literature

Life in Zootopia: Gypsy

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The Canyonlands! Zootopia’s…well…canyon themed district, if you could even call it that…the ‘district’ wasn’t exactly its own biome, and was closer to being a specialized extension of Sahara Square…still, it wasn’t a bad place by any means. The scenery was unique, the stone was often times cool to the touch, homes and businesses were either carved into the stone canyon walls, or were specially designed to look like they were almost naturally occurring…course, there was one downside in the fact that nights could be long and occasionally painful if you lived close enough to coyote canyon…some mammals just couldn’t fight their natural instincts.

Among the many businesses that lined the walls of the canyon district, one seemed to stick out, a small storefront with the name: “Sandstorm Security” printed over the entrance. A bright red ‘CLOSED’ sign hung in front of the glass door, with a second sign hanging beneath it with the words: “KNOCK AND DIE!” plastered across it. An hours and days of operation sign was stuck in the window, but each day’s time table was left blank.

The interior of the business was almost pitch black in the darkness, the early morning sunlight not really doing a good job at illuminating the business. A few comfortable seats were scattered around the entrance, sitting room, a few magazines, and a front desk with no mammal currently manning it. A small address book sat on the desk; a small calendar off to the side with a few dates circled and crossed out. While the room was almost completely dark, the room echoed with the loud, slightly muffled, sound of some mammal snoring off in another room. The snoring coming from behind a large door marked ‘Employees Only’ behind the main desk…behind that door, one would find a long hallway going deeper into the canyon wall, several other doors marked with letters, A C and E on the left side, while B ∆ and Γ sat on the right side. Several other doors followed the hall, though they were left unmarked. At the very end of the hall stood one last door, a large plaque with the word BOSS centered in the middle of it, and seemed to be hiding the source of the snoring. Behind that door sat a very small conference room…a large comfy chair, a strong desk that had a plaque with the name ‘Gypsy’ carved into it…and, behind the chair, under a small throw rug, sat a small trapdoor. This door however was much, MUCH sturdier than any of the rest, decorated with all forms of locks, chains, latches…the owner obviously did NOT want any uninvited guests getting by it. If one did manage to get through the trapdoor though, one would finally find the source of the snoring.

Collapsed back on a small yet comfortable looking couch, was a dark brown canine, her mouth hanging open as her loud snoring filled the small room. Her arms and legs hanging off the edges, a thin throw blanket was pulled over her body, wrapped wildly around her. Her sleep attire consisted of little more than a cut off t-shirt and a pair of baggy shorts…or maybe they were boxers…didn’t really matter. The room itself was…not quite messy, but not entirely clean either, clothes and belongings were strewn about, but there seemed to be some form method to the madness. One pile of clothes seemed dirty and was shoved into one corner (there was even a discarded cigarette packet with the pile) while another pile seemed to be…at least semi clean and was sitting in another corner, her kitchen table was covered in all sorts of food and snacks; her sink was split into a dirty dish side and a clean and drying side, her fridge was filled with various sodas, energy drinks, and the occasional alcoholic drink, along with all sorts of fruits and vegetables…two of the drawers were actually full of tomatoes and smaller cherry tomatoes.

The brown dhole shifted slightly on her couch, several empty cans, bottles, and even a few loose cherry tomatoes dotted the nearby coffee table. She stayed on her couch, continuing to snore loudly, occasionally muttering out something or another…something about stupid blue…princess…kicking goggle’s ass…and a few other likely insults which were probably meant for mammals she knew, before finally jumping as she felt a harsh buzzing sensation against her side.

“Nghhhhh…” The dhole groaned, rolling slightly and shoving her paw into the cushions of her sofa, digging around a bit before managing to fish out a cellphone, the screen lit up with a large letter A. After a few moments, the dhole groaned, rolling her eyes before answering her phone. “Yeah?” She sighed, pushing herself up into a sitting position while rubbing her eyes slightly. “Yeah…yeah I just got up…” She yawned, climbing up off the couch and hitting the lights on her subterranean apartment. “Mmmmm…let me check…” She muttered, stroking her belly slightly as she shuffled through the now painfully bright lit room, eyeing a calendar that hung on her fridge. “Mmmmm…nah…we don’t have anything scheduled today…Uh huh….yeah…I’ll probably head out in a bit and just...I dunno…wander the city…hang up signs…stuff like that…yeah…yeah….you’ll be working the front desk like usual….yeah…we can send the kids out to hand out flyers…we’re not gonna take a job tonight though…unless we get some real good offer….yep…yeah…we gotta get some more jobs on the calendar…”

