The Risen Curtain - Chapter 14: Taking a Decision
#15 of NaZooverse
After being rescued, the ferret who saved the mammals decides to make something about all that is going on.
What will be the results of her decision?
"Thank goodness, it didn't got damaged." Patrick said, as he finished checking on the camera that he borrowed from his father, and that the old hyena had been so insistent for him to be careful with... "Dad would ground me forever if there was a single scratch in it."
"Yeah, that's cool, but what about the video?" Sully said as she and Shawn both stood near the hyena. "The mages didn't erased it, did they?"
The hyena looked at him.
"Well, it seems that the video of the ritual is all okay. We have all the recording until the moment the tiger took the camera from me."
"Great!" The pig said. "Finally we have something solid! We have something that will give our Zootube channel thousands of views! Ain't that great, Shawn?"
The sheep did not answered; he was still hugging himself with both arms, looking quite shaken. Somehow, that was no surprise, considering that he almost got himself a bloody shear by a mean-looking wolf, with a dagger.
The teenagers were actually taking it surprisingly well. They had just been threatened by a bunch of mammals with daggers, and they were still able to act so composed (well, two of three of them, at least), and that considering the fact that they had no training in the matter whatsoever, unlike the other mammals still inside that storehouse.
Bogo was still is a corner. He had removed his police jacket, and now stood only with a black masculine tank top that he usually wore underneath it. He was leaning against a wall, while a female ferret stood by a bunch of craters by his side, leaving her right in the level of his shoulder, which still had the wound of when the tiger flung a pebble at him as fast as a bullet. It did similar damage too, Bogo thanked the fact that he had a though hide.
He flinched when the ferret touched that area, and a strange feeling spread in there. It was warm and tingly, and it somehow felt as if there was something being pour into his body. Kind of like boiling water, only without the burning feeling.
Bogo ventured to look to the side, and he saw the ferret by his side chanting something as she moved her paws over his shoulder. Her paws glowed, as she was doing... whatever it was on him. Bogo could not say for sure what she was actually doing, but he surely knew what it looked like: magic.
When she offered to "help with the wound in his shoulder", Bogo was very hesitant at this. Under normal conditions, he would never have allowed her to do whatever strange thing it was she did. However, he felt a little inclined to let her do it, once he saw the good work she had done with Hopps.
Speaking of the bunny, she was also in the storehouse, Nick still by her side, anxiously checking on her.
"Nick, I told you already, I am fine! Stop worrying!" The bunny said to him as the fox asked her for the 12th time if she needed a doctor or if she still felt any pain or anything out of the ordinary.
Nick usually was not the kind who worried like that about others, and neither did he let his worry show so easily. However, seeing his partner being stabbed in the belly and bleeding profusely from there was something that could really shake someone.
There was so much blood...
Truth was; everyone was a bit shook from what had happened. Each one was dealing with it on their own way. The teenagers were in a corner, the two officers were talking to each other, and Bogo was being attend by the ferret girl who had saved all of their lives.
"Done." The ferret said as she removed her paws. Bogo sighed as he looked back, and saw that the place where once there was a puncture wound on his shoulder, seeming made by a bullet, now there was nothing left behind. Not even a scar to tell the tale, as a wound like that would usually leave.
Bogo looked at his brand-new shoulder, and at the ferret, whose paws were just stopping to glow, and Bogo could see that she was now holding something in her paw. It looked like a pebble.
"You were lucky." The ferret said to him. "The tiger was probably aiming for a vital area when he attacked you. Something like that could have made quite some damage." She said, before tossing the pebble aside.
Bogo followed it with his gaze, and he did just in time to see the pebble crumble into nothing more than dust as it hit the ground. The buffalo blinked, before turning his gaze back to the ferret. His hoof was still massaging his shoulder, as if to try and see if the wound was still there somewhere.
"Thank you." Bogo said, and the ferret just nodded. She then proceeded to climb down from the crates.
"So, is anyone else wounded?" She asked once she was in the ground again. She looked around at the other mammals at the place. "Anyone else who is in need of a helping paw?"
The mammals answered negatively. The ferret looked like she was genuinely impressed. Maybe with the fact that only two mammals had actually gotten hurt in any way in a situation like that.
"You are all quite lucky." She spoke to the mammals in the storehouse. "Having a meeting with a group like that and escape with only two injured..."
"Yeah, we were luckier because you appeared." Patrick said to her. "You really saved our pelts Ms. Enforcer."
"Huh?" The ferret said, looking at him.
"Sorry, is that... I don't know your name, and they did mentioned that you were an 'enforcer', whatever it is..." Patrick admitted, rubbing the back of his head.
The ferret looked at him, and sighed.
"Okay, first of all, my name is Zillah" She spoke to him. "Second, Enforcers are peacekeepers and law upholders among mages, kind of like police." She said, as she looked at the cops present in the place, "Third of all, I am not an Enforcer."
This made the animals all look at her. She sighed. "I just let them think I was an Enforcer so I could get you guys out of trouble. Once more I'm glad that I have that." She said as she pointed at an object that was still in there. The dagger that had come through the hole before the ferret did, and that had sunk into the ground, leaving the decorated silver handle for everyone to see.
"That is a special dagger that the Enforcers have. It is kind of like their badge." She explained to them. "Just show this to someone and they will assume that you are an Enforcer. You don't even need to say anything to them." She spoke as she removed the dagger from the ground, looking at it against the light. "Of course, sometimes they might ask why a ferret would have one of those."
"Oh... so mages have that too?" Patrick asked, and the ferret only sighed.
"I'm surprised that something like that happened, anyway." The ferret said to them. "I mean, it is not every day that so any mages and non-mages clash like that." She looked at the mammals in there.
"How were you able to find us, by the way?" Bogo asked her. "I mean, it was quite convenient that you came to save us right in the last moment."
The ferret looked at him, not seeming offended by this, but only seeming annoyed a little bit.
