history lives on the books at home [Judy]

[Della Miller]

Della gasped a little when she went towards the doors of the Library. Just...she knew how insane everything was around here, how much like a giant science experiment it looked, but...something about this hurt. Hurt enough that her flask was looking really good in her mind's eye, but...no, no, no, she was almost certain she was going to have company here. She couldn't remember who else volunteered to help with the library, but she'd probably be joined by them soon, and gods help her if it was Merlin and she decided to try and get drunk just because one of her favorite places in the world looked so very wrong.

Instead she scowled, and fished her switch knife out of her pocket, because like hell she was going to give this place up without a fight. She had lost ten years of potential, ten years of time with her friends, and despite how often she told herself she would fight until she died, she might have indeed lost her fiance. There was no way in hell or Hades she was going to lose the library. Not entirely. There was a good chance that most of the books had fallen apart decades ago, and that was tragic and unfortunate, but they could at least be replaced. Hell, maybe someone with magic could find a way to restore them. She wouldn't know if she just gave up though, would she?

With a low growl, she started hacking away at the vines that had snaked their sneaky little ways into her sanctuary. They weren't nearly as hard to break as the ones near the Urquhart Building, and they didn't seem to have any teeth, so that suited her just fine. Just one less thing to remind her of how she almost died, and then simply got her heart broken and her logic frustrated. The unwelcome thought only motivated her to fight off against them even harder, almost like she was fighting swords in a battle...and then came another unwelcome memory. A memory of yelling soldiers, clashing swords and sparks of magic, all so loud that it was damn near impossible to tell which side each noise was coming from. There was a point where it was so much input that Della almost shut her eyes as she fought, as if that'd somehow lessen just how overwhelmed she was, just how idiotic she was to think she was ready for any kind of battle, how likely it was that most of them weren't going to make it...

...gods, was that why the portals had done what they did? Take them all away so that most of them would have a chance to live to see this place again, after most of the soldiers were gone? Or she goddamn well hoped so.

Now that she was back in the present (gods, no wonder she had been having weird dreams for the past ten years), she realized she had taken down quite a few vines and could see the bookshelves and...and...

...there were actual books in them.

Another gasp left her lips, and she made her best attempt at climbing over the overgrown plants, thorns scratching at every bit of skin they could be damned. When she finally reached one of the shelves, and reached out to the books, feeling a solid text, you would think she was out there embracing Panic for the first time in a decade, this...this was fantastic. She actually hugged the book to her chest, before actually checking the title because hell, for all she knew this could be a black magic book, or Fifty Shades of Grey, or something somehow even worse...but no, it was a perfectly innocent alchemy book, nothing to worry about. She slid it back onto the shelf, letting out a laugh. "I'll be damned...there's something to save here after all..."

[Judy Hopps]

"There's a super lot to save, actually," said Judy, coming out from behind a stack. Her flannel and jeans were coated in leftover bits of greenery. She had a pair of hedge clippers slung over her shoulder, and bits of vine and whatnot were clinging to them. Judging by her hair and the leftover bits, she'd been exploring back into the library. Judy twisted to point.

"Will and I checked out the area a little while ago, to get a good look. As near as we can tell, all or nearly all of the books are in great condition, and most of the supplies and info are still around,' Judy nodded, walking a little closer to the girl. Now that she could get a good sight of her, judy thought she recognized her. Wasn't she the one with the flask from the meeting? That did make sense: she'd said something about heading to check out the library.

It just made sense to Judy: this would be where they'd find answers to problems, like how this world worked and what to do about the portals. Plus, if they decided to actually restart the school, it would be one of the more necessary rooms. Given how few of them there were, they could even have classes here while they were working on fixing the rest of the school, if that's what people wanted.

"I'm Judy, by the way," she said, closing the last gap between her and the taller girl, hand raised. "Judy Hopps. I think we sort of met during the meeting, but we didn't exactly have a lot of time to talk."

