Chapter 32

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"Woah, woah woah! Lets all just, calm down here, okay?" Paws up, Haida stood in front of the angry white polar bear, smiling. "After all, violence is never the answweerrrroooaaaaahhhh!"

He jumped out of the way as half a ton of apex-of-apex predator stormed past him on all fours, claws gripping the rough ground and hauling him forward with each stride, faster and faster as his mouth opened and snarled and he raised himself up to tear out the throat of the panda in front of him.

The elderly black and white bear jogged up and down on both feet, limbering himself up for it until the last minute, before pivoting out of the way and bringing a cutting chop down on his attacker's neck as he tried to turn to snap at him.

The polar bear tripped over but didn't roll, instead using the momentum of his back half to spin him around so he faced his target head on, lunging out with fury in his eyes.

Two raised palms crashed down on him and threw him to the floor. "I advise insolent bear desist now before he make further..."

Up the polar bear lunged, receiving a cutting punch to his head and then an uppercut into his gut for his effort.

"-Fool of himself."

His enemy disagreed, pulling himself back a step and raising himself up, fists clenched and arms held in a boxers stance as he let his size and strength tower over the other ursid. The old panda was big, strong, powerful, but still only a quarter of his opponents weight. But he stood there, unphased all the same, as he reached into a pocket and began rolling his paws in some kind of black glistening powder. "Tell me great bear of frozen north. What is your name?"

"Kozlov," he roared, stomping his foot. "Pyotr Kozlov. Soldier to the end! Fighter to the end! Comrade to the fallen and killed till the end! Destroyer of the enemies of all good people!"

He tensed himself, ready to strike, only for a black and white arm to hook him in from one side and a red, white and black one to hook do so on the other, yanking both arms to the side while two mismatched feet stomped into the back of his knees to bring him down. His arms bent back, enemy fists placed in the crook of his spine, he pushed and and tried to rip himself loose only to be held solidly in place. Only able to glare and growl as the younger panda leant down to his side to look him in the eye. "Sorry Bud. You should have listened to the hyena."

Kozlov just growled, the anger changing direction to the older panda as he leant down. "Tell me. I expect to have wronged many mammal in my past life. Not all are forgiving as the one who showed me the path of the light. If you were different mammal, I would understand. But you are not, stranger to the lands I once rule with iron fist. Tell me, how you know who I am?"

"I see it," Kozlov said, eyes narrowing as he looked down at the black dust encrusted paws of his opponent. "I see it all. Including you showing off party trick. Wish I had cigarette right now, to spit on and see your paw burn uselessly."

The older panda raised an eyebrow. "I do not understand, how can you see what I only do in private?"

"I…" Kozlov began, only to pause. He then pulled his face up into a strained smile and laughed. "You know, I see video of it. Da! I see that, and all your crimes. I feel incensed, but now humbled. Let me go, and I'll harm you no more."

…

"So, should we kick him out, or…?" Po began to ask.

"No," the older panda said, suddenly pulling up his paw and stroking his chin.

Further back, the three civilians looked on. "So," Haida began. "I suppose we should have expected it right. Kung fu temple, this must be par for the course?"

The two fox kits just kept on looking on at the silent stare off going on ahead, seemingly just as confused as the two mammals holding the interloping bear in place.

"Master?" Tigress asked. "What's going on?"

"Yeah, Father-in-law King," Po nodded. "Something is fishy here, and it's not just hunk of murder muscle here's breath."

Further back, Haida closed his eyes and shook his head. "I'm thinking that not becoming a detective right now was probably a good move. Trust me, I'm stumped."

"Kozlov wanted revenge against the panda, and then he suddenly wanted to just go," Kris said, closing his eyes and tapping his foot.

"I mean, obviously seeing a video of the old panda doing whatever he does was a fib," Ash said, throwing his arms out. "So maybe he realised he'd got the wrong panda."

"No," Kris said. "Right panda, wrong something…"

They were broken off by a clicking of a paw pad. "It's how he saw the panda do what he was doing," Haida said. "He expected the panda to know a certain way the polar bear would know, and as soon as he learnt he didn't he tried to backpedal… As if he now really doesn't want the panda to know!" He planted his paws on his hips and looked up. "Mam, I would have made such a good detective… Now if only I knew why his name was ringing such a bell."

