The Risen Curtain - Chapter 10: The Spying Crow & Mother-Son Talk
#11 of NaZooverse
Judy and Nick both leve the work, and after they depart ways, Judy notices a strange figure literaly hovering above her. Meanwhile, Nick has a reunion and talk with his mother.
Nick groaned and he stretched himself in his chair. This was probably the last one he had to do today. He looked at the clock. Five more minutes and Nick would be able to say that he was done for the day.
The last three days had not been very busy, and they actually have been rather peaceful, with only a minor inconvenience as he and Judy were called to check on an account of order disturbance that turned out to be only a false alarm. Well, it seemed like a false alarm, once the guy who was talking was very frantic on what he had described, talking about "water monsters", or something of the like.
The guy was taken back to his home, and the situation was left behind.
Now, all that was left to do was to make some reports of how the day was.
Once more, Nick was remembered of how much he disliked paperwork.
Nick was finishing tipping his report, as professionally as he could, and describing the words of the guy who made a claim on the monsters.
That guy surely told one hell of a story. Nick thought as he wrote a brief resume of what the guy had spoken. Saying that a fox boy turned a puddle into a monster and threw it at him... wow, now that is something. Kind of crazy. Still, but maybe not crazier than other things that I have been going through lately.
It was around six p.m. when Nick finished and could finally able to close his computer. The tod was finally free from the dreaded paperwork.
Getting up, the fox decided to go for his partner.
He found the bunny in her own cubicle, absorbed into her own reports, and she seemed not to have noticed his approach. Nick smiled, and started to sneak in her direction as silently as he could.
He was now right behind Judy as she continued to tap away in her keyboard, looking at the screen. Nick rose behind her, a smirk on his face and his hands as if they were ready to grab on his target, when...
"Don't even think about it, Wilde." She said, immediately making the fox freeze in place, his hands in place and the smirk now out of his muzzle.
Soon, the fox was dropping his arms, looking at the bunny, who turned her head from her computer to look at Nick's face, now having a smirk of her own. She gently taped her big ears.
"Hearing range of three blocks, remember?" She spoke to him. "I can hear your steps right after you get out of your computer.
Nick pouted. "Man, I thought I had gotten you this time."
Judy chuckled. Nick could really be a very big kit sometimes. "Well, you are just in time. I have just finished this last report."
"Great, this means we can go now, right?" Nick said, sounding eager to finish his job and go home.
"Wow, you really don't like working, do you, Officer Wilde?"
"Not when I'm forced to do paperwork." Nick admitted, with the same casual smile Judy was used to so much. She smiled at him.
"Well, you should be thankful that Chief Bogo decided not to put us both only on it for the rest of the week.
Nick was forced to agree with her. For a moment back on Monday, he had been worried that Buffalo-Butt was going to put him on desk duty until the end of his days. Mainly because the Chief mentioned something like that. However, it seemed that the Chief got a bit calmer after yelling at Nick for a bit, and especially after Nick gave a good explanation to why he was in there.
Of course, Nick had not told the Chief that he was making personal investigations on supernatural events, for he knew better, but he said that he had been gone to see Bellwether in order to be able to face her, for both his own and Judy's shake. He said that he just needed to look her in the eyes and confront her, what was actually not that far from the truth. Nick was once more thankful for being good in dealing in mammals and convincing.
The Chief was calmer after that, especially because Nick had refrained from making any snarky remarks or jokes. He was no longer demoting him to a meter guard, but Nick had the feeling that he was going to be on probation for the following week. Nick was glad that he got off only with an ear chewing, even though the Chief was very thorough into chewing someone else's ears.
Nick was relieved that he was not stuck into desk duty or parking duty, especially for the shake of his smaller partner. Yes, because they were partners, and they were partnered mainly because of their approximate relative size, which fit their especially made vehicle. Working with someone with a huge size difference would be troublesome. Also, since they were partners, it was expected that they would be together in their assignments. What meant that if Nick got either desk or parking duty, Judy would most likely get the same thing. Nick shuddered at the thought of what the bunny girl would do to him if she was stuck in a desk or in the meter maid uniform because of his actions.
Soon, the two mammals moved out of the bunny's cubicle, and after changing into their civilian clothing, they were both walking out of the building, getting ready to go home and unwind after a day of work. The sun was about to set, and today was a day when they were allowed to finish their shift earlier, giving them a chance to relax.
It was on the subway that they were able to talk a bit more.
"So, not stopping on your usual station, today?" Judy asked to the fox as they stepped out of the train, and the fox shrugged a bit.
"Nah, I have plans for today. I'm going to visit someone."
"Oh." Judy said, looking at him, and Nick soon knew what she was thinking.
"Not about the subject, Carrots." Nick said to her, referring to what they had talked during Sunday, and on what now they were keeping low profile on as they "looked for more evidence" on the matter. "I'm just going to visit my mother. She asked me if I could go visit her any day because she misses me, so I agreed to see her today after work."
