The Fire Triangle, A Zootopia Fanfiction -- Part One

The Fire Triangle, A Zootopia Fanfiction -- Part One: Fuel -26

Disclaimer: Zootopia stories, characters, settings, and properties belong to the Walt Disney Co. This story is written under Fair Use Copyright laws.

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The Fire Triangle-A Zootopia Fanfiction

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Part One:

Fuel

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Chapter 3 - Day of Carrots and Blueberries
(Continued...Pt. 18)

Judy Hopps should have been feeling honored.

Instead she felt unsettled.

It seemed like half the Hopps family had turned out for her run in the Rabbithon...or that was how it seemed anyway; there were at least as many bunnies here as there'd been for Erin's talent show performance the night before.

That was good; what wasn't so fantastic was that everyone seemed to think she had the race in the bag. The only exceptions were Nick, and to lesser degree Conor Lewis. The others were all behaving as if she only had to phone it in to collect the winner's trophy.

While Judy was grateful for any and all support from her family, overconfidence on their part was something she didn't need. For one thing, it reflected badly on her own attitude; for another, she knew that the Rabbitohn was anything but a done deal. Yes she was a bunny-cop, not only the first to join the ZPD but the first one anywhere, (as far as she knew.) And yes, she had the skills and conditioning to go with that job-but that still didn't mean the race was a lock. There were least three other rabbits in the competition that could be first over the finish line, (and those were the ones she knew about.)

First up, Neela N'kula. Neela was a riverine, or bush rabbit, an Afurican species long noted for its stamina and endurance. She was also dedicated runner in her own right; the Rabbithon would be her fourth competition this year. Neela was homegirl as well; a second generation Burrows bunny, she had moved away three years ago to take a job with a relief agency based in Sealttle. Like Judy she had never forgotten where she came from.

David MacLeap was a smiling Scottish Mountain Hare who worked as a ranger in Canada's Bunff National Park, a job that required him to make long treks over sometimes difficult terrain. His wife, Anne was a Bunnyburrows girl whom he'd met in college.

And then there was Tess Hazelton.

Tess was Judy's distant cousin and the girl's phys ed. instructor at Bunnyburrows High. She wholeheartedly practiced what she taught, working out religiously before and after classes. She also had the advantage of having been able to train over the local terrain in the run-up to the race.

Technically the Rabbithon was open to all comers larger than rodents and smaller than a red-fox, (which left Nick out.) But only rarely did species other than rabbits and/or hares sign up for the event.

The reason for this was simple; the Rabbithon was run over a course geared specifically to bunnies. This was no mere road race; it was combination steeplechase and trail run. There were walls and fences, there were hairpin turns and hill-climbs, and there were culverts and tunnels to negotiate. (At least there wouldn't be any sandstorms or ice walls Judy wryly reminded herself.)