A Little Hay Between a Queen and a Cop {Gwen}

[Judy Hopps]

Once more Judy found herself returning to the stables. Technically speaking, this wasn't a room that was high on the priority list to clean. It wasn't like they had a lot of horses around or other animals to put up in here. But Judy sort of found herself sentimental about the place where she'd arrived, and she figured the place small enough to be cleaned almost as an afterthought. They'd have to get to it eventually, so why not now?

Thus Judy arrived with her usual load of supplies. She set them down near the entrance, looking over the various vines and whatnot strewn throughout the outside. That was as good a place as any. Judy picked up her clippers and set to work, humming to herself as she went. She almost wished that she'd had her IPod on her: Music would make this a lot better, and there wasn't exactly someone around to help sing with her. She started to sort of sing to herself, clipping and trimming along as she went.

After a bit, she realized that she'd need to clamber up to get to some of the higher up vines. Judy studied the stables, and saw a fence. She set the clippers over her shoulder, climbed up, and balanced as best she could. Bits of wood and vine fell off around her feet, which wasn't a great sign, but Judy figured she just needed the one jump. And so she bunched up her body and leaped... and made it! she snagged the roof, and as she did, several vines dropped down. Before Judy realized it, green had gripped her all around. It snagged one of her arms as she moved, pulling it up and tight. It grabbed her legs, twisting them apart, and it even grabbed the clippers, getting close to her face with those.

"Um.... help?" she tried calling, twisting. But who was going to check out the stables? She was doomed. Dooooomed.

[Guinevere]

Gwen had headed back to the school and on her way there she decided to check out the stables. They had already been cleared out of anything important before the war, but nostalgia had crept in and she had headed back there. Her own horse used to be in these stalls, back when she was at school here, a long time ago. She remembered coming here when she was pregnant with Tristian, before the war, realising she would only be able to walk the horse rather than ride it for fear that she might lose the child that she wasn’t even sure she had wanted in the first place. How things had changed.

She had only intended to stick her head in the door however when she got there she heard some strange noises and then someone calling for help.

After the altercation in the mall with the surviving soldier she drew her sword and rushed into the stables. Maybe it was more of the surviving soldiers, or perhaps some other villain had been brought back to Tintagel and was already up to their own tricks. As she walked in though she saw that it was in fact a young girl that appeared to be tangled up in some of the vines.

She dropped the sword and reached for the bow and arrow aiming for the vine that held the clippers and let the arrow loose, piercing through it so that the clippers fell to the ground, point down…and away from the girls face.

“Are you ok?” she called up, picking up her sword again, “hang on, I’ll cut you down.”

[Judy Hopps]

"Thank God," murmured Judy as the clippers fell away from her face. It was just a relief not to have something she knew was sharp close. Plus, it let her wriggle a little more, though she'd barely started when the realization that something had actually snapped the vine made her pause. Yes, there was something else there, someone else there, right, a voice.

"I'm fine!" said Judy, twisting her head to get a look. The other hoo=man was dressed in a more medieval style, obviously favoring functionality. That last bit Judy could appreciate, and clearly the woman knew how to shoot that bow of hers. Judy gave her an embarrassed smile. "Guess this is what I get for trying to clean the stables without a partner, huh? Think I'd have learned by now," she added a nervous giggle. She knew she should hold still while the newcomer got to work, but that knowledge didn't freeze Judy. If anything, she seemed more determined to wriggle her way free on her own, or at least help out.

Yeah, Judy wasn't big on just waiting for someone to do something.

[Guinevere]

They young girl was clearly not fine as she started to struggle with the vines, although Gwen could not help but laugh a bit when the girl made her comment. “Oh I don’t know, getting yourself this entangled is still pretty impressive,” said Gwen, looking around and spotting a ladder.

She walked over to it and rested it against one of the beams that the vines were wrapped around. She tested it for stability and slowly started to climb up it, as she did she said, “I’m sure in a while you would be able to get yourself out of these, you seem to be the resourceful type but us girls need to stick together.”

Girls? Wasn’t she a little old to be calling herself a girl? It was this place, it made her feel like she was 18 all over again, it had that way about her. After all, she had barely been here a few hours and already she had managed to wedge herself back into some kind of strange love triangle. A Tintagel, some things never changed.

She started to cut at the vines, being careful to avoid the flailing girls, “I’m Gwen by the way, a pleasure to meet you.”

[Judy Hopps]

"not the kind of impressive I was aiming for though," confessed Judy, flushing. A hand went up toward her ears, but the vines kept it from getting too close. The tug reminded her that she should probably remain still, and, despite her body practically screaming at her to keep wiggling, Judy forced herself to do just that. She gave Gwen a smile as the (much) taller girl climbed up other.