"Oh, right." Judy said, "It is nice that you do stuff like that."
"I know." Nick said, "I really had not been the best of sons. So, I try to compensate now the best I can. It is nice to visit her, actually. She makes a blueberry pie that should be a controlled substance."
The two animals traded a few more words, before they effectively separated. Nick walked in direction to the stairs, aiming to get out of the subway and get into his cab to his mother's home. Meanwhile, Judy was left behind to wait for her next train.
As she waited, however, Judy caught something with her peripheral vision. Something blue.
Looking over, she saw a blue butterfly floating in the air. She blinked as she looked at it, and she noticed that the butterfly seemed to be hoovering somehow above Nick. It was right in the area above his head and the heads of other mammals, but it seemed like it definitely was directly above Nick.
Memories of all that she and Nick talked about came back after a few seconds of looking at the butterfly. Judy thought about calling out for Nick, but he was far already, and she would have to scream, what would draw the attention of a lot of mammals, and she didn't wanted quite that, especially, she didn't wanted to have to explain that she cried out because of a butterfly.
Thinking fast, Judy fished out her phone, aiming to send Nick a text warning him of the creature above him. While she tapped the words, the kept looking up at the butterfly, and that was why she had the chance to see it... dissolve?
It was as if the butterfly was decomposing into powdery light, before it completely vanished in the air, as if it had never even existed.
Judy blinked, as he mind tried to process what she had just seen. Her whole body paralyzed, until someone bumped into her and complained that she was blocking the way for the train.
Judy noticed that her train had arrived, and that she was about to lose it. Luckily, she was able to get inside and get seated. Soon, her thoughts went back to what she had seen and, inevitably, they went back to what she and Nick had talked. To the amazing, impossible things that Nick had described. Judy had the creeping feeling that what she had just witnessed perfectly matched what Nick had described.
Judy went back into texting, and after a while of tapping into the screen of her computer, she finally pressed "send", and the message biped as it went to its destiny.
Nick had just stepped out of the stairs of the subway when his cellphone buzzed.
The fox fished it out if his pocket and took a look, to see that he had one new message. From Judy.
Nick raised an eyebrow at this. He had just been with her not even a minute ago, and now she was sending him a message? What, she had forgot to tell him something?
Opening the message, Nick saw the beginning of what was write.
Nick, I just saw that blue butterfly floating above you -
Nick blinked, widening his eyes and immediately looking up. He looked up, to the sides, and he could not see the blue butterfly that Judy had mentioned. Was it hiding? Did it noticed that he was looking for it and now was trying to get out of sight? Or had it somehow became invisible?
Each thought was crazier than the last, but they were not so crazy if you compared to the other things that Nick had went through.
Looking around, Nick could not see the butterfly, after a while, he went back into reading the text.
-but it vanished in the air! Just disappeared! Turned into dust!
Maybe it was following us all along! Keep an eye open in case you see it again.
Nick looked up after finishing reading the text, looking for any sign of blue that was not from the sky, for any pair of fluttering wings. However he found none, and he sighed. His body relaxed a little, but he was still on his toes.
As the text had instructed, Nick kept watch, to see if he could possible see another weird and mysterious blue butterfly. Even as he got his cab and told the driver to go to the given address.
As the cab drove away, Nick looked by the window, thinking of all that had happened, and what that all could possibly mean.
Saying that everything that had happened was strange would actually be an understatement. Nick knew that well, and he knew that denial was not going to help him in a moment like that. Many animals would go into denial and try to move on and forget that it ever happened. However, Nick was not among these. He was not the kind of mammal who ignored things. Of course, he did his best to move on and to try to go on with his life the best he could, he learned that after he started to be on his own, surviving from hustling other mammals for their money. However, there are things that he could not simply ignore, like what he had seen back there.
Of course, there was a time when he would have lowered his head and not asked any question on the matter. However, these days have passed.
Now he had a new inspiration that let him not simply let go of things, and to battle for what he believed...
Judy had just jumped down from the train at her station, and soon she was maneuvering through the forest of moving legs of the bigger mammals to get to the exit of the subway. On her way, she had the feeling of seeing a familiar antelope going ahead, but she barely noticed, as her mind was too absorbed into what was happening now.
Many things had happened in the past week and a half, and they were enough to get Judy to think a lot. Seeing the destruction of an entire city in a freakish event on live television was something that had got to her. It wasn't something you expect to see, and certainly not in so much detail as it had been show. Judy still had a bit of troubles to sleep due to what she had witnessed, and she wondered if Nick also had them.
Few days later, there was the event on the square with that curious group of mammals, among them a horse. The thing that Judy had seen him do with the heart of flames and the curtain of smoke was something surreal. She had thought it very strange, and she had a strange suspicion on what she had saw. However, she had accepted that there was a very reasonable explanation to what she had saw, even though the feeling of something more had remained in the back of her head.
