Oof, I did not mean for that much time to pass in between chapters! Well, thankfully I was able to crank out this new addition to the story! I hope you like it! Please consider leaving a comment or a review, as those really do perk me up!

 

 

Found (Chapter 35)

 

by

 

Elite Shade

 

 

 

"We're so sorry to have to cut the visit short, Judy," Dawn said while Vernon loaded up some more of the luggage in the trunk right behind them.

 

"Dawn, it's okay," the bunny said with a smile, "it's a medical emergency."

 

"Also, there's always next year," Nick added, casually observing Marcus helping his cousins with their own luggage, as well as the prizes they had won at some of the game booths. Looking up at the larger canine approaching, he took notice of Vernon's bruised and swollen left eye. "Oof, what happened there?"

 

Vernon checked to make sure that Marcus was well out of earshot before answering in a low voice. "I found out that Marcus'... skill apparently doesn't just end with baseball."

 

"That must've been one heck of a game of ring toss, then."

 

"No, he actually did purdy well at that. He even won a stuffed bunny that he gave to Alice," Vernon said with a chuckle, looking over to where his oldest was trying to discreetly tuck her bright yellow bunny into her backpack, the little black wolf pup unaware she was being observed. "This shiner's from... Marcus playin' pinball fer what apparently is the first time."

 

Nick and Judy shared a look before turning to regard the wolf with a quizzical expression on their faces. Vernon sighed and rolled his good eye.

 

"Look, I'm not sure how it happened, he just used one of the flipper thangs to smack that little silver ball, and it started bouncin' all around inside. Then it got stuck in some kinda little pinball carousel thang, the whole game was circus themed, and after a few seconds of the moving parts jerkin' about inside, that ball shot out through the glass and smacked me right in the eye." Vernon frowned at the fox, who was struggling not to burst out laughing.

 

"How does that even happen?!" Judy asked, fighting back an attack of the giggles herself.

 

Vernon winced and rubbed the back of his head. "I dunno, I wouldn't have believed it myself if I hadn't seen it!"

 

"Oh, Puppy!" Dawn hugged her mate, kissing his bruised eye after he leaned down to let her. "Did Marcus see what happened? Remember how guilty he felt after the second time Yuri tried to practice pitching for him?"

 

"Don't worry, Lamb Chop," Vernon chuckled. "He got distracted when the pinball machine immediately started smokin' and caught fire, so I was able ta act like I had tripped and smacked it on a tree branch."

 

"Wait, there was a fire?" Nick asked with a raised eyebrow.

 

"Yeah, but Judy's Pa had a fire extinguisher at the ready and so it was contained."

 

"That kit's kinda an accidental menace," Nick quipped, causing Vernon to cross his arms and snort.

 

"We got all our stuff, Daddy!" Lily cheered as she ran up to Dawn and Vern, an arm outstretched as she cuddled the plush wolf in her other arm, another prize that Marcus had won, that time at the balloon popper booth. Vernon chuckled and scooped her up into his arms, making her giggle as she cuddled close to his neck ruff.

 

"Well you and yer brother and sister and cousin did a great job at gettin' ready so soon, Princess," Vernon said while Dawn and Judy both cooed. Nick looked over to see Marcus carrying a sleepy Trevor to the car, while giving Alice a piggyback ride.

 

"Thank you so much for having us," Dawn said, giving Judy a hug, which was quickly reciprocated.

 

"Anytime, Dawn," Judy said. Saying their goodbyes, Dawn and Vern double-checked to make sure that all of their things had indeed been collected, before getting the pups all buckled in. Soon enough, they were back on the road, leaving Bunnyburrow.

 

"Dad?" Trevor asked from the back seat, the little black ram holding a plastic toy sai, with a red bandanna tied around his head in imitation of his favorite Samurai Snake, Rafael.

 

"What is it, buddy?" Vern asked from the driver's seat, giving his pups and nephew a smile in the rearview mirror.

 

"Why'd we have to leave early?"

 

"That's 'cause your grandma has gone inta labor, and soon yer all gunna have some tiny little aunties crawling around," Vern said, eye back on the road, a goofy grin plastered on his muzzle. "I'm gunna be a big brother," he said to himself.

 

"You already are, Puppy," Dawn said, reaching over to put her hoof on his paw.

 

"Yeah, technically, by a couple a minutes."

 

Dawn giggled and rubbed her own belly thoughtfully.

 

"Uhm... Marcus?" Lily's voice piped up. The older human looked over at his littlest cousin and gently smiled at her.

 

"Yes, Lily?"

