Don't Let Go

Chapter 2: Red Light

Judy Hopps was at a loss for words as she stared at the collar. It looked tight around his neck, as if he would never be able to remove it. In the center was a light that glowed yellow, reminding Judy of the yellow traffic lights: slow down.
Being smart, she knew what it meant: a warning. That was why the red fox got so upset when she bumped into him, that's why he stood away from her as if afraid to so much as brush his tail against her. Because he couldn't. Judy felt so foolish. She should've been aware of this issue. And now that she knew about it, she felt a new kind of anger rising inside of her; how could Zootopia be like this? This is not what she was taught. Now she knew what it really meant for every mammal to "live in harmony" here. Because the predators couldn't be themselves.
.
.
.

Judy's ears instinctively lowered as she looked down, not wanting to look the fox in the eye now. She felt horrible, guilty.
"I'm so sorry. You're right. . . I was dumb."
"Damn right you were, dumb bunny. Now that you know the real truth about Zootopia, maybe you should forget about staying here."
Before Judy could respond, the fox turned and began to walk away.
"Wait!" the bunny called, moving to grab his arm in her haste.
The fox sighed in frustrating as he yanked his arm away. "Go away, you-"
The fox stopped abruptly, because that's when it happened:
Judy watched as the light on the predator's collar flashed red, and there was a sudden brief spark, shocking him. He clenched his teeth in pain and agony, quickly moving back from Judy as he scrabbled desperately at the collar round his neck with both of his brown paws—but this only seemed to make it a little worse.
.
.
.
Mammals, both predator and prey, stopped to watch for a moment at the scene. But they looked as unsurprised as if this happened on a daily basis. The predators watching felt glad it wasn't them, and some that were near prey moved away as if scared they might accidentally touch. Prey moved away also, as if fearing the predators that were standing near them before might harm them; assuming the fox had just harmed the bunny.

The fox sat on his knees, holding his side as he waited for the pain to slowly subside.
Judy stared, eyes widened, silent, her nose twitching.
"Oh my god. . . I'm so sorry! I didn't mean-I was just-"
"Leave me alone." the fox interrupted, looking up at the bunny. Despite him being bigger than the other mammal, he felt as if she towered over him. He felt so small. Even the tiniest mouse towered over him.
They all did, prey. They were the ones who ruled this big city. But he saw something in Judy's eyes that he never saw in anyone else's, predator or prey, because all mammals hated him on account of him just so happening to be born a fox. She showed no such hatred and in the beginning was even kind. Sure, she was naive and a dumb bunny, but she was kind.
.
.
.

Judy paused, slowly frowning, her ears lowering once more to be droopy again.
"I'm so sorry. . ." was all she could think to say again in barely a whisper, holding her arm tightly with a paw.
"Yeah, that's what they all say." the fox muttered as he got up. The bunny opened her mouth to speak, but he turned to leave, walking into a crowd of mammals, whom of all that had been watching went off on their way like normal.
Judy moved to follow but thought better of it, instead watching as the fox walked further and further away as he was swallowed by the moving crowd.

The fox turned to take a glimpse back at the rabbit, but there were too many mammals to properly see her; or maybe she finally left.
"Hey, get out of the way, stupid fox!" snapped a voice. The fox quickly looked up to see a very grumpy-looking zebra, possibly in a hurry to his workplace. The fox hastily moved out of the way so that he could get through. Sighing, he walked away from the crowd and down to the place where he liked to mope for the rest of the day. The light on his tame collar was green again as he was back to his "regular, behaved" self. But such relief didn't stop him from thinking about the bunny and her sad, guilty look, her twitching nose and bright, purple eyes that were most likely full of life before she ran into him.