you know how they say that foxes are red because the devil made them?" Trigger was asking, hopping over a fallen log blocking the trail.
"Sure do! I even had Carrot's dear ol' granddad tell me that one time when she was on a video call," Nick answered with a smirk. "Isn't that right, Fluff?"
"I refuse to answer that, Nick," Judy growled at him, hoping her tone was strong enough to get through James and Dahlia and still tell her partner that he needs to find something better tot talk about, pronto.
"Eh, ignore her then," Nick muttered. "So anyways, I'm curious as to where you are going with this. Go on, lay it on me."
Trigger shrugged and continued with his argument. "Well, according to one legend, Coyote helped the Earth Maker create, well, everything. But when the work was all done, Coyote decided that it was too perfect, so he went and created all the evil in the world to top it all off. So you see Nick, foxes might have been made by the devil, but us Coyotes are the devil. Try to top that."
Nick made a show of being deep in though, tilting his muzzle up to the tree canopy up above them for good effect. "Hmm, maybe I can. But I feel like you're purposefully leaving something out here, so how about I tell you 'pics or it didn't happen'."
"You're the one with the phone." Trigger countered. "You look it up."
"Fine, if you want to roll that way." With a of roll his eyes, Nick pulled his phone out, only to frown when he looked at the screen. "No signal," he complained. He raised the phone up over his head, moving it about, but no matter where the phone was, it wouldn't find any signal. "Till no signal? That's impossible!" he complained. "No, my lifeline! It-It's like I'm ten again, and that's terrible! Carrots, do something! Use those lucky rabbit feet of yours and find the signal!"
Judy glanced back at Dahlia, sharing a smirk with the tiger. "Ladies and gentlemammals, meet my partner, Dumb Fox," she said, pointing at Nick, still running around in circles with his phone high in the air. Dahlia had to cover her her mouth to stop herself from busting out loud with laughing at Nick's misery. Perhaps he was a big city fox after all.
"Need me to lift you up?" Dahlia asked, getting over her chuckles, "but even I can't lift you over those trees."
Nick stopped, putting his phone away with a heavy sigh. "No, that won't be needed. I'm good," he replied, "Just a terrible turn of events that will go away very soon."
"You done flailing about back there?" Trigger's voice came from around a bend in the trail. "Come and take a look at this!"
Grumbling to himself, Nick hurried to catch up to the pilot. Past the curve in the trail, the forest they were in ended into a field of grass and bushes. The trail itself merged into another one that was going perpendicular in both directions to where they were just headed. "Yeah, what's so special about here?" he scoffed, kicking up a cloud of dust as he stomped on a particularly dusty part of trail. "Not even much to see here."
"There isn't," Trigger agreed, "but we're going that way," he pointed down one of the two directions. "Which is also the direction back to the car. This also means that this point is the furthest we are from the parking lot, and are now officially on our way back."
"Yeah, great," Nick grunted, leaning on the trail sign post at the intersection in order to stretch out his legs. It's been too many hours of constant walking, and he was feeling more than ready to already call it a day, not just half of one. "Where's the beach again? I'm not the biggest fan of breathing in dirt. That's more of Carrot's schtick."
Trigger looked embarrassed. "It's um, relatively close," he mumbled, putting emphasis on the word 'relatively'. "Half an hour from now, tops! And no more hills!"
Nick smirked and pushed Trigger in the correct direction they needed to go to. "Well go on then. We're not going to get there just standing around here." With a temporarily disgruntled pilot again taking the lead, the group followed him on this latest of dusty trails. Even Trigger agreed that this particular section was on the boring side when asked, but also insisted that the rest was more than worth it.
Although he probably didn't mean it exactly that way when they reached yet another parking lot, this one larger than the small plot from before and mingling with a few mammals amidst the parked cars.
"Well, I have some good news," James announced, pointing down the direction a small paved road snaked away. "At the risk of sounding like Trigger, but I know where we are. The main parking lot down by the beach is just over there. We're really close. To the beach, that is, not back to the car."
