Sunderance Chapter 24: Hollow of the Sun Goddess Part 1 (Patreon)

   The paw moved slowly, steadily carrying out the smoothing motion from the tip of the dark nose, over the whiskers, and all the way back over the long muzzle. The fine teeth of the comb set every strand of orange fur perfectly in place after the twenty-fifth stroke, allowing the fox turned her attention to the other side until similar results were achieved. Neveen watched the vixen in the mirror groom herself, attended to every detail with astute care that she had not taken since she began her rise to power. Generally, the details of her city took too much of her time and while she certainly tended herself and kept herself more than presentable, it had been too long since she had really taken the time to make every detail perfect.

   Then again, it had been a very long time since she had seen Nick, so the extra effort only made sense to her.

   “Madam Administrator,” came the expected feminine voice from the room around her, “your appointment has arrived on time. However…”

   “Miss Hopps is more than welcome to join us,” she interrupted easily, a light smile on her muzzle as her own eyes glinted in the mirror at her. Not at all unexpected. “The elevator is waiting for them.”

   “Yes, ma’am.”

   The unusual feeling of disquiet in her stomach was hard to process. It wasn’t nerves – excited, uneasy, distressed or anything of that sort – that caused the feeling when she turned from the mirror and made her way across the large room. She silently processed the feeling as she quietly stepped down the curved stairs leading to the elevator door, listening to the almost silent hum as it made its way from the lobby up towards her office. Reviewing a list of possible ways that she could greet the fox that was on his way up and fully into her world, she found that she couldn’t really decide on a single one as the most effective. It all left her when the elevator stopped, and the mirrored surface of the doors slid open to show the two mammals within. The genuine warmth of affections that filled her was a little stunning, though she didn’t allow that to show as she opened her arms wide to the handsome Todd in black that stepped out.

   “Nicholas,” she said with that genuine affection filling her voice as she stepped towards him. He was warm and solid against her when she drew him close, allowing her to realize that some part of her had wondered if he had even been alive after the years slipped away and no word from him had come. His slow reaction, hesitation followed by an almost reluctant reply to her strong hug, showed her that she had caught him off guard. But catching him off guard was only a small part of the pleasure of wrapping her arms around him and feeling the embrace returned. “It has been too long. You look…”

   She paused for a moment as she drew back and held him at arm’s length, her gaze sweeping over him up close and personal for the first time in years. He was obviously stronger than he had been, with an edge of danger that was obvious as much from the glint behind emerald green eyes as the fact that she already knew he was capable of killing. He was as handsome as ever, too, but there was also a coolness to it all. Even after the warmth of the hug that had lingered between the two of them for a long moment, she almost imagined a physical distance between them no matter that they were face to face. It wasn’t a blow to her pride or her heart. It was easy enough to tell that the feeling of distance wasn’t directed at her alone: it was directed at the world at large. The silent moment dragged on for a few seconds before she finished her statement with a wistful smile.

   “…Serious.”

   “It comes with the job,” he replied simply, to which she inclined her head in acceptance of the explanation before she turned her attention towards the other mammal in the room. Nicholas seemed inclined to make the introduction as he stepped slightly to the side and gestured with one paw. “This is Judith Hopps, though I’m sure you know that. Judy, this is Neveen.”

   “It’s a pleasure to meet you at last, Judy,” she said informally with one paw extended towards the sharply suited bunny, keeping her ears upright even as she suppressed the mild surprise at the way he had used her real name. “You have caused quite a commotion in Zootopia in a very short time.”

   “Through no fault of my own,” the bunny said, reaching up to take the offered paw. Neveen would have called the shake non-combative, but professionally firm and brief.

   “Oh, don’t take that as an accusation,” she replied, her smile still in place as she gestured for the two of them to follow her as she mounted the stairs back into the main room. “It’s not your fault that this city has some elements that resist the idea of justice.”

   “There are elements in every city that resist the idea of justice,” Hopps replied, her tone as crisp and tidy as the suit she wore. “Though it’s not as common for them to resist as violently as I’ve encountered since I arrived.”

   “Yes,” she replied, allowing just a hint of annoyance to creep into her voice, waving them to the two seats that were already waiting for them. Having made her way to her own chair as they took hers, she faced them with the gathering storm above the city outside making the room a dull gray around them. She lowered herself into the seat with an almost regal air about her, though she didn’t see it as such before she continued. “Some less expected than others. But that’s not simply resistance to justice. Do you understand what I mean, Nicholas?”

