Sunlight City Ch. 1-3

Chapter 1
	“Dad! Mom! We need to leave some time today!” I called standing at the front door towards the kitchen. I was nervous, excited, anxious, I don’t know. After years of dreaming about it, I was finally going to begin my training at the Police Academy. I had been looking forward to this my whole life. I somehow don’t think my parents shared the same sentiment because they were taking their very sweet time to get going. “Oh Judy, you’ve always been so impatient, we are leaving soon, you’re father has just got to take care of some business with your elder siblings before we drive to the academy. On taking care of the farm and your other siblings while we are gone” my mother said coming out of the kitchen. “It’ll only take a minute more and then we will be on our way.” She looked me over. “I’m so proud of you, you know? We both are. We know you have been working towards this for a good while. I’ll admit it wasn’t what we really had in mind for you, but you’ve always been so headstrong, so motivated, we knew we had little chance of changing your mind.” She looked a little nervous herself. “However, we want you to know that you have us to talk to whenever you need us. We are always going to be there for you.”  I replied “I know Mom. I know.”
	At that moment, my dad came down the hall. “Alright,” he said, “y’all ready? Let’s hit the road.” I grabbed my bags and we stepped out onto the front porch of our house. It was a quaint place, if rather large. It would have to be considering the size of my family. More siblings than I can count. Good thing too, our family runs one of the largest farms in the Burrows. As soon as we were old enough to walk, we helped out on that farm. Though it’s good exercise, it’s also really pretty boring, enough so that early on I knew this was not what I wanted to spend my life doing. I was a big fan of movies growing up, and I knew I wanted my life to be exciting like that. Police films caught me the most. Exciting chases, serving out justice to assholes. I wanted to live like that. Speaking assholes…
	“HEY! GET AWAY FROM OUR MAILBOX” I yelled as two young foxes started swinging baseball bats at it. They ran away laughing their heads off. “Those stupid foxes, I should go teach them a lesson!” I exclaimed in anger. My father grabbed my shoulder “Judy, it’s not worth bothering with, it’s just a mailbox.” “Just a mailbox? They keep pulling stunts like this every week? Slashing the truck tires, tampering with the water system, spray painting the supply shed? Why do you let the Greys walk over us like that? If you would just put your foot down, we might be able to get some peace?” The Greys were a large family of Foxes that lived on the other side of the Burrows. They ran a farm of their own, and as long as I can remember they had been harassing us. My parents had given up trying to stop them since the local cops were too lazy to try to put a stop to their actions. And thus my parents just started lying down and letting them pull all sorts of stunts. My anger at the Greys and my frustration with my parents was a large part I think of why I wanted to join the force. I was tired of living with the injustice they inflicted on us week after week. I for the most part had just learned to grudgingly live with it, but perhaps with the excitement of what today meant I took it more personally this time.
	“All the stunts those kids do are rarely that big of a deal. There is no point getting mad about every small thing that happens.” my mom said calmingly. “Let’s just pretend we didn’t see anything and head on our way, you don’t want to let them ruin today for you do you?” She was right. I wasn’t going to let the Greys ruin today for me. I was finally getting out of this place. I was finally going to be an officer. And I was finally going to move to Sunshine City. I knew I had months to go before I graduated from the academy, but at the same time, I just couldn’t wait.

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Chapter 2
	Man, its hot today. Sucks just standing around all day selling these DVDs, but its easy money. “Hey there ma’am! Would you like to take a look at the movies I’ve got on sale today? I swear they are the genuine movies, fresh off the factory presses. And I’ve got great prices too. 2 movies for 10 bucks, surely you aren’t gonna find a deal like that anywhere else! No? Alright ma’am you have a good day. Hello there sir!” It was a tiring routine, but not completely fruitless, the movies did sell, but it was a very tedious job. But it was extra money in my pocket, so who can complain? Well, I can think of a few people.
	“Hello there Nick. Working hard?” Oh boy, it’s the pigs again. Literally. “Hello there Officer Bullkowski! Officer Pigsley! What can I can I do for you on this fine day?” I said, even though I already knew the answer the moment they walked up. “Selling your bootlegs again Nick? You were warned last time to cut this out.” Adopting an injured tone of voice, I reply “Officers, I’m hurt. I’m a legitimate businessman. All these movies here are the real deal, not like those crappy Avian mockups that keep circulating. If I had a DVD player here, I could show you for myself.” One of the officers responded “Nice try fox, but it ain’t working. We are going to have to confiscate these movies. And the money you’ve earned from selling this contraband.” Well it wasn’t unexpected but it was definitely a setback. “Surely you can let me keep the money,” I asked, “it’s not like you are going to be able to find the people I sold to. And I do need that money, I’ve gotta pay the bills somehow.” The other officer scoffed. “That’s hardly our problem fox. You should be happy we aren’t taking more drastic measures. But I’m warning you, if we find you doing this again, we are gonna haul you back to the station. Got it?” I sighed. “Got it officer.”