"Yeah, I think I've heard it before," Ash agreed.

Kris just shook his head. "I don't recall any polar bear called Kozlov being mentioned anywhere."

The bear in question meanwhile was almost laughing his way out at this point. "Come on, please. Was misunderstanding, you can let me go. I am sure this is common thing. Kung fu temple, no?"

The old panda in front of him nodded slightly, only for his eyes to pause, freezing on something. At first he seemed hesitant but then, slowly, he reached a paw forward and over Kozlov's head, pulling up a well hidden string hanging off his neck. The bear remained perfectly calm on the outside, though his eyes were trembling like crazy. "Oh, is just cheap piece of junk that…"

"Yes," the bear said, looking at the pendant on the end. "Cheap junk. But then why do I have strange feel of deja vu." A few seconds passed and he shook his head, slipping it back down over the bear's neck. Kozlov breathed out slightly as it hung back on him, the panda reaching out at the last moment to make sure the pendant went back down under his shirt. A simple push with a claw tip and…

The large panda froze, eyes flashing wide for a second, before he began breathing in and out hard, looking at the thing. Pulling it back off of the suddenly coiling up and shaking Kozlov, he held it up to see the light. "So that explains it all." A paw pad gently holding it and clasping around it. The old panda pulled back, taking a sudden breath in, and opened his eyes.

"If you have any decency in you," Kozlov yelled. "Now you know what it is!"

"And why it led you here," the panda bear said, standing up.

"Give it back." He shook and twisted, turning to Po and Tigress. "You cannot let him have it! You don't know who he worked for! You can't…" With a sudden yank he ripped his arm forward, Tigress' claws sending sparks across the floor as the stones they were gripping let them loose. Hauled back and almost thrown off, she scrambled as Kozlov kicked out with his free leg and hauled Po clean off the floor, bringing his free paw, Tigress still attached, to punch him dead in the face.

It froze, mid throw, its index finger held between Po's thumb and index, the panda's pinkie raised up and primed to the side.

The bear jostled and shook, but remained stationary even as Tigress let go and walked around. "What? What is this? More devil's work!?"

Po shrugged. "Wuxi finger hold."

The polar bear growled and spat, but remained stationary. "What next? You tap me with little finger?"

"Oh no, no no no!" Po urged, a slight look of disgust on his face. "I mean, I could skadoosh you, but I'm really not in the mood for cleaning up the mess."

"Hold him on and let him up," the older panda said. "Give him room, board, I believe others are hunting him. Dangerous mammals."

Kozlov snorted. "So dangerous I thought viper den would be safe spot. But no, I did not expect to see you here 'Panda King', but I now know why I was called. And I will fight until I die, for I will never let the sacrifices be for nothing!"

"I know," he said softly. "They will not be in vain. You are safe here, it is safe here, and it is too."

"Ha," he snorted, only to pause as a black paw gently rested down on him.

"Believe me. However much you think otherwise, I know that what you fear is still, underneath the terror, like you or I, only lost."

"What?" the polar bear asked, any anger replaced with confusion. "How could you even say that!?"

"Because," the panda smiled. "It make mistake, like all of us. I have long time since being in its presence to learn, to change, to become humble and fight for right. It thought I was like you thought I was." His grin grew and he shook his head. "For everyone's great benefit, you are both very, very wrong. And I will prove it." He turned over to face the foxes. "Kristofferson. Bring the picture."

Haida and Ash turned to the platinum furred fox who, after a few seconds, shrugged and began jogging off, passing by Kozlov as he went. "Getting kits to do your dirty work," Kozlov muttered. "Pah. You Chinese. Us from the great white north fight like men!"

The large panda just waited there, silently, until Kris came back down, handing the framed photo over. "Here, Master… Panda," he said.

The old ursid paused for a second before nodding. "Call me that, if you so desire," he said.

"Getting away from your oh so humble former title?" Kozlov hissed, as the photo was pulled up so the captive bear could see it.

His eyes looked on, widening in disbelief, before he let his knees go, collapsing to the floor, back bent. With a wave of a paw, Po and Tigress stepped back, letting the older panda bear kneel down and help the polar bear up. "See," he said. "It is safe here."

"Da," Kozlov said, sighing with relief. "Safe. But for how long?"

"Long enough," the bear opined. "You will be provided with shelter, food, protection. While I will attend on matters more spiritual."

