A/N: This being my first fanfiction (or even, document over 2000 words), I would really appreciate any creative criticism or ideas being left in the comments. As I am a high school student, I do have various obligations (homework, exams etc.) which need to be fulfilled, and as such, I may not push out a chapter very often. I should be able to write (hopefully) at least another chapter over the school holidays before my nose is pressed back to the grindstone.

Enjoy!

The muffled thunk of a mug hitting the table punctuated the silence in the office. My ears twitched, and my tired eyes slowly rolled upwards to find the source of disturbance.

'Hey, Whiskers,' said a familiar smirking voice. 'Didn't know you were planning a sleepover at work.'

I yawned as I took in my surroundings, which now resembled a nest of papers.

'Oh, no,' I mumbled groggily, 'how long have I been out? The chief won't like paying me for taking a nap'.

'Only a few… hours' teased Nick, grinning and scratching the side of his face nonchalantly.

I swung my chair squeakily around to face the clock, which seemed to taunt me with its confirmation of Nick's statement.

It was an hour past the end of my late office shift. I groaned.

'Why didn't you wake me up earlier?'

'Well, I dunno about bunnies, but us foxes tend to wanna sleep for as long as we can.'

'Yes, but in a bed would be nice,' I replied, rolling my eyes hugely.

Nick pretended to consider this for a moment. 'I dunno Fluff, you looked pretty happy to me.'

'Oh, shut up' I said, trying to feign annoyance but ruining the effect by smiling. However irritated I was with myself for falling asleep in the first place, I was grateful that the thought had eventually crossed Nick's mind to wake me up.

'Come on, Carrots' he spoke softly, offering a paw. I grabbed the coffee off the table with one paw and allowed myself to be lifted out of the chair. Taking a small sip of the boiling liquid, I forced my stiff legs to move. As I reached the door, I glanced backwards and caught Nick looking at me with something like… pity? Seeing my gaze, he quickly turned and begun the process of making our shared desk look presentable again.

That seemed nice of him… with his track record of 'jokes' I supposed I was lucky I hadn't woken up with Zu-Tack stuck in my ear fur. But he had brought coffee and was now covering up the mess I'd made.

Shaking my head wearily, I made my way outside into the night air still thinking about the day's events. We'd gotten through sorting eight stacks of paperwork, which was now being swept off the floor. Oh, well. The joys of having a boring office duty in the Resource Department twice a week were lost on both of us. At least it meant I got to spend time with Nick. His presence by my side made office days, if not enjoyable, at least bearable.

My mind swirled back to yesterday, when we'd had an actual assignment in Savannah Central.

I stopped, dumbstruck, and my ears flew up in alarm. My thoughts whirled. Could that be it? The reason Nick had been treating me strangely… Nick had, more or less, asked me whether I loved him. I'd answered yes because, well, I do love him… but I didn't think he took me seriously. And did I even like him in that way? What had seemed a simple enough comment on his personality at the time might have meant more to him than I was expecting… I wondered silently, gazing upwards at the dark sky. He'd been behaving, well, strangely toward me, ever since the Night Howler case, and even before he was inducted into the force.

But no, I thought, mentally shaking myself, he's Nick. A good friend, but… what mammals would say if they found out I liked a fox…

That night, I was extremely restless. Worries about what people would say if a rabbit asked her fox police partner out kept jabbing me, keeping me just above sleep. Even he would probably be embarrassed. Darn it, I would be embarrassed if he asked me. And, to put the tip on the carrot, I had his 'never let them see they get to you,' façade to thank for not knowing for sure if he liked me… in that way. As a love interest. Well, there was only one way to know for sure. I resolved myself to ask him outright. At least that way I'd know for certain. And with that thought, I tucked my ears and rolled, at last, into the warm embrace of sleep.

Beeeep. Beeeep. Beeeep.

The tinny sound of my alarm brought me sharply back to reality.

