Curiosity...

Disclaimer; I do not own Zootopia or any of its characters.

Under Earth

"Stupid buffalo, stupid lion, stupid Zootopia, stupid brothers," Judy grumbled as she kept digging at the earth. It was probably better that she was angry because she worked harder and faster that way anyhow. It did at least keep the fire going that was the current reason for her continued efforts. After being made a laughing stock in Zootopia and those two city officials making a spectacle of her failure as an officer and the mammal inclusion program, Judy had come home with her tail between her legs so to speak and wanted to hide from the world for a while. Maybe change her name and move to another country as bad as some of the mammals had mocked her for the failure.

It was bad enough they thought she couldn't succeed to begin with and when everything started going crazy in Zootopia with savage predators she had nearly been killed by a large cheetah in Central Square. It just proved the fact that small prey mammals shouldn't be in law enforcement in the eyes of the world. No, don't mention the fact that she saved several other mammals in the process. "Just stop thinking about that and focus on this," she growled again as she dug into the earth. At least she could get lost in work here. That didn't keep her from wanting to choke her brothers for this lovely practical joke. It had taken her two days to dig this trench out for the placement of the new watering and cistern system in one of the fields, and when she woke up and found it filled in the next morning… fuming wasn't a strong enough word for how angry she had been. They had denied it profusely but she knew those ding dongs well enough.

The feeling and smell of the warm damp earth between her fingers and clumping under her claws was a relaxing factor as she continued moving the earth. Some things were just ingrained in rabbits. The fact that she had already dug this up the day before and everything was loose helped the work go faster but it was still irritating to repeat a job twice. Another swipe and throwing dirt out behind herself and she wiped her brow sighing before she dug in again and furrowed her forehead when she hit something solid. "What the?" A few more pawfuls of earth and she crinkled her nose at the foreign scent and red color shining in the sunlight. "Red?" her bow rose and panic set in as she frantically started digging out the ground around her. A primal surge of fear had her blood racing but it couldn't overcome the overwhelming curiosity and want to discover, or drown out the fact that this shouldn't be here.

Red fur? It was almost unheard of in any species other that red pandas, and there weren't any of those anywhere near Bunny Borough. Predators had begun to leave Zootopia after fear had set in months ago and even with Lionheart still being the mayor the staggering opinion of public polls were sure to cost him the upcoming election so Bellwether was running as a contender and already had a good lead. Judy jumped back when she hit something wet and cold, looking to see a purple nose sticking out of the dirt. A few more swipes revealed a long snout and closed eyes and she cringed as she shrank away from whatever kind of predatory was in front of her. The doe hopped back squeaking as a puff of air shot from the nostrils and the earth that was clumped around it. It's alive?

Judy crawled forward on all fours with her nose twitching and the scent of blood had her scrambling looking around as she moved more of the earth. When the mammal half under her groaned as she brushed away a wet clump from his shoulder and found an open wound she darted from the trench and started running back to the house. It didn't matter what it was or how it got there, she wasn't going to let anyone die if she could help. After reaching the entrance of her borough Judy stomped her feet in a rapid pattern before she ran to the barn. Thumping in certain patterns would alert others to a problem and she had just sent out an all points alarm to the leaders under the house. There was no way she was going to be able to move a mammal that size without help and even her brothers wouldn't be able to pick it up and carry it alone. As she climbed into the tractor several bucks rushed into the barn huffing. "What's going on?" a brown buck dressed in overalls asked as he rushed the tractor she was climbing into.

"Juno, get Randal and Steven too. There's a mammal out in the south field that's hurt and too big to move. Jake and Allen, go tell Ruby and Amber to get the medic room ready and get all the younger kits out of the main rooms." They all looked at her like she was stupid before she screamed "MOVE!" The bucks scattered as the tractor rolled over the hay and through the doors, slowly trekking past the little farm house and Borough. Judy wasn't a patient mammal and the speed of the tractor had her foot thumping against the cold steel as she chewed her lip. She knew her brothers were going to get there before her as slow as she was moving and was bouncing when she finally came into view of the trench again. Seeing her brothers looking into it with lifted brows and scratching their heads had her rolling her eyes as she stopped the trailer and then hopped out.

After admonishing her brothers for not attempting to do anything she hopped into the trench and swiped the dirt away from the larger mammal as they all gawked at it. "What is it and how did it get in there?" Juno asked as he looked over the edge. "It doesn't matter what kind of mammal he is or how he got here, he needs help," Judy replied as she tried to get a grip under the larger mammals arm.

"How do you know it's a he?" Juno asked as she turned her head to him with a flat face. The buck shook his head and raised his paws. "Don't answer that, I don't want to know."

"Just get in here and help me get him out of here and on the tractor." After her and her three brothers struggled getting him out of the trench they all had to stop and catch their breath after fighting with the dead weight. Randal and Steven were Judy's younger brothers and nearly identical grey bucks who were almost inseparable. The jeans and loose shirts they were wearing with matching ball caps were both pulled off as they stood looking over the red fur of the mammal they had hauled from the earth. Juno was shaking his head again as Judy stood up bracing her knees. They were the largest and strongest of her brothers, and also the ones left in charge while her parents were off at the largest farmers market trying to secure another booth for the season.