[Della Miller]

Now, Della had been sneaked up on enough to know that not every time meant that she was in immediate danger...but that didn't mean her hand didn't twitch towards her holster as she turned around. Fortunately she quickly realized that it was just one of the people she vaguely remembered from the meeting. And now that she wasn't dealing with alcohol in her system, she noticed the hedge clippers, and she could also tell that this girl had clearly done her homework in regards to the school's condition. She couldn't have been much older than she had been when she first arrived here...damn. That was impressive. She wished she had adapted that quickly. Would have saved her a heap of trouble.

"Yeah, I remember you." She motioned towards the clippers. "Cool that you came prepared. I just brought my knife for this, nothing that specific." Then she accepted the handshake. "I'm Della Miller. You could probably tell from my tipsy ramblings that I know this place a bit too well," she said, a rueful smile crossing her face. "Sorry about that, by the way...probably owe Merlin an apology or two especially...but I digress."

She then turned towards the rest of the bookshelves, eyeing all of the somehow in tact books...most would've turned into dust by now. It was times like this she remembered that she actually really loved magic, even if it caused a lot of problems as well.

"So I guess the most we have to do is clear out the jungle here, huh?" She pulled her switch-knife back out. "Might as well get started...I'm kind of eager to do some research." After all...the whole reason she had arrived at that meeting with alcohol was a lack of clarity. And despite the fact she never did find the answer to her impossible claims, the library usually held some other answers, at the very least. She could probably get an idea of what was going on with Panic, if he wasn't going to talk to her.

[Judy Hopps]

Judy nodded as the girl admitted remembering. "Well, like I said, I was kind of in her earlier, and we were less prepared," she pointed toward the librarian's office, which looked like someone had crudely hacked at the vines instead of trying to properly gather things. Several shelves had been apparently snipped with scissors or something to get free; it all looked very hodgepodge, despite actually having some order.

"Yeah, Merlin. He's, like, your leader, right? Is he the Headmaster or something?" Judy closed the gap between her and Della, pausing to kick aside and gather up some loose vines. "Because he definitely seems like he knows what he's doing, and it seems like all you guys who've been here before trust him," as did Judy, weirdly enough. She liked to think she could lead people; benefit of her police training.

Which made the jungle thing nearly make her giggle. "Trust me, jungles are better organized than this. The good news," she nodded toward the books, "is that almost all the books are okay. Most of the ones Will and I checked out are in great shape, and we got," she pointed at a fair section, "a lot checked out. It's like I said during the meeting, we need answers, right?"

Keep putting a task before Judy, and she'd be focused, and this was one heck of a nearly neverending task. She rolled her shoulders again, taking a quick glance at Della's knife. "I actually have some hedge-clippers, if you'd rather" she said, pointing toward the office. "And there's some other basic supplies in there. The library's magic protected a lot, and I did some scrounging. Well, a lot of scrounging. Gotta learn the new beat, right?"

[Della Miller]

Della glanced towards the office...okay yeah, that sounds more like something she'd do. She chuckled a little. "Eh, so long as there's an attempt to do better...and oh, the last time I saw Merlin, we were both students, actually. I wish he had been Headmaster, he would've been fantastic..." She shrugged. "He was just really good at making friends, I guess. He was one of the first friends I made when I first came...well, I'm not sure it was here. We used to be at Avalon, but then one day we wound up here." Her eyes darted around as if she was worried that could happen any moment. "Things like that are almost the norm, to be honest. It's like the school's always had a mind of its own."

Della raised an eyebrow. "I'm guessing you have some personal experiences with jungles? I'm not even surprised if you have, I seem to be the weird one just being from Chicago." She couldn't help but glance over towards the bookshelves with a sort of reverence when Judy pointed out that they were okay...and it seemed like she and Judy were on the same wavelength, taking out books and finding answers. "We really do..." In more ways than one. Ain't that always the way?

"...you know something, I'd love the hedge clippers, thank you. And you're right. I admire your adaptability. For someone who just got blasted here for what I imagine is the first time, you're taking this well."

[Judy Hopps]

Personal experience? Judy nodded. "At the academy, they trained us to handle any environment an animal might live in naturally, so we could chase across several different biodomes if it came to it." She walked over toward the office, waving for Della to follow. Best place to keep the tools, particularly since the place seemed to have some protective magic or something.