Blinking in the stream of warm sunlight filtering through my thin curtain, I rolled over and clicked in the snooze button with the tip of my index claw.

I felt exhausted, as though sleep had evaded me for days, not hours, and it was with reluctance that I dragged myself out of the warm covers and got dressed.

Yawning, I picked my way through traffic down to the ZPD, sipping a Snarlbucks carrot spice latte.

'Mor-ing, 'u-dy!' exclaimed Clawhauser around the doughnuts stuffed in his cheeks. I giggled, watching him struggle to swallow quickly.

'Hey, Ben!' I replied, with a caffeine-boosted smile. I walked straight through to the bullpen, where Chief Bogo was already calling roll.

'Hopps!'

'Here!' I had a sudden flashback to my first day of high school. I remembered it vividly; the teacher had been calling our names off the list, and I was so nervous that I didn't hear my name being called. The embarrassment had made me want to burrow into the ground and never come out.

'Grizzoli!'

'Here!'

'McHorn!'

'Here.'

'Trunkaby!'

'Here.'

I looked back at the door to see Nick stroll in just in time to say,

'Here!'.

'Right now, there have been a few complaints from… certain members of the public about the conduct of several officers on parking duty… well, one officer, mostly.' He looked pointedly in my direction and I shifted sheepishly, knowing that my overzealous ticketing had been something of a public annoyance.

'But, I disagree with the public. It's not arrogance, or being a nuisance. If you asked me, I'd call that efficiency, Hopps.'

'Oh, um… thanks, Chief,' I mumbled, not having expected praise for filling Bogo's in-tray with misconduct complaints.

I glanced at Nick at saw him looking at me strangely again. His ears lowered and he turned away. Definitely suspicious behaviour.

'Officers Hopps and Wilde!' barked the Chief. 'I have a case that might be worthy of your attention,' his voice was dripping with sarcasm. He obviously thought he'd complimented us enough. 'A family of naked mole-rats has gone missing from their home. No blood, no signs that anything happened other than they decided to all go out for an evening stroll. Evidence seems scarce, but I think you two might be able to scrape together enough of your wits to solve it.'

'Naked mole-rats? Chief, we already have our first lead!' exclaimed Nick.

'Yes?' asked Bogo expectantly.

I was already groaning internally at the joke I knew he'd make.

'We need to check that naturalist club,' he said in a total deadpan voice, but still struggling to contain his delight at his own crummy pun. I burst out laughing and paw-bumped him. There were some guffaws from the mammals around us, but the Chief was looking daggers.

'Officer Wilde, be serious!' he growled, slamming his hoof on the lectern and making the pages in front of him flutter. 'Now start your investigation by collecting the file!' He waved the file in question in front of our faces and I snatched it. Opening it, I noted the home's address.

'We'll get going then, Chief!' I said happily. Nick and I strolled out of the room, while I snagged the key for the smallest cruiser in the fleet.

'You know, I reckon I should drive the cruiser' said Nick pedantically, holding out his paw.

'Why, because all foxes are good drivers?' I scoffed, closing my paw tighter around the key and holding it out of his reach. 'No, we've been through this a million times. I am the better driver - also, the only one of us with a licence.' As I plopped into the comfortable drivers side seat, he slid into the passenger seat and closed the door. I kept the car in place and tried to gather my thoughts. It was now, or never.

'Nick…' I began slowly, turning to face him, 'I have to ask you something, and please don't take this the wrong way,' I hesitated. This was going to be difficult to phrase. I had the feeling I was asking the wrong question. I bit my lip and folded my ears carefully, tapping my foot and willing the right words to come, that would explain how I felt without sounding so abrupt. 'It's about that time, when we were about to catch Flash… and, it's sort of about ever since you became part of the force, or even since you stood up for me in front of Bogo, I really…' I broke off. He had a sly grin on his face, and his fluffy ears were pricked with interest.