"I don't know about this Jude. He's some kind of predator and I've never seen anything like that before, and look at those clothes. It just looks like a bunch of rags tied around his waist." Juno stood back scowling as the red furred mammal moaned.

"It will take at least three hours for anyone to get out here to help him and I don't know how bad he is hurt. Just help me get him to the medic room and Amber can tell us anything else and help him until someone else gets here." After wrestling him onto the back of the tractor each rabbit was holding the weight of his limbs locked under arms as they carried him into the large farmhouse. A golden eyed tan doe stood gaping as they barely got him through the door.

"AMBER! SNAP OUT OF IT!" Judy yelled and her sister shook herself as she opened the door so they could carry him into the medic room. The tan doe was looking him over wide eyed as they finally managed to get him onto a table that was a little too small. When another sister entered the room she froze and Judy rolled her eyes catching her breath. "Out if you can't help Ruby." The red eyed doe shook off the shock and Amber joined her shoving everyone out the door with Judy protesting until the golden eyed doe deadpanned her in the hall. Judy huffed and took a seat with her brothers in the living room as they all tried to figure out where he had come from, how he had gotten there and what he was. Even after an extensive search through their media connections they couldn't identify what species he was.

Several hours later Amber came back into the room pulling off a pair of bloody gloves and tossing them into a bag she handed to her brother. A stern glance around the room and all the others disappeared before she landed her eyes on the purple set in front of her. A quick motion to the said room and Judy followed her in finding the mammal in question under a sheet with his eyes closed and a thick belt wrapped around his muzzle. Amber tore off the coat she had been wearing and tossed it into a basket before she turned to a sink and was washing her paws. "Where's Ruby and why does he have that thing on his face?"

Amber turned around leaning into the counter as she rubbed her temple. "Ruby got upset and left; he has that thing on his face because he tried to bite her."

Judy went pale as her sister shook her head "It's not his fault. He was in pain and scared and I wasn't sure how much medication I could give him or what so I had to take a chance and guess when he woke up. That's not what bothers me Judy."

Judy stepped closer to the red furred mammal looking him over as Amber stepped to the table with a bowl in her paw extending it to her sister. Judy looked in furrowing her brow at the chunk of metal lying in the murky water.

"It's a bullet."

Judy trembled in disbelief. Guns were outlawed a century ago and as she looked at her sister again shaking her head Amber sighed. "That's not all. The only reason he didn't bleed to death was because of all that dirt I had to clean out of the wound. It stopped the blood flow because it was so loose and soaked in forming a clot of sorts. Those things are bad enough Judy, but there is something else I don't understand." Amber looked back to the mammal on the table pointing to his muzzle. "His teeth, they are perfect."

When the purple eyed doe curled her forehead Amber stepped closer pulling his black lips back slightly to reveal perfectly white canines. "He has no cavities, no imperfections, and no sign of wear from eating processed foods. That can only mean one thing Judy, he's wild."

"That's not possible. There haven't been wild mammals in Animalia for centuries."

Amber shook her head "There's no other explanation for it, that and the fact that the noises he was making weren't any kind of language I have ever heard. I don't have any idea who to call about him."

"What do you mean?" Judy asked as she looked at the large patch on his shoulder.

"Whatever he is he is unusual. I can't say this without a guilty conscience but if they take him somewhere the chances he won't end up in a cage as a lab subject or some kind of freak show are high. I'm not even sure if he is going to make it because the risk of infection is so high, but I'm not sure I should be trying to save him because of those possibilities either." Amber held a paw out and Judy took the object she was holding. It looked like a simple flat stone with a string around it and she ran her claw over the grooves in it trying to figure out what it was. "It was around his neck. You are going to have to figure out what you want to do because Mom and Dad will be home in a few days and they will freak."

Judy looked around in thought for half a second and Amber was grinning as she squared her shoulders. "I figured. I'll tell you how to take care of him because I'm still taking care of the kits and watching Addie is a pawful in itself. Did you get the trench back out?"

Judy shrugged "Yeah for the most part, that's where I found him under the dirt." Her sister tilted her head and cringed. "I know, nothing about this makes sense or sits well." Judy ran her claw over the stone again looking at the odd pattern. Something about it seemed familiar but she shoved it in her pocket before looking back to the mammal sleeping on the table. "Do we really need to leave that on him? It seems…cruel."

Amber pulled the sheet back revealing straps that were secured around his body down the length of the table and Judy cringed. "Remove it at your own risk, we don't know anything about him and it would be better if there weren't a lot of curious bunnies in her trying to peek in on him. I suggest since you have the field ready to take the next few days and figure out how to take care of him and what you are doing with him. I can help, but I can't stay in here all the time."

After Amber had explained how to clean his wound and give him medications if he needed them Judy was left alone pondering over the red furred mammal in front of her. It wasn't anything unusual for rabbits to have doctors in their families or keep a med room with supplies and medications, but trying to figure out what was safe and how to dose someone so much larger with the right amount was going to be the most difficult to try and keep an infection from spreading. He had gotten lucky in some ways. The bullet had grazed an artery but the dirt had sealed the wound after he had been buried. Judy couldn't keep her mind from wondering on how he had gotten there. One thing was clear, he hadn't done it himself. She pulled the belt off his muzzle looking at his teeth before she sighed.

"What kind of trouble could you get into being what you are? Where did you come from and who are you Mr. Wild?"