"I worked as a police in Zootopia," Judy called as she looked around for the clippers. "So for me, this is just being reassigned to another new beat," she grabbed some clippers, holding them out so that Della could see them. "Before I transferred to Zootopia I had the academy, and before that was a farm. Weird changes of scenery are kinda normal." Judy shrugged. "That and we've got stuff to do. Easy to just keep busy and not think about it, right?" she held the clippers out then, smiling up at Della.

[Della Miller]

Della followed and listened. She had sort of figured out she might have been in law enforcement as soon as she said "the academy". Sure, other places were called that, but she rarely heard people refer to just any old academy as "the academy", and was proud to have been correct. More importantly, she noticed how Judy had said they needed to know any terrain that an animal would go to. Between this, the name of her home being Zootopia, and just what she knew about how this place impacted certain worlds, she had a feeling Judy must've been an animal back at home. Still, that would be kind of a weird thing to ask, so she figured she'd just let that go. This wasn't goddamn Sherlock, where you just blurted out your deductions based off of somewhat weak evidence at best, after all.

Besides, she found it way more important to agree that it was better to keep busy than dwell too much on things. "Oh don't I know it," she sighed as she accepted the clippers. "Thanks...it's actually kind of funny you mention being a cop. I sort of stumbled into private investigation since I've been away. Mostly for what few magical people I could find back at home. They're a lot rarer than around here, but they're out there...I guess if any big mysteries pop up, which is often, I don't necessarily have to be alone in looking into it." She shrugged as she started clipping the nearest patch of overgrowth. "Y'know, if you wouldn't mind partnering up."

[Judy Hopps]

Judy's head cocked as Della mentioned her job being a little funny. The realization for those words came a few moments later, and Judy was grinning and nodding. "I'd definitely be up for it if you want. Right now I'm figuring I should probably stick to being a student of some kind, figure this world out, but as soon as I'm done, I'll probably hop right back to being a public servant. Doesn't mean I can't help out though."

Another nod, and Judy turned to look at the library. There were several overgrown patches, and Della was attacking one of those in desperate need. But Judy could recall a few sections that had looked more promising than others. She walked toward the one closest to where Della was, one labeled "Other Lands" and started clipping, though at this point, there wasn't quite as much overgrowth.

"Wonder what the plan is with all this stuff we're clipping?" Judy asked as she began tossing her clippings toward Della's, trying to form something of a pile. "Would make for a great bonfire or something."

[Della Miller]

"Oh that makes sense. There's a lot to figure out, it took me about a year to get used to the basics," Della agreed. "Still, it's always nice to have extra people to bounce off of, and you clearly know your stuff. Zootopia..." It was such a strange name, but she supposed MOST of the worlds that people around here originated from had strange names, this was just one that she had never heard before. "...must have been really lucky to have you, if you're this efficient with a place you barely know."

Della laughed a little at the bonfire suggestion. "Yeah, you're not wrong. Plus it'd be kind of an amazing symbolic gesture. Letting Tintagel rise again from the ashes of all of this." Yet she thought of something as she cleared enough of a patch to get a good look at a new bookshelf, with the books almost in pristine condition, just as she remembered them looking the last time she was in here, before everything went to hell.

"Although...with how well the vines managed to not completely ruin the books, and the fact most of us got sent home just as we were losing a war..." Her mind wandered a little. Despite the fact she first came up with this idea while intoxicated, it was hard to ignore that little nugget of potential wisdom. "Almost makes me wonder if it was waiting for us to be safe this whole time..." She looked over her shoulder. "Most of us veterans agree the place almost certainly has a mind of its own, so be prepared for people talking about Tintagel like it's a person. It sounds crazy, I know, but...once you've been here long enough you'll probably agree."

[Judy Hopps]

A year? That had Judy flushed. She didn't think she had that much of a lead; she was just used to being dropped in unusual situations and putting her nose to the grindstone to make it work. She did glance over at Della at the mention of her home, and she flashed an embarrassed smile at the praise, reaching up to try and rub at ears that just weren't quite long enough for the gesture.