   “I have already given her the moths to the flame speech,” was his only reply as he reclined on the chair, crossing one leg over as his gaze remained fixed on the storm behind her.

   “Have you?” she replied, smiling slightly as she took note of the surprised frown that crossed the bunny’s muzzle as her gaze drifted over to the Todd. “Well, the point remains the same. There are always those who will take advantage of unusual circumstances to show their true colors. Someone they believe they don’t like causing trouble in a place they love, for example. Though they never understand that the love for a place, such as Zootopia, only carries so far as that place holds to their own beliefs. Do you think this is why someone in Zootopia is trying to remove you, Miss Hopps?”

   “I don’t think that I am as important as everyone is making me out to be,” was her reply, causing the vixen to raise one brow. “It’s not me that someone is after. It is stopping me from getting to the truth. Even the Otterton case isn’t important, but the fact that someone successfully framed him for the murder of his wife even though there was never real evidence to support that.”

   “What makes you so certain he isn’t the murderer the courts convicted him of being?”

   “What makes you so certain that he is?” was the quick retort, which caused a please smile to spread over her long, slender muzzle as she shook her head.

   “Oh, I don’t think he is guilty at all,” she replied, her eyes shifting to Nick again. He still wasn’t even looking at her, which caused a little twinge of both annoyance and sadness. But she pressed on without letting either of them show. “I am absolutely certain that he’s innocent. I know the mammal, after all. There isn’t a killer’s bone anywhere in his body, which is saying something about a predator. And he did love his wife so much. No, I believe he would have chopped off his own paws and feet if he believed they could be used to hurt her.”

   “Then why are you allowing this to happen at all?” Judy asked, keeping her tone professional even though the words held obvious demand for an answer. “You could pardon him instead of forcing this very public spectacle from going on.”

   “But that wouldn’t really solve anything, now would it?” Her smile was benevolent as, with a simple hand gesture, the first few steps of her complex chair rose soundlessly to form a desk in front of her. She then leaned forward to rest her elbows on that desk, her paws folded as the two of them held eyes steadily. She had expected little else from a bunny willing to enter a city very much controlled by foxes, all while under the protection of a fox that was a mystery to the city at large. “A governmental pardon would be seen as a ploy to gain favor with certain groups. Legally, it absolves guilt and grants freedom from whatever charges are pardoned. But in the eyes of the people, it almost always leaves room for doubt. Mammals at large have always been wary of favors from the government, even if they are in the best interest of the people. It would be far more productive if someone, namely you, were to prove his innocence in a ‘very public spectacle.’”

   “To not only prove his innocence beyond a shadow of a doubt but to ensure that you look like the good Samaritan because you set the wheels in motion when you invited me to represent Mr. Otterton,” Hopps said, her tone both thoughtful and certain of her final statement. A statement which she saw no reason to deny as a light laugh escaped her muzzle.

   “Yes, that’s it exactly. I am a political figure that was never elected to office, after all,” she said, waving one paw only slightly towards the city all around them. “Not by the mammals of Zootopia, directly. I was elected by the Council, who were themselves elected by the mammals of Zootopia, to oversee the day-to-day administration so that they would be free to peruse the larger issues of their own stations. Thus the title they placed on my station.”

   “And set you in an office that sits on the highest point in the city, above the Council itself?”

   “It is important to keep perspective, Miss Hopps,” she said thinly before she drew herself to her feet, the desk withdrawn back into the steps at her feet automatically, gesturing for the bunny to follow as she walked towards the outer rim of the precipice so she could look out over the dome. What had been a distant storm had closed in, the sheets of rain that fell as it moved towards the tower causing the city to take on a hazy grey look. Once the bunny had joined her, looking up at her for a moment before following her gaze to look out over the entirety of the western bay and stretching on to the mountain ranges of the Nocturnal District, she continued. “This is the perspective the Council wanted me to have. As Zootopia grows and becomes more complex, the Council found it harder to focus on the tasks they were elected to perform – be it Education, Finance, military, etc – and they started to see the need for someone to look at the big picture.”

   It pleased her that Hopps was not quite able to mask her awe at the view she was given, the twitch of that adorable bunny nose twitching as her gaze moved over the splendor of the city being rebuilt by her careful paws. Not a simple vanity of knowing that she had ‘the best seat in the house’, but because she herself was still awed by it at times.