Nick grinned at this news. "I would ask why we didn't just drive here, but at this point, all I can say is: Music to my ears!" His enthusiasm was somewhat dampened when even Jame's 'really close' translated to an additional walk down wide, moderately trafficked and dusty trail that took more than ten minutes to cross. However, unlike the entire walk prior, this dirt road, meandering in a fairly straight line between one of the sides of a valley, and a thick patch of trees and swampy ground on the other, was trafficked by at least several groups of mammals. This did give Nick the opportunity to show off his hustler's smirk at they would pass one another, but they seemed more interested in Judy's presence amidst a group of much larger predators than his smirk. Then the trail made a sharp turn into the trees, using some raised ground to go over the swampy ground.
"Better not stay to close to the edge there, Carrots," Nick told his partner as Judy leaned over the edge of the trail to take a look at the murky water below them, and the trees growing straight out from it. "Could be a crocodile waiting to jump up and enjoy a nice bunny lunch."
Judy huffed and playfully punched Nick's arm. "First of all, Nick, this is the Pawcific coast, no crocs here. Second, even if they were here, the water is too shallow for one to hide in, it's only about an inch or two deep."
Nick shrugged. "Fine then, but I think I saw on TV how one can hide even in very shallow water. Just don't complain to me if you get bitten by a snake." He grinned and flicked her ears when, despite still acting like the tough cop rabbit that she was, Judy still moved over and placing Nick between her and the nearest edge of the trail. "I thought you farm bunnies already know how to deal with creepy-crawlies," he teased.
"Back home, they are exactly why we surround our farms with nighthowlers," Judy said, swatting Nick's paws away. "Keeps snakes and bugs away, and us safe, since we know not to eat those."
"Yeah, well…" Nick looked around for a reason to get away from this specific topic, "hey, where did all the trees go?" He turned around, and sure enough, there were the thick woods they just crossed, but up ahead, it was all dried grasses. "They just stopped."
Judy grinned to herself - her more sensitive hearing was already picking up the steady thumping of waves somewhere very close by. "That's because trees can't grow this close to salt water," she answered, nudging him on. "Isn't that what we came here for? Come on!"
"Salt water?" It took Nick a couple of moments for his mind to add two and two together, and he scolded himself mentally at how long it took him to realize just exactly what she was talking about. "Ah, I get it, Carrots, keep your tail on." Pretending to be nonchalant about it, he never the less increases his pace to keep up with the bunny.
Which couldn't be said about the others as Trigger hurried past Nick at an even faster pace, ditching the dirt road for a small sandy path between clumps of thick, tall grasses. Just a few seconds later, he crossed the top of the sandy dune, pushing some of the grass out of the way, and staring at the coast. "Yes, we're here!" He jogged forward onto the sand proper, raising his head up to the sky.
Following close behind the pilot, James' eyes widened in fear when he noticed Trigger raise his muzzle. Realizing just what exactly the coyote was about to do, he pleaded at the last possible moment, "Trigger, no! Please don't-" He shut his mouth and groaned, pressing his paws around his own jaws as Trigger let out a high pitched howl, the noise making the fur on the back of his neck rise. "That's not going to work on me, Trigger," he complained as soon as there was silence. "Your howls are too high pitched for us wolves. They're like claws on chalkboard." He hissed, then growled and folded his ears flat on top of his head when Trigger smirked at him before letting out another howl. "Trigger, stop!"
Nick watched the spectacle, nudging Judy on the side as the three remaining cops followed at a far more leisurely pace. "What is up with canines and their howling? Although poor Wolfy, doesn't appear to be enjoying it one bit." Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted both Judy and Dahlia with their phones out, recording the spectacle rather than just observing it. "Seriously, ladies? Video surveillance?"
"Clawhauser will want to see this," Dahlia mumbled, busy looking at her screen to make sure that the camera was capturing what she wanted it to. "Plus, I might get some nice material to use on James out of this. That, and I've been hanging out with wolves long enough to know that something fun is going to come up. They really don't like others howling if they are not the ones to start it." She gave a little wave to some of the other mammals on the beach who were also watching them, wondering what the noise was all about.
James carefully allowed himself to relax when Trigger's howl die down. Even with his police training specifically on how to prevent himself on joining in on unwanted howls, he hated to admit just how close he got to letting loose because of this pilot. He hoped that it down to simply some part of him that wanted to desperately show the coyote what a real howl was, rather than continue to endure the pain of listening to this one that was just… wrong. Closing the distance, he placed his arm over the pilot's shoulder. "You know what we at the ZPD like to do to those who howl like that?" He shrugged his backpack off his shoulder, pulling Trigger's off as well and setting both down on the soft sand.