The feeling had somehow came back with the talk she had with Nick, in which the fox told her a fantastic story with magic butterflies and flaming ropes. She knew Nick, and she was sure of two things: he was not crazy, and he would not simply make up a story like that. She trusted him and trusted his opinion, enough to be able to consider what he said, when she would have a lot of doubts in regarding to anyone else who told her that.
Finally, there was the fact that she saw the same strange butterfly that Nick had described (or at least she thought that it was the same), and she saw it disappearing in thin air (or thought she saw it). All of that summing up some very strange things that had been happening lately.
Judy was deep in thought as she reflected on all of these strange things, trying to make head and tails out of them. She barely paid attention to her surroundings, as post lamps now illuminated the empty street she was taking to her home as the sky acquired the violet shade that it had with the setting of the sun. Still...
A shiver ran up Judy's spine. Her nose started to twitch furiously. There it was. A feeling that she already had before.
The feeling of being followed.
Of being watched.
Judy blinked, as she looked at the sides, trying to figure out where the feeling was coming from. However, she saw only empty streets, and the ones who were in there did not seemed to be focusing on her.
The bunny was about to dismiss her feelings as mere paranoia, when she remembered what she saw earlier, of the creature that was hovering over Nick, watching him from above.
Blinking, Judy looked again, but this time she was looking up, at the darkening sky.
Bunnies didn't had a particularly good night vision, and seeing in darkness of the night was a challenge to them sometimes. Still, Judy did her best as she looked up, trying to see if there was anything up that was worth of her attention, and which maybe could be the cause of the feeling that she was having.
After straining her eyes a little, she was able to see something. A shape stood darker against the dark of the sky.
It was moving in circles above her, and it had wings.
Now that she noticed it, Judy could her the faint sound of its flapping winds, as it mostly hovered above her.
Judy blinked, looking at the strange black bird from above, and wondering just what it was, and why was it flying over her like that. Of course, many mammals, especially the smaller ones, knew that, if a big bird had its eyes on you, and was circling you, it was not a good idea to remain in place. For, while mammals had evolved to gain sentience, birds were a kind of animal that had not, as they retained their feral ways, including the birds of prey, who would occasionally hunt on mammals to eat them.
Judy looked at the bird circling over her, and she slowly started to move away, turning around and resuming her walk in direction to her house.
The feeling of being followed and watched persisted. Now that she knew where the feeling was coming from, she was able to track it better. Her ears moved trying to pick the occasional, faint sound of wings, and she would occasionally look up, trying to catch glimpses of the bird that was flying over her.
She felt an urge to run, to try to escape, but she did her best to suppress it. If the bird that was above her were aiming to snatch her as dinner, it would probably have done it already. Instead, it seemed only to be following her, as if it was keeping an eye for her.
The thought seemed strange, however, it didn't seemed so strange, considering that Nick apparently was being followed by a magic butterfly.
As she walked, as calmly and normally as she could, Judy did tried to figure out just what kind of bird could be this that was now following her. It was black enough to mix with the dark of the sky, and that was for sure. It also seemed too small to be a buzzard. That much Judy knew. Even because, buzzards were birds of prey, scavenging birds that feed on carrion and occasionally attacked living animals to make them food, if there was such a big bird out in the city someone would complain to the City Hall, and the mammals would quickly dispatch beast control to deal with the bird.
Of course, if it was a minor species of animal, like maybe a crow...
Suddenly Judy stopped for a moment, remaining still in the street, before she resumed walking.
"Hey, that bird is there again!"
"Bird!? What bird?"
"That bird I told you about a few days ago! That weird looking crow!..."
Could it be..? Judy thought as she continued to walk, increasing slightly her pacing speed. Her ears caught the sound of the wings above her.
After a while more of talking, Judy soon had her building in sight. Her instincts told her to make a dash for it, but she remained composed and walked to it. She slowly climbed the stairs, looking over her shoulder and up, and she could catch glimpse of a dark shadow hovering over the place and landing on top of a power line.
"That crow is strange! It comes here every few days and just keeps perched in that line looking at the building!..."
Judy continued her way, opening the door and calmly closing it. She passed by the landlady on her way to the stairs, and gave her a polite "good night", before starting to climb the stairs. Once the landlady was now out of sight, Judy rushed up, jumping the steps of the stairs in direction to her apartment.
As she reached the next store of the building and rushed to her apartment, she could already hear the voices of her two crazy neighbors, having yet another squabble.
"...why do you even look into that website?"
"The links come into my mail and I open them! It is some kind of promotion!"
"What!? You mean we have to pay for it!? My salary is barely enough to pay rent and food! We can't afford some fancy meditation class!"
"We don't pay anything! If we did, the bill would have come to us already! I have been following the site for nearly five years now!"
Judy barely minded then, as she opened the door to her apartment, and looked at the window.