'Dumb fox,' I muttered, planting my face in my paws, 'you know what this is about, don't you?' Still smiling nervously, he nodded.

'Judy, every time I look at you, do you know what I'm supposed to see? We're natural enemies. In the past, I would have tried to hunt you down. Moving past that, we're police partners. We care for each other. But ever since I met you, I can't help it. I care about you. I see you as more than just a friend. Whenever you're away, I don't feel whole, a-and,' he trailed off as I looked up into his intelligent green eyes. It was strange, watching as the mask fell from them. For one of the very few times since I'd known him, I was seeing the real Nick at his most vulnerable. I could tell that he hadn't planned to just blurt out his feelings. Even in Zootopia, one of the most liberally-minded cities in the world, inter-species relationships were something often looked down upon.

'Are you sure you don't need your eyes checked?' I asked in a half-hearted attempt to break the tension. He snorted, looking relieved at the excuse to stop talking.

'But seriously, Nick,' I spoke low and rapidly while discreetly tossing the dash-cam memory card out of the window, 'I feel the same way about you.' I squirmed and tugged my ears nervously, feeling as awkward as an elephant on a tightrope. 'After all we've been through, all the times we saved each other…' I shuddered, remembering vividly the abject terror of being hunted by Mr. Manchas when he turned savage… 'well, you've been special to me ever since. But we can't be together. Not in that way, at least. It's not natural. My dad would freak out, you know he's still… still jumpy around foxes.' I could tell he was disappointed, but I wasn't going to change my mind. The social stigma of being a high-profile cop in a… questionable… relationship would be overwhelming. I would never do that to anyone, least of all Nick, even if it meant breaking his heart. I felt horrible.

The silence was abruptly broken by the crackling of the police radio. I twitched in a half-leap of surprise, my feet thumping against the accelerator and throwing us forward a few meters. Two voices were issuing from the speaker, clearly competing to be heard through the microphone.

'…but Chief, you don't…'

'Of course I have…!'

'…you don't understand…'

'It's a clear breach of protocol, let me…!'

A small squelch echoed from the radio, as though the microphone had been adjusted.

'OFFICERS HOPPS AND WILDE!' I flinched at the bellow.

'WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?! GET MOVING! YOU'VE BEEN BLOCKING THE EXIT ROAD FOR FIVE. WHOLE. MINUTES! YOU SHOULD GET A PARKING FINE! WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELVES?'

'Sorry, Chief, we were just… distracted. There was… a bee in the car' Nick invented quickly, somehow knowing that the savvy Cape Buffalo wouldn't be entirely convinced.

'A BEE? A BEE, WILDE?! DO YOU THINK I AM ENTIRELY STUPI-'

The rest of Bogo's piercing words were drowned by a distant bang, followed by a long rumble that shook the car.

'That didn't come from the radio…' muttered Nick, looking, with his ears laid far back, just as frightened as I felt. Once the sound had died down, a yell was audible from the small radio unit. With my sensitive hearing, I could just pick out a few words in between the cracks and hisses of interference.

'Getting signal….level one?….oh, crap!' I blinked in surprise at the last word, wondering what could possibly have made one of the experienced radio operators lose their professional cool.

'Come in! What's the situation?' I spoke, leaning in toward the radio with great apprehension.

The voices ignored us, continuing to communicate urgently with one another.

Then, out of the panic-stricken background noise came the squeak of the microphone stand being turned again, and this time it was Clawhauser who spoke.

'You two have got to get to Tundratown as fast as you can! We're getting emergency calls all over the place. Now go!' I'd never heard Ben sound so panicked. I took a deep breath, hit the siren button, and put the pedal to the metal. With a screeching of tyres, the cruiser swerved out onto the main road and began building up to a speed no reasonable mammal would call 'cruising'.

Even though the situation was serious, I wouldn't deny that driving at top speed was fun. I could barely keep from snorting with laughter when I looked around and saw Nick with his paw on his muzzle and his eyes closed, looking like he was about to add some unwanted decoration to the dashboard.