"Judy Hopps," she said, nodding and wiggling a few fingers, making sure to stay at least moderately still as Gwen went to trimming. "Formerly an officer at Zootopia, now pretty much just trying to do what I can. Thought i could handle the stables on my own, since they're small and I"m kinda used to farm sort of work," she fought the urge to shrug. "Good thing you came along though, or I'd have to try nibbling my way through this. Pretty sure hoo-man teeth aren't great for that sort of thing."

She let out a rueful chuckle, turning to look at the clippers. Judy shifted, but only slightly, letting Gwen get a better grip on the clipping.

[Guinevere]

Zootopia? Hoo-man? Nibbling.

Ah. Right. An animal.

Having previous experience in Tintagel and Trenale had more than prepared her for occasions such as these. She was not the first animal turned human that she had come across, having come across several in her previous stay here, so she wasn’t as startled by the comments as she really ought to be. However, it did change the situation slightly, the poor girl was probably still acclimatising to her new human body, no wonder she had got stuck here. Probably attempting something she could once do and now, sadly, seeing how incapable the human body was of the same feat.

She tried to make a guess on what it might be. A Cat maybe, trying to jump up onto the beams, or perhaps getting distracted by the vines…no, that wasn’t right, she mentioned nibbling…hmm…what nibbled?

“Queen Guinevere of the Summer Country,” she said with a warm smile, “however everyone calls me Gwen here. A pleasure to meet you Ms Hopps.”

Hopps. Ah. Going with rabbit.

“Wait…did you say you were an officer?” asked Gwen with a quizzical look as she cut a few more of the vines.

[Judy Hopps]

The vines were releasing, getting to the point where Judy was pretty sure she could about wiggle free. But she didn't want to start jerking until Gwen had finished doing her task. Plus, there was the conversation, so it would be a bit rude to interrupt:

"Pleasure to meet you, your highness," she said, bobbing her head slightly. "And yeah, officer. I was on the force back in Zootopia,' she smiled a little bashfully, "first rabbit on the force. Got a lot of flak for it until I solved a huge case. Now they know better."

Judy gave another wiggle, and she felt herself sliding. She tapped one of the vines. "If you get this one, I'm pretty sure I'll slide right out. I'm still pretty tiny, though I'm taller than I used to be, believe it or not."

[Guinevere]

A rabbit officer?

Was she from some kind of world where the animals had…day jobs? That just seemed ridiculous however it was a testament to how much time she had spent in this place that whilst it sounded ridiculous it wasn’t entirely surprising. Years of experience in the world of courtly intrigue had also schooled her on how to approach situations such as these, with pleasant words and apparent understanding.

“It’s always hard to be the first, but I’m glad you showed them,” said Gwen with an encouraging smile.

She nodded and cut the vine that Judy pointed out to her, as she did she said, “Trenale can have that effect on people who are,” animals, “from different worlds. How are you enjoying your new height? Adjusting?”

[Judy Hopps]

The vine cut, and Judy landed lightly on her feet. She took a step or two forward, more to use up leftover momentum than anything, holding out her arms to help keep her balanced. The fall had been a bit much for her, but she didn't seem too out of sorts.

Judy turned and looked back up at Gwen, giving a quick thumbs up before nodding. "I'm liking it here,' she said, "just in general, really. It reminds me a lot of home: People coming from different places to try and pull together and make things work," she took a deep breath, putting her hands on her hips and studying the stables, where she'd already gotten started and definitely intended to get right back to work here in a few moments.

"But it's still weird just seeing hoo-mans everywhere,' she added, looking back up at Gwen. "And I miss my ears. I also feel way too big, which is still funny, since I haven't met anyone smaller than me yet." She shrugged, adding a slight laugh. Just because she hadn't met anyone didn't mean she wouldn't. She nodded back to the stables. "I'm going to get back to work, if that's alright. You don't have to help if you don't want to, but it'd make things a lot quicker."

[Guinevere]

“Nice landing,” said Gwen genuinely impressed.

She started to climb down the ladder as the young woman continued to speak at pace. Or was it the young rabbit? Well she supposed you still got female rabbits so young woman was probably ok to think. She was enjoying the way she was saying humans, it reminded her a little bit of Tristian when he learned new words, although she absolutely wasn’t going to say that to the girl.

“I’m happy to help,” said Gwen looking around the stable, “just let me know where you would like me to start.”

It was probably best to let the ‘cop’ take the lead. She may be a Queen, but she was interested to know more about this Ms Hopps, and her Zootopia, so she was happy to take at least a couple of orders from a former rabbit in pursuit of that.

[Judy Hopps]

Judy grinned wide. "Uh, well, I wouldn't think to order or anything," Judy gestured. "I was starting outside at first, but it might actually make sense to go inside? Maybe move some stuff around there till we want a breath of fresh air?"