The white bear looked up, tilting his head. "What do you mean?"

"To solve this great matter in a way you do not have skills or experience to." He held up the necklace, and the picture, looking at it fondly. "See this," he said, batting away a flicker of his eyes. "Anyone is capable of change, and deserves at least chance for it, and ability to learn humility."

And with that he put them away, turned, and walked back up into his pagoda.

"Okay," Tigress said, slowly approaching Kozlov. "Shall we find you a room, get you sorted."

"Da," he said quietly, letting her lead him off.

Left there, Po turned to the three students. "Okay! Just… The kind of fun and wacky things you can expect from a kung fu school. Happens all the time!"

Kris gave a look up at the larger of his fellow students. "I have sincere doubts about that."

"Ditto," Haida nodded.

Ash nodded. "Are you going to teach us the wuxi finger hold, or not?"

"No."

"But it seems like the ultimate get out of trouble free card. Why wouldn't you teach us it?"

"Because it's boring," Po said, paws on his hips. "Do you know how interesting kung fu would even be if I used it all the time? It wouldn't be fun at all. People would just wuxi each other."

Ash began to speak, only to pause. "What would happen if two mammals wuxi'd each other at the same time?"

Po raised out his finger to scold him, only to freeze, eyes fixed forward and paw left hanging in the air. Even as he sat down, he remained transfixed in thought. "Hmmmmm…"

"You know," Ash said, "we could do a science experiment."

"I suppose…"

"We wuxi each other, so if you tell me how."

"Right, the most important thing, and the thing I worked out when I taught myself, was…" He froze mid speech turning to Ash and then bursting out in laughter. "Oooooooh! OOOOOOHHHHH! You are one sly fox, you almost had me! You ALMOST had me!"

Ash rolled his eyes. "Well it was worth a shot."

"Tell you what Kit, if you can figure it out for yourself, all the power to you."

He nodded, turning to Haida and holding his index finger between two of his own, pinkie rising up.

The hyena looked at it for a second before pulling out his paw. "Try harder. And not on me."

Kris shook his head, even before his cousin turned to face him.

"Anyway," Po said, beginning to shoo them out. "Very important kung fu stuff going on. See you for your next lesson! It's gonna be great fun!"

"Are you going to show us what happens if you do twist your pinkie?" Ash asked, as they stepped outside.

"If you really want and you bring a spare change of pants. Okay, have fun, bye."

And with that, the gate was closed behind them.

Finally, Kris spoke up. "I'd like to clarify that in all my years of learning karate, this never happened."

Ash nodded in agreement. "And that's why kung fu films beat karate films. I mean it's obvious when you think about it."

"I suppose…"

"You suppose? On the one paw you have 'The Karate Kit.' On the other you have Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, and Enter the Dragon, and Kung Fu Hustle, and Kung Pig: Enter the Trotter, and Yip Mammal, and the entire works of Jackal Chan, and Kung Furry…"

Listening to his cousin list them off, Kris looked up at Haida, the hyena shrugging. "Hey, I think it's weird too. But your cousin does have a point."

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Walking through into the firing range, Skye sat back and looked on as Jack practiced with his weapons. While there were plenty available, one in particular stood out as his favourite. The high speed Bolas launcher.

Quickly flicking a new round in, he hunched below cover, binkying up and shooting out one of the long wires. In a blink of an eye it extended, hit the legs of its target, and wrapped around them, bringing it tripping down.

There was a clack as two more targets came out, Jack jumping off to the side, ducking around cover and combat rolling. Skye paused, curious as to what his plan was. All the while, the automated targets moved around, separating apart to scan the field. Covering each other as they went, Skye had the feeling that you could easily get one, only to be caught by the other. And that was with a lethal round. With a bolas launcher…

With untrained mammals, she supposed that if one tripped down the other might race forward to investigate, see if they could pick their comrade up, making them vulnerable. But highly trained mammals?

Her musings were cut off though as Jack fired from cover, the line instantly wrapping around the first mammals neck. The balls on either end, spoiling out their lengths of rope and then pivoting around, would be yanking him back before wrapping tight around. A strangling comrade certainly could pull a trained mammal off the mark. But in this case, that wouldn't be necessary, as with a flash the lines wrapped around the head of the other fake enemy. Coiling up around, slipping under and over the muzzle, the two weights at the end whipped against his head. Hard.