	It was frustrating to have wasted half of a day with no profits to show for it, but I had trained myself to not let such things get to me. That’s the kind of skill that every predator in Sunshine City has to acquire.  Mainly because the city kept us all on a rather tight leash. Literally. At a very young age, all predators are legally required to wear special collars that are designed to “reign in our barbaric predatory instincts.” In practice that means if we experience raised levels of anger or aggression, our collars give us a rather painful shock. I’d like to say it’s something you eventually get used to, but that would be a lie. It hurts like the devil every time. Though 20 years of experience has generally conditioned me to keep my emotions in check. Nowadays the troubles of life roll off me like water off a duck’s back. Because honestly who has the energy to let themselves get angry about stupid shit? Recently in the news I’ve been seeing plenty of stories about predators’ rights protests and I wonder why even bother? It’s not like they will change anything. No point investing like that. All it will lead to is just more anger and more disappointment. My philosophy is just to accept what already is, keep you’re head down, and make the best of it. And possibly make some money in the process. I like to think I achieve both with my real job.
	You see, I am the proud and distinguished owner of a rather exclusive club called Wilde Times. It’s one of the biggest clubs among predators in the city. However I am very selective about the clientele considering the place’s legality is rather iffy for one reason. The very reason it’s so popular amongst predators in fact. Aside from drinks, it is also a place that predators can indulge in their predator instincts, things like hunting, stalking, maiming, etc. All with dummies of course, it’s not THAT shady. But how can such a place be with our shock collars? It just so happens I have a special contact who aside from being my booze supplier, managed to find me a rather nifty device that disables collars inside the premises of the club. He never told me exactly how he got it and I never asked, but it was a Godsend to getting this place running. However, considering that this would be very illegal, as I said I am rather selective about who gets invitations to the club, don’t want someone blabbing about it to the wrong ears. And for double the precaution, I chose to set up the club in Happytown, which has been mostly abandoned ever since the riots 20 years ago. The police generally don’t come around here so I generally don’t have to worry about them busting down the doors.
I’ve been running this joint for a good 5 years now, and business has been good. I’ve built up a solid supply of regulars and I’ve made good money off the place. Aside from some of the everyday crap predators gotta deal with, life has been alright so far. At least I like to think it has. So yeah, I just keep my head down and enjoy what I got. Not like anything life changing is gonna happen, right?

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Chapter 3
	Oh my God. I’m finally on my way to Sunshine City! I can’t believe it. I especially can’t believe how fast training went. Those months flew by and before I knew it I was a Police Academy Graduate. Near the top of my class too! My parents were so proud, they were crying the entirety of the graduation ceremony. I know they were, and still are, nervous about me entering the force, but they seemed so happy, it just made the whole experience even greater. My whole family threw me a going away party, it was amazing. They invited all my friends from the town and there was lots of food and it was just a perfect going away party.
	Well almost perfect. Some of the Greys decided to crash the party. Luckily they didn’t pull anything too dramatic, they just showed up. Leading the pack was Gideon, I can’t believe had the nerve to show his face like that after what he did last year. I was about to go over and beat his stupid ass, but my father begged me to just let it go. He and some of my elder brothers went over and asked them to leave, and it seemed the Greys weren’t looking for a fight that night, so they simply left. I was a little confused why they came at all, Gideon gave me an odd look as he left but I tried to push it out of my mind. I wasn’t going to let the stupid Greys ruin my last night at home with my family and friends.
	Early next morning as my family watched, I hopped on a train and began the ride I had looked forward to my whole life. I was finally going to Sunshine City. I was finally going to be an Officer. Oh my God. I can’t believe it’s finally happening! It was a long train ride, so I slept most of the way. But as we neared the city, I decided to get a better looks, so I went up to the second floor of the train where there was a clearer view. As the city came into view, my jaw dropped. It was amazing. It was massive, and even from here I could tell that it was varied. In training they told us about how the city had multiple districts to accommodate various types of animals. There was a desert district, and arctic district, a jungle district, and multiple normal city districts for all the animals that don’t have special needs. I wondered where I would be assigned. All of the options sounded exciting.
	When I got out of the train station, I took a cab to the district where my new apartment was at. As the driver, a black bear, helped me put my bags in the trunk, I noticed that he had a collar on his neck. I had read about those collars. Personally from what I’ve read, they seemed like a logical idea to me. Predators who give into their instincts can be a hazard to all. They don’t have the collars back in the Burrows, but I can think of at least one family that I would like to see in them. Anyway, I got in the cab with the bear. He was pretty nice and polite and we had a nice talk on the way over. He told me that he had moved here recently because he needed a job and his cousin had an opening for him. He said he didn’t care much for the collar, but what can you do?  I told him I felt they were in everyone’s best interest, predator and prey alike, that they kept everyone safer. He simply shrugged at this but he was less talkative after that. I suppose that was kind of rude for me to say, but I think it’s true. I reached my new apartment and got settled in. It was small but I didn’t exactly have a huge budget to spend, so it would be fine for now.