The dhole placed her phone against her shoulder as she moved to one of her cupboards, pulling out a small bowl before heading for her fridge. She quickly pulled the large door open, scooping out a large amount of cherry tomatoes before grabbing a water bottle and heading back to her couch. “Yup…yeah…we’ll work usual hours today…I want you to take the girls to the gym after work though…because, I’m probably gonna hit the place up on my own…I’ve got a serious urge to punch something after last night…” The dhole chuckled as she plopped onto the sofa and started popping a few of her small red treats in her mouth. “Mmmmmm…wh…no! No! That had nothing to do with it…if it did, I would’ve punched then…uh huh…Hey, who’s the boss here?” She let out a muffled growl, her mouth full of ground up tomatoes and their juices. She swallowed it all down, wiping some stray juice from her chin and onto her shirt.

“Yeah yeah…you can open up whenever you want…I might be a little while…nooooo I don’t have a hangover…hey if you want me up there right now, I’ll gladly come up, but me showing up in my night clothes might not give off the best first impression to prospective clients……yeah…” She looked over herself and gave a slight shrug. “Ehhhhh…I’m gonna say semi….uh huh….heh…relax, I’m having my breakfast now…” She popped a couple more of the small fruits in her mouth before shrugging again. “Just gotta finish up, get dressed, and do a few things around my place…yup…okay…sounds good…” She went to pull her phone away before quickly lifting it to her ear. “Hey! Make sure everyone checks in, I don’t want E and G slacking off again……I don’t care if G isn’t the right letter…hey, I let you put the symbol on the doors…It looks better that way! You can’t go A, B,…whatever Gamma’s  symbol is supposed to be, then  a triangle, and then E! That looks stupid!” She fished out the last of her fruit, shoving them in her mouth before grunting. “Mmmmph…yuh…well…they’re stupid…” She swallowed hard, grabbing her water bottle before starting to chug the cool drink down. “Mmmmmph…We should’ve just gone with A, B, C, D, E, and F…I don’t care if there’s no Greek letter that starts with F or C…whatever….” She shifted slightly, her ears twitching before nodding. “You’re here? Alright…get everything set up, I’ll be there shortly…yeah…everyone else should be here before I go…if not you’re doubling their workout tonight…hey, if they don’t call in, and more importantly, I don’t approve…then I don’t care what their reason is for not showing up…Uh huh….” Her ears twitched again, glancing to her ceiling before nodding. “Yup…I hear ya…yeah yeah, I’m coming…alright…see ya in a bit…”

The dhole lowered her phone, hanging up before stretching her arms out over her head. “Mmmmmmmm….” She arched her back, letting out a loud yawn, sniffing under her arms before flinching. “Yech…smells like I spent the night in bed with T….” She muttered to herself, climbing to her feet before grabbing her now empty bowl, placing her water bottle and all the other discarded cans and bottles from her coffee table before heading to her kitchen and dropping them all in the sink. “Dishes done…” She muttered to herself, filling each item with water before walking towards her bathroom, stopping momentarily to fish some clothes out of the semi clean pile before she disappeared into her bathroom, the previous night’s sleep clothes coming out moments later and flying towards the dirty corner while the owner went to take a nice cool shower….it wasn’t exactly a fun way to wake up, but the Canyonlands was a real hot place…so it was better to start cold and get hot than to start hot and get…well…hotter…

After a few icy cold moments, the canine emerged from her bathroom, a towel around her neck as she rubbed the soft fabric through her fur to try drying herself off a bit. She now wore a pitch black sports bra, and a pair of matching black boxers. The dhole reached to her ceiling, stretching her arms out before giving her fur a quick shake. “Mmmmmmmm…” She muttered softly, walking back to her kitchen and grabbing a small watering can that sat on her counter, slowly filling it up with water as she stared off to her side, eyeing a large map of Zootopia that hung on her one wall.