Going for it, she looked in the outside, and she saw the black figure again. The crow had red eyes that were turn to the window, and for a very brief moment, Judy locked eyes with it, right before she pulled the curtains of her window, obscuring the sight from the bird. However, Judy still had the feeling that the bird was just outside, still looking at her apartment's window.
She stood there for a while, and soon, she was moving out of her apartment. She walked to the door that was immediately next to hers'.
"How did you even got subscription in a website like that!?"
"I don't know! The link just came in my mail one day and I didn't questioned!"
"So you just took an email from a stranger!? Do you know how dangerous that is!?"
Judy walked to the door, and knocked in it. There was a brief fumbling as the animals inside questioned who should answer the door, and soon there was someone answering. Both antelopes stood around the same height, being around 5'7'' feet tall, and they were both just as thin. Still, it was easy to tell them apart due to their specific antelope species. The one who answered was a kudu, with pale gold fur and light markings on his face, and a pair of brown horns on his head. He was wearing what seemed to be his pajamas, with blue and white striped shirt and legs. It was Bucky. He looked to the sides into the door, before turning back and saying:
"There is no one!"
Judy didn't even groaned, so used that she was to this already.
"Down here!"
Bucky finally looked down, his brown eyes meeting Judy, and they widened a little.
"Oh! Hey, Hopps." He said to her, and turned back to scream. "Scratch what I just said! It is Hopps!" He turned back to Judy, and spoke more calmly. "Did you arrived just now? We didn't hear you."
"Yeah, I just arrived." Judy said to him, "But, I want to ask you a question."
"If it is about the meditation website that he is always visiting, then we both have a lot of questions." Pronk quipped from the inside, causing Bucky to turn back in annoyance.
"Oh, shut up!"
"No, you shut up!"
"No, YOU shut up!"
"Bucky. Bucky!" Judy called, making the kudu look at her again. "Bucky, I need to ask you a question, is about the crow that you said has been watching the building. Remember, you talked about it last week?"
Bucky looked at her for a few moments, and then he realized what she was talking about.
"Oh, right, that creepy bird." He said as he looked at her. "Well, some people..." He said, looking over his shoulder at the Oryx that was inside the building, looking at his own cellphone, seemingly absorbed into something. "... think that it's crazy to think that a bird spies on mammals, but I'm saying that there is something creepy about that bird! I swear that it has been watching into the build for a while now, and it just keeps here every few nights and keeps in there looking at the building, as if it was waiting for something. I swear I even considered calling the beast control on that crow."
"I see..." Judy said, "And... for how long the crow had been watching over the building?"
The kudu stopped to think, reflecting a little bit. "Well, the first time I noticed that crow was a few months ago. I was just coming back from groceries and I saw it perking into the lines, just looking at the building. After that, I've seen it a few more times, doing just that, sitting in the lines and staring at the building from there."
"A few months..." Judy said, taking a mental note on the subject. "And, it doe change positions when it perks into the line, or it has a favorite spot?"
"Favorite spot?" Bucky asked, "As in, a place where it likes to stay... well..." The kudu once more started to think, pondering on the answer for the bunny's question. "Well, I see it from the window a few times, and it always seen to be perked in the same part of the line... I guess?"
Judy nodded, and she asked another question.
"And, does it comes only at night?"
"Well, mostly." Bucky admitted to Judy. "It usually appears when the sun is setting or after it has set, but sometimes it is there in the morning, or it comes in the middle of the afternoon... Wait, why are you asking so many questions about the crow?" He asked her as he looked at the bunny. Suddenly, his eyes widened. "Wait, it is not perking outside just now, is it?"
Judy said nothing, and soon, Bucky was walking back inside and looking out of his window.
"It is! Pronk, the crow is there again!" The kudu said, apparently he had forgotten about Judy, and the bunny decided that it was time to go back to her apartment.
She reflected on the information that she had gotten from her neighbor, and while it said her a lot, at the time it said very little. The crow was first noticed a few months ago, but it was possible that it has been there for longer. It comes usually when the sun is setting or has already set, but it occasionally comes during other parts of the day, and it came back each few days and just kept looking at the building.
Getting inside of her apartment and locking the door, Judy looked at her window, with the curtain draw. She walked to it, and gently pulled the curtain, as to have line of sight of the crow. It was still there perking in the line, looking at the building.
There was a piece of information that Bucky had gave that was meaningful to Judy. The crow would always perk in the same spot of the line as it kept looking at the building. A spot that, coincidence or not, seemed to be right in front of her window. Now, Judy knew that she would probably sound paranoid, and it would surely made her seen like the stereotypical scared bunny, but she had the very distinct feeling that it seemed that the crow was looking at her window specifically. The fact that the crow had been following her just on her way home, and that it perked in there as soon as she arrived was enough to strengthen her belief in this.
Pulling her phone, Judy pointed the camera at the crow and took a picture. The flash made the crow caw and take flight, leaving the lines and disappearing into the nocturnal sky.
