Dear Reader,

Surprise! Due to popular demand and a sudden fit of inspiration while listening to music, I'm excited to announce that I've begun releasing a sequel to "Animal Instinct"! The new project is currently underway, and is being released as a separate story under the title "Birth of Angel". I have begun posting the new arc as a separate story for the following reasons:

1.) Although "Birth of Angel" will play off of the events and character developments from "Animal Instinct", it will have its own clear story that will work well enough on its own.

2.) "Animal Instinct" originally had an "M" rating because I felt it required it (which has since been toned down for the version on this site). I wanted to give the sequel a "T" rating.

3.) The sequel, "Birth of Angel", will have much larger ramifications on the characters and world of Zootopia. Some might be excited by that, while others might rather leave the characters where they currently are at the end of "Animal Instinct".

4.) "Animal Instinct" is very much a completed story. I'll be starting the sequel with much less prep, so the releases are going to be much slower and more sporadic. My goal, of course, will be to finish it in a somewhat reasonable time-frame, but... I can't promise that in the same way I did for "Animal Instinct".

Finally, I have included a bonus chapter below for your enjoyment (and to give more purpose to this update). If you're not sure you want to read the sequel, you may want to consider waiting on reading this chapter. This chapter is not an "ending" like the Epilogue was, nor is it really a "beginning" to the next story. Rather, it serves as a flavorful bridge between the two.

And, as always, thank you all for the support!

-TheWaywardKid

BONUS CHAPTER:

"A PLACE OF BEGINNINGS"

It was a warm, breezy evening on the outskirts of Zootopia. Animals everywhere had returned home to their loved-ones after a hard day's work, the sun beginning to cast a subdued glow as it drew ever closer to the horizon. The bright globe currently began to nestle itself in-between the distant, glistening skyscrapers as the fluffy clouds above gained a tint of pastel color. Nick took a deep breath, enjoying the quaint mixture of scents drifting through the air: Warm dirt, fresh air, a faint hint of gasoline, and a motley of dinners being cooked within the various houses around him. It smelled of simplicity.

It smelled of home.

The fox did not recall why he had taken a stroll through this particular neighborhood, nor really how his feet had brought him here. To most, there would be no reason to visit this shabby mobile-home park; the place contained no amenities or attractions worth mentioning. There weren't even any sidewalks. The only reason for its existence was to provide residence for the less fortunate of families as they scratched out a meager, yet comfortable life for their budding youngsters. This was not a place one visited to obtain anything. This was a place to make a start.

In fact, this very neighborhood had been his start.

It hardly feels real... he thought solemnly. It feels so long ago. Too long ago...

The familiarity of the cracked streets clashed with the foreign sense of distance learned from years of absence and denial. Everything was just as it was back then, only now the simple comfort of it all evoked indescribable feelings. This was the remnants of a life that was, or a life that could be. Nick shuffled his feet, paws in his pockets, enjoying the subtle hope that came with such a place. To him, this was Zootopia, not the slick towers in the distance. The city's motto came to mind:

Anyone can be anything.

No mammals felt that motto stronger than those that lived here. Anyone could be anything, and despite the odds these mammals could be a family. These were the mammals who dared to make a future for themselves even when the shine of the city did its best to blind them. The hope of the place did not come from dreams of glamour or prosperity... It came from the satisfaction of life itself. "Anything" was not a promise, but a reason for being. These mammals would take anything they could get, and they would make it work.

"Easy there, kiddo!"

A warm chuckle came from a rickety playground off to Nick's side. He remembered that playground, the late evenings spent with his father after he'd made the long commute home from the city... As if to highlight the memory, the cheerful noise he'd heard had come from two foxes at the structure – a father and a son. The young pup was perhaps four or five years old, currently yipping gleefully as he attempted to climb up the slide from the wrong end. The father sat in the chips of bark at the bottom to catch the child should he slip.
"What are you doing, huh?" the father playfully asked his kit to the response of mischievous giggles. "Don't you know that's the wrong way? Did I teach you to do that? I don't think so..."

"Yes!" The child's shrill laughter grew as he took a few precarious steps further up the slide. "Yes you did!"