Judy nodded, rolling up her sleeves. She stepped purposefully toward the stable building proper, sticking her head in. It looked untouched from when she'd been here before, though a closer look revealed that there were little changes. Nothing major, not like the library, but there were animal signs and other tidbits that showed some basic shuffling and the general signs of life. Nothing magical, but enough.

Right, so she could start---

wait---

Queen? Guinevere? Queen?

"Cheese and crackers!" Judy almost spun, likely would've collided with Gwen if the other woman was close. "I'm so sorry, your majesty! I didn't mean to give orders or anything like that! You just seemed friendly and I guess I sort of fell into it..." Judy rolled her hands, as if she could stretch an excuse out of thin air.

[Guinevere]

Gwen smiled as the girl began tripping over her words, realisation dawning. She held up her hands in what she hoped looked like a calming manner and said, “Please don’t worry yourself Ms Hopps, it is actually somewhat refreshing and I imagine you have a better idea of what needs to be done here than I do, so I am happy to follow your lead. Also, here in Tintagel and Trenale you don’t need to bother with the whole ‘your majesty’, it’s Gwen, titles like that don’t tend to mean as much here which has its perks as well as its downsides I’ll admit.”

Following the young girl inside she started to look around at what needed to be done. She started by taking off her sword belt and placing all of her weapons she had been carrying to the side. She didn’t like not being armed but she also knew they were just going to get in the way as her and the young…rabbit?...girl? got to work.

She looked around for some kind of pitchfork to start moving some of the more degraded looking hay and said, “so, how long have you been a…was it a police officer you said?”

[Judy Hopps]

"Alright then, Gwen," said Judy, letting out a sigh of relief. She rolled her eyes. "I'm just used to kinda doing what it takes, and around here, that seems to keep being pushing people to clean the place up."

She noticed the sword, which made sense with the queen business. Gwen must come from the same sort of place Merlin had come from, somewhere with magic and weapons and knights and so forth. Probably had a knight or two of her own around doing their thing. She didn't seem to shy from work, which impressed Judy. She walked past Gwen and grabbed the pitchforks, having noticed where they'd been the last time she'd been in here.

"Not too long," she said, holding out the tool just long enough for Gwen to take it. "I've wanted to be one forever. Went through the academy, graduated at the top of my class, went to Zootopia and served with distinction up until a portal opened up and I volunteered to check it out first,' Judy walked back and carefully worked the fork into some of the worst hay. "Oh, and police officers are the ones who go around keeping the law. Sort of like town guards and the like," Judy picked up her load and started shuffling to get it outside. "I was the first of my kind to do it though," she nodded. "But yeah, I imagine you've got the law enforcing types working for you and stuff." She tossed some of the hay, wiped her brow, and moved back to get another load.

[Guinevere]

Gwen took the pitchfork off the younger woman and stepping forward joining her in the work. She nodded her agreement when Judy spoke about pushing people to clean up and added, “Once they get into it the people of Trenale generally pull together, however, a little incentive goes a long way.”

She smiled, shifting the hay as Judy was doing, as the young girl spoke about completing her training and earning her distinction. Judy may be from another world where…animals apparently ruled (did that mean they would have kept humans as pets…that was a question she wasn’t sure she wanted an answer too), but it was a familiar story. The young girl whom everyone had not expected much from, rising to the top and showing everyone what she was made of. She nodded her approval at this and said, “I’m glad you showed the critics they were wrong. I have often found that the more someone says that I ‘cant’ do something, the more eager I am to prove them wrong. I am very pleased you got to have that moment.”

Smiling kindly she said, “Yes, I am aware of Police officers. I suppose we have something like that back home, mostly my husband and I have our knights, I suppose they mostly take on the roles of ‘Police’ in our Kingdom and Queendom.”

She considered the young girl for a moment and then said, “So will you be setting up your own police force here?”

[Judy Hopps]

Judy grinned as Gwen all but confirmed her positive outlook on this place. It almost added a literal skip to her step as she moved along. she definitely picked up speed, showing even more excitement and fervor for the task at hand. The smile returned at Gwen's assertion, before a hand drifted toward her ears for a moment. "Yeah, sounds like you would." She said, meaning it too.

So, knights. Judy had been sort of right there. She walked off with the latest load, turning to see Gwen considering her. "Setting it up? Um," Judy pursed her lip, "I kind of figured there would already be one and I'd join it? I do have a partner here. Nick Wilde. He was a fox back home, and he followed me here, so we're probably going to stick together," she moved back toward the stable, looking around. "I do want to pick up my old job, but right now, I don't know enough," she shoved the pitchfork into the hay, pulling at a particularly ratty bit.

Judy leaned, leveraged her entire slight frame to try and get it up. "I didn't even know what hoo-mans were called until Bartok told me. You can't police a people you don't get."