"It just flew!" Judy could hear Bucky saying to his husband. "It got scared with a flash! Do you think it will come back?"
"Wow! Man!" Pronk answered.
"What? It could come back!"
"No, not your mysterious crow! I just saw a video in this new website someone tagged me!"
"Website!?" Bucky asked. "Oh, so I'm not allowed to check on websites, but you are?"
"A friend of mine tagged me and I gave it a look! It seemed strange at first, but they had some videos, and man, you gotta see them! I'll tag you!" He said, and suddenly there was a slamming into the wall. "Hopps! I'll tag you as well, you gotta see this!"
Judy blinked, and she turned to her own phone. She looked at the picture of the crow she had just taken. She looked at it, and was able to have a better look at the bird that she caught on camera. It looked like any other crow, save for the eyes which, in the picture, seemed almost to be glowing, and were deep red. She kept looking at it, when her phone suddenly tweeted, as to give her a notification that she had received a link.
"Okay, just tagged you guys!" Pronk said both to his husband in the same apartment and to Judy on the neighbor one.
Judy blinked. She looked at her phone, showing the notification that indicated she was marked into that link. For a moment, she thought about just pushing it aside and continuing to wonder about the strange crow that was in there. However, she also knew that Pronk was not the kind who would mark others for just anything, and that he was probably expecting to see her reactions into the website he marked her with, and that she didn't gave him answers, she was probably going to hear a lot of it later on.
So, Judy just opened the link she received, and she saw just what kind of website she had been marked into. As she looked at what it was...
"What?" Judy asked, as she looked very intently at her phone, her eyes capturing the details of the place in the web to which Pronk had directed her.
"Strange, ain't it?" The Oryx's voice came from the other end of the wall, and this time, Judy was force to agree...
"I've said it once, I've said it twice, and I'll say it many more times." Nick said, as he poked another piece of the baked goodness on his plate with a fork. "Mom, you make the best blueberry pie in the world!" He said, and he put the piece into his mouth, letting out a delighted sound as he let the thing glide across all of his taste buds, practically making them sing in chorus.
"I'm glad that I still make them well." Said the vixen to whom Nick was talking. Sophie Wilde was a vixen of beauty, and some said that she didn't truly looked her age. She was slender and elegant, standing on a little over 3'9'' feet, with fur of the same colors her son, but in a softer shade. Her eyes were of an intense amber coloration, and they denoted a kindness that also manifested in her voice and in much of her actions. She had signs of age, of course, like some of her fur discoloring, and some wrinkles on her face, but still, many said that she looked truly great to someone who was nearing her sixties. She wore a casual set of clothing, with a green shirt, a white sweater, and a long pink skirt. That was mostly how Nick remembered her, if he stopped to think of it. His mother was always quite plain and simple when it came to her clothes.
Nick was happy for being able to sit with her and talk once more, and for being able to taste that wonderful blueberry pie, even better than the one Gideon Gray made in BunnyBurrow (on Nick's obviously biased opinion). It was another thing that had changed in his life in the recent times.
By the time that Nick had graduated in the Academy, he had come to see his mother, talking to her for the first time in a few years. He had not really been on speaking terms with her, mostly because of his very poor life choices. Nick didn't truly had the heart to come and face her.
He had been a horrible son, and he knew it. His mother had always worked hard to put food on his stomach, clothes on his back and a roof over his head, and he had not really gave it value ever since the Ranger Scouts incident. These stupid speciest brats truly broke him back then, and he ended up accepting their views that he could not be anything more than a shifty and untrustworthy fox.
His relationship with his mother gradually got worse from there on, as he saw himself giving up on his aspirations and getting himself into more and more problems. Starting with problems at his school, evolving to a historic of delinquency on his High school years, and culminating into him dropping out of school by the time of his last year and going full fledge into the life of a hustler.
This had left his mother heartbroken, and Nick knew that he was not living his life in a way that would make her proud. However, after what he had been through, he thought that there was just no other way he could live his life, being a fox and all.
It took a very strong and optimist bunny to change his views in the world, and to be able to turn his life around and finally reconcile with his mother.
Nick still remembered the first time he went to speak to his mother in his full police uniform. The look of pride in her face was more than enough to reassure Nick that he had finally started to make the right decisions.
They both started talking more after that, and that was yet another reason why Nick was so thankful to Judy.
He was also thankful that his mother still lived in the same house where he grew up with her.
The fox had been really surprised to come home after so long and discover that very little had actually changed. Of course, there was some new decoration here and there, and some extra pictures on the walls, but other than that the place was exactly as Nick remembered it. Even his own bedroom was still pretty much like Nick had left it, having been kept clean and neat by his mother, who had always somehow managed to balance both her work and her home.
She truly was an amazing woman.
Nick didn't deserved such a good mother.
"So, how is your partner going?" Sophie asked her son. "She has been keeping you on line?"