'Carrots? Next time, I'm driving,' he managed.

Luckily for us, road conditions were relatively clear. Still zigzagging occasionally, I was only half-listening to the report coming in on the police radio.

'…looks like some kind of terrorist attack' Clawhauser was speaking agitatedly, occasionally conversing with the other radio operators, who were receiving updates from the scene of the explosion. 'The blast demolished a street of buildings. As far as we've heard, a bomb was set in or near the house of a predator-rights campaigner.' I flinched at the news. This sounded too targeted, too focused. Whoever had set the explosive knew what they were doing, and that could mean we ran the risk of being targeted ourselves. It wouldn't be the first time; in the Zootopia Police Academy, we were often told stories of how evacuation assignments had gone belly-up as examples. I knew the dangers well. Everyone did. But I kept driving toward Tundra Town, following the directions Ben was relaying.

'Here!'

I jerked the wheel to the left. As the cruiser screeched to a stop outside the hastily organised police cordon, Nick slipped his aviators off as though he didn't believe his own excellent vision.

'Oh, sweet cheese and crackers' I whispered, feeling my ears and mouth drop simultaneously in horror, and my eyes widen.

The scene before us was one of utter devastation. Roof tiles and beams littered the snowy ground, some leaving charred gouges in the road beneath. Fire and ice mixed, as the heat of the blast had caught two more houses ablaze.

I leaned in and spoke urgently to the radio, gabbling out a request for fire crews and paramedics.

'Roger that, Hopps.' It was a different dispatcher this time, probably one of the trainees.

'Hurry! Fluff, we need to get out and find survivors!' barked Nick, who was already sprinting towards the buildings, his tail flaring behind him like a red banner. I opened my door and sprinted furiously towards the wreckage, my hind paws digging up snow as I closed the distance.

The destruction seemed to become worse the closer I got. The blackened shell of the house at the centre of the explosion was smoking, and as I watched another wall collapsed inward. I forced myself to look away. One thing was clear: anyone in that building was too far gone. Biting back a whimper, I turned my attention to the surrounding area, frantically pivoting my ears to hopefully, maybe pick out the sounds of survivors from the buzzing background noise.

A shrill cry echoed from a house down the street and funnelled into my left ear.

'Wilde! Over here!' I called, before realising he was no-where in sight. He must have found someone else, I realised, now myself sprinting towards the feeble mewling emanating from inside a scorched, half-collapsed ruin.

I hopped around the building, trying to find the source of the pitiful cry. A sudden clarity in the sound made my ear twitch, and I made an abrupt about-turn, homing in on the source. There! Under a piece of fallen timber was a tuft of light-grey fur, just visible beneath a dusting of the dark soot that had blanketed the street.

I carefully picked my way closer, wary of the ominous creaking noises made by the stressed structure.

'Hello?' I called, wondering if the creature was in a fit state to answer. 'Are you okay in there?' The mammal went silent. Then…

'Wh-who's there?' came a high-pitched voice. I recognised the timbre of the voice now. It was a rabbit… or at least, a hare. I sniffed, and was assaulted with the unpleasant aroma of Eau de Burnt Pyjamas. I tried to ignore that smell. My nose, while not as good as Nick's, could still pick out the difference between a rabbit and a hare, and this was definitely a hare. A very young hare.

'Alright, I'm going to try and get you out. Just stay put for a second…' I felt my way around the log, my heartbeat rising in a panic as I realised just how perilous the situation was. My claws ticked against the wood as I ran them up and down, trying to figure out how to rescue the poor hare. It looked bad. While not badly injured, she was the only thing stopping the log from dipping further toward the ground, which would knock the already-hazardous house past its endurance.

'Think, think, think…' I muttered to myself, looking around for an idea.

'Where's my mama?' asked the hare, once again distracting me.