"I was following them." She said, gesturing to the teenagers. "I was passing in the street, minding my own business, when I heard them talking about having found mages and wanting to go get them on camera."
The teenagers looked away from this, looking quite embarrassed for someone in the street having heard them talking about that.
"Of course, they could just be some guys who knew nothing, but I did had a... feeling about that." She spoke, looking at them. "So, I decided that it was better to follow them, to help them if they got into problem. And of course that they did."
The teenagers now seemed really embarrassed.
"Well, it is good you did." Nick said. "You did save us from becoming snake food, and you saved my partner from bleeding to death..." Nick said, looking at the bunny, and he was trying his best to avoid looking at her clothes, that were still stain with her blood, much like the fur of his paws. Nick could not stop rubbing them, as if he wanted to wash the blood away as soon as possible.
"Thank you for that." Nick said to her, and she looked at the fox. Was she surprise by the sincerity in his voice as he thanked her?
"You're welcome." She spoke. She kept looking at him for a while, before rolling her eyes and letting out an annoyed sound.
"No, Cory! You cannot eat the bunny!" She said in annoyance, surprising the mammals in there and making them wonder whom she was talking with. "So, stop thinking about it." She said as she turned to the creature that was in there. This creature was a bird that stood nearly as tall as Nick. It had long and thin legs and a sturdy body. The feathers it had were brown in the body, with white in its stomach and grey on its neck and face, with a black crest on top of its head. Its eyes were big and very intelligent, and its beak was long and sharp.
As she spoke to it, the bird looked at her, and it stared for a few seconds, before she spoke again:
"No, not even a small finger." She said to the bird, as if answering to a silent question. "Forget it."
The bird looked at her for a while, before lowering its head. Zillah sighed, as she walked to the bird. "Oh, don't be so down." She spoke to the bird. "I'll get you a nice and fat gecko when we get home."
The other mammals looked at this for a while. Before Nick spoke:
"Should we... give you two a moment?"
The ferret looked from the bird and at them. "Sorry about that." She said to the mammals in there. "Cory is a Kori bustard. They mostly live in insects, but they also eat small reptiles and other birds, and they also eat small mammals now and then, especially rodents." She explained, making the mammals around become quite worried. "I don't let him eat mammals, of course, but he still would like to try. He thought that the bunny looked tasty."
Judy felt uncomfortable at this, and by the way that the bird looked at her. She could swear that she just saw it lick its beak.
"Birds that can prey on mammals are not allowed in Zootopia." Bogo said suddenly, as he had remained in silence until now. "So, you need to give a few explanations about that pet of yours."
"Oh, he is not my pet." Zillah said to the big mammal. "He is my familiar. You know, a creature that serves me and obeys my will." She explained as she petted the creature. "Many mages have some of them."
The mammals nodded at this, and some of them could remember that the mages in there did mentioned "familiar" now and then. They particularly had a vivid memory of the possum mentioning that before she conjured up black snakes from thin air to try and use it against them.
"And you also don't have to worry, for I don't order him to go around devouring mammals. It is considered a crime to do so." She told to them. "We have laws about murder and similar things, pretty much like you guys."
"Oh, that's a relief." Nick said.
"These guys didn't seemed like they had problems with this." Shawn said, making the other animals turn to him. Some of them actually had to agree with the sheep, including Zillah, who sighed.
"There is always someone who wants to break the rules." She said to the others. "I guess I don't even have to you that, officers."
Bogo, Nick and Judy all understood what she was saying. The ferret sighed as she continued:
"Of course, our laws give directions to our behavior, and they prevent us from acting like monsters, but not everyone follows them. Like these mages." She said, and she looked around. "Our laws forbid us from committing murder, but some do not follow them, which is why the Enforcers exist... kinda..." She looked around, seeing the dead crocodiles around the circle; they were starting to attract flies.
"Killing beasts is a different matter, it is not forbidden by the Codex, but it is still discouraged." She admitted, and looked at them. "By the way, can I have a look at the video?" She asked Patrick, who was a bit surprised at the sudden request.
"Oh... uh, sure?" He said, handling her the camera. He even gave her a few directions on how to use it, as he remembered how the tiger handled the camera. She reassured him, though:
"Relax, I know how to handle technology. Unlike other mages." She said, as she operated the camera calmly, and soon, she was seeing the video that had they had recorded, the ritual that was performed.
"Wow..." She said after watching the video for a few moments. "That is some ritual they did. I wonder if they came up with it themselves or if they got it from somewhere..."
"So... you guys really don't kill mammals for rituals?" Shawn asked her, the matter still in his mind and bothering him. "And neither do you guys make mammals 'disappear' to prevent them from talking?"
She looked up from the video, looking at the sheep, and them looking around to the others.
"No we don't." She said to them. "We used to do it in the old times, but we stopped it as soon as the Codex was written and stablished. Now, if there are witnesses, we try to discredit them. When much, we hypnotize them."
"Discredit, you say..." Bogo said, and it seemed that now he was thinking at something. However, it was Nick who talked into another matter that interested him:
"Sorry, did you say 'hypnotize'?"
All eyes were now on the ferret, as she explained.
"Mages can do things that other mammals consider impossible, or in the realm of fantasy. Like hypnotizing others." She explained to them. "By influencing the minds of others it is possible to alter their memories, make them forget things, remember them differently, or even remember things that never happened. If we are see by non-mages, we should use mental interference to make them forget what they saw, in order to preserve our secrets. All mages know how to hypnotize, although some are better at this than others..."
Nick nodded at this, as he and the other mammals in the storehouse took in what was just said.
So, they _did alter Wolfard's memory._ Nick thought, as he felt some of his suspicions confirmed. Well, he was already sure of that, but hearing someone else confirming it did had an effect. It explained definitely what happened, and it also rose many possibilities.
"So, that was what the coyote was going to do to us?" Patrick asked, "That was what he meant by 'memory-wiped mammals'?" He asked, remembering quite well how the coyote was acting before the other mammals became homicidal.