"O-oh, you mean, Carrots?" Nick said, to her, suddenly being brought back from his recollections into the present. "Yeah, she is like that. She is always on my foot to do my work as professionally as I possibly can. Hard to think of slacking or not acting like a proper cop when she is around." Nick admitted to his mother. "That actually is a good thing, you know, she helps me not to slip and go back to my old ways."
His mother smiled at this, but Nick noticed that she had somehow become sadder. Talking about his "old ways" was a thing that made her upset.
Why did I said that?
"So, I was thinking of maybe bringing her up any day." Nick said, trying to change the subject. "I think it would be nice for you two to finally be able to talk, and maybe I can finally get her to taste your blueberry pie! I tried to take some pieces to her, but it is so good that I always eat them by myself before she has the chance to taste them. Guess she needs to taste it straight from the source."
Nice move.
Now, Judy was a subject that made his mother smile. The vixen surely was thankful towards the bunny, just as Nick himself was. Surely because the bunny had saved her son from a sad and lonely life that could probably have ended badly.
"You know, I surely would love to know young Judy." Sophie said to her son, a warm and kind smile on her face. "Even though, considering just how much you talk about her, it is almost as if I know her already."
"H-hey!" Nick said, blushing for some reason, "I-it's not like I talk about her that much."
"Just on the day you came here to show me your uniform..." Sophie started, "You spent nearly an entire hour talking about this 'amazing bunny girl' who helped you become a cop."
"I was just putting you in pair of all the facts." Nick said, looking away and feeling quite bashful, and he didn't even knew why.
"Uh-huh..." Sophie said, taking another sip of her tea, with a smile that was of a mom who knew it.
What's with that smile now? Nick thought, as he tried to figure out why he was feeling blushy and bashful all of sudden. He decided to hose down the feeling by taking a big gulp of the tea that his mother brought to company the pie.
"You know, I never understood why you like tea so much." Nick said, as he looked at the cup with a tea that his mother had served to him.
"Oh, that is from my younger years." Sophie said to him, "From a time when I lived in Liondon."
Oh, right, that explains it... wait, what?" Nick said, as he realized what his mother had said. "Mom, you lived in England?"
"For a while." She admitted. "No, you are not British, I was born and raised in Animerica, just like you. I lived in there for a few years as I was studying."
"Oh... wow." Nick said, "I didn't knew that."
"It was long ago, before you were born." She admitted. "Anyway, I spent a few years there in Liondon for my studies."
"And by few, we mean..?"
"A little over five years." She said to him. Nick stared at her as if he had just found out that she had a degree in quantum mechanic. "Well, I was quite smart, and I had grades good enough to study in there for a while. Of course, since tea is the official drink from there, I kind of got used to it. Addicted would be a better word, actually." She said casually and sipped another gulp of the tea.
She sighed as she put it down. "Of course, quality teas are a bit harder to find here in Animerica, since mammals in here drink more coffee and beer than tea, but there are some very good brands, like Dalmah Tea. This one is Ceylon golden pekoe with earl grey and vanilla. Really good if well made. But I still prefer it with blueberry leaves."
Nick looked at the tea that he had been served. Up until now, the only thing he knew about tea was that you made it by tossing some herbs into a pot and setting it to boil and that it could be black or light like coffee. It was a surprise for him that his mother seemed to know so much about tea. Of course, it was also a surprise for him that she had studied overseas. He would have never guessed...
"So, did you studied into some big English school, or something?"
"Yes, something of the like." His mother admitted.
"Cool, and what did you learned there, besides everything that there is to know about tea?"
She stopped for a moment, and Nick had the impression that her smile faltered a little bit. However, she was soon smiling again, and she said:
"Well, it was a school that offered a wide range of teachings, I did a few specializations."
"Wow, that is cool." Nick said to his mother, fascinated that he was learning new things about her. "Bet you were smarter than any other guy in there."
"Well, I kind of was." Sophie admitted. "But, that was not necessarily a good thing."
"Oh? How so?"
"Well, that school I was studying... let's just say that it was an elitist institution." Sophie explained to her son. "The mammals who studied in there had their own hierarchy and meritocracy, and some of them could be quite jealous, especially if the one who was smarter than them was a fox."
"Oh, right..." Nick said, and this actually was no surprise for him. Of course that his mother would also have it bad growing up as a fox. Nick actually felt like a jerk for never having thought that she already had to go through the same difficulties that he had. It was even likely that she had it worse than he did.
"Yeah, most of them didn't really liked being around me. I didn't made many friends in there... save for a few. One of them in particular..."
Nick looked at his mother, and it was clear by her face that this particular memory was a found one.
"You know, Nick, I always hoped that one day you would understand that no matter how much the world mistrusts and oppresses you, as long as there is at least one mammal who truly understands and appreciates you, you will be able to go through." She spoke to him. "Of course, I guess I failed to let you know that..."
Oh, no. Don't let her go there! Say something!