	The next day I arrived at the police station in uniform early. I wanted to make a good first impression. I walked up to the front desk where a rather, uh, large cheetah was watching a video on his phone. “Hello? Hello?” I called to him. He was pretty distracted. I noticed he too had a collar around his neck. “HELLO?” He jumped, apparently just noticing me for the first time. “Oh wow, I’m sorry,” he said quickly, “I was just watching this new music video that came out, it was very good. You like Gazelle?” He seemed like something of a character. “Yeah, I like her alright. I prefer more country type music, but I have some of her music. Anyway, I’m Judy Hopps, I’ve just been assigned to this station.” He suddenly looked excited. “You’re Judy? The new rabbit officer? I’ve been waiting to meet you, I couldn’t believe that they were actually assigning a rabbit to our precinct, my name is Benjamin Clawhauser, but you can just call be Clawhauser, everyone does.” “Alright Clawhauser, can you show me where the meeting room is?” He pointed over to a door across the lobby and said “Oh, it’s over there. Meeting doesn’t start for like 30 minutes though.” I began walking towards the door he gestured towards as I said “Oh, that’s fine, I want to be early on my first day.” So I walked through the door, found a seat and sat down. I checked my phone while I was waiting, I noticed my mom had sent me a text message reminding me to call her later that night after work. I texted back that I would. Then I surfed the web for about 15 minutes. At this point, other officers began to come in slowly, talking amongst themselves. I noticed some of them were predators with collars, a few lions and tigers and bears. But most were prey animals. Though prey would be somewhat misleading as none of them were weak looking. Elephants and boars and Hippos and the like. None of them seemed to notice me as they took their places. About another 15 minutes later the chief walked in. He was a rather aggressive looking buffalo, and when he spoke, it was in a gruff voice. “Alright, pay attention. I’ve got your orders for today. Forrester, you’re team is patrolling Main Square. Langston, your team is handling the Jungle district, Bearstein, your team is…” He went on and on, giving out orders until I was the last one without orders.
“And finally, we have Judy Hopps, our newest recruit. You are assigned to patrol Happytown.” Happytown? That couldn’t be right. I had read up on the history of Sunlight City, Happytown was mostly abandoned after the riots that happened years ago, surely I wouldn’t get assigned to such a dead beat would I? “Um chief?” I said as he turned to leave, “Sir? Are you sure that’s correct sir? Happytown is mostly abandoned, nobody goes there anymore.” He turned back to me and said “Yes, I know, that’s why I’m putting you there.” He turned back around to leave. I spoke up again “But Chief sir, why would you put me there? That’s a waste of time. I could be put to better use somewhere else.” Once again he turned and looked at me with a glare in his eye. “I’m not going to lie Hopps. I didn’t want you in my precinct but higher ups wanted to increase diversity of species in the force, so they stuck me with you. Now if I could, I would put you on meter maid duty or something, but unfortunately that’s not how it works, so instead I am just going to put you out of the way where you can’t cause any problems. Now you have you’re orders. Go to them.” And he left me standing there, lost for words.
I can’t believe I got assigned to Happytown of all places. This place is a complete dead end. I thought “You know, maybe I will get lucky and stumble upon a drug ring or something”, but no such luck. I patrolled for the whole day without single incident. Hell, the amount of people I saw the entire day could be counted on two hands. I tried to have a positive outlook on the situation. Maybe this is just a test, maybe he does this to all new recruits. So I came back the next day, got orders to patrol Happytown again, and did my job. It was boring, but I figured maybe if I stuck with it, he would see I am dedicated enough to be put somewhere else. But after a week of nothing happening, I got impatient and decided to confront him again.
“Sir, I feel that my potential is really going to waste here. I was one of the top members in my class at the academy, I feel I could be put to better use elsewhere in the city.” He chuckled at this and said “Well, if that’s the case, why don’t you catch a criminal for me? Surely it won’t be that hard if you are as good as you say you are. Let’s say if you are able to catch someone, I will consider assigning you to another part of town. But good luck with that.” I couldn’t believe it. He really was just leaving me to rot in Happytown. Glumly, I started my rounds in that dismal abandoned place, contemplating whether I had made a big mistake moving here. I was snapped out of my pity party when I heard the sound of a truck nearby. I went in the sound’s direction until I found a truck running with a short Fennec in a collar sitting in the front seat shouting at someone to hurry up. Then I saw a brown furred Fox in a cheap looking shirt and kakis, also collared, walk out of the back of the truck carrying some boxes. What were they doing here? It looked rather suspicious. My heart began to soar. Perhaps this was the bust I was waiting for. I began to walk towards the fox.