Nostalgia enraptured Nick, drawing the tod closer to the scene. A wistful smile came to his face, his eyelids drooping. He began to let himself vicariously relive his childhood through the two foxes before him. Digging his paws further into his pockets and slouching backwards, Nick sighed. The father's ears flicked as he heard the sigh behind him, his head turning toward Nick with a proud smile. The father's amber eyes shined with paternal satisfaction.

Nick's heart felt like it had stopped beating as he recognized the face. The face belonged to the past, to the name of Jackson Wilde. It was the face of his father.

No... No it can't be...

Jackson turned back to respond to the kit. "Now wait just a second, Nicky! You know what we do to liars around here..."

With a sly grin, Jackson grabbed little Nicky by the hind paw and dragged the kit down the slide, a delighted squeal echoing between the nearby houses. As Jackson ruffled his kid's head and ears, he was oblivious to the car that had just pulled up next to the playground. Nick stood there, frozen, unable to interfere with the scene before him.

Please, no! Not again! Just run. Don't hesitate. Just grab me and run...

As if by some deep, protective animal instinct, Jackson felt the danger and his hair stood on end. He rose to his feet with a look of horror, understanding reaching his face a few moments too late as the rear window of the vehicle rolled down. The fuzzy hoof of a young Clydesdale horse reached out the window. It held a gun. With one final look of panic toward his startled son, Jackson screamed.

"Nick! RUN!"

Three gunshots pounded the air with brutal simplicity, sending the father down into the bark with a limp, wet thud. The scent of burnt rubber filled the air as the car peeled away with a screech, drowning out the pleasant scents that had just filled Nick's nose only moments before. One scent overrode even that, however: The sickening scent of fresh blood.

"Nick..."
Jackson's voice gurgled as he painfully twisted his head to look at his terrified pup. As the life began to fade from his amber eyes, a calm smile appeared on the father. His kit was safe...

Nick began to stumble toward the memory before him, unable to breath. His younger self shook and cried as more and more blood seeped into the bark floor of the once-happy playground, sirens beginning to echo in the distance. Nick's dad was dead.
Please... just get up. This one time, just get up...

As if to answer his prayers, Jackson's body began to convulse. His father's dead eyes faded green in color, slitting savagely... The pouring red blood turned a stark blue. Growls and snarls erupted from the once-dead corpse, and suddenly Nick's younger self had been replaced with a familiar bunny. Judy rushed to the side of the now-savage predator.

"No! Nick... don't do this. Fight it!"

A small white figure appeared at the top of the playground's slide, a Night Howler gun in her hoof. Bellwether's taunting voice called out to the pair of animals below.

"Oh, but he can't help it, can he? Since he was hit three times... Gosh! Do you really think they got it all out of his system?"

Judy frantically bolted up the slide as the feral fox clumsily scratched and slid at the bottom, saliva dripping with anticipation. The sheep chuckled evilly and delivered a swift kick to Judy's face, sending her sliding toward the eager hunter below.

"Bye-bye, bunny..."

No! Please!

Nick helplessly watched as his savage self began digging his claws and teeth into the rabbit he loved, sending a blood-curdling shriek to his ears as white fluff ripped from her chest rather than blood. The predator tore into the bunny like the living plush toy she was.

Help! Somebody! Please help!

Nick tried to call out but found his face locked with a muzzle. He desperately pawed at the restraint, watching in agony as Judy was ruthlessly mauled before him.

Help!

Bellwether turned to look straight at Nick with a smirk.

"Awww... Is he gonna' cry?"

...

"HELP!"

Judy's sleeping body was flung off Nick's chest as he awoke with a start, the rabbit sent tumbling off the bed and onto the cold floor. Senses racing with alert, Judy righted herself as her mind gained its bearings. She looked up at the fox in the dark, the light from the rain-streaked window illuminating his bloody face and paws. Her breath stopped. His pupils were slit...

"Nick..?"

She blinked to get a better view, relief briefly filling her system as she realized she'd been mistaken – Nick's eyes were normal.

It must have been a trick of the light...