One yanked back and confused, the other probably shaking his screaming head trying to free it from the cutting wires around it.

None would have a chance to spot and stop the secondary tranquiliser darts that hit them.

And both would be far too confused and mixed up to take advantage of the infamous ten-second twilight as the drugs took effect.

"Well," Jack smirked, walking out from behind his cover. "That tied that up."

Skye rolled her eyes and clapped. "Just remember there might be mook number three sitting behind somewhere and waiting for a show boating jack rabbit to step out."

"Ah, well in this case I certainly knew there be just two." He patted them on the head as Skye walked over, a slight look of concern on her muzzle.

"And what about in the field?"

"Ahem," he smirked, sitting back and giving his ears a long, slow, twirl on the top of his head. Skye pulled back a little, a cunning smirk appearing on her muzzle, before she clapped her paws hard next to his ears.

"Hey," he said, stepping back and rubbing at their base.

"Still super good now?" she asked.

"Mostly… And I don't think I'd have to worry about random paw clapping on any missions."

"What about gun fire?"

"I…" he began, before he smirked. "Sauce for the goose. They be the ones shooting, and ringing out their ears too."

Skye's ears lowered. "Jack…"

"In fact, I'm pretty sure a clever tech like you could whip up some kind of selective ear plug. Like those phasing glasses nocturnals used so the sweeping of the lamp posts and the pulsing of their stark light doesn't pull back their ability to parse the cloying dark of the night. -Only for ears."

The swift fox managed a small smile. "Always the poet, aren't you?"

"Ahem," he smiled. "Your poet."

And then Skye came out with it, with not a hint of window dressing. "Have you ever fired a real gun?"

"No! But I've fired plenty of these!" he said, showing her around to the various tech weapons available.

"Well, in that case then," she said, walking over to a gun locker. A quick few twists and she pulled out a revolver. "One rusty soldier's daughter I may be, but I can show you the basics." And with that she let him hold it, guiding him through, holding it up. He pulled his ears back, preparing for it, aimed at the target and then pulled the trigger.

BANG.

In the shoulder, all while the bunny flinched back a little. "Okay, little disorientating, but I'm good…"

"I want you to practice with it," she said, looking down at him.

"Why, when I've got all these other…"

"I don't want to be a meddler," Skye said, eyes closed as she pushed out a paw. "I'm trying not to be, but… You might be around a lot of these Jack! Yes, you keep out and look in from the sidelines, but before you know it someone might sneak in or you might get caught up in who knows what, and…" She breathed out.

"Well, that's why I was asking about those selective ear plugs," he smiled.

Skye's expression remained firm. "What happens if you have to kill someone?"

His ears went back. "Well, I have been getting experienced with all sorts of fun non-lethals so…"

"And it might not matter, and it might come down to your life or someone else's, and if that's the case," Skye warned, her expression going stern. "You hesitate, that's it. And I… I don't want that. You understand. If this is what you want, I'm behind you, but please. If you're not ready, if you don't think you can do what you can be called upon to do… At least see that for yourself."

He looked up at her before stepping back, fussing at the floor with his foot. "Do you remember that time I fake acted as a chaplain?"

Skye nodded. "Yeah, making the school principal think she could confess to you in confidence, and thus confirm that Kris wasn't the one originally framed up."

"And, if you remember his backstory…"

Skye paused, nodding. "Joined the army first, quit and found religion after a friend died in an accident."

"Yeah," he said. "And I mean, I had to imagine both of those when going into it. Not just how he was now, but how he was back then. Hearing war stories. Wanting to see the world. Joining up at the recruiting station when he could." He smiled, before looking down. "And I suppose part of that was how he'd feel about taking a life or not…"

Skye nodded. "So you imagined what it would be like? Pictured yourself ending the life of another?"

"Actually, no," he confessed, shrugging. "I imagined he'd just cross that bridge when it came to it too."

Skye's ears fell back, hard. "So what? That's your strategy now, is it? When it happens?"

"I mean, it's the same for all soldiers, isn't it?" he asked. "You can't really practise. I mean, even shooting birds. It's not the same! But back in the day, all those mammals who'd join up to fight for a good cause. I guess they figured that when it came to it to pull the trigger... That's just how it is."

