Zootopia
Ring Around the Collar

Chapter One
Special Delivery

	Night lay heavy of the dock districts on the outer edge of Zootopia's central square. In the early hours of the morning, everything was quiet and calm. There was no one in sight, no one except a fox waiting patiently for his very special delivery. He flicked his lighter casting an amber glow across his young face. The orange light clashed with his fur making him appear almost white for a second. Once his cigarette was lit, he flicked the lighter closed again casting him back into darkness.
	The fox's green eyes skimmed the darkness, his night vision was nothing sort of magical. It brought everything to a dimly lit white haze. He could see well enough to discern small to large things, but the details were a little fuzzy. He looked down at the gold accented watch on his wrist and shook his head, a pang of worry settled in his heart and was already starting to grow. With each second that passed by it only got worse.
	It made him sweat to think that something might have happened to his precious cargo. He reached up and tugged at the collar around his neck as if it were choking him. The hard plastic casing was digging into the right side of his neck. The small green light working as a beacon in the darkness. The package was going on twenty minutes late at thirty minutes he would have no other choice than to assume it was lost altogether and be on his way before the authorities show up.
	Something rumbled several feet away on the road above the docks. When he saw the blinding white reverse lights traversing along the wooded walkways, his heart calmed but only for a brief second. The fox expected to see flashing blue and red lights at any moment. The closer the reverse lights drew the better the fox was feeling about things. Finally, the large truck stopped a few feet away. A small weaselly figure slipped out of the driver's side. Even with his fantastic night vision Nick could see his dirty white tank top before he could make out the rest of him.
	“I got yer delivery, Nick.” The weasel spoke, punching the word 'delivery' as if it inferred something else, which it did.
	“Thanks, Wesseltown.” The cigarette bobbed up and down between the fox's pursed lips, he reached back to retrieve an envelope from the back pocket of his khakis
	“It's Weaselton, you know that! Why do you always do that?”
	Nick huffed a laugh on a cloud of smoke. “It's just a joke, my over serious chum. You know I can't pass up a chance to mess with you.”
	“Keep it up, Wilde and one day yer gonna be laughing out yer ass.” The weasel puffed himself up, still almost a foot shorter than the fox.
	“Alright, keep your shirt on. No one wants to see that gut.”
	“Oh, I hate you. Are we doing this thing or not. I got shit I gotta do.”
	“Such language, not in front of the kids.”
	Weaselton undid the lock on the back of the truck pushing the door open. A dim light way up by the cab of the truck was the only light source. A smell filtered out, it was a cocktail of many different mammals mixed together. All natural fur scent, no hormones or anything. Why should there be, the fox mused. For inside the truck were almost two dozen cubs ranging from the ages of six to twelve years old. There were weary looks all around. Some were sniffling and crying, others were blinking and craning their neck curiously. A smile crept to Nick's lips as he waved to them in a very friendly nature.
	“Evening kids,”
	None of the kids responded. Nick looked over each and every one of them. There were several foxes, a few wolves, a lion and a lioness, one tiger, two badgers, two otters, one weasel, and one malnourished cheetah. Quite an eclectic group. They all seemed fairly healthy as well, or at least they would be in the next hour or so.
	Weaslton climbed into the back of the truck and started helping the kids down. Nick was there to take each and every one of them setting them on the ground counting aloud as he went. By the time he reached the count of four, the kids were counting along with him. His own counting falling away to the wide grin on his face. When the truck was almost empty, Nick noticed a small pig in the back of the truck. He was struggling to get to his feet. His crutches slipping against the smooth wooden floor. Nick shot a look at Weaslton and climbed up into the back of the truck.
	“Keep an eye on those kids, please.” His voice was barely above a whisper.
	“Sure, sure.” The weasel slipped down out of the back of the truck 
	The piglet scrambled back against the wall of the truck, his large blue eyes darting around as if he were looking for an escape. It was obvious he was trying to keep his emotions in check. Nick saw the collar at his neck and knew that it was a Mark One model. A cheaper design made for the families that couldn't afford the better models. It was known to be very finicky. Nick knelt down sitting on his heels. His green eyes meeting with the pig's.
