Zootopia: Over the Wall, Part 1 and 2

Zootopia Fanthologies: Over The Wall, Part 2

Cont. from last issue...

After about an hour of driving in Uncle Griffin's smelly police cruiser, on which Judy showed off photos she had taken around Zootopia, Nick finally caught sight of the massive, ancient castle.

From his position hanging out of the window (where he couldn't smell the oil fumes), Nick spotted the huge structure in the distance.

The whole building was built on top of a small, grassy rise, with a large roundabout driveway stretching in front of the gargantuan carven oak doors. Its massive, thick outer wall had patches of old and patches of new stone, like it had been restored since its construction in the Middle Ages. Jagged iron spikes stuck straight up from the ridges around the walls. Built up on the higher center of the rise, the keep and inner walls stood proudly behind the outer walls. The thick stone towers soared above the outer wall, appearing to kiss the sky with their dark red tile roofs, and, while there was no moat of water circling the castle, it certainly felt extremely treacherous to peer across the massive lowered drawbridge. It was obviously an ancient construct, but it also had bits of modern technology showing here and there. A few radar and satellite dishes poked up from the tops of the towers here and there, along with countless other sensors and communications devices, reminding all who visited there that the castle really was a military base.

"Don't be so surprised, Nick," Uncle Griffin said to the fox from his position in the driver's seat. "It may seem unlikely, but the Burrows is home to some of the bravest fighters in the whole state of Animalia."

Nick nodded as he looked around at the various vestiges of warfare depicted around this gorgeous museum. A restored B5 Furman heavy tank was parked up on a large monument in the center of the roundabout driveway, its sand-blue color and Animalia State Army logo showing forth like a beacon to all who drove near. Occupying the open hatch of the turret and mounted on the outside were bronze statues of rabbits wearing Great War-era uniforms, toting Z16 rifles and leaning back to hurl the occasional paw grenade. Most impressive of all was a gargantuan bronze statue mounted on a concrete promontory in front of the huge oak doors. The statue was of a regal-looking rabbit, wearing a mix between a crown and a knight's helmet and a suit of armor that looked medieval. His paws held a sword aloft, and his ears poked out of the top of his helmet, appearing to be blowing in some sort of wind. On a massive bronze plaque on the front of the concrete promontory was inscribed, "King Budric I (The Enduring), 1268-1356, Protector and Servant of the Burrows." The inscription went on in tiny text below that was too far away for Nick to read, but he guessed it was some important information.

It was clear that there was a lot Nick did not know about the Burrows' past.

After Griffin parked the cruiser, Nick was led into the interior of the massive structure, his green eyes panning around him like a crazed TV camera-mammal.

Inside the main hallway was gallery after gallery of military artifacts. Guns, uniforms, helmets, war photographs, turrets from tanks and battleships, old aircraft... so many tributes to the greatest war ever waged in the history of the Free Lands. Rabbits, a few bears, bobcats and the occasional elephant or panther (obviously travelers) were milling about inside, all taking photos or selfies with their phones.

It also appeared that there were many ages of war history covered in the castle than just the Great War. The massive, restored medieval tapestry of a rabbit in shining armor fighting a dragon mounted over the front entryway dated at least back to the Middle Ages, if not earlier.