The books were getting more and more cleared; save for a few tricky parts, they'd easily be able to finish up the library in a few hours, max. "Bartok did mention the war,' admitted Judy. "Sounded like you guys had it pretty rough. i almost wondered if that wasn't why the place was in such bad shape. Places definitely have a sort of magic. I mean, Zootopia didn't have," she gestured toward where she new the magical books to be, "literal magic. But it picked up what everyone put into it, sort of had a life of its own. So I definitely get that."

She took another breath, inhaling some of the cleaning agent, which had her noise wrinkling. She looked around again. "And I really just know how to react to a crisis. We had tons of training. It's like I said: give me a job and a panicked crowd and we'll kick butt. But as soon as everything settles, I'm gonna be so lost," she let out a rueful laugh, swiping at some more vines. "I'm probably gonna have to start over as a student or cadet or something. Just what I always wanted."

[Della Miller]

It was funny, Della never really fancied herself as the kind of person who could flatter anyone that needed it, or take people under her wing...but then again, her whole relationship with Panic kind of started that way. She saw someone in need and wanted to help. For all her cynicism, she was far too empathetic to let someone flail around, completely lost. Not to say that was what Judy was doing, but she still felt the need to offer some words of wisdom, what few she had to offer, anyway. She was new to her old stomping grounds, after all, and if she had the chance to go back in time and let her younger self know what was awaiting her, she definitely would've. This seemed like the next best thing.

At the mention of the war, she could only nod and sigh...all those clashing swords and all the screaming and running...she didn't like how often the images haunted her, but she supposed it couldn't really be helped. "Yeah, we did...like, we always had crazy, life threatening stuff happen around here, but that was definitely the worst...and, yeah. Something like that sounds about right. Though who knows how long it was for this place, since all of us were apparently gone for different lengths of time." She grew pensive, the ache of the lost years, away from her home, hitting her harder than ever now that she was actually here to see the fallout.

Fortunately, Judy's dismay at having to start at square one distracted her from her own dismay. "Eh, I wouldn't worry so much about things settling. Things almost never settle around here..." Then she caught a glimpse of a rather familiar set of books on one of the shelves reserved for fictional books, and she had to laugh. "There's...this recurring line in the Harry Potter series about how things got back to normal, "or as normal as they ever were at Hogwarts", and it's definitely the same here. And if I could become a ready and able soldier here, I'll bet you'll find it pretty easy to climb the ranks around here, with your experience." She shrugged. "Honestly, you might be the first person I ever met that seems like they might be able to deal with this place that didn't have magical powers...so kudos there. You might leave with your sanity in tact."

[Judy Hopps]

Was it awful that Judy almost wished she'd been here for the war? Not because she wanted to experience it, but because she couldn't help but feel that she could've helped everyone here. They'd needed protectors, people willing to put themselves in the line of fire, and Judy had been doing that all her life, particularly against animals who were bigger, stronger, and meaner than her.

But it was over now, and they'd have to get settled. Judy flashed another embarrassed, thankful smile Della's way, again reaching up to stroke her too small ears. "I'm not trying to climb ranks or anything. I was just a cop back home," she shrugged. "Well, okay, I did sort of solve a big case, but I didn't do that for attention or anything like that. I just... want to be able to help people, is all. Protect and serve,' she laughed, snipping off some more vines. "Which right now means helping clean up."

Another snip. "Oh, the magic is crazy. I just... I saw some crazy things back home. There were these drugs that could make someone lose their minds and go into a feral state. My partner and I had to figure it out. And that's not including all the different animals and how we all built our own world. It's like I said,' she shrugged, "I'm used to unusual," she reached up and pulled off a large clump of vine, tossing it back. "What about you? Where are you from? Someplace like all this?"

[Della Miller]

"Well fair, but I get wanting to do more with the hand you were dealt. I mean, hell, half of my friends have these fantastic magical powers, and...I do not. At all," she almost laughed. Fortunately she was momentarily distracted from her feelings of inadequacy by the mentions of a big case, and how badly she just wanted to help people...it was just nice to hear. Unfortunately back in her hometown she knew that this ideal for cops was somehow hard to reach. Clearly they could stand to have a few more people like Judy around. Maybe that was another reason why she missed Tintagel so much. More than the magic, more than just the fact she made friends...it reminded her that there was a lot more good in the world than her teen angst self wanted to give it credit for, and now she was verging on a cynical adult, stuck in her ways...it was just nice to be reminded of that again.