 

"Uhm... what's Kartakka like?" At that, the car fell silent. Vern was dumbfounded, while internally kicking himself for not taking the pups aside so he and Dawn could let them know not to try and ply Marcus with too many questions about where he came from, at least not until they were sure he was comfortable with answering some of their questions. Dawn was opening her muzzle to try and distract the lambs by pointing out a flock of emus when Marcus reached over and ruffled Lily's headfur.

 

"W-well... it's an old city, really old. And like Cavernicia, or what is now bein' called the Lower Nocturnal District, it's underground. It's actually hidden inside a craggy mountain range near Great Kitten," Marcus explained.

 

"Wow! But why was the city underground?" Trevor piped up, now interested. "Is it because of the subterranean squid monsters that Uncle Ully likes to warn us about?"

 

"Now, Trevor, yer Uncle Ulric is... a silly wolf, and he likes ta come up with silly stories and ideas fer stories." Vernon made a mental note to have a talk with the wolf in question about the things he was telling his pups.

 

"Uh... I d-don't recall ever hearin' anythang about no squid monsters... but the reason the city was moved underground, like so many others were, was 'cause the folks there were afraid."

 

"Of squids?"

 

"Trevor, there's no squid monsters," Alice said with a roll of her eyes. She turned to look up at Marcus. "What were the humans afraid of?"

 

"Uhm..." Marcus looked a little uncomfortable and began to rub the back of his neck, a nervous habit Dawn and Vern had picked up on. "W-well... every other species of mammal."

 

"... But why?" Lily asked, confused.

 

"Uh... the exact records are... hazy, but the one thing everyone agrees on is that... real early on in history, h-humans came into repeated conflict with other species and... not really having any sort of natural defenses, early humans were almost wiped out. So they went into hiding, and as technology and civilizations advanced and explored, they had to go to greater and greater lengths to hide, until, eventually, underground many of the cities and settlements went."

 

"... So now that everyone knows about the humans, does that mean y'all will come outta hiding?" Lily asked.

 

"Uh... I expect many to, yes, but there are some who are still afraid, and so they may take longer ta convince." Marcus looked thoughtful for a moment. "As fer what Kartakka itself is like... well, it certainly is beautiful... at times. Like during the festival of the Silver Moon. The streets are crowded with food and game stalls, and there are merchants set up everywhere, selling their wares. Effigies of the Moon Mother are made and given offerings, and there are performers everywhere. It's like a new breath of life has been blown into Kartakka durin' the festivities."

 

 

Elsewhere...

 

 

"It was by the time that the third Silver Moon festival was canceled that people realized a new wind had blown into Kartakka," the tan human sitting in the chair said with a solemn look on his bearded face. He had on an eyepatch and had a prosthetic arm visible thanks to the black t-shirt he was wearing. Under him in white lettering was his name and his occupation, Eric Woolson, Reporter for the Silver Spike.

 

"The Guards cracked down on any assemblage with brute force. This was still before they would outright line folks up and shoot them, but you'd better believe they were quick to give someone who irked them a beating, and more often than not, haul 'em away in chains. And the Abbey was declaring that alcohol and other impurities were signs of someone slipping from a proper human mindset and walking a dark road towards barbarism. If they suspected you of anything, even witchcraft, actual witchcraft, they'd have authority to kick in your door and start ransacking your house, looking for anything incriminating. If you had any booze or, gods forbid, any non-Abbey-approved religious symbols, you were carted off for questioning. The folks who would come back from being interrogated were often severely malnourished, missing fingers... or in some cases limbs." Eric looked down at his prosthetic and barked out a harsh laugh.

 

"And we're not even talking about folks with mental issues, like schizophrenics. There was little institutional help for mental health, aside from the good Doctor Hypatia doing what she could for as many as she could... before her imprisonment after publicly condemning the Duke. But the poor souls who would see things that were not there... they definitely suffered at the hands of the Abbey." Eric looked away from the camera, tears in his eyes.

 

"I got started with the Silver Spike... because I had an uncle. I think if he were still around to be diagnosed today, he'd fall under the category of a paranoid schizophrenic. When he would be lucid, he was like a big kid, always ready to be there for me and my brother. When he... wasn't... well, he would go on about the fairies and the secrets they would tell him. He would then go on to explain something really nonsensical." Eric breathed deeply and seemed to steel himself.