"Yes, this is the procedure." Zillah confirmed. "It is the rule to do that to preserve the secrecy of our craft."
"Oh..."
There was a brief silence, and Sully asked:
"Wait, are you... are you going to do it to us?"
The ferret's face adopted a serious expression, as she looked up from the camera, and pressed a final button before closing the screen of the digital device. She looked very intently at the mammals in there.
"Indeed, I should..."
The mammals became tense as they heard that, and some of them actually cowered as they looked at the ferret, all of sudden wondering if she would be dangerous. However, Zillah sighed, as her expression changed from seriousness to some kind of defeated resignation.
"But... I won't."
The mammals relaxed a bit at this, but they seemed that they were a bit more on guard by the way that the ferret girl had spoken.
"By now, I don't think it would make any difference." She admitted, as she looked away. "I mean, ever since that website came along, we have been exposed in many ways in many different places across the world. Of course, they don't know our identities yet, but they already saw that we really are around. Now only the foolest or most blind of mammals are still refusing to acknowledge that the supernatural exists."
Nick and Judy both gave a look at the Cape buffalo in the room. Luckily, for them, Bogo seemed like he didn't noticed it. Of course, by the way that he was rubbing the back of his own neck and looking away, some could almost say that it was as if he was taking in account his own fault.
"All of us have already accepted that the cone of silence has fallen, and there are no way to put it up again." Zillah continued. "There is no more hope of keeping ourselves in secret... it seems that all we can do now is prepare for the worse."
"Oh, bummer." Patrick said, and Judy got interest by what the ferret said. The way she said it also got her somewhat worried.
"I'm sorry...what do you mean by 'prepare for the worse'?" The bunny asked, and the expression of the ferret got even somber, which caused the worries of the bunny to increase even more.
"The attacks against us are getting worse." The ferret said. "No mage was harmed yet, but the attacks are getting closer to us, and many are deeply worried about all of that."
"Oh... well, no wonder." Sully said, as everyone had to acknowledge what was happening. "I mean, I would be uncomfortable if I thought someone was out to get me."
"They are getting ready for a war." She said; dropping a bomb, as all of the mammals around froze in place.
Was she serious?
"I have some friends and some contacts, and from what they told me, there are a lot of things being prepared right now." She spoke to the mammals around her. She decided that it was better if they would know it already. "The non-mages are getting ready to fight; even their military seems to be getting ready to use an armed response. So, some of us are already getting ready for the possibility of a war. They are preparing powerful rituals to be used in a moment's notice, preparing defenses of their houses and workshops, preparing groups to fight on their name; some are even using hypnosis to take control of individuals in key positions."
"Oh my gods!" Judy said, reflecting the emotions of many of the presents. Of course, they knew that the tensions were high, but thinking that some were actually expecting a war to break, and that were getting ready for it?
"I do not agree with any of that." Zillah said. "I don't think that war would bring anything good for anyone. I actually think that in the end, we all would be losing."
"Then you should tell them this!" said Shawn, and the ferret scoffed a little bit at them. Actually, it was a sound between a scoff and a chuckle.
"Yeah, right." She said. "As if any of them would listen to me." She spoke to them. "They are all on edge, just like the non-mages."
"Well, yeah. But I guess that this is because they don't really know what is going on." Patrick said, making the hyena look at him. "I mean, they are confused, they don't know what to expect, and that is enough to make anyone nervous. It is happening with you guys too." He said, referring to mages, as he spoke to Zillah. The ferret only looked back at him.
"Yeah! They would not be so nervous if they had some facts!" Sully said, "That is we are doing what we do! So that everyone will know what is going on and they would not be so nervous anymore! That is it! The mission of the Mage Chasers is to spread information to reduce the fear and prevent a war! It is our duty!"
Everyone looked at him for a few moments. Before Zillah finally took again into talking:
"Anyway, I don't think I could actually make any difference." She spoke, "I mean, sometimes I even wonder if I could actually do something... but it would be useless."
Judy looked at her as she said that.
"How can you say that?" The bunny asked.
"I'm nobody." Zillah spoke once more. "I'm not from an important family. I'm not influent or powerful. I don't have important contacts. On top of all of that, I'm a ferret, and most mammals don't readily take the words of a ferret." She spoke with a tone of sadness. "There is even a thing I'd been thinking but..." She stopped for a few seconds, and sighed. "I'm only a mammal. I cannot make any difference in this world."
"That's not truth!" Judy said, making the ferret look at her. "Zillah," Judy said, referring to the ferret by her name, "if I thought like that, I would have just stayed back in BunnyBurrow, and I would never have tried to become a cop! Every mammal can make a difference!"
Zillah looked at her.
"I'm only me..."
"Change starts with all of us." Judy said to her, making the ferret look at her. "This thing you have been thinking... would it be able to make things better?"
Zillah hesitated before answering. "W-well... yes, I believe it would... but-"
"Then you should go for it!" Judy said to her, the way that she spoke, and the conviction in her voice, really had caught Zillah out of guard. "If you think it will help and prevent mammals from starting to kill each other, you should do it! You should do your part to help things get better!"
Judy was panting as she spoke that, and Zillah continued to look at her wide-eyed.
"You should go and try to make the world a better place." The bunny finished.
After these words, a long silence hung in the air, as both the bunny and ferret looked at each other. It seemed that Zillah was not sure on how to answer to what the bunny just said. As they looked at each other, suddenly, Judy's ears twitched at a sound. A sound soon caught by the ears of the others on the storehouse.
"Are those sirens?" Patrick asked.
"Yeah." Nick confirmed. "Police sirens."
"Clawhauser must have sent the backup I requested." Bogo said.
"I have to go!" Zillah said, tossing the camera to Patrick, who was quick to catch it, before hurrying to the big bird in the place and climbing on its back.
"Wait!" Nick said, as the ferret got ready to leave. She stopped for a moment, looking at the fox.
"Thank you again." Nick said to her. "You know, for saving my partners life."
Judy walked by his side, and she spoke to the ferret as well.