'I'm sure she's fine, sweetheart.' I reassured her, my gut twisting painfully at the lie. 'Alright, I've just got to get you out from there… hold on a second…'

I'd seen a possibility. A charred, but still solid-looking lump of wood was lying in the snow less than three metres away. I scrambled over to it for closer examination. It appeared to be the gutted remnants of a large wardrobe, but it would have to do. I carefully prised away a section of board, noticing as I did so that it was unpleasantly warm and sticky. And stained red. Steeling myself, I started to drag the piece through the thick snow, soon panting with the effort.

A few laboured steps later, and with no time to spare, I hauled the piece into place.

'Are you ready?' I directed at the kit.

'What're you going to do?' she replied uneasily, perhaps sensing the stress in my own voice.

'I'm getting you out of there. I just need to support the beam so it doesn't collapse… hang on a sec…' I could hear the uncertainty in my own voice. This was something I had never trained for, never even been expected to do.

I took a deep breath. This was either going to work, or it wasn't. I just had to try. I took another calming breath, trying to gather my strength, then placed my paws underneath the beam and pushed upwards. My arms shook with the tremendous effort.

'Get out! Quick!' I gasped hurriedly. The hare didn't need telling twice. She shot out like a fluffy white bullet, scrambling up the road to safety, and I gave a swift kick to the piece of wood.

And that was when everything went wrong. In my haste I missed my aim, knocking the plank of wood flying end-over-end past the beam. With no resistance, the heavy support collapsed onto the ground, delivering a fatal blow to the fragile shell behind it. I scrambled back on all four paws as a resounding boom and series of cracks rent the air, making the ground shake as the remaining support beams shattered and crumbled. The building teetered as though in slow motion, looming above like a flaming monster.

At that moment, the wind shifted, blowing sleet sideways down the street, and the fall changed direction, the outer wall slumping onto the house beside it with an echoing crunch. For a moment, it seemed as though it had settled. I slowly crawled to my hind paws, built-up snow sloshing off my legs and chest. Then the horror really began. A sudden blaze of light and heat swept the area. I blinked in surprise, squinting in the harsh light as the second house caught fire with surprising speed. The walls and roof ignited almost simultaneously as the flames roared from the top down, gas pipes popping with earsplitting metallic clangs. I watched, transfixed with horror, as the roof of the second building started to cave in.

A wailing siren brought be back to my senses. The cavalry was here. But where had Nick gone? I hadn't seen him since he had sprinted away from the car, his ears set forward purposefully, like he was… searching for something, or more likely, someone…

Seven massive vehicles, some nearly as tall as the remaining buildings, came roaring down the street, their tyres churning up snow in plumes either side. I scrambled to the side of the road, not wishing to become a Judy-pancake.

The firefighting crew wasted no time in killing the blaze, opening up with their high-pressure turret-mounted water cannons. The wreckage was another problem, however, and rescue crews started leaping out of ambulances and emergency response vehicles. Just in time to be no help to me whatsoever.

I was just looking around to make sure the young hare was safe when a quick succession of high-pitched beeps alerted me to a call on my walkie-talkie. I reached down with a shaky claw and clicked open the flap, sliding the device from its vinyl pouch.

'Carrots. Hopps! Can you hear me?' Nick's voice sounded from the tinny speaker, raised in urgency. I was so relieved to hear his familiar voice that I felt like crying.

Click.

'I'm here. Where did you run off to?' I asked, noticing something strange as I did so. 'And why are you calling me on the coded line?' I could almost hear his guilt through the radio. He huffed, probably deciding he didn't have to answer the second question.

'You should come quickly. I'm in the next street to the north of you. Please hurry! And… don't bother bringing a paramedic.'

'Er… please repeat, Officer Wilde?'

'Just get here quick, Hopps!' he groaned, shutting off the line with a final beep.