The swift fox looked on, unconvinced. "It's… When I was faced with death, it was different too. But Jack, you're not being a soldier. You're not going to be part of a whole formation, who you can rely on if you trip up a little. It's you. It's just you."

"And Doug."

Skye froze, her eyes narrowing. "Don't remind me."

"And your sister."

"I suppose that cancels that out. Kind of."

"Did she practice?"

Skye blinked, looking down. "Huh?"

"Being ready to kill, if it came to it," Jack said. "I mean, same principle applies here, right? What's good for the peas is good for the sugar snaps."

The swift fox gave a brief smirk. "That sounds like a Judy saying."

He shrugged, giving a warm smile. "I may have done a Tarhinotino on her, and?"

Skye let her head tilt for a bit before shrugging it off and sitting down. "You have to be able to rely on yourself. That's… That's what my father always drilled in for the family. When the cards are down, when your friends and family are split away, the mammal most responsible for your own wellbeing and success and often those friends and family around you… It's you. No-one else, no passing the buck. Not that I hardly needed teaching," she smiled.

"What?" Jack asked. "Mixing up your own baby formula in the bottle?"

She snorted. "No… But now you mention it, I do remember when I was really young, back when I was first adopted I'd always be making sure I had enough food kept under my bed. Or hidden away. All so that I could survive and keep myself fed, whatever the meal I was served would be."

Jack's ears drooped down. "Ahem," he said quietly. "Skye?"

"Huh?" she asked, looking over.

The hare shared the look, pausing as he looked into the eyes, similar but so very different to those in a picture her father had shared with him. "Sorry, nothing," he shook off.

The swift fox paused there, before carrying on. "Anyway, as I said. Never the most sociable of mammals throughout school. I went my own way. My sister? Well, she held herself to account too, but she was more than ready to jump into social interaction after social interaction. Mutually beneficial this and good idea that… She was popular, headstrong, she did what she wanted to and, as you know, could pool all those resources behind one firm motivation if she so wished…" There was a long pause as she trailed off. "I know she had real, true friends at one end of the scale. And just business partners at the other. But I could never tell when one became the other."

"Uh-hu," Jack mused.

She shook her head. "Anyway, while my father trained us both up in the skills and such from his time serving, I didn't have any intent to go into the armed forces. I'm my own vixen, I follow my own schedule, my own orders, and rules and traditions I don't see the point in? Forget it. We all knew it wouldn't work for me. Her though? She was interested. And, though my father supported her, there were… provisions in order that he insisted on."

"What?" Jack asked. "Like joining the cadets?"

Skye nodded. "If she could, certainly. Not really a thing in Zootopia, no real armed forces and all that. While he didn't like the idea of being the one commanding his daughter, he did suggest to the school that he set up and lead a cadet corps. They didn't have the money. So, he then strongly suggested she enrolled in a lighter organisation first, to see if she could live with the discipline and rank and file and such of the true armed forces."

Jack paused for a second before nodding. "The rangers, wasn't it. Out on call, protecting the rodent communities from the terrors of the sky!"

"Pretty much," Skye nodded. "Maybe not the most formal and disciplined of groups, he really stressed that. But certainly none of the creature comforts. And, she could quit at any time, rather than being stuck for a long miserable five year term." Letting out an exhale, Skye sighed. "It wasn't a good time for them in Zootopia or the States, what with new sonic anti-bird protectors and strict regulations coming in. But down south of the border? The little guys there didn't have time for that, they wanted guns to fend off the terrors from the sky… And maybe some from the ground too."

Jack's ears fell, as he coughed into his paw. "I for one know that certain areas of my country of birth aren't the most… legally stable, shall we put it. Did she encounter any… or have to kill…"

"No," Skye said, relaxing a little. "From all accounts, she thrived there. Part of a pack. It's how I know Mr and Mrs Fox, she…"

"-Was in the same training group as your sister's partner, wasn't she?" Jack smiled. He clicked his fingers, standing up. "I remember it now. As you met Mrs Fox at the funeral of…" The words died in his mouth, ears coming down. Slowly, he looked up at Skye. "A hawk, wasn't it? That carried your sister's partner off."