"It was mostly my fault, actually." Nick said, and his other looked at him. "I mean, I let these idiots get to me and I tossed away all my dreams because of what they said. I should have been better than that."
His mother looked at him, and Nick reached out to place a paw on her own.
"I'm not making this mistake again. From now on, I'll live my life for the mammals who actually care about me and who see the best in me. Like you and Judy." He said, and this made her smile at him. "After all, you two are practically the only mammals in this city whose opinion I actually give a frick about."
Sophie felt like she should reprimand her son for the kind of language that he was using, however, in seeing him smile like that, she just didn't had the heart to. It had been a long time before she had seen such a sincere smile on his face again...
"Oh, Nick..." She said, "My dear Nick... When you came home in tears on that night, telling me what these horrible kids had done to you, I was so heartbroken. I really thought that you would not have any faith in the world again."
Nick shrugged. He too believed that he would never had faith in the world again, until that bunny came along.
"Now look at you. Zootopia's first fox police officer. Keeping the oath of serve and protect, helping the mammals of this city..." She spoke, with a proud smile on her face. But suddenly, she seemed to become sadder over something.
Oh, what now? What did I do?
"... Even though... this might put you in danger." She spoke the next sentence in a whisper, and Nick looked at her.
She rose her eyes to look at Nick. "Nick... a horrible thing has happened recently."
Nick looked at his mother, and he assumed that she was referring to the event of Fangtropolis. She continued.
"I could see it on television, and I know that you did too." She spoke to him.
"Yeah, it was horrible." Nick said, still feeling a sense of dread on each time he thought on that horror show.
"Ever since it happened, I've been worried." She admitted to the younger fox, clutching his paw. "I have this feeling in my chest that something is going to happen. Something that will affect you in some way... This makes me so scared for you..."
Nick didn't quite knew if there was a correct answer to this, but one thing he knew, it was the job of every mother to worry about their children. Of course his mother would be on edge because of what she saw, many were. It was probable that seeing something like that happening to these poor mammals made her remember that something horrible could happen at any time, with anyone, including Nick.
Nick simply held her hand for a while, before he spoke to her:
"Okay, look, I do know that every mom's job is to think that her kits might need her at any moment of the day, and that it is a job that they refuse to fail."
His mother continued to look at him, and Nick placed down the cup to hold his mother's paws.
"But I'm gonna be fine." He said to her. "Look, nothing bad will happen to me. I have been trained by the ZPD to fight, I know my way around the city and how to get out of trouble, I have a true fighter as my partner covering my back, and in case you haven't noticed..."
He let go of her paws to show his biceps.
"... I'm no longer the pencil necked teenager that you once knew."
Sophie chuckled a little. It was true. Nick was indeed a lot thinner when he was a teenager, almost to the point of looking anorexic. He was indeed a lot healthier now, especially considering that he had gained some muscle due to his training to become a cop.
"Oh, Nicky." His mother said, "I know that you are strong. You proved it to me many times... but still, I get really worried about you."
Nick sighed. "Yeah, I know." Nick admitted. "I got tell you, things have been crazy these days. But I manage it. I have my partner with me."
His mother looked down at her own cup, and Nick placed a paw on her shoulder, causing her to look at him once more.
"I'll be fine." He reassured her. "I promise."
Seeing the look in his eyes, Sophie could not help but smile back at him.
After a while more, when Nick finally finished both his pie and tea, he was ready to go.
"Wow, look at the time! I gotta go now if I want to arrive home in time to have my beauty sleep." Nick said as he got up, and Sophie remained sitting as Nick got up. "Wanna help with the dishes?"
"No, it's fine." Sophie said to him. "You can go now and rest. You have to be rested tomorrow to keep an eye on the criminals and on some blue butterflies."
"Yeah, sure do." Nick said, "See you later mom, I love you."
With this said, Nick walked to the door, and Sophie was sitting in the place, her own tea still in her paws, and she sighed as she heard the sound of the door opening, closing, and being locked from the outside.
For a while, she sat in there. Taking sips of her tea as she reflected on all that had happened.
Her son became a cop.
It was a source of great pride to her. However, it was a source of worry and doubt at the same time. For she knew that now her son would be running into dangerous situations on his job. Of course it would be a matter of time until he stumbled into something that could put him in grave danger. Like them, for example....
Sophie sighed, and she set her cup down, walking to the window.
The city of Zootopia, where she had lived for a long time with her son, doing her best to raise him in a world that could be cruel and unforgiving. She did her best to protect him and to help him grow. Sometimes, she still felt like she had somehow failed with him. However, there was one thing: she refused to failing into protecting him. Her son had just began to live a new life, one that made him happy and satisfied. She was not going to lose him now.
Reaching out inside her clothes, she gripped something in her paw.
As she did, she reflected on her long-gone past. A past that she spent the last thirty-four years trying to leave behind. A past that she hoped that Nick would never be able to find out. And if he ever did found out, she hoped, from all of her heart, that he would not end up like many before him...