I looked around to get my bearings, then began weaving my way towards the end of the road. Fire and rescue workers, mostly bears of some kind, were ripping away at the sizzling wreckage in a desperate attempt to uncover more survivors. I glanced guiltily at the mess I'd created, then forged ahead again, dodging through mountainous piles of rubbish and sliding under vehicles. Why had Nick sounded so urgent? I took a quick left turn at high speed, almost slipping on the icy cobblestones, and kept running, not knowing what to expect when I arrived.

I reached the next intersection along and skidded to a halt, peering apprehensively between the houses. The damage from the blast, while still noticeable, was nowhere near as bad here. A few smashed roof tiles and scorched chips of brick lay scattered around. This, combined with the thick smoky atmosphere, gave the place the distinct look of a war zone.

'WILDE! Where are you?' I called, trying not to panic.

'Over here!' came his muffled reply. It sounded as though he was somewhere off to the side of the street, about fifty metres away. Oh, no. Had he trapped himself? With that alarming thought, I set off at a dash, determined to make up the distance.

A sudden pain in my leg made me stumble, and I crashed hard onto the frigid ground, sliding painfully along the ice for one metre, two metres… I dug my claws in and managed to bring myself to a stop, swinging around with my legs splayed in front of me. Now, the damage was clear. I reached forward and shakily brushed the back of my paw against the reopened scar, wincing as pain shot up my leg. Red droplets spattered the snow. I sat up, then slowly pushed myself to my feet. I limped forward one step. Two. Three…

A dark, furry figure came hurtling out of the gloom and bowled me over, sending pain flaring back along my leg. I again found myself sliding, this time on my back. I stopped, heartbeat throbbing in my chest, and sat up, prepared to defend myself against the attacker.

'Stop! I'm armed… oh, it's you.' Nick peered down at me, looking upset and perturbed. His nose twitched.

'Sorry, Fluff… didn't mean to knock you over, I… I thought I smelled… blood.' He looked apologetically at my leg. 'You okay?'

'I've been better, bu- woah!' He put his paws underneath me and lifted me up swiftly.

'Sorry Carrots, no time to explain.' He set off at a heavy jog, soon panting with the effort of carrying me.

'Where are we going?' I asked cautiously, trying to hold my injured leg steady.

'Just over here… I found him, he recognised me and knew you'd be here too. Said he'd speak to you, just you… here we are.' Nick slowed down and turned into the small alley between a fast-food shop and a ramshackle wooden cottage. I peered down and gasped in shock.

A snow leopard lay, wheezing for breath, next to the splintered remains of the fence beside him.

'Oh….' I squeaked, realising why I'd been told not to bring paramedics. Every breath rattled the leopard in a series of spasms, and the fur around his muzzle was stained a deep red. I could smell burst gut tissue. He was clearly dying, too far gone for help.

His nose twitched, and he slowly twisted his neck to look at us. He opened his jaw, flashing several broken teeth. Were those from fights, or had shrapnel knocked them out?

'Please… come here' he whispered weakly, his Tundra accent afflicted by a sickening gurgling noise. I scurried closer and leaned down. The leopards hot, predatory musk, combined with the scent of blood, almost made me whimper. Long-buried instinct was telling me to run. I gulped and forced the panicked urge down, alarmed at how strong it was.

'You… you should not be here. You see… this is the same people as before, with the Night Howlers.' He rasped, trying to draw breath. I looked down, confused. How could it be Bellwether again? She and her crew of rams were, at the last check, safely in prison…

'No, not Bellwether.' The leopard seemed to have read my thoughts. 'She is only a part in this. There is a whole anti-predator movement! An organisation! They would never send their boss to… to risk being caught…' I felt as though a trickle of ice ran down my back. The leopard stopped talking again, this time screwing his eyes shut.

'So… Bellwether was a puppet?' I asked, hoping against hope that I was wrong. The leopard nodded.

'She had her own plans… but they used her to get into power, yes…' I felt like my head was spinning… all that effort to get Bellwether behind bars, and it had been a waste? There were more, more just as bad as her…

It was then I noticed the fresh blood leaking from behind the leopard.