Skye nodded. "Her first 'mad Efrafan'. I guess it's not surprising that the rangers are something like ninety five percent predator. But she and him, they made an interesting pair. Worked together for years, kept mouse villages safe… Even won a medal together, tracking down an eagle that carried off some young opossum if I remember right. Poor girl played dead for as long as she could, before ambushing the bird as it was about to start ripping her apart to feed her chicks. She used the chance to bite at her neck, instead. Then threw the chicks out of the nest, dropped down, and tried to scrabble back to civilization, torn up and bleeding. My sister, sniffing her out, and her hare with his hearing, found her collapsed in the jungle and brought her back. The girl needed a leg amputated and probably a lot of therapy, but she was alive, thanks to them."

"And then one day, he suffered the same fate."

Skye nodded. "It was stupid. Just, STUPID! Most birds of prey, as you can probably guess, are those that fly and hunt on the wing. After other birds, as those that used to prey on mammals…" She shrugged her shoulders. "Anyhow, of course there are plenty of mammals that also fly on the wing."

"I still remember the post being carried by bats," Jack smiled. "Flapping overhead, dropping off their letters. Up in the jungle and the mountains, there are even lost bat cities. Carved into caves and sinkholes, where thousands used to roost. Most are abandoned though, sometimes by force. Warlords or criminals, wanting a quick buck, and there's some big piles of the best fertiliser in the world just lying there for the taking."

"I think I saw a documentary about one," Skye began, before waving it off. "Anyway, they'd heard reports of some birds of prey starting to attack bats on the wing. Officially, a grounding order was put out to keep them safe, not that any of them cared. Many started getting small modified pistols, so when they came up, they'd mob and shoot them. Either way, the local head ranger, wanting his moment of fame, called in as many reserves as he could. He and his team wanted their big victory, and so pumped up the importance of it, and that led to other head rangers seeing it and sending in any spares and reserves they could field to help in what was obviously an emergency. A lot of rangers were ordered over, sent from here and there. It was a two day trip for my sister and her partner, from what I heard. Not helped by all sorts of mechanical issues. And by the time they got there, 'it was all sorted', not by the ranger captain but by the bats themselves. The ranger in charge, angry his moment to shine had been stolen and not wanting egg on his face, tried to cover it up or something. At first, he made some mammals make fake reports, sending the newly arrived mammals straight on wild goose chases into the jungles and mountains. Then, as concern grew that the bird attack rates were far higher than normal, and that even more rangers should be sent, he 'diversified'."

"Diversified?" Jack asked.

"Into missing mammal reports, venomous snake reports, etcetera." Skye huffed. "Idiot was caught in a hole, and thought he could just keep on digging his way out, further and further, until he got a 'big win' that would let him play it all down and save face. And I mean, my sister knew this. She talked about it in her email to me, the day she and her partner were sent on a two day hike to a remote rodent village, supposedly under threat from a nearby fer-de-lance…" She paused, unable to not see Jack shiver at the mention of that species. "They were trained with how to deal with it, of course, and had an emergency injector of anti-venom and everything. Just enough to tide one over if bitten and get in a medi-evac." Skye sighed. "But there was something else. That area was roughly where most of the hawk on bat cases were, and that old commander still wanted his glory for his original group. And he wasn't going to let those two steal it."

Jack paused, before his ears rose. "He didn't send them in without their guns?"

She nodded, slowly. "What guns? Guns are held at central lockers and handed out, all part of the licensing and rules. By the time Sweetie and her partner were given their orders, each and every one had been shared out. They protested of course, demanding at least one gun from one of his regulars. That or one of the other fully armed groups could spare one, there were volunteers and everything.. But he said that it was just a snake problem, no birds. So, no reason to deprive any of those under real threat of protection. And when she raised the fact this was where the original reports came from? He dressed her down, hard. 'Stupid fox, the bad birds here attack bats, not big land mammals. Pay attention for once!'" Skye let out a slight snarl. "Sweetie had been paying attention, documenting everything. She was pretty certain she knew what was up, and after doing a few interviews, she went off on her pointless mission. Fully expecting to prove how pointless it was, then combine that with the evidence of her comrades to bring down he who sent them on it."

"And on the way there…" Jack began.