Shrugging, Trigger eyed James with a look of distrust. "What do you mean by 'like that'? You mean properly? You wolves have been howling wrong for as long as we coyotes have known you. But all right, I'll bite. What do you do?"
James' grin widened. "We do this." In a flash, he bent down and firmly grabbed Trigger, lifting him up and over his shoulder. His legs, having already starting to ache from the roughly already five hour long hike and counting, were not enjoying the added weight as they started to burn in protest. To make things even worse, Trigger himself was also flailing about, trying to escape. But the larger Wolford made sure that his grip was strong enough to keep the pilot from escaping as he stomped through the sand towards the water.
"Let go you jerk!" Trigger yelled as he struggled to escape. "You better not be going where I think you are! Wolford, let me go!"
James grunted as he adjusted his stance to help ease the pain in his arms and legs. With one more grunt of effort, he waded in knee deep into the water, eyes widening at just how cold it was. Just seconds inside, and his paws were already starting to go numb. A wave crashed into him, threatening his balance as it started to soak through his pants. "All right then, you want down? Have it your way."
"No not here!"
Waiting for just the right moment, James raised Trigger high over his head, and let go just as a new wave rolled in, dropping the coyote right into its path. Turning back to the shore, he waded out, flicking the water off his limbs with a victorious grin. Seeing the other cops close bye, he walked over to them. "Got him!"
The grin vanished as soon as he stopped next to a very pissed off looking Dahlia and Judy, the rabbit especially furious at him. Ears folding down, he stared at them. Even Nick, still recording with Judy's phone, looked unusually pissed at him. "What? He howled!" he tried to explain. "We always pull pranks on whoever does that!"
Dahlia snorted. "That may be the case, but you weren't messing with another rookie here. Look!" She pointed past his shoulder to the ocean.
Turning around slowly, James felt guilt rise up in him when he saw the issue.
Trigger was standing in the water, completely soaked and dripping water everywhere. But more importantly, the now heavy shirt slid down to reveal his collar, and more specifically, the paw clutching at it and a pained expression on the pilot's muzzle.
"Oh sh-! Trigger, I'm sorry! You okay?" James rushed back into the water, realizing that he had gone too far with his prank. It had never been his intention to cause Trigger to shock himself. But as he splashed over, his eyes widened as he realized that it was now him that was him that was tricked, as Trigger suddenly looked up at him with a smirk.
On the shore, Nick was very glad that he was still recording everything with Judy's phone as he watched the pilot wait for Wolford to head back over, only to very smoothly ram the wolf's midsection, using Jame's own momentum to send him up and over Trigger's head and straight back down into the cold water. James emerged above the surface moments later, only to get swallowed up anew as a fresh wave rolled over his head. Getting his head above the water again, James shook it vigorously in order to get the water out of his eyes and mouth.
"Serves you right."
James looked up at a very smug Trigger, but couldn't help but grin back at the irony of the situation. "Now where have I heard that before?" he asked, holding out a paw. "Might helping me up? We'll call it a draw. And uh, but that was a good move, by the way. Didn't think you could pull off something like that."
Trigger reached out to Wolford, but hesitated at the last second. "OADF, remember? Also, why would Three Strikes settle for a draw?" he teased. But before James could come up with an answer, he grabbed the cop by the arm and pulled him back upright. Together, they exited the water, dripping wet and cold, not helped by the wind blowing in from the sea.
Satisfied that er phone captured a nice video of the event, Judy put the device away before glancing over the two soaking wet canines. "I don't think any of us actually brought a towel," she informed them, "so you two are out of luck."
James glanced over at Trigger with a grin. "Yeah, but us canines don't need towels, am I right?" Together, the two simultaneously shook themselves, sending water droplets flying in all directions, and Judy diving behind Nick for cover while shouting profanities at the two.
"You done?" she demanded, peaking around Nick's tail.
"Yeah, we're done, you can come out now," Trigger answered, wringing his wet shirt free of as much water as he can. When he was done with that, he tugged up his shirt to try and hide his collar again, but the wet material refused to stay up, and eventually he simply gave up and let the collar remain showing. With Dahlia holding out his backpack for him, he put it back on, shuddering with a startled groan as it pressed against the back of his shirt. Surprisingly, he let out a chuckle at the discomfort. "Reminds me far too much of when I landed into Zootopia," he explained. "Parachuted right next to those large snow blowers in Tundra Town. Since it was dark, nothing like landing into snow mounds taller than you are."