"Anyone can make a difference. Please, don't forget this."
For a long moment, the ferret only looked to both of them, as the sirens got closer and closer. Suddenly, she tapped the back of the neck of her bird, causing it to cry out as it flapped its wings, gaining altitude, and suddenly taking off to the sky, flying through the hole in the ceiling, and vanishing from sight of the mammals who were inside of the warehouse.
Silence filled the storehouse; a silence broke only by the sound of the sirens coming closer and closer.
"Well, that was something..." Patrick said, breaking the silence.
"The backup will arrive shortly, and they will want to know what happened." Bogo said, seemingly more to himself than to the ones who were in here. "I'm just thinking on what I'm going to put on my report about all of that..."
"Yeah, I guess they will be inclined to believe, considering all that had happened recently." Judy said. "Nick and I can both support what you will tell, I'm sure they will believe us."
"Yeah, after they have gave you a checkup." Nick insisted, making Judy groan at him.
"Well, they will surely believe when they see our video!" Sully said proudly, while Patrick checked on the camera. "We have recorded a magic ritual first paw! But just for you to know, we are not 'delivering it as evidence', it is our video!"
The pig was incisive when he said that, making the cops look at him. He didn't noticed the way that the hyena froze by his side.
"Oh, crap..."
"That's right! This video is of our property!" Sully said. "We will post it online so everyone can see it! The views in our channel will surely go astronomical after we post it!"
"Maybe not..." Patrick said, making the pig look at him. "The video is gone."
"WHAT!?" Sully shouted. "What do you mean 'is gone'!?"
"Is not here anymore!" Patrick said to him. "I... I think the mage erased it..."
"Oh, come on!" Sully shouted, as the sound of footsteps of the other cops approached the storehouse...
The subject did not simply ended on that night. It was not possible.
The Mage Chasers were not able to post the video, but they were still willing to post something, and they were not giving up in their quest for fame by exposing mages.
Bogo and the two officers also did not forgot what was going on. Bogo seemed a lot different ever since that night, as he seemed more distant, and deeper in thought. Meanwhile, Nick and Judy were both worried for what they had heard in there, as they had learnt that it seemed that the mages were actually getting ready for war. This was enough to make both of them worry.
Also, the fact that they had to give a report regarding all the fantastic things that they had witnessed on that night made sure that they would not forget so easily what they had seen.
However, the one who was probably the more affected by that night was probably Zillah.
It had been a few days since that night, and she had finished her business in Zootopia already, returning to her home. Still, she could not forget what she had gone through that night.
Most mages would not bother in helping someone like that. They would mostly have chosen to mind their own business and let it behind. However, Zillah was not like most mages. She didn't felt like turning her back into others like that, as some 'proper mages' would do. She had always been a bit different from the 'proper way of a mage', as her father had always put it, and how he had always insisted in trying to correct.
Zillah learned to be loyal to their traditions, but she was still herself. She was not the kind to turn her back into others who needed help. Hence why she went after these three knuckleheads after knowing that they would get themselves in problem. Hence why she saved the life of that bleeding bunny. She even healed the shoulder of that big buffalo who looked at her with a lot of mistrust. Zillah was like that, she helped who needed it.
Maybe that was why she felt so uncomfortable with what was happening.
Knowing that mammals were attacking each other and getting ready to fight with all that they got was something that deeply troubled her. She was troubled ever since it began, for she could only see disaster, death and suffering sprouting from all of this. She knew it would end badly, and she could see only bad results coming forth.
This troubled her, and made her wish to do something to help solve the situation, to help bring some good out of this.
She tried to find a solution, and she eventually came to an answer. However...
She tried to see other solutions, but none of them seemed as efficient as that one. However, she knew that that solution was one that would have repercussions for herself. Not to mention that she was still not sure on how exactly it would pan out. While she knew that it would help things along, she had no way of truly knowing the many other repercussions of what would happen.
Not to mention the memory of her father. She knew that, if her father was still alive to hear about her idea, he would most likely die, but not before he screamed at her for even thinking on something like that.
She had pretty much gave up on that idea. However, what happened in that night still clung up to her.
Most of all, the words of the bunny cop had stayed with her.
Almost three days later, and the words of the bunny remained with her. The look in her eyes. The way that she seemed like she truly believe that Zillah could actually make a difference by herself.
It was unusual for someone to think like that...
Also, the things that she said.
Making the world a better place...
Oh, how her father would have laughed at something like that. Zillah, however, somehow believed these words, as much as a mage could.
It sounded something of a naïve optimism, even childish. Still, there was something in these words that simply did not let Zillah forget them. The sureness in the eyes of the bunny as she spoke these words...
Something about it just spoke to Zillah in a deep, very intimate way. As if these words had been just made for her.
She knew it was childish and hopelessly romantic to say that. Still, she was able to feel this way as if it was the truth.
This caused her to wonder to herself why it was that she gave up on her idea.
Because it was a bad one?
Because it was something that would cause repercussions that could bring trouble in the long run?
Because it would make a lot of mammals get mad at her?
Was it because of her father?
The old ferret was a stupid old mammal full of crap and non-sense. He was on his last days due to a life of bad choices, and he had probably only stayed alive so long out of stubbornness. He was less than caring, and he was more worried with the 'future of their lineage' than with the happiness of his only child. That much Zillah would be able to tell to anyone with a good deal of sureness.
It had not been long since he passed, as his bad decisions caught up with him. He still went before the time, and left a lot of burden to Zillah as inheritance. It was hard to feel any sympathy or fondness in the memories of that grumpy ferret.
He was old fashioned, and would have hated Zillah's idea.
Zillah knew that this was the main reason why she put that idea aside. However, what happened recently moved something in here. This caused her to start to consider her idea, each day more.
On that day, she finally made up her mind.
She finally decided what she would do.
She didn't cared if her father would never approve it, and she was not worried of the consequences on the long run, for she knew that if she did it, things had better chances of getting better.
She knew what she had to do.