The swift fox shook her head. "No, on their way back. Two days out to the top of a mountain, three more days camping outside a tree trunk carved up into a mouse village, all the time phoning in to request permission to return given the mice stating clearly they never called the rangers. Three days of doing pointless marches and searches, documenting it to cover their bases, so he couldn't discipline them first to sink their evidence. The three days up, he then ordered another three day extension. They protested, that would mean they'd run out of food on the way back. He shouted them down 'it's only one day! And one of you is a bunny, eat bunny food.'" Skye shrugged. "So, spending time collecting and cooking greens for him, they extended out their rations. Finally, the emergency extension over, there was nothing he could do. With their food supplies so low, he couldn't keep them there any longer. And so, the two began making their way back. Tired, angry, but making good time. And late on the first day, finding an open area to stake out a camp…" Skye shivered. "She says he was there the one second, the next he was in the air, screaming as it carried him away."

Jack's ears went down. "I'm sorry."

She nodded. "Say that to her, not me. After so long, tired, exhausted, just a slip of concentration and awareness. A bare single moment, out of all the hours and hours we usually do…" She clicked her fingers. "And that was it. What she'd warned could happen, what she'd protested about, it happened. She watched him get carried off, knowing that if either of them had their guns she could knock the bird out of the sky and that would be that, but being helpless. She called it in." She shrugged. "Right as the hammer on that damn commander was finally falling. Right as the top brass moved in to scream him a new one, right as they called a halt on new call intakes for a moment, to try and take stock of the stupid fakes still coming in from his mammals. My sister, ignored, tried to track him down. After the first day, she thought she had his scent. By the second she'd gotten through, and realising what that idiot had caused the entire ranger force moved in, trying to search and rescue one of their own. By the third day, exhausted, too tired to go on any longer… She found him, or what was left of him. One eye. A single, stupid, eye… All at the base of a cliff, his body long devoured. Calling it in, she was carried off while newly arrived mammals flushed the bird out. They found some of his clothes, torn up, in the nest. Bones too, he wasn't the first, not by a long shot. In fact… they think he got there alive. Somewhat. Only, injured, he crawled back behind the nest, into the caves in the cliff, slipping down until he got stuck, dying there slowly, never to be found."

Jack didn't say anything, breathing in hard, then out hard.

"There's not much else to add, really," Skye carried on. "She gave evidence in that mammals trial. She met Mrs Fox, her partner's friend from the academy, at the funeral. Her term coming to the end, she joined the army and thrived there even more." Trailing off, Skye looked away. "I guess it's why she's the way she is, even more so after than before. She listed every risk out, spotted them, but was barred from doing anything to mitigate them. And after that, she learnt that she needed to be in control, she could manage it, she knew how to keep everything safe. Even when dancing with danger." There was a shake of her head. "I guess she sees any criticism of her handling of Doug as… well, a bit like that. She knows she can handle it. Only now, instead of being under supplied she's being undermined."

"Confidence," Jack pondered, taking the time speak out each syllable. "What happens if you suggest she's like that commander?"

"She'll give you a look, calmly state that unlike him she's got everything balanced out and, rather than digging a hole deeper, has a bunch of emergency ladders in place. And if you still state that… Well, she'll never be direct… But I don't want to find out regardless." A small smile grew on her face. "After all, I do know her very well."

Jack nodded. "But you know, that does tell me one other very interesting thing."

"And what's that?" Skye asked.

"She's never had to face taking a life either."

Skye paused, her ears going up. "I suppose you're right. -But I mean, she did face death, she did face a do and die moment."

Jack smiled. "So, we're equally qualified. All thanks to you!" He poked her in the chest. Her eyes lowered, then rose again, and a small smile grew on her face.

"While my gut totally doesn't agree with that, you're a lucky Bun in that I don't want to be a hypocrite. And I guess the logic does work out."

"I do like that when it happens."

Skye nodded. "But come on, let's keep practising, okay?"

"Okay," Jack nodded, pausing as he went over to grab some ear plugs. Together, they held up the revolver and aimed at the target, Skye guiding him at first but then letting go.

"You know," he said. "I'm wondering if you want some help in return for all this."

She looked down. "I just want you to stay safe," she said, giving him a light kiss on the top of his head.

"So, nothing to do with your plan with Doug?"

"Oh, you can help with that if you want."

"What even is it?"

"A surprise," she smirked. "One I'm planning to spring very, very, soon."

The hare smiled. "And I for one am looking forward to it."

"So you should be," she said, looking up as he took aim. "Even if it fails, I think it's gonna be a blast."

BANG.