"Now that had to be cold," James said with his own shudder as he too slipped his backpack back on.
Trigger nodded. "Tell me about it. Actually, with all of that trying to evade you guys and having to get Count out of the Jungle district where he got stuck in, I'm really lucky I didn't fall sick after all of that."
Dahlia grunted in amusement and slapped him on the back. "Well how about you don't go falling sick now either," she said as she noticed both canines shivering as a gust of breeze hit the group. "Let's get going, moving will keep you warm while the sun will do the rest." And so with her urging, they started to walk again, moving along the coast. Despite already being wet, or perhaps exactly because of it, James and Trigger splashed about as the waves moved in and out.
Judy was making sure to stay dry, but she was rather enjoying the feeling of the wet sand on her paws. Something she did notice was that Nick made sure to stay further up the shore than even she was. "What's the matter, Nick? Water shy?" she teased her partner, hopping over to the shallowest of water and kicking a bit over in his direction.
Nick ignored her splashing, but didn't move closer to the water either. "I like keeping my fantastic brush elegant and clean," he answered, wagging his tail in her direction. "It's completely different to those wet mops those two jokers have." He tiled his head and Judy looked to the side where, with another large wave arriving, Trigger and James were again knee deep and not caring about it. "You can blame it on the fox higher sense of personal hygiene compared to wolves." Nick tapped his nose. Don't know if you noticed, but wet fur tends to stink. What about you, Stripes? Kitty afraid of water?"
"No, not afraid," Dahlia stepped into a wave just to prove him wrong, but only staying at the shallowest end. "But I would rather stay dry, thank you very much." She waved over to the inland side, where a small but long cliff blocked access back to the trail they got off on. "But since we're stuck here on the sand, I would rather not get stuck at high tide either."
As they continued to walk down the beach, the group would occasionally pass some other mammals also enjoying the day out in the sun, and they would almost be guaranteed some strange stares from those mammals. Nick flashed his trademark smirk as they passed a large group of rabbits, eyeing him especially with a hostile suspicion and at how close Judy was to him. But Fangmeyer's presence made sure that looking was all they did, rather than opening their mouths to voice some impolite opinion. "Isn't it amazing, Carrots?" Nick asked when they were at a safe distance away. "I'm a tourist attraction! A city fox outside the the city." He couldn't stop himself from chuckling at how infuriated his partner looked. "You can forget about it, Fluff, it's not a big deal."
"But it is!" Judy argued back at him, kicking up some water and casting an angry look back at the group of bunnies fading into the coastal haze behind them. "And bunnies keep complaining about how others look at them? Well talk about the pot calling the kettle black!"
Nick just grinned again and ruffled her ears with a paw. "That's my bunny! Always looking out for us humble chompers!"
"Nick!" Of all the words he could have used, why that one? "If I ever hear you use that word again, I'll- No! Just No!"
A short while later, and they reached a small path leading back up to the top of the cliffs. "That's our way out," Trigger announced, sounding rather disappointed. "I honestly forgot how short the section along the actual beach is. Actually, just a sec..." Turning to the water, he hurried back into it until it reached up to his knees. Pulling his still wet ZPD hat off his head, he bent down and dunked it underwater, swirling it around for good measure before plopping the drenched garment back on his head. "Okay, I'm ready!" He jogged back to shore, rejoining the others as they made their way off the beach.
"Why'd you do that, pup?" James asked with a smirk. "Started to dry out too soon?"
Trigger fidgeted nervously, unintentionally slowing down. "Well, the thing is, um, the salt water mixed with sweat and my fur's scent," he pulled the hat off and gave it a sniff, wincing at the stench. "I'll admit is not a pleasant smell. But at the same time… it's… kinda nostalgic. I don't know, hard to explain…" He put the hat on just in time to be nudged on by Dahlia.
"In a strange kind of way, I think I understand what you are saying," she said, "but do notice that you are blocking the only way forward."