Nick had just stepped out of the house, and he sighed as he walked. He couldn't put it into words how good it was to finally be able to relate better to his mother. Enough to learn some new things about her.
He knew that his mother had been a very good student when she was younger, but he had no idea that she had studied overseas. Who would know? And it was one of those fancy schools attended by these pompous, snotty brats who didn't liked a fox being better than them at anything.
She probably had qualifications to get nearly any job that she wanted. Still, his mother only got jobs as receptionist and waitress. Certainly because others didn't felt like giving a position of power or prestige to a fox. It was harder when she was younger, and Nick knew that. This made him wonder just how much she had to struggle to be able to give him a good and honest life.
And you threw it all away and embraced the stereotype that all those stupid speciest jerks have of foxes. Nice going, moron.
Nick sighed, as the feeling of wanting to kick himself was something that he was used to by now, with the kind of life he had been having. However, since his change in professions, it became something more common. The feeling that he spent so much time of his life following society's views in foxes while he could have been doing something good was a feeling that Nick found unpleasant.
Well, you cannot change the past, but you can work better into a better future. He needed to focus on the now. To continue doing his work by being a cop, making the world a better place, making both his mother and his partner proud of him...
All the while investigating the seemingly supernatural things of the world.
Yeah, Nick's life was a bit confuse at the moment. Maybe his mother had a certain reason in being worried like that, if he would be running into coyotes with flaming ropes, tigers who made the ground explode and killer blue butterflies...
All of sudden, Nick stopped on his tracks. Be blinked, as his mind reeled back to what his mother had just said to him moments ago. About the blue butterflies.
How did she knew?
Nick had not told her about what was happening. Both because he didn't wanted to worry her, and because he was sure that letting his mother think he was losing his mind was not a good idea, so he abstained from telling her anything about the mysterious things that had happened on his life in the last days.
He hadn't told her about the butterfly... How could she know..?
Suddenly, the beeping of his cellphone called Nick's attention out of his reflection. The fox soon was fishing out the device and looking at the screen.
Someone had sent him the link to a website.
Nick blinked, coking his ear and looking at the message.
"What is this?" The fox muttered to himself, as he tapped into the screen, looking as the link guided him to a website he had never visited before.
He looked at the site, and as he did, his face changed to a certain kind of surprise.
"What the nuts?"
Bogo sighed as he fell back in his chair. Once more, he was forced to stay up 'til late to look up into important matters. Just part of the brunch that you face when you are in a position of power and responsibility, like being a police chief.
He fumbled about the papers, when his phone beeped.
Bogo pulled it, and saw that someone seemed to have marked him with some link.
Bogo rolled his eyes, adopting a scowl as he looked at the screen and tapped right into the link.
I swear, if it is another propaganda of horn polishers...
However, it was not a propaganda for any product for aesthetic beauty. Actually, it was something that Bogo surely was not really expecting.
His expression changed to one of surprise as he looked at that, before morphing to one of angry annoyance, and he resisted the urge to smash his phone.
Benjamin Clawhauser had just finished his last shift, and he had switched places with the black rhino who was in charge of the night shift.
Benjamin yawned, showing off his fangs as he stretched his body.
Whew, what a long day.
Now, Ben was never the kind of mammal who complained about work, but he had to admit that sometimes the day just seemed like it would never end. The plump cheetah was now happy that he could go home and have a good night's sleep. If those two would not be up 'til late watching the night horror marathon again.
The electric bill has been coming a little bigger because of this. Maybe I should talk with the boys...
Suddenly, Benjamin's phone chirped, and the cheetah fished it out to see that someone had sent him a link.
Oh, what is this? Oh! Maybe it's a new Gazelle videoclip!
Ben became excited as he opened the video on his phone. However, this excitement evaporated and was replaced with an expression of mortification when he saw what the link took him to.
"O... M... Goodness..."
All over the city the mammals were receiving a link and sharing it with their friends, and it was always the same link, one that led to a specific website.
Once they arrived, there was a black screen and soon, letters started to scroll up into the screen.
Have you ever felt that there was more to this world than you think?
Like there was something out there that was hidden just out of sight?
That there was something that someone was trying to hide from you?
Well, let us tell you two things:
First: you are not alone.
Second: You are not wrong.
There is something hidden in this world. Something that had been there ever since forever, and that now you just cannot see.
A curtain was pull over your eyes to conceal the truth from you.
However, with the Darkest Hour, the curtain has finally be lifted.
They are trying to pull the curtain back, to blind your eyes.
However, we are not willing to let it happen.
We want to make sure that you see the truth.
Then, the whole screen faded to black, and faintly, something started to appear in the black screen, as if it was glowing.
It was a curious symbol or logotype of silvery coloration.
Above it, words appeared in red.
THE TRUTH ABOUT MAGES
Beneath, there was a gallery full of videos...