Despite the fact her description of the case was very interesting, Della couldn't help but realize she had her confirmation. She had basically said it, everyone in Zootopia was an animal. Certainly not the weirdest thing she had heard of around here, again, but still. Now that that was settled, however, she had to say, the drug case sounded like a pretty scary scenario, like if you could somehow eat rabies.

"Damn, good thing you solved that then...and oh, me?" She shook her head. "Not really. I'd say I'm from the "real" or "normal" world, but both of those descriptions are pretty relative around here...but I didn't even know magic existed until I got here. I imagine it's not terribly different from your world, except..." She motioned at herself and shrugged. "People instead of animals..."

...oh gods, she just realized that her world probably would look like a horror movie to Judy, between the pets on leashes, and the fact that they often ate animals that probably looked like ones she knew...actually, how the hell WOULD food work in an anthropomorphic animal world? But seriously, this was a girl who was freaked out by the existence of mermaids, how would about half of their fairytales look to her?

"So...nothing really of major interest, probably."

[Judy Hopps]

Judy shrugged off the praise for her solving that big case. "I had help," she offered, as if that were explanation enough of the entire scenario. She kept walking along, trimming and clipping with obvious skill and practice (again, Judy had been a farmgirl, or, well, farmbunny before entering the academy; you did not come from a farm family without picking up a few things).

"You mean hoo-mans, right?" she sort of casually corrected. "Because in Zootopia, people's sort of just used for, like, everyone who isn't wild. There's feral creatures that act on their instinct and all, and then there's those of us who are more civilized," she nodded again. "Which actually does make it sound like our worlds are kinda similar then. I just dealt with a bunch of different animals and species, while you got to deal with hoo-mans."

She gave another clip, then pulled, yanking a pretty large swath of vines and various detritus off. It did seem like the library almost wanted to be cleaned. "Sometimes it feels like this place is helping with the cleaning process. I did not put enough work in for it to look that good," she nodded to the shelves, which almost looked magical at this point. "This magic stuff is crazy to think about," she looked around. "And I'm still not used to this body either. I"m actually taller, if you can believe it," she flashed a quick smile. Even with her "taller" body, Judy was still among the shortest if not the shortest hoo-mans she'd encountered.

[Della Miller]

Her humility was really refreshing, to be honest...although now that she thought of it, why was it always the people who could afford to brag a little that were always the most humble? This wasn't a new question in the slightest, but every time she encountered Merlin or Westley or, now, Judy, just...why? Why did it always work out that way, while the people who really had no room to be quite so arrogant were always that way? "Well even so..."

She blinked a little, but...okay yeah, she supposed she had to be more specific for Judy. Anthropomorphic animals probably were people in Zootopia, it'd just be wrong to assume otherwise. The mispronunciation was kind of funny, but again, that'd probably be really rude. Although she supposed perhaps the concept of a pet wouldn't disturb her too much, if there were still feral animals? "That sounds about right, from what you've told me. I mean there are different types of people, and you'd be amazed at how many try to make it seem like their differences are better than other people's differences. Don't know if that's at all similar to where you're from...I just know even within our own species we can't seem to get along. So your world would probably blow some people's...human's minds."

Even if her view on humanity had brightened since she was sixteen, it was hard to deny that there was still a lot to be desired, and the idea of a bunch of animals managing to coexist really emphasized that point.

At the suggestion that the place wanted to be clean, she gladly shook off her bleak thoughts and answered, "Right? All the more reason that I think we were brought back because this place wanted to be populated again." Her smile turned sympathetic at Judy's comment about magic being hard to digest at first...and then she hinted that her animal form was much smaller. "Really now? I wonder if people in Zootopia are anything close to the size of our animals, then..." Although that would certainly make the whole coexistence thing even more shocking. She had this really striking image of a little mouse greeting an elephant at an office, but there was no way that was the case...right?