Rounding to the top of the path, Judy saw right away why this little cutaway into the cliffside existed as they emerged onto a campsite, designated spots with stoves, fire-pits and all. But that wasn't what caught her eye. "Aww, Nick, look!" Instead, it was the group of cub-scouts, wrestling with a tent they were struggling to set up. The adult supervisors were gathered around a table next to the kits, keeping an eye out but otherwise occupied with setting up a portable stove for cooking supper. But more specifically, what caught Judy's attention, was that one of these cub-scouts, included among the usual assortment of prey mammals, was a fox kit, grunting at a metal pole that he was trying to slide into its proper sleeve and towards a waiting gopher.
Nick also saw the scouts, instantly feeling a mix of emotions go through him that he admitted he felt rather ashamed to feel. So much for 'never let them see that they get to you'. Forcing these thoughts aside, he pulled Judy away from staring at the scouts, and guided both of them away from their group and towards a very conveniently placed restroom that served the campsite. Personally, he was looking towards this opportunity to get off his aching paws, even if only for a few minutes. "That's great, but look what I found. Mind holding my stuff for me, Carrots? If you don't mind, but this city fox wants to utilize this little bit of civilization."
Judy stopped, placing her paws on her hips. "Nick?" Her eyes darted between Nick and the cub scouts. "Are you jealous?"
"What? Me, jealous?" He winked at her. "Never!" But when he got close to one of the doors in the small building, he lowered his voice and added. "Well, if you don't include the fact that I was born only twenty years too early. Only the thing I wanted most as a kit, and well, you already know how that ended up with me."
Lowering her paws away from her hips, Judy hesitated for a moment before reaching out to grab Nick's paw. Nevertheless, she was still wearing a smile on her muzzle as she looked up at him. "Are you saying that you would rather be over there with that group than here with me today?"
Nick grinned back, sliding his backpack off and dumping it on her. "Never in a million years, Fluff!" Opening the door, he slipped inside, only to instantly start gagging at the stench that came from within. So much for civilization. He escaped with Judy from being killed by sliding through an elephant sized sewer, but at least that one was self cleaning in the form of plumbing! This one was… just a hole in the ground, and the interior was swarming with flies. Swell.
So when he emerged back out as soon as possible, the fresh air of the outdoors was a godsend. Nick breathed deeply, replacing the stagnant muck in his lungs with the slightly salty but much more pleasant air. It was then that he looked down and saw his and Judy's backpacks left alone on the ground. "Dumb bunny." Picking up his pack, he placed it back over his shoulders just in time for Judy to reemerge as well and join him. Moments later, they rejoined the others, waiting for the pair at an intersection of their path with another small trail snaking up the hillside.
"Just a couple of hours to go," Trigger announced when Nick and Judy wandered over. "Just need to swing along the coast to the main road then it's a quick shot back to the parking lot. It'll all be flat."
James grinned and pushed the pilot onward. "That's great, but how about we don't get a running update of how much we have to go every five minutes?"
Trigger tilted his head in confusion. "You don't want to know how much you have left? Not like you were too tired to toss me into the ocean."
"Yeah, but that was worth it," James replied smugly. "I can always drop you in again if you hadn't had enough. But seriously, let's keep going and get this over with. Not much to see here and take pictures, either." He patted the strap of his backpack for good measure. The pilot just shrugged and took the lead, hiking down the trail.
And it was along this trail, weaving along near the top of the long cliff, that Judy rather suddenly noticed just how quiet it was around them. With the waves colliding into the beach somewhere below them and out of sight, the sound of waves was rather muted compared to how close they were to the ocean. The gentle breeze around them was too weak to create much in terms of wind noise, even with her large ears. But especially even more, after the multiple groups of mammals along the beach and camp ground, this trail was rather… lonely. In many ways, this was quite ironic. Back in Bunnyburrow, there were always family members and other bunnies and mammals around everywhere. Farming, doing business, hanging out, but most importantly, being around and making noise. And Zootopia was… Zootopia. Large cities never sleep, especially when it came to her two rather colorful neighbors.
And yet now, with her only half-paying attention as Nick was telling a story to James and Dahlia, Judy found it rather silly how randomly she noticed the lack of noise.
"-Carrots? Hey, Fluff!"
Judy stopped, blinking when she realized that Nick was trying to get her attention. "Yeah, Nick?"
He jabbed a thumb in James' direction, who had his camera out again and was busy snapping away at the ocean. "Wolfy spotted those rocks again," Nick explained casually.
"Sure, and with the sun not that high up, this makes for a great shot," James added, squinting through the view finder. "Last I checked, but you can't get a view like this in Zootopia. Too many buildings and too many people."