The blood, however, had not been a mirage. Urgency refilled her veins.

"Nick! Nick, are you okay!?"

The fox's voice sputtered incoherently as he looked at his trembling paws with fright, warm liquid dripping from his bloody nose. Judy patted the air with her paws in what she hoped was a comforting gesture. "Just... just a sec. I'll be right back."

She ran into the bathroom, grabbing a box of tissues and the small waste basket next to the toilet. When she returned and flicked on the light, she found her fox hugging his knees, tears dampening the fur on his cheeks. Judy's ears fell as she gently walked over next to the bed. She silently offered the tod the tissues.

"I..." Nick tried to speak. "I dreamed..."

"Ssshhh..." The bunny hopped up onto the bed next to the fox, rubbing his shoulder for comfort. "Clean up first. Take your time..."

It took a pawful of tissues before Nick's bloody nose began to subside. Judy tenderly aided her fox, grabbing some tissues of her own to dab off some of the blood from his fur. With the flow ceased, Judy wrapped an arm across Nick's chest, slowly dragging him back down onto his pillow. The action had her desired effect, unwinding the tod from his tense ball of fear. She didn't know precisely what had made him this way, but given what she knew of his past she could take a few good guesses. She made no motion to pry, simply hugging the fox tightly as he trembled in her arms. It took a long time for her caring embrace to soothe Nick; just when Judy would think he'd shivered for the last time, a new fit would start. The minutes slowly ticked by as more rain pattered against the bedroom window.

"I..." Nick gulped down some spit, finally attempting to speak again.

Judy rubbed his chest with a paw, purring softly for reassurance. "You don't have to explain, Nick."

"It's just..." Nick slowly blew his held breath out toward the ceiling above him. "Everything bad... It's all starting to blur together."

Judy cupped a paw on his snout and brought it closer, grooming his salty cheek with her small rabbit tongue. "Good..."

Nick nervously laughed. Her affectionate ministrations tickled him, but he clearly wasn't about to stop her. He squinted an eye at her comment in confusion, though. Judy stopped grooming and smiled, pulling his head to fully face her. The bunny leaned in and gave him a short, sweet kiss.

"If everything bad is all together, it will be that much easier for me to make it all go away."

Nick groaned, his humor finally beginning to resurface. "That was cheesy, Carrots. Even for me. Don't tell me I'm rubbing off on you..."

"Too late, you dumb fox..." Judy leaned in and rubbed her neck against his. "...You left your scent."

Nick's chest rumbled as he pulled Judy on top of him, their breathing growing heavy as they continued to mark each other. Their bodies warmed as their nostrils were filled with each other's fragrance... It was Judy who broke it off, bringing Nick in for a passionate kiss as she grabbed and massaged the base of his tail. She gently bit his lower lip and made her best attempt at a growl. The fox gave a gruff moan of approval, reaching up to massage the tip of her left ear. With his other paw, Nick slowly dragged a claw down her back. She shivered...

With an ornery grin, Nick suddenly stopped and snatched the book off of the nightstand. "Okay! Story time!"

"What!?" Judy's ears shot up with stunned disappointment. Nick laughed behind the paperback copy of Nancy Shrew (the current book she had chosen for them to read).

"Come on, Carrots. We both know reading's your favorite part anyways. Might as well skip to it."

Judy purposely drooped her ears, slowly dragging a paw in circles on Nick's chest to emphasize her dismay. "But... I like what comes before, too! It's just not the same without it..."

"Mmmm..." the tod rumbled, almost willing to give in. "You know... You don't have to bribe me to read to you."

"Nicholas Piberius Wilde!" Judy gasped in fake shock. "I thought I'd never see the day! Since when have you started refusing payment for your services?"

Nick tilted his head, wearing his obnoxiously wonderful smile. "What can I say, Fluff? I'm a changed mammal!"

"Uh-huh." Judy put her paws on her hips in clear disbelief. "Since when?"

Nick leaned in and put his nose against hers. His stare turned from sly to loving.

"...Since I met you."

If you'd like to continue with the story, please start reading "Birth of Angel"! I will not be updating the story here, as mentioned previously.