   “The big picture, like risking the life of an innocent lawyer for the sake of scoring political points with the populous?”

   They both blinked and turned towards the sound of Nick’s voice, who had remained seated without seeming even remotely interested in taking in the spectacular view of the city. Of course, she knew that he would be familiar with the view, even if the Apex itself was a new addition to the top of The Tower. More than that, though, was the returning annoyance when she realized that he wasn’t looking at her. He wasn’t looking at either of them, in fact.

   “I know that I am being used as a scapegoat,” Judy said, drawing the gaze of both foxes with the matter of fact tone of her voice. Neveen looked down at her, a slight tilt in her head when lavender eyes rose to meet gold. “I was fully prepared to come into the city alone, expecting that some mammals might try to kill me just because I am a bunny. Because a bunny wouldn’t be welcome. It seems like a long time ago that I was that naïve, even though I’ve hardly been here a week.”

   “Bunnies have never been as reviled in Zootopia as the Commonwealth would have its population believe,” the vixen confirmed, a grim expression on her muzzle as they both returned their gazes to the city. “Most of the population is in favor of lifting the ban, but the Council still hesitates because of pressure from outside of our borders. There are no ravenous hoards of foxes marching the streets in search of lost bunnies on the outskirts, after all.”

   The anecdote was obviously well known if the drop in Hopps’ ears was any indication, though she recovered from it quickly enough when she turned away from the view to face her directly. A favor that she returned with her paws clasp together nearly in front of her.

   “But there are people who want me dead. And whoever they might be, they seem to want my execution to be public at the very least,” she added, causing the vixen to raise an eyebrow before giving a short nod. “And because you stepped over the current laws to let me represent Otterton, someone – perhaps multiple someone’s – could take advantage of my death to point the blame on you.”

   “Which would, very effectively, ensure that all trust in me as Administrator would evaporate,” Neveen finished with a slight smile, more pleased now than ever with her choice in Hopps. “And would also destabilize the public trust in the Council, because they are the ones who put me where I am today.”

   “But you already knew that,” Nick chimed in, drawing her gaze again, and her frown when she saw that he was still looking off into the distance at some random point on the skyline rather than at her. “That is why you had someone ready to swoop in and save the day when the first attack came.”

   “Nicolas,” she said shortly, folding her arms over her chest as unavoidable annoyance caused her ears to tilt down halfway. “If you’re going to accuse me, you could at the very least do me the courtesy of acknowledging that I still exist. I know we haven’t spoken in years, but it’s childish of you to avoid looking at me…”

   “He’s looking at me.”

   As soft as the voice was, it still caused the fur on the back of her neck to stand on end when both she and Judy turned towards the sound. What looked like any other small part of Zootopia’s massive skyline around then, blended between the mountain ranges and dark storm clouds in the distance, a shimmer of air and light bent to the familiar lean shape and tall, high-set ears. Out of his standard gear, the tall black-striped rabbit wore only black training pants and the simple vest that housed his newly replaced holo-emitter on his chest. A vest that barely managed to cover the bandages that she knew still bound his ribs. This was enough to have her setting her teeth, though it was not enough to distract her from the face that Hopps was moving towards Nick, who had risen from his seat.

   “Jack,” she said calmly, forcing her face and ears to calm when he walked over to stand beside her, just as Hopps moved to stand beside Nicholas. Setting aside the surprise of not only his appearance but the fact that Nicholas had been aware of his presence when she had not, she slipped on an easy smile. “I told you that everything would be fine without you. Nicholas would never hurt me. Would you?”

   There was a long moment of tense silence as the four of them stood and watched each other, a not-so-subtle tension in the air built of curiosity, mistrust, and a desire by all parties to know more than what they already did. She could see that Jack was unarmed, as if he needed his blades to be dangerous, and while she had taken no steps to disarm the Todd across from her, Neveen also felt that she knew he would not hurt her. The moment passed when a slash of lightning split the sky around them, and while the Apex dome kept the thunder that followed from being heard, the slow exhalation from one male in the room seemed an apt replacement for it.

   “You know I would never hurt you, Neveen,” Nick said, his eyes leaving the buck beside her long enough to meet her gaze.

   The gaze locked and held for a long moment, during which Neveen felt a small pang of longing for the way things had been. But when his gaze dropped from hers to the bunny beside him as one russet paw placed on her shoulder, she reminded herself that those days were far gone and impossible to find again.