"Speaking of people," Dahlia muttered, "where did Trigger go?"
Judy's head shot to look down the trail, and there he was, obliviously walking away from them. Thinking about it, she started to recall that she couldn't actually positively say that he had been involved in their latest bout of stories. "Um, but I don't think he noticed that we stopped…" She was about to call out for the pilot to wait for them when Dahlia beat her to it. But despite even Nick and James joining in when the first attempt failed to alert Trigger, the pilot was either too far away to hear, or too lost in his own mind to notice their shouting at him.
A third option, one which Judy was desperately hoping was wrong as soon as she thought of it, was that he was deliberately ignoring them in some sort of attempt to make a break for it. She told herself that she was being silly, that he would never attempt to do something this stupid, especially out here where he had nowhere to go. But then again, she had been a cop for about three years already. She had seen mammals do some very stupid things.
"Don't worry about leaving me behind, I'll catch up," James told the others, already placing the camera back in the backpack.
Speaking of silly, Judy wondered why they didn't already start to catch up to the pilot, but while they didn't break into a run, he wasn't all that far away, which allowed them to start gaining on him with a brisk walk. Getting closer, she was glad that they weren't actually running after him, because that would have meant that their panting would have prevented her from listening in on him.
For despite being alone, Trigger was most definitely talking. Not loudly, but talking nevertheless.
Slowing down to a more manageable pace, both of Judy's ears were pointed in his direction, straining to him.
"-didn't do it! It wasn't me-"
Judy frowned, and quickly checked her phone. No, no signal here. She glanced at the pilot again. Even from behind she could see that his head was tilted down towards the ground, ears completely flat against his hat, and tail stiff, tucked tightly between his legs, rather than swaying in a relaxed manner. "Is he talking to himself?" she muttered, causing the others to glance at her.
"Talking? What's he saying?" Dahlia asked quietly, only for Judy to shush at her to keep the noise down.
"Hey, why'd we stop?" James caught up, coming to a halt due to the trail being blocked off. "Trigger's still ahead of us, shouldn't we be catching up?" Since they were closer now, he tried calling out again. "Hey! Trigger!"
Rather than turning around or stopping, Trigger's reaction was much more unexpected. Judy thought she heard the telltale crackle of the TAME collar going off, but she wasn't actually sure or not if she was simply imagining it. But, that wasn't actually important. Because what she definitely did not imagine was the pained cry from the pilot, arm snapping to his neck, only for his shout to be cut short as he dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes in a sickening crunch.
The cops all looked at each other, eyes wide in shock when this time, as one, they broke into a run, reaching Trigger after only a few tense moments.
The pilot wasn't passed out, kicking up dust as he withered in pain, a horrible combination of pained whines, gasps of air, and choked gurgles escaping his muzzle as his arm clawed desperately at the collar.
Judy reached him first, hopping straight to a stop by his head as she grabbed the collar, searching for the locking mechanism. "Trigger? Are you all right? What happened?" He didn't react to her presence, eyes pressed shut and still struggling to breath, paw failing to pry the collar off. Judy could only imagine what kind of pain his neck must be in, her own paws fighting his in her desperate attempt to find where the collar's clips connected into each other. "Who has the remote for this thing?" she demanded, glancing behind her to where the others stopped short to prevent themselves from only getting in her way. "James!" Judy glared at the wolf as he fumbled with his backpack.
"Working on it, Hopps! Just a moment-!" Of course the one time they really needed the remote close, it had been buried deep within his backpack. "-Got it!"
With a beep, the collar disconnected, dropping down into Judy's paw. She instantly tossed it aside, instead going for Trigger's neck as she tried to pry his paw away from his neck to take a look at the damage. But despite his still uneven and pained wheezing, he had a firm grip on his neck, and Judy didn't want to risk hurting him by forcing his paw out of the way. That was when a large paw from Dahlia placed itself on her shoulder.
"Hopps? Judy? Move aside, I got this."
With a nod, Judy let Trigger go and stepped aside into Nick's waiting arms, letting Dahlia step in with a small first aid kit. Still, she tried again to get the pilot's attention. "Trigger? What happened?" He still didn't answer, but at least now he opened up one of his eyes, its pupil locking in on both of hers. Taking a step closer, Judy tried again. "Trigger..? What happened? Why did the collar go off?
"...Trigger-?"