 

"I remember when they came for him. It was the middle of the night, and me and my brother Pete were woken up from our uncle screaming at the top of his lungs. The Abbey... those damn silver-masked freaks, they knocked down the door to our house and swarmed him. Me and Pete were forced to stand outside in our pajamas next to our parents, as Dad's older brother was dragged out of the house by a metal collar around his neck attached to a chain. They had him in shackles, and kept accusing him of performing dark rites and colluding with evil non-human forces. Their evidence? Some rune-inscribed bones, later revealed to be ostrich leg bones, he had been making. He was crying and saying the fairies said it would protect us all and that we didn't have to be afraid. They beat him right there for that. We were made to watch as they beat Uncle Isaac with what were basically billy clubs, before loading him up and taking him away in their carriage. That was the last time I saw Uncle Isaac alive. We were separated and questioned, over and over again. They wanted to know if any of us had been corrupted by his blasphemy. Not finding any evidence to convict us, they finally left. Two weeks later, we were delivered a package... it was an urn with Uncle Isaac's ashes inside. There was no note, no explanation, just his ashes."

 

Eric's breath hitched for a bit, but he composed himself. "About a month later, my father was arrested for heresy. They claimed he had spoken out against the Abbey. So they... gave him the Heresy Emblem right on his face."

 

A picture came up showing several different humans with a symbol in the shape of the infinity symbol, branded on their faces.

 

"With that... symbol, on display for everyone to see, no one was allowed to acknowledge his existence. Not even his own family. Under penalty of death... but not for the ones who've been marked. My brother and I only ever saw him once more after that. So yeah, after a few more years of living in that kind of an environment, I joined up with the Silver Spike, right as they went and took their operations underground. I started out small, following members of the Abbey around and sending info up the chain of anonymous donors of information. I knew a couple folks at the time that were also contributing the paper, same as me. But no one knew everyone involved. That way, if anyone got picked up, operations could continue." Black and white pictures of guards and humans wearing masks appeared, some in the act of setting a house on fire, one with people in chains being led by a guard striking one in the back with a club, and even one where a screaming child is being ripped from her mother's arms, the two reaching out for each other, the anguish and terror prevalent on their faces. All of the photos appeared candid, some at a slight angle.

 

"And the entire time, the Duke was having all sorts of propaganda posters pumped out every day to practically flood entire districts with." Footage cuts to entire walls and storefronts covered with posters, to the point where said posters were all that was visible. The camera zoomed in on one depicting a caricature of snarling, fang-mouthed bunnies swarming several humans, gruesomely being stripped to the bone. Beneath it was a picture of a bunny that looked adorable, but was holding a bloody knife behind its back, and big bold red letters underneath that read 'LOOKS ARE DECEIVING, RABBITS ARE A SWARMING PLAGUE OF TEETH!'

 

Panning over a bit revealed an image of a giraffe, its head and neck contorting around a human's throat, strangling them, a wicked smile on the giraffe's face with two fangs poking out. Next to that was a picture showing a tribe of wolves ritualistically sacrificing a human on an altar spattered with gore, howling at the full moon. This one was curious as it also showed in the background several humans appearing to be part of the tribe. 'Beware the swarms and heathen packs!' Below that poster was one of an elephant, who had five different, tentacle-like trunks and barbed tusks, holding five small children over its gaping maw.

 

"A neighbor of mine got picked up, and he was part of the same chain as me, so I knew it was only a matter of time when they'd be coming for me. I was fifteen at the time, and on the run, so to speak. See, the problem when trying to run and hide in a city that's underground is that there's nowhere to really go. No legal ship would take me out, and I'd have to wait for a storm anyways, as was standard procedure for ships crossing the ocean from one human settlement to another. Smugglers were also out of my price range. So I had no choice but to go down into the sewers, hoping that the letter I'd sent to the next person in the chain would get to them in time, warning them of what happened and how to contact me."

 

 

* * *

 

 

"It sounds like many mammals in Marcus' homeland were suffering," Xavier said, pausing the Nutflix documentary. He looked over to his mate, Malcolm still hugging a couch cushion to his chest.

 

"I still just can't get over how Marcus' brother was encouraged by his Pa ta bully his younger sibling!" Malcolm took in a shuddering breath  "A sign o' strength, my foot!"

 

The white wolf adjusted his glasses and reached over, pulling the auburn wolf into a hug. "It wasn't fair, the kind of puphood he had."

 

"No, it wasn't... but at least he's got a new one now, one with a real family," Malcolm said with a sigh, looking up into his mate's eyes, his tails starting to swish. "Maybe we could do something special fer him?"

 

"Like what?"

 

"Well, maybe we could send him a special gift, something he'll love?"

 

"I already received word from Honey that she and Ulric had watched the entire series... and after she helped him perk back up with some ice cream, Ully has decided to get Marcus a junior science kit... claiming it to be for research purposes."

 

"I see," said Malcolm, a mischievous glint in his eye. "We certainly can't let Ully just so easily win the title of Favorite Uncle with Marcus, now can we?"

 

"Gingersnap... you are absolutely correct," Xavier said, nuzzling the top of his mate's head.