Small photos hung around the outside of the map, each picture had at least one mammal in view, and each one had had a thin string pointing towards various area of Zootopia. One photo depicted a golden wolf dressed in the typical ZPD police uniform, smiling happily as he held a lynx in each arm. Their photo was pointed towards Outback Island, though there was a second smaller string pointed towards the cave district. Another photo was of a snow white wolf wearing ski goggles, the canine’s photo directed towards a neighborhood of Tundra Town, but he wasn’t alone, a photo of a gray coyote sat beside him, pointing to the same spot, and a third photo of a smoking bobcat also pointed towards Tundra Town, but in a different neighborhood. Every other photo was placed in a similar manner, different mammals, different districts, though each photo also had a small amount of information included: addresses, phone numbers, where they were employed, mammals that knew them…anything and everything necessary to find or track the mammals in question…

The dhole continued to stare at the map…everyone had their lines…some had been recently moved...but four photos had been removed and were pinned off to the side…no lines…no directions…no way of knowing where they had gone, where they were going, and how they were getting there….A scowl started to slowly form on her muzzle, but before she could get a chance to really think much more about the map, she felt the water start to roll over the edge of her watering can. Jumping slightly, the canine turned off the water, dumped a bit from her can before carrying it towards one of the subterranean apartment’s closed doors, a bright white glow escaping from under the door. The scowl that had appeared over her face immediately melted away into a warm, genuine smile as she pulled the door open. “Hello my babies…” She giggled to herself, stepping into the blinding light before closing the door behind herself, inhaling the warm air and heated light that filled the room. “Hope you’re all thirsty…”


“Hello? Yes, this is her place of business…uh huh…I’m sorry sir, but she isn’t in yet…would you like to leave a message for her? No? Well then…I’ll be sure to give her your number…right…okay…have a nice day sir…” A tan furred dhole sighed as she ended her call, currently seated at the front desk of the security firm. She slowly pushed back in her seat, wiggling the pen between her fingers as she just…sat there. “Where is everybody….” She muttered to herself.

“They late again?” The dhole turned slightly, seeing the EMPLOYEES ONLY door open up, a cocky looking brown dhole strolling out with a paw full of cherry tomatoes. She had changed into her typical outfit, black work pants, a tight black shirt with SECURITY printed across the chest and back, her equipment belt wrapped around her waist.

“Not late…” The tan dhole sighed as she looked to the clock, her outfit perfectly matching the other dhole’s. “But…they are usually here by now…”

“Sounds late to me…” The brown dhole muttered, popping tomato in her mouth before leaning against the desk. “Remind me to move up the deadline for reporting in…” She chuckled, getting an eye roll from her fellow canine. “What was that call about?”

“Eh…stupid…telemarketer stuff…’Hello, I am calling to on behalf of…’ uhhhhh…” The canine trailed off, struggling to remember the name before shrugging. “Some…robotic company, looking to get some investments…’Is Miss Gypsy Howl there?’ I’m sorry sir, but she’s not in yet. Would you like to leave a message for her? ‘No thank you, I would like to speak with her personally. Could you please have her call me at…’ The dhole rolled her eyes, motioning to a small number scribbled on her notepad. “Yes sir, I’ll be sure to give her your number…Bleh…” She sighed, shaking her head as she looked to the larger dhole. “Sounds like a total scam…Remind me again why it is I’m the one who’s in charge of taking your calls?”

“Because you’re the Alpha.” Gypsy chuckled, picking up the phone number before eyeing it silently.

“Alpha is usually the one in charge…not second in command.”

“Well we’re not the usual group.” Gypsy slid the number into her back pocket before winking to the dhole. “Besides…everyone calls me Boss…and it makes things easier when everyone checks in. Alpha reporting in, Beta reporting in, Charlie reporting in, Delta reporting in, Epsilon reporting in, Gamma reporting in….that goes waaaaaaay smoother.”

“Gamma is supposed to come after Beta….and Charlie isn’t a part of the Greek alphabet.”

“Don’t care!” The dhole cut her off before popping another tomato in her mouth. “My gang, my rules, my…order…A, B, C, D, E and….uh…G…is smoother than A, B, G, D, E…and whatever else we’d have to use as the last letter…”

“Zeta would be the next letter.”

“Huh…I guess that would work for Zoey….”

“I could probably go for upsilon or psi.”

“Could…but I like the order we got, so we’re doing things my way.”

“Whatever boss…” The dhole at the desk groaned loudly in annoyance, pushing her seat back while staring up at the ceiling. “Sooooo…no scheduled jobs fooooor….” She sat up, eyeing the calendar before grimacing. “About a week…”

“Yup…I hate it when the schools have their little breaks….” Gypsy muttered, popping her last tomato in her mouth before huffing. “Which is why I’m gonna go out and see about finding us some chumps who need protection…”

“Please tell me it’s not gonna be another scum bag job…” The secretary dhole groaned eyeing her boss. “I hate those jobs…”

“No promises…” Gypsy sighed as she rolled her eyes. “Everyone hates those jobs…hopefully we won’t get any….but desperate times call for desperate measures…”

“There’s desperate, and then there’s idiotic…” The dhole at the desk frowned as she crossed her arms. “There’s gotta be some jobs that’ll hire us on for a more permanent basis.”