And she knew her first step.
She needed to contact Victoria Vulpen.
The ZNN was a busy workplace.
Such a big news network was busy by nature. It had many employees that worked for it. There were the reporters. The anchors. The editors. The technicians in computation. The guys who dealt with equipment and the many things that were needed to put the programs on air. The specialists in make-up that helped the anchors and reporters to be in good conditions for the camera. All of these individuals went back and forth into the place, as they needed to be ready to deal with all of the jobs that they needed to do to be sure that the programs would be on air right on time, and that the news would be deliver to all their viewers.
Many of these mammals were there because they had chosen a line of work in which they would be able to search for the truth and pass it on to others. They were individuals who were keen on letting others know the truth. They had assumed a compromise with the truth, they wanted to search for it and let others know it, and they were keen on following this goal.
Of course, some of them were keener on this goal than others.
Among them, there was one among them that was particularly dedicated to the goal of looking for the truth and telling others. She was quite special, for she was the only fox working in the ZNN. Her name was Victoria Vulpen, "Vicky" to her closest friends. She was quite attractive, and that was easy for many to say. She had a slender and voluptuous body, not quite something that you would see in supermodels or in these "super silicone" women, but she was quite attractive. She also had a nice coat of fur, of a toasted orange, with brown on her paws, feet and ears. Her face was beautiful, with a cream muzzle (the same color of the tip of her tail) and eyes of a soft-brown coloration. She also had good taste in clothing; as today she had chosen a choice of clothing that is of a pair of jeans pants that hugged her hips nicely, and a red blouse that helped highlight her bust, the clothes definitely helped valorize her body. She wasn't even trying to be attractive, and still, anyone could see just how attractive of a vixen Vicky was.
She walked across the hallways of the ZNN, greeting the animals that passed by her as she walked, but doing so quickly and briefly. She focused in finding one mammal in particular...
She was able to find him, talking with a llama that looked to be from the illumination crew. The said mammal was a big stag. He stood 6'10'' feet tall, much taller than Vicky, who stood on 3'11''. He had a luxurious coat of dark-brown coloration, with a big and proud pair of antlers on his head. His muzzle was of a lighter brown, going down his neck and surely his chest. His eyes were of a golden coloration, and they focused on the llama, as he seemed to be explaining something to him. He was wearing a very expensive-looking suit of indigo coloration with a red tie. He seemed to have failed to notice Vicky's approach, as he kept his attention entirely into the llama.
"You really need to work better on the light, man." The stag spoke to him. "Seriously, the way you illuminate me makes my snout get bigger and bigger! I need to look better to present my stories..."
"I'm sorry..." Vicky said, calling the attention of the stag, making him look down at her. "Your stories?"
"Oh, Vicky!" The stag said to her, and he was quick to dismiss the llama, so he could focus his attention entirely on the vixen.
"Vicky, my dear Vicky, I'm so glad to see you! Have you seen the story yesterday? It was brilliant, wasn't it?"
"Yeah, it was..." Vicky agreed. "You certainly have way with the words, Stan."
The stag, Stanley Staglore, "Stan" for his friends, smiled proudly at this.
"Oh, I sure have! I am very charming on my own, ain't I right?" The stag boasted, and Vicky could only roll her eyes, but she was still able to smile at the stag. All the while, not failing to notice the flamboyant (and somewhat effeminate) ways that he acted. That was Stan alright, he was one of the first mammals who made friends with her, soon after she made her first story. Matter of fact, he offered to take it to the boss for her, to present it. The story was presented, and the boss liked it pretty much... however, it wasn't Vicky who got to present the story when it aired.
"Vicky, I still get admired of how great stories you get!" Stan said to her and they both walked forth, and Stan chatted with her with a lot of elegance as he spoke. "I mean, finding out the identity of the leader of the group responsible for throwing bombs at the occultism places? Who else would have found out something like that? You are surely the best!"
"Yeah, yeah..." Vicky said to him, kind of distracted. Suddenly, she moved in front of Stan, blocking his way, and she looked up, her face serious. "Stan, I know that yesterday's story was great! I saw how well you did, and I'm glad that another of my stories made it to the noble hours of the news reports, but... have you talked to the boss?" She asked, and she seemed to be quite serious about that. "Have you talked to him about letting me present the next one myself?"
Stan stopped a little, blinking.
"Oh..."
The deer seemed to get a little awkward at this.
Not a good sign.
"Yeah, I talked to the boss about it." Stan said to her, seeming like he was about to give some bad news. News that Vicky had the feeling she already knew. "I told him how hard you were working on the stories, how proud you were of getting then, and how much you wanted to be the one on the tv presenting them, but..."
Vicky looked up at him, and sighed.
"No one wants to see foxes presenting news..." She said, having already memorizing the words. Of course, it would be like that once more. Why would it be different now? It had been like that ever since she started working in there one year ago.
"He is worried that it might stain the ZNN's reputation." The stag told her. "A lot of mammals still have bad opinion on foxes, and some of them could not like seeing a fox presenting news on the main news channel of Zootopia."
There was a heavy silence, as the vixen took in the news that she had already been expecting, but that still stung hard on her, as much as she did on the first time.
"I did my best, Vicky, I swear." Stan said to her. "I told him that it was nonsense. That you are beautiful and a very good speaker. That you would make success if you appeared, but he was insistent. He kept saying that no one wants to see foxes on the news unless it is about the crimes they committed, that having a fox presenting news could give a bad image to the ZNN and that they should avoid that..." He stopped for a moment, and he added, sounding quite guilty:
"And that... we should keep the system in which you give your stories for me to present..."
She didn't wanted to let it sting. But sting it did. It did every time.
Every. Single. Time.
"... did he said anything else?" Vicky asked after a few moments of silence, and looked up at the stag, who seemed to be debating if he should or not tell her this.
"Well?" Vicky insisted, and the stag seemed to finally decide to let her know.
"Well... he said that he admires your... dedication in finding stories, and that he hoped that the ones you got it from weren't ugly ones, if you understand..."