'Nick!' I pointed urgently, but he'd already noticed, reaching back for his radio.

'It's too late.' The faint voice pierced the panic. The leopard reached behind his head, touching the base of his scalp. The paw, now trembling violently, came back, soaked with deep red.

'Oh, no. No, no, NO!' I shouted. 'RADIO THE MEDS!' Nick shook his head sadly. I watched uncomprehendingly as he lowered his muzzle, sniffing the wound. He winced, leaned back, and whispered something in the dying leopards ear. The ear twitched, then the leopard made a final, weak, gasp, rolling over into a ball. His mouth moved, and although no sound escaped his lips, the meaning was clear. Run.

'RADIO! NOW! There's st-still time t- to…' I sobbed, breaking up my speech. I looked at the body and knew, deep down, that it was too late.

'Fluff…' Nick began urgently.

'They… they can revive him!' I was in denial, and I knew it. I closed my eyes, trying to block out the horrible image just beyond them…

'Carrots! We have to move!' He was speaking fast now. 'If I were these people, the ones who tried to get into power, who would I hate the most? Us! And they know we're here! That dispatch was on an open channel, anyone with a police scanner could have picked it up!' I realised what he was saying, and a feeling of dread crept over me, bathing my stomach in cut ice.

'We need to get out of here.' I said the words calmly, but inside a maelstrom of fear and hate was brewing. I remembered Bellwether's cruel laugh as she relished in my imminent death, and realised, of course it couldn't be just her that hated predators…

'Here!' Nick lifted me up from the ground, putting his arm under my legs. I whimpered in the back of my throat as his rough fur scraped the wound, but didn't complain. He took off at a sprint, soon passing the end of the street. He skidded around the corner, barely slowing to adjust my weight, and ran on toward the car. Sleet tore through the air with even more gusto, stinging against my face and arms. It seemed almost malevolent, trying to push us back into danger.

'Almost… there…' Nick panted. I could feel his exhaustion taking hold. He slowed down, slipping back through the cordon and opening the driver's side door.

'Nick, you idiot, I can't drive!' I yelled.

'Oh! Right, then maybe you should-'

And that was when the second shockwave ripped through the air with a crack, and the sky burned a brilliant, pure orange…

The ringing in my sensitive ears was enough to cause a headache on its own. That, along with the iridescent blobs fading in and out of sight and the blow on the back of my skull, was making me feel mushy and nauseated. My mouth felt dry, as though I'd been breathing sawdust.

I turned my head painfully to the right, and found that I was on the ground. Strange… I didn't remember falling. A dark orange shape was hovering fuzzily over me, shifting with the light.

The blurry orange haze slowly resolved itself into a form I recognised…

'Judy! Come on, please wake up!' The familiar voice jarred me back to reality. Nick was almost sobbing with desperation, his voice cracked and fearful.

I opened my eyes wider and blinked them shut again, trying to remove the layer of dry grime that was blocking my vision.

'Dumb… fox' I choked, rolling my eyes. I shifted on the ground, but my legs felt like jelly. I blinked again and took in the situation instead. The air was even thicker than before, and several fires were now blazing, casting dashes of blinding white through the snow.

Nick whimpered with relief and tackled me in a hug, wrapping his forepaws around my back and lifting me upright. But I still felt cold on the inside… I'd been too late. Too late to save the poor leopard, too late to warn the rescue team… To think my day had started with stupid, selfish worries about being in a relationship with the adorable fox in front of me! I wrapped my arms around his neck and pressed myself closer to him. Well, maybe not so stupid… One thing was certain. Life was too precious, too short, to waste.

I nuzzled closer to the soft fur around his ear.

The snow and fire intermingled, creating a beautiful, yet sad aura as the distant wail of sirens filtered through the air.

'I love you' I whispered, then closed my eyes and let the hot tears flow down my face.