“Probably…course they’d probably only hire one or two of us, not all seven of us. And I don’t know about you, Yahzee, but I prefer keeping the pack together…” Gypsy sighed as she plopped into one of the chairs. “What’s the time?”

“They got…twenty minutes.”

“I can see Cocoa and Zoey cutting it close, but where the heck is everyone else?” The dhole sighed, patting her pockets slightly.

“Getting coffee?” Yahzee muttered, leaning against the desk a bit while she noted her boss’ unamused look. “Oooooor…maybe donuts? Or fruit smoothies?”

“If it’s the last one I may let them off…” Gypsy chuckled, pulling out her phone and eyeing it silently, before looking up slightly as the door opened.

“Hey boss.” A new dhole came walking in, nodding to Gypsy before approaching the front desk. “Sup Yahz?”

“Nothing much….” She gave a slight shrug, setting a small sign in sheet on the counter, the dhole nodding as she went to work filling it out.

“Seen anyone Stormy?” The head dhole asked while eyeing her phone.

“I’ve seen a whole lot of someones boss.” The new dhole chuckled, sliding the form back to Yahzee before looking over and noticing her leader’s unimpressed look. “Nah…I didn’t see the pups on my way over…why?”

“Eh…it’s nothing…” Gypsy muttered, looking back to her phone. “Time?”

“Thirteen minutes boss.” Yahzee muttered, the new dhole chuckling softly as she leaned against the desk and looked to the head dhole.

“We got a job or something? You seem on edge…”

“I’m going out.” Gypsy muttered as she slid her phone away. “Gonna see about getting us some jobs this week…” She pointed to the new canine. “And if you don’t watch that tone, I’m gonna find the scummiest job possible, and make sure you’re right there with me!” She growled, causing the dhole to jump and hold up her paws.

“Alright! Chill! I’m just playing is all!” She chuckled nervously, hoping for something to take the attention off herself, and luckily, that came in the form of two new canine who came bursting through the door.

“I WIN!” The younger dhole cheered as she rushed in, nearly tripping and falling over the front counter.

“Cheater!” A second dhole growled as she came in behind her, a few steps slower and slightly more out of breath than the first.

“You’re just a soooooore loooooser!” The younger dhole snickered, brushing herself off a bit before sticking her tongue out. “You’re slowing down with your old age!” She teased, getting a loud growl from the dhole that had chased her in.

“Say that again…and you’ll win the race to being dead first…”

“Enough!” The two jumped, seeing Gypsy sitting in one of the chairs. “No fighting…especially not in the front entrance.”

“B…boss?” They both stood up straight before saluting. “Right boss! Sorry boss!”

“April! Codename Delta! Reporting in!” The older of the pair spoke first.

“Zoey! Codename Epsilon! Also reporting in! Sir!” The younger canine spoke second, the head dhole nodding silently while Stormy and Yahzee gave off silent snickers and rolled their eyes.

“Alright cadets…” The pair looked over as Yahzee slapped the sign in sheet onto the desk. “Time to sign in…”

“You two seen the others?” Stormy asked, crossing her arms while the two younger females signed the form.

“No Beta.” April muttered softly before passing the form over to Zoey.

“We’re not on a job! Drop the military crap!” Stormy groaned, shaking her head slightly before looking to Gypsy. “Why did you ever come up with this?”

“Makes us feel official…besides, it’s useful!” Gypsy shrugged. “What if we ever get grabbed or held hostage? I ask you girls to check in, you give me your names, no one knows…but if you slip me the wrong codename, then we immediately know something’s wrong!”

“Excellent idea sir!” April smiled, nodding to the reclining dhole, Zoey doing the same moments later.

“Brown noser…” Stormy muttered, rolling her eyes while shaking her head slightly.

“We all have brown noses smartass.” Gypsy muttered, silencing the Beta hound while glancing to the clock. “Yahzee?”

“Three minutes boss.”

“Mmmmmmm…” Gypsy frowned, shifting slightly in her seat.

“Chill boss…they’ll be here…” Stormy muttered, noticing the leader’s discomfort.

“I half expect Cocoa to be late…but Cherokee’s always on time…”

“Maybe they’re waiting to be exactly on time?” Stormy snickered. “Maybe they’re standing right outside, waiting to come in at the very last second…”

“Cocoa doesn’t think that far ahead…” Gypsy muttered, pushing herself up out of her seat, slowly rotating her arms before looking to Yahzee. “Alright…I’m gonna head out…you got everything you need?”