Oh, she did understood...
Vicky looked down, and Stan knelt in front of her.
"Oh, darling." He said, placing a hoof on her shoulder. "I'm so sorry. I'll try to talk to him harder next time."
Vicky didn't answered to this, as she kept looking down.
"Oh, come on, Vicky. This is not an attitude that someone with 'Victory' in the name should have." Stan said to her, and this time she did looked up at him. "Vicky, you are responsible, strong, and determined. You are the best investigative reporter that I've seen in years, and every day you just show how much you love working as a reporter and how far you are willing to go to find the truth." He said to her, and placed a hoof under her chin.
"I know that one day you will be presenting your stories in news, and that everyone will see just how amazing you are."
The way he said it made Vicky feel a little better. She was able to smile at him, and he smiled back at her.
"Okay, I'll tell you what, next time you have a story, I'll take it to him and I'll not leave until he agrees to let you be the one to present it, okay?"
Stan was a good friend, that much Vicky was sure. He was one of the few who firstly wanted to be near her. Of course, she has made some friends in the ZNN ever since she came, but Stan was one of the few who was nice and receptive of her from the very beginning. He was a nice stag, and knowing that she had a friend like him in the ZNN meant a lot to Vicky.
Still, she would like to have the right to present her own stories. Or at least not have the others think that she slept around to be able to get them.
Vicky was a fox, or more precisely, she was a red fox vixen. While vixens were often subject to the same prejudices that the male foxes suffer, they also have an extra stereotype reserved to the vixens considered particularly attractive, like Vicky was. Vixens were famous for using their charm and beauty to get what they wanted. While tod foxes would use cunning and trickery to get what they wanted, vixens would seduce others to get what they desired.
Vixens were considered a paramount of predator beauty and grace, with some of them making quite a success as actresses and even dominating the world of fashion. A stereotype built with the help of vixens like Marilyn Murroe and Megan Fox. A stereotype that almost led Vicky to give up on studying to be a reporter and pursuing a career in the world of fashion. However, she got encouraged to keep pursuing her dream by Nicholas Wilde, who became Zootopia's first fox cop. Well, if a tod could go against all the stereotypes and prejudices of society, and become a cop, there was no reason why a vixen could not pursue a career on news. This was all the encouragement that Vicky needed to graduate in her college and to pursue a career nowhere other than the ZNN.
Of course, only because she choose to go against the stereotypes of vixens, it didn't meant that others were willing to see past the stereotypes. Like, for instance, her stupid and bigoted boss, who kept her out of the news and forced her to pass her stories to Stan because "a deer would be better on the screen than a fox", and of course, who thought that she slept with others to get stories.
Yes, that was another stereotype vixens faced, one which - Vicky supposed - came from some old R-rated movie. It was the stereotype that vixens took the use of their charm and beauty to extremes, and actually went as far as taking other mammals to bed in order to get them to give them what they wanted.
Vicky got infuriated that someone would take her by this kind of vixen. The idea that she would use her own body as payment for any kind of story was dirty and disgusting, and knowing that others actually thought that she did it made her feel dirty. She didn't slept with other mammals to get her stories! She used her investigation skills, she talked to her sources sources, and she used every legal and ethical mean at her disposal to be able to find the truth and be able to pass it forward in her stories. She never needed to seduce others into sleeping with her to get anything in life! She never did and she never would!
Oh, how she would love to storm in the boss office and say that and much more right into his bulbous snout!
Vicky sighed, as she knew that doing so would only get her fired. All she could do was continue to do her best. After all, she did got in this because she wanted to search for the truth, wherever it was, and she was happy in doing so. She was even willing to keep up with the stupid prejudices of her boss only so she could continue to do her job. She just had to wait. One day it would come the day in which she would be able to shine. She just knew it...
She was snap out of her thoughts when her phone ringed. She was swift to pick it up and take it to her face, before saying:
"Hello?"
"Victoria Vupen?" A female voice said on the other end.
"Yes?"
"Victoria Aldrich Vupen? Born on August 8th of 1994?" The voice insisted, and this got Vicky to stop and pay attention.
"Who is it?"
"I have a story for you." The voice said. This caught Vicky's attention.
"Story? What story?"
"One that could make your career, if you are interested..."
Vicky was pondering it. She decided to proceed with caution.
"Could you give me some details, by any chance?" She asked, wanting to get more information before pursuing it. It was something that she learned in her college, to be sure of the facts before you went for a story.
"It has to do with the current situation of the world." The voice said on the other end. "This is all I can tell you through the phone. If you want more details, you will have to meet me in person."
Now, Vicky was careful and all, but she would be lying if she said that she was not interested. She had a few other stories that she had been thinking about pursuing, but having another one to booth didn't seemed like a bad deal.
"Well, let's suppose I do want that story." Vicky said, still being sure to be careful. "Are you willing to tell me without asking nothing in return?"
"I have a few conditions." The voice on the other end said to her.
"Of course you have..." Vicky said.
"I want this story to be treated with the proper care and respect." The female said. "I want to know that my words will not be distorted and used as a form of spreading misinformation and of favoring or condoning anyone. I want them to be transmitted to the world as they are. I want to be sure that the truth will be said."
As the female on the other end finished, Vicky was quick to answer.
"I am a reporter." The vixen said with pride. "I dedicate myself to the search of the truth. I know that there are a lot of mammals out there who either make up something to have ratings, or change it to better suit their needs, but I assure you, I am not one of those. I put the truth in first place, always." She finished, as clearly and incisively as she could, making sure that whoever was the gal on the other end of the line, she truly understood that Vicky was a correct and upright journalist.
There was a pause, and then, the female on the other side said:
"This is exactly what I hoped to hear from you." Did she sounded relieved? It was hard to tell, but she did seemed at least a tad bit satisfied. "So, I'll give you instructions on where to find me, do you have pen and paper?"