 

"Y'know, fluffybuns," Malcolm started in a sweet voice. "We could really make a big difference in a pup's life ourselves..."

 

"Gingersnap, we've been over this, we're both just so busy!"

 

Both wolves were silenced by the sound of a phone buzzing. Malcolm realized it was his and quickly pulled it out to find a text from his father. His eyes went wide as he read the words.

 

"What's wrong?" Malcolm asked.

 

"Ma's just gone inta labor!" Xavier exclaimed, his shock causing him to slip back into the Meadowlands drawl he had meticulously worked so hard to lose.

 

 

Back in the Meadowlands...

 

 

"Firefly!" Zach yelled, bolting the second he saw his son. Vanna had to quickly slam her foot on the brake and throw their cruiser into park as the wolf, in his haste to run to Marcus, had simply unbuckled his seatbelt and hopped out of the car.

 

"Goofball!" Vanna rolled her eyes, seeing her mate tackle their kitten in a hug, knocking the two of them over. She ran a gentle paw over her stomach, feeling the little one inside start kicking furiously, as she had been doing a lot more lately. Killing the engine and taking the keys, the tigress got out of the car, smiling as her son and her mate started getting up, Zach's tail a joyous blur. As she approached, she could just barely make out what Zach was saying.

 

"--and never have ta leave without us again, son. Y'all can just stay here in town and not have ta worry about anyone draggin' ya off anywhere without me and yer Ma taggin' along."

 

"Uhm... Papa, I wasn't gone th-that long..."

 

Zach pulled Marcus into a bone-crushing hug. "Ya don't need ta go and put on a brave face fer me, Firefly. Yer back here safe and sound." Vanna sighed and made a mental note to address that later. Right now, standing out front of the hospital, they needed to head inside as Vernon and Dawn, with their own kittens, were already on their way to learn more about what was happening with Audrey. Feeling another kick, Vanna looked down at her belly and smiled, feeling like little Rose was going to be joining them all soon.

 

 

 

SUPER SPECIAL BONUS CONTENT!!!

 

 

Marcus sat up in bed, looking groggily at his digital alarm clock. It read that the time was five in the morning. Turning to regard his bedroom door, he saw his Papa standing there just wearing a pair of his uniform pants, running about and gesticulating wildly. Marcus had to take a moment to clear the sleepy fog from his mind. Only then did he finally start understanding what his father was telling him.

 

"Firefly, c'mon and get dressed! Yer Ma's water just broke!"

 

Marcus' eyes went wide and he hopped out of bed, running to his dresser. Zach ran back out of the room and into his and Vanna's bedroom. The tigress was putting on her robe, looking calm and collected.

 

"Zach, please calm down," Vanna said in a mildly exasperated voice. Her mate nodded, grabbing the bags that they had prepared for this moment, running with them down to the car, struggling to put a shirt on while going down the stairs, taking a little bit of a tumble as he did so. He scrambled to his feet and checked the bags, finding everything just fine. Darting back out to the cruiser, Zach tossed them into the trunk. The energetic wolf ran back inside and grabbed some more bags to repeat the process. Then he ran back in, coming right back out with a confused Marcus, who had been in the middle of brushing his teeth (toothbrush still in his mouth), and buckling him into the back seat. Zach then double-checked that they had everythin before hopping into the driver's seat and inserting the keys. The engine roared to life, and he flipped on the lights, electing to leave the siren off for now. With sunlight brightening the darkened sky, the cruiser peeled out of the driveway, going down the road in the direction of the hospital.

 

"Uh, Papa," Marcus said, having managed to spit out the toothpaste into the sink before being grabbed by his dad.

 

"Don't worry, son, yer Ma's gunna be just fine. Yer baby sister just wanted ta arrive a little earlier than we had thought, that's all." Zach felt satisfied with how quickly he had had the car loaded and gotten them out and on their way to the hospital.

 

"Papa!"

 

"What is it, son?" Zach asked, confused as he looked in the rearview mirror.

 

"We forgot Mama." Those three words prompted Zach to turn to the empty passenger seat.

 

"Oh... rut!" Zach braked and made a sudden U-turn. In a few minutes they arrived back at the house where Vanna was standing with her phone in her paw, arms crossed, frowning down at her mate. He smiled back up at her, sheepishly.

 

"Uh... hey there, kitten." Vanna silently pointed at him, and then at the passenger seat. Not daring to argue. Zach unbuckled his seatbelt and moved over, while Vanna climbed into the driver's seat, having to push it back a bit to fit her larger frame. Vanna adjusted the mirror to look back at Marcus, smiling brightly at him.

 

"Now, let's go meet your new sister, honey!"

 

 

 

There we go, readers! Tune in next time for more silly shenanigans!