The dhole at the desk gave a slight nod, pulling out a small notepad before flipping through it. “I’m in charge of working the front desk as per usual…send Zoey and Cocoa out to distribute flyers to hopefully get some attention…That leaves Cherokee April and Stormy without assignments….but I suppose you’ll be wanting them to speak to our prospective clients…or have them keep tabs on the pups.” Yahzee glanced up, getting a nod from the boss, Stormy meanwhile let out a groan of annoyance. “After work we head to the gym for our usual work out…but you won’t be joining us…and you’ll be out of the office all day…”

“Yup…” Gypsy gave another nod, glancing to the clock.

“Thirty seconds boss…” Yahzee muttered, earning a scowl from her boss.

“Right….well then…” She approached the door, starting to push it open. “Make sure you double the work out for those two slackers…”  Gypsy growled softly under her breath, pushing the door open just in time to feel something small and fluffy slam into her chest…followed immediately by something cold and sticky…

“Cocoa! I told you not to run!” A shorter dhole groaned as she came running up to the building immediately flinching when she noticed the canine sandwich standing at the front door. The four canines from inside poked their heads out as well, Stormy immediately bursting out into laughter.

Gypsy stood completely still, just…processing what had just happened for a few moments before looking down, her entire shirt, and quite a bit of her was covered in a violet colored mess…several Styrofoam cups were crushed up against her…others sat down on the sandy ground by her feet…and then there was the chocolate brown dhole that had ran into her…she was quite a bit shorter than the head dhole…about on par with the other dhole that had come late...Gypsy locked eyes with the dhole, noticing her nervous grin, a few drops of smoothie coating her face. “Heh…heh…h….hi boss....” She gulped nervously, trying to keep her cool despite the fierce glare she was receiving. “I…uh…Ch…Cherokee and I…picked up smoothies for everyone…”
And still more character based things! This time, we focus on Gypsy Howl! Possibly the fiercest child of the Howl family. We follow her through her typical morning wake up...get up, talk with her one employee to assign duties for the day...have breakfast, shower, get dressed, tend to a few things around her house....then head up to her business and get to work.

Not too sure about the name of her business...buuuuuut...Sandstorm Security seemed...fitting for the setting...anyways, we also get a brief introduction of each of Gypsy's Employees

Yahzee: Codename Alpha, Gypsy's second in command, tends to man the front desk and is in charge of keeping the others in line if Gypsy is busy or unavailable. During jobs or assignments, Yahzee is often times located near points or mammals of interest, keeping close and making sure no one gets by without her knowing.

Stormy: Codename Beta, strongest member of the pack (after Gypsy) tends to be more sarcastic and laid back when it comes to the rules. She could likely beat Yahzee in a fight, but Gypsy prefers having brains as her second in command over brawn. Stormy is in charge of setting up work out regiments for the group. During security jobs, she often times works as a bouncer or patrols outside of the buildings they work in, keeping her eyes and ears wide open for any signs of trouble. She's supposedly from the same litter as Yahzee, but the two tend not to act like sisters so it's unclear if this is true. 

Cherokee: Codename Charlie, smaller than the average dhole, but just as strong and fierce as the others. Her smaller size helps her throw people off and surprise them, often times escorting larger mammals away during their security jobs. She tends to keep tabs on her fellow pack member Cocoa.

April: Codename Delta, not as strong as her superiors, but she's quick on her feet. She lives with her fellow pack mate and little sister Zoey, the two having been raised by strict parents leads to them being more formal and respectful towards Gypsy than most others. Her quick feet often times leads to her being a first responder when something requires the pack's attention, usually getting there before most others and working on fixing the problem.

Zoey: Codename Epsilon, weaker than her sister April, but slightly faster, she's quick on her feet and her mind moves just as fast, often processing situations to find the best possible course of action, though sometimes her quick thinking prevents her from really thinking the plans through. She often times teases or mocks her older sister on things, but the two are very similar and she knows not to push her sister too far. Much like April, if something happens while they're on a job she's usually one of the first to respond, rushing to the situation and quickly working to put an end to it.

Cocoa: Codename Gamma, the youngest and smallest member of Gypsy's group, Cocoa is by far the scrappiest member of the pack, always wanting to do something rough or dangerous to try and prove herself to Gypsy and the rest of the pack. Despite this, Gypsy often times assigns her and Zoey to easy jobs to keep them out of trouble, leading to her getting annoyed and upset. She highly respects her boss though, and while she may not agree with job decisions or orders, she'll follow them to the best of her abilities.
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