Well, she did had. Vicky had learned to be always ready, so she always carried a pen and notepad with her, to take notes whenever necessary. She wrote down the instructions. Yes, they needed to be instructions, for it was not a precise address on a street, but a place far from the main city, nearly leaving the Meadowlands.
"That is pretty far and isolated." She mentioned as she finished writing down what the female told to her. "And it will take a while to get there."
"I know." The voice said. "You will also need a news crew. Gather one and bring them to the place by the sundown of today, with all you need to record the story. Only mammals that you trust, no more than four. And don't let anyone besides them know what you will be doing. If I see anyone more than these four with you I'll not give you anything. Is that clear?"
Vicky didn't like being bossed around. However, all the mystery that was coming from what the female on the other end was saying was truly enticing her curiosity of reporter. She decided to go along with it, at least for now.
"Okay, I'll do it..." Vicky said once more. "But, just to be sure... is this story really worth my time?"
"Believe me, it is." The female voice said. "See you by sundown..."
The day passed on very calmly after that, although Vicky had to put herself to work. She immediately went to the four mammals that she trusted in order to have them be her news crew. They were some mammals that trusted her opinion, and that had worked with her on more than one occasion.
It took a little convincing, but all of them agreed to go with her.
At some point of the day, all of them excused themselves from work and gathered into a smaller news van to go on their way. It had to be a discrete one, because it was already clear that keeping low profile was important. Even the mammals of the ZNN didn't truly knew where they were going.
Vicky did felt a little bit guilty over this, once she wished to at least have told Stan about it. He loved this kind of secrecy things...
It took almost two hours of driving, and it demanded them to pass by an old and beaten dirt road. However, they soon arrived into the place where they were supposed to be. It was an old field, almost a meadow, on the borders of Meadowland (as you probably guessed), which was a very isolated part of Zootopia. It was far from the urban areas, and there were no houses for miles.
The van stopped right near the point where the one in the female on phone call told: a great formation of rocks that looked somewhat like stone disks, piled over each other forming a primitive stair. It almost looked like a piece of modern art.
There were a few trees around, and as the van stopped, the middle of the van opened, and three mammals stepped out.
The first one was a skunk. She stood on 3'5'' feet tall, with black and white fur, with a slender body and fur colored in black and white like most skunks, with a generous tuft of splashed black and white fur on the top of her head, which highlighted her almond-colored eyes. She wore a simple set of green shirt and skirt. She was Natalia Musker, she was in charge of scene direction.
Next came a beagle holding a camera. He stood on 3'10'' feet tall, with a fit built and fur of white and light-brown coloration, with beady hazelnut eyes. He wore common clothes of white shirt and long red pants, and a white hat on his head with the ZNN logo in it. He was Cameron Beagues, and he was a good camera mammal.
Finally, came out an otter. He had brown fur with a softer shade of cream on his muzzle and down his neck, with long whiskers on his face, along with green eyes. He stood on 3'2'' feet tall, and he had a thin built. He was wearing black shirt and pants, with a jeans jacket on his body. He was Jeremy Otterly, and he was in charge of the sound.
As the three mammals stood in there, the door of the driver's side of the van opened, and out came a beaver. He was on 4'1'' feet tall, with fur of a brown coloration, and dark-brown paws, feet and long tail. He had long whiskers on his face and buckteeth. His eyes were beady and deep. He was wearing a white shirt with long black pants, and his shirt had the logo of the ZNN. He was Larry Beaveland, and he was in there both to be the driver and to help with the equipment.
Now, the thing that each one of these mammals had in common - aside from the fact that they all worked to the ZNN and that they were very competent in their work - was the fact that all of them had become very good friends with Vicky Vulpen. They had all became quite close to her during the one year that she had been working in the ZNN so far.
Speaking of Vicky, she had just came out of the passenger's side of the van, and looked around, taking in the sight of the place that she had been instructed to go. The rock formation had been right where the female voice had described. Vicky had followed the instructions the best she could, and with the reference points that she was told to look for along the way, she had actually little problem to get in the place. Aside from the long time.
"Man..." Larry said as he stretched his body, his paws soon going to his butt and massaging it. "Two hours... It took us two hours to get in here." He then looked around, at the place where they were now. "Well, at least it looks nice."
"So, are you going to tell us why we came here now?" Natalia asked. "I mean, I'm pretty sure it was not to see the nature."
"I told you already." Vicky said to her. "I received a call that told me about a possible story. She told me to come here."
"Kinda far of a place, ain't it?" Said Jeremy, as the other looked around the place. "I doubt there is anyone living in a few miles from here. But, gotta admit is quite nice. Quiet. I would come here for a vacation."
"And so much grass to roll into!" Said Cameron. "I bet that there is a lot of sunlight in the middle of the day! This place seems like an awesome place to spend vacation!" The others could only roll their eyes.
Dogs...
"So, anything else you can tell us about that story you were told you would get?" Natalia asked.
"Not really." Vicky admitted to the others. "The gal was pretty vague when she told me to come here."
"Did she at least gave you a clue of what the story was about?" Jeremy asked.
"She said it had to do with the situation of things right now."
"What, you mean, about the mages and stuff?" Cameron asked.
"Well, I guess you can suppose that this is what she meant..."
"So, she told you to come here and wait for your story to arrive?" Larry asked her. "And you just came? This could be kinda dangerous, you know? She could be working with some pervert who could be out to get you."
"She didn't sounded like that." Vicky said, "Besides, I brought you guys with me, didn't I?"
"Yeah, but we are not exactly made to defend anyone in a situation of danger." Larry said, gesturing to the group brought, which included a small female skunk, a slightly fat beaver, a skinny other, and a dog that many knew was not the sharpest tool of the shelf. In truth, a group that some would not choose to be their protectors in a moment of danger...
"Anyway, she told me that she would meet me here by 'sundown', which would be around now." She said, as she looked at the sun that was getting near the point of setting, causing the sky to change the blue hue to an orangish shade.