	“Hey, what's your name?”
	“D...D...D-Doug.” The kid stammered, his voice was scratchy.
	“Hi, Doug.My name's Nick. I wanna take you somewhere safe.”
	“I...I-I wanna go...home, mister.”
	“I know you do but you can't. Your mom and dad have entrusted me to give you a better life. One that will give you a chance to grow up without the pain of wearing your collars.”
	“No one can-” A jolt shuttered through the pig causing him to grunt, tears welling up in his eyes.
	“Shh, calm down little one.”
	One of the little girls started crying, Nick could hear Weaselton comforting her was a soft ruffle of her head fur. Nick ran his fingers through the pigs curly blonde hair. His flat palm making a small circular motion along his crown. It was supposed to have a calming effect at least that what his mom use to do to him when he got upset. The piglet reached up and gripped the fox's hand in trembling fingers.
	“Look, Doug.”
	The pig looked up, tears running down his red cheeks. Nick reached up and pinched the once locked clasp on the top and bottom of the collar. Once he added enough pressure, a small chrome clip snapped open and the collar slipped away. Nick's smile never faltered, in fact, it caused one to stretch out along the piglet's face. The young lad wiped his nose with the back of his hand.
	“Yo-your collar. It comes off?”
	“Yeah. And if you come with me, yours will too.”
	Nick clipped his collar back on before he held his hand out to the piglet, who took it. Nick ignored the snot in favor of the trusting lad's smile. Nick helped him up and walked with him to the edge of the truck. Weaselton strained to heft the dense piglet down to the dock. Nick followed behind pulling the door down with him.
	“Thank, Duke.” Nick said, passing the fat envelope to the weasel.
	“Nah, you're doing good things here, Wilde.”
	“Well, in the world we're living in. Every little bit helps.”
	“It sure does. I'm gonna beat feet before the coppers notice me. Be safe, okay.”
	Nick gave the weasel a shoulder slap before turning his attention back to the kids. “Alright, kids, form a line and grab the tail in front of you. If there's no tail, grab the hem of their shirt and follow me.”
	Nick felt the piglet grab his tail putting it in his mouth so he could use his crutches. The tip instantly soaked with saliva, still the fox endured. When he heard the truck pull away into the night, he made his way down a ramp to the smaller dock set under the other docks. To Nick's surprise he could see an old white fishing boat gliding between the docks. It purposefully had its lights turned off to not draw attention to itself. When it glided in next to the dock. Nick could hear a voice called from the deck of the ship.
	“You got 'em?” 
	It belonged to a small Fennec fox, making the deep voice sound odd coming from such a small figure. The small fox grunted as he threw the rope out of the boat. Nick caught it with little effort tying it off on one of the dock pillars.
	“I sure did.” Nick dusted his hands off.
	“Good goin', Nick.”
	“Will you two keep your voices down, you'll alert every guard within earshot.” A fat cheetah stepped through the door leading to the bridge.
	The small Fennec struggled to move the gang-plank down to the dock without dropping it into the water. “Leave it. There's not that many of them this time, I'll just hand them up to you.”
	The cheetah moved to the edge taking one of the kids that Nick was holding up. The piglet shied away from the larger mammal's stature but the cheetah just smiled and looked at him through his round glasses.
	“Oh my god, aren't you just the cutest thing ever. I could just eat you up.”
	Doug started to cry and Nick shot the chubby cheetah a glare. “Benny!”
	“I was only teasing, sweetie, I'm not going to eat you. I'm a good cheetah, ask Nick.”
	“Is...is he Nick?”
	“Yeah, Benjamin Clawhauser and Eli Finnick are two of my best friends. You can trust them.”
	The pig looked back at Benny and smiled. “Nick says your fine, so I can trust you.”
	“Good boy!” Benny set the piglet down on the deck.
	A little girl wolf took the Fennec's hand and was lead on the deck. “Alright, you kids. Get your butts below deck.” The deep voice of the Fennec was supposed to be more singsong, instead it sounded gruff and scary.
