Chapter 3: The New Kid

Snowy's POV

I absolutely can't believe it.

I have always dreamed of becoming a musician and a metal singer that toured the world. I looked up to many metal musicians. I even looked up to ALister Otterton as a famous metal musician. My band was starting to break it big, just starting to break it viral. Some people already said we were going to be the next big thing. Instead, Alister has to come along, reform his, and get a member out of ours.

"So," Nick said, "drum machine?"

"I don't know," Judy said, "Duke was always a tricky guy."

"Hope I'm still in love with him," Finnick said, "I will have to ask. I always forget that weasels are polygamous."

"Hope we can find a new one," Sam said, "and sooner rather than later."

"I really do," I replied, "this has always been my dream. We were just starting to become big. Instead, our drummer leaves at the most important time possible."

"Well," Nick said, "what happens to the tour? How about that EP release show at the Palladium that is already sold out?"

"Who the hell knows," Judy said, "I guess we'll post and try to hold more auditions."

"Good idea," I said, "though it's hard to find another Sam Smallclaw."

Suddenly, a knock on the door sounded to Shave and a Furcut.

"Oh Satan who is it?"

I opened the door to find a female weasel standing right there, bearing similar resemblance to Duke. Instead, she had a pair of ripped jeans and a Spiritfox shirt.

"Hello there," she said, "are you Snowy?"

"Uh, yes," I replied, "what brings you here."

"I want to meet the band," she replied.

"Okay then" I said as I guided her through the house, "are you a fan?"

"More than that," she said.

We walked into the band room and immediately gave a long introduction.

"Well hello everyone," she said, "I am Duchess Weaselton, the twin sister of Duke Weaselton. He notified me that he was out of the band and contacted me to join. I already know all the drum parts, following along with Duke. I had drifted apart from my brother for a while but after he cleaned up we're closer than ever. Also, he sent me a recording of Alister Otterton singing and I can't wait for Pels Raseri to fully get back together, now that it is completely fresh in my memory. I even plan to move to Tundratown. I mean, Temperate Territory is cool and all, especially with the new Z-Train connections to the rest of the city's trains, including to the central subway - no more shitty commuter rail thanks to Mayor Howley - but Tundratown is where the best metal is. Well, enough Mustelidsplaining, time to lay down a fill."

She then played a medley of our different songs in a way faster than Duke could ever play. I was super impressed (no hetero).

"Well," I said, "thank you so much for the introduction. That all means-"

"YOU'RE IN THE BAND!" We all shouted at once.

"Ah hell yeah!" She replied excitedly, "I have always wanted to do this. Holy shit! And just when this band is taking off."

"Well," I said as my tail began to wag, "I guess we got the train back on the track. Now let's continue to hopefully become the next big thing."

We continued hanging out in the band room of our refurbished house. We joked around, talked about new music, and overall had a good time.

"Hey there!" Soon my mother, Winter had entered the room, "who is this new one."

"Hello there, Snowy's mom," Duchess said, "I'm Duchess Weaselton, Duke Weaselton's twin sister. He left the band."

"Oh yeah I heard that," Winter said, "And I heard someone singing Pels Raseri. Now all my memories have come back to me."

"That was Alister himself," I said, "Duke brought him in to show, and announce the departure from Dethbrush."

"We weren't sure what was going to happen," Nick said, "and then Duchess came and knocked on the door."

"After her drumming," Judy said, "we decided that she is in the band."

"Well," Winter said, "very excellent to hear! Hope you become even bigger than you are now!"

"Indeed," Sam said, "maybe we play the bigger venues one day."

"And maybe we end up opening for legends," Finnick said excitedly.

Winter walked out of the room.

"So," Duchess said, "run through a song or two."

"Yes indeed," I replied.

We picked up our instruments and practiced "Keep Living". Duchess knew all the drum parts by heart. It was our most recent release, and off of the "Live Or Die" EP due to release, which would be our first release with the new lineup. As mentioned earlier, the song was starting to go viral and we were gaining streaming numbers by the day. Our EP release show, coming up quite soon, at the Tundratown Palladium was already sold out, making it our biggest headliner to date.

"Wow," I said after we finished the song, "you do really know this by heart."

"I told ya," Duchess said, "I got all of this nailed right down. I even learned the parts for the few songs off the EP which haven't even been recorded yet."

"Holy fuck!" Nick said, "You really got this. You're even better as a drummer than your brother!"

"Thanks," Duchess said, "don't you have the recording for those songs coming up soon?"

"Yes we do," I responded, "Right down the street at Nesblud Studios. Oh yeah, we also need to announce the new lineup change."

Since we didn't have a social media manager yet, I took it upon myself to write an announcement, and posted the picture of all six of us in our practice room.

"Well," Duchess said, "it's getting pretty late and I don't move to Tundratown until another week. Gotta take the metro back to Temperate Territory."

"Indeed," I said, "great to meet you!"

We all exchanged numbers and social media tags before she walked out of the door.

I had a new sense of hope, knowing the band would work out after all. As Finnick and Sam packed their instruments to head back to their own abodes, I hung out with my newly adopted siblings Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde as we watched concert videos on Zootube.

"So," Nick said, "still got our band going."

"Indeed," Judy said, "and it's just the beginning.

I smiled, knowing that we would eventually find success and I would finally be able to live my dream.