"So, she didn't even gave a certain hour?" Natalia said. "Well, that is juts peachy." She said, as she looked up. She blinked as she saw a bird hoovering over them, getting closer.
"Just keep your eyes open in the case of a car is coming." Vicky said to them, and the group was looking at the sides, mainly at the road of beaten dirt that was the point of access to the place. However, Natalia was still looking up, squinting her eyes.
"Is it just me, or there is a ferret on the back of that bird?"
All eyes turned to the skunk, and them up, and they could see what she was seeing. They all saw as the bird hoovered closer and closer to the ground, going down in circles. As it came closer, they could see that indeed there was a ferret on its back, riding it as if it was a regular mounting bird.
The creature landed, and soon, the young female ferret jumped down from its back, and was now looking at the mammals, who were looking back at her.
"Well... that was unexpected." Larry said.
"Ms. Vulpen?" The ferret asked, and Vicky nodded.
"I talked to you on the phone." The ferret said. "I'm here to give you your story."
Vicky shared a look with the other mammals.
"And you are..?"
"I am a mage." The ferret spoke.
A heavy silence followed these words, as the mammals with Vicky traded looks among themselves.
"You are... a mage?" Cameron asked, looking at her up and down, and seeing that she looked pretty much like any ferret her age. She actually had kind of a geek look, with these glasses and all. "I mean, not that we doubt, but... you don't kind of have a 'mage look'."
The ferret looked at him for a few moments, and reaching out for her pocket, pulling out... a lighter.
She flicked it, producing a flame. She then moved her paw closer to the flame, and her hand started to glow. Immediately, the flame started to move on its own, and from it, sprouted three snake-like tendrils made of fire.
"Flipping frogs!" Larry said as he nearly jumped back, and the other mammals were also looking in shock at this. They looked as the tendrils of fire dissipated, leaving behind points that looked like very bright sparks. The ferret made a gesture with her paw, causing the sparks to fly around herself, before she made another gesture, and the sparks flew in direction to a tree. Once they hit it, they exploded in flames, deeply marking the tree, as they charred it and even removed part of its bark with the strength of the explosion.
There was a heavy silence, as the mammals slowly looked from the damaged tree back to the ferret, who was looking with an expression that bordered on boredom.
"Okay..." Cameron said, "You are a mage."
"So..." The ferret asked, looking straight at Vicky. "Do you want the story?"
On the following morning, Vicky had woke up very early, took a good breakfast, got dressed, picked up her things, and took off to work.
With her, she was taking an external HD that had something very important in it. Something that could easily make her career. Something that she had expend until late at night of the previous day working with Larry, who was good in working with videos and editing.
She had not altered the original meaning of what was recorded in there. She only worked the video to make it presentable. After all, not only she had promised to the ferret that she would not change it to suit her needs, but she also didn't wanted to be someone who made fame by lying and altering the truth.
Upon arriving, she immediately went to the place where she knew that she could find her boss.
Upon arriving, his secretary told her that he had not arrived yet, and that she could wait for him if she wanted.
She did waited for him; she patiently waited for nearly forty minutes until her boss arrived. Lawrence Saiga was an antelope that stood on 5'1'' feet tall, with a fit body and a short fur of orangish-yellow coloration. He had a bulbous snout on his face and eyes of a hazelnut coloration. His head was decorate by long bronze-colored horns. He always wore some nice clothing. Today he had gone for a white social shirt, gray blazer, gray dress pants, and a yellow tie. He seemed surprised for seeing Vicky in there, and the vixen was quick to say that she wanted to talk to him in private.
Soon they both were inside his office, quite nice, and the antelope turned to her.
"So, Ms. Vulpen. What is it?" He asked her, very politely. "By your expression, I assume it is important."
Vicky looked right at him, and she took a deep breath.
"I have a story." She said, showing him the HD. "I want it to be aired."
"Oh."
"And I want to receive the proper credit for it." Vicky said, and she looked intently at her boss. The antelope said nothing, and she continued.
"The whole story is already recorded in here, and I was the one who presented it." Vicky said to him. "I want it to air as it is now, without any modifications and without being altered."
"I have been in the ZNN for almost a year, and all this time I saw my stories being presented by someone else." She spoke to her boss. "I'm tired of this. I want my stories to be presented by myself. I don't even need to be live on television, I just need to know that my story will be presented as mine, and not someone else's."
"I don't care if mammals will not want to see a fox on television or presenting a story." Vicky said after a pause. "I want to take credit for my own work."
There was a huge silence, as Vicky looked at her boss. She was fully expecting him to try to talk her out of it, saying that it could be bad for the image of the ZNN to have a fox presenting the news, she was even ready for the case in which he would flat-out forbid her of presenting anything on television. If it was the case, she was ready to quit her job and go offer the story to someone else.
However, she was surprised when he said:
"Well, I'm really glad to hear this."
She blinked, as she looked up at him.
"It was about time for you to want to take credit for your own stories." He said to her with a sympathetic smile. "After all, we all know how hard you work for them."
She blinked as she kept staring at him. Was this the same mammal who did not let a fox show her own stories and forced her to give them to Stan?
"I am glad that Staglore finally managed to convince you." He spoke to her. "Ever since the first day I have been saying to him that he should talk to you and convince you to present your stories, but you were always passing your stories to him because you were afraid that the public would not like seeing a fox presenting the news."
It was as if the world stopped, as Vicky took in what she had just heard.
Slowly, but surely, it was as if everything was falling into place...
Stan... you bastard! She thought, barely preventing her lips of curling in a snarl, and the boss' voice called her back to reality.
"So, this story you got." He asked. "Is it a good one?"
She looked back at him, and all of sudden, she was feeling a lot more confident.
"Believe me..." She said, handing him the HD. "It is."
Hope you enjoyed this chapter.
Just for you all to know, the next part of the story will be the same event divided in four chapters. There will be a lot of info-bombing. Hope you guys are up for it.
I just want to thank all of you for following and appreciating this story so far, and I hope you guys can continue to do so as I go on in writing it.
'Till next time.