	One after another, the kids filed down the stairs until there was only one left on the dock. Nick hefted up the small otter into the cheetah's waiting arm. Quickly Nick untied the rope tossing it back onto the boat before boarding himself. The cheetah set the otter down and went back to the bridge while Nick followed the otter and Finnick down the stairs into the holds below.
	Instead of a hold made for toting fish it had been completely remodeled to carry passengers. Hanging from the rafters were several nets fashioned to be like hammocks. Several coolers were fastened to the wall with bungee cords. There were trunks full of pillows and blankets as well as some children's books. A female badger moved around the room offering a kind word, a package of snack crackers, and juice boxes to anyone who wanted one. Finnick was helped Doug, the piglet, get comfortable in his hammock. Putting a small pillow behind his head.
	When the badger saw Nick, she ran to him wrapping her arms around his neck. He was only taller than her by a few inches but she still managed to dwarf his size next to her full figure. A warm kiss followed. It gave way the kids 'oohing' teasingly. Nick pulled from the kiss and chuckled, pushing his face against the badger's.
	“Only twenty this time, huh?” Her voice sounded raspier than usual thanks to her hushed whispers.
	“I know but right now we can barely take care of the ones we have.”
	“But-”
	Nick gave the female another soft kiss, this time he ignored the 'oohs' coming from the kids. “We can only do so much, Honey. It won't always be this way. Soon, we'll have the means to take on more, I promise. But for right now we need to take care of the ones we have.”
	“I...I know, Nick.” The badger, Honey, pursed her lips, letting her fingers play along the hem of his open, pink flowery shirt. “I just don't like leaving any of them behind.”
	“I don't either but if we stretch ourselves too thin, then they'll all suffer.”
	Nick turned his attention to the smaller fox, who was wrapping the lioness up in a blanket. “Finnick, is everyone comfortable?”
	“How should I know? Why don't you ask 'em.” Finnick didn't miss a beat, he moved to deliver a comic book to a little fox girl with pigtails, who was actually taller than he was.
	“Alright, can I have everyone's attention?” Nick pulled up an old travelers chest and sat down on it.
	One by one the cubs all stopped fidgeting and moving. They focused on both the fox in the center of the room and the snacks that they were now consuming. The fox smiled at each and every one  of them. Seeing them all in the hold of the boat made him feel good. When he'd first laid eyes on them they looked scared, hungry, and tired. Already they were starting to look like normal, happy children.
	“So, as some of you noticed I was able to take off my collar. Each and every one of you will be able to do that as well. You'll have to wear your collar when you're out and about but when you're in the sanctuary you won't have too.”
	“How can you take it off?” The young tiger said, looking up from his comic.
	“I have a tech, whose very good at deactivating the collars. He also knows how to alter them so you'll be able to take them off.”
	“You can do that?”
	“Yes, sweetie.” Nick said to a cute otter girl, who was stepping up to him.
	 She reached up a tiny hand to him and he smiled popping the latch on his collar again letting it slip free. Nick leaned close sighing happily at the feeling of the little otter girl's fingers caressing through his neck fur.
	“Oh my goodness, your fur isn't worn away. It's...”
	“Yep and yours will be too.” Nick smiled down at her. “No more itchy, hairless necks.”
	When he looked up each of the kid's gazes were focused on him and only him. He could see the questions in their eyes. They were the same questions that he'd been asked over and over again. Now wasn't the time to go through it all, of course. There would be an orientation back at the sanctuary. Now was the time to rest and relax before they got back to sanctuary.
	“Everyone, just lay back and relax. Read a book and enjoy your snacks. If you need anything don't hesitate to ask Honey, Finnick, or myself. We'll make sure you're accommodated to the best of our abilities.”
	“Why are you doing this?” A weasel with a strong Podunk accent asked from his hammock.
	Nick looked at his watch, it was going to be at least an hour before they arrived back at home. Perhaps a story would be a good way to pass the time. Nick leaned forward resting his elbows on his knees. He could see Honey moving to sit on the floor next to him. Finnick climbing into one of the hammocks set low to the floor.
	“Many years ago, when I was just turned six. I was given a new collar...”