บท 16: Chapter 16 Interview

Alice (Pov)

I sighed for the 100th time this morning as we flew towards the ZNN.

"Relax Alice it's just an interview, and Judy, Nick, and I will all be there," Gazelle said rubbing my back. I guess they could feel the tension in my back while we flew there.

"I know, I just have a bad feeling in my stomach." Except it wasn't just a bad feeling, it was a soldier's intuition. Anatolia insisted I wouldn't need them but I'm glad I have them just in case, I have two tactical knives on my forearms and a Shadow Steel 22 in my shoulder holster. Since that night where I met Anatolia's family, Nick and Judy haven't asked about how I know how to do that and I'm grateful, but I fear I will have to share some of my past with them eventually.

"We are here," said Nick.

As I was about to land I saw a huge crowd standing right outside the front door. They know we are about to do an interview. Why do they want to ask questions now?

"This isn't going to work. Gazelle call the network and tell them to meet us on the roof, I'm not answering questions at the door just to answer the same questions on T.V." I said flying up to the roof and letting everyone off.

"Will do."

Before she could even put the phone to her ear the rooftop door opened up and a very slick looking moose walked out.

"Apologies for the crowd outside. My name is Alexander, you can call me Alex. Please come inside and we can get started." Staring at me the whole time, probably still trying to process that this was actually happening. I had to give him props for not faltering though.

"Please," gesturing with my paw for him to lead the way. As we walked through the hallways I could see almost every mammal standing up or leaning over something to get a better look at me. I sighed again, this was going to be a difficult process.

"If you all would sit on the sofa then we can get started," gesturing towards a large sofa behind me.

I had to hold back a laugh as I watched Nick try to jump on to the sofa only to faceplant immediately.

"I'm sorry we had only planned on having Alice here so we only prepared a large sofa. We can have a smaller sofa brought in if you like?" Alexander said apologetically.

"No, it's fine" Before Nick could say anything sarcastic. I wanted to make a good impression. Just as I was about to give them a paw, I watched as Judy just smirked at Nick and took a running jump and gracefully landed on top of the sofa.

"Would you two like a paw?" I said seriously to Gazelle and then glanced at Nick with a full-on grin.

"Yes please," Gazelle said sweetly.

"Yeah, yeah. Just give me a lift," Nick said with an amused grin on his face.

"Ok, now that we are situated are you all ready to start?"

I looked at my friends and they all nodded at me. Ok, we are actually doing this.

"Yes, we are ready."

"Ok then, we start rolling in 3....2...1 action." said a voice behind the cameras.

"Hello my name is Alexander Maze and you are all joining me on one of the most historical days we have ever had in Zootopia. Joining me today is superstar Gazelle Ripoll and officer's Nick Wilde and Judy Hopps who were the key investigators in solving the Night Howler incident. But today we also have a very special guest, Alice Morgan, a S̄eụ̄xdả something we only believed to be in fairytales. Now miss Morgan you came here to answer any questions the public might have for you, is that correct?"

"Yes, I know that you yourself must have some so let's get right to it." I didn't want to just banter and not get anywhere like some news stations did on earth.

"Very well. Where have you been hiding all this time?"

"Well, I had been living in the Old World for most of my life. When I was a teenager I was flying over this very city and I noticed that no one here was like me. That frightened me, and I would have stayed hidden had I not crashed into Nick and Judy." I had to sprinkle in some more lies, it's not a good way to gain trust but I can't exactly tell them the truth either.

"The Old World, really, no wonder no one found out about you. Rarely if ever do any mammals go back to our ancestral grounds. Do you know if there are any more of your kind, or what about your parents?"

"I have no recollection of my parents, and I have never met any other S̄eụ̄xdả since I woke up in the forest when I was a child. Honestly, I didn't even know what I was until my friends told me."

"Oh... I'm sorry to hear that." He had a somewhat sorrowful look on his face when I mentioned not having any parents. I disliked this type of manipulation, but it was the only way that I could think of to make my story believable.

"It's ok, what other questions do you have for me?"

"Oh... Um, it is said that S̄eụ̄xdả's are capable of taking control of the shadows with Lady Night's blessing, is that true?" I chuckled at that, Mr. Big had told me that the shadows seemed to writhe towards me when I was telling my story to him. For the past week he has been trying to help me learn how to control them, it seems that with strong emotion it will happen naturally but I needed to do it at will. We made slight progress, I can actually pull something towards me with its shadow, only light things, anything above 10lbs is still out of reach. It's still awesome, though something that had been bothering him and I. If I'm supposed to be a child of the night, then why does my fur turn shades of red and gold when I'm angry; we were unsure but would keep researching.

"No, I can not control shadows. However I do seem to blend into them at night like I'm not even there, it was very helpful while I was hunting in the forest." I wasn't just going to share such a big secret, and powerful weapon if I train it correctly. His face fell at that.

"Well that's a shame, I guess some things are just myths. Well, we have some callers on the line if you are willing to answer their questions as well?"

"Of course, as I said, that's why I'm here."

ring, ring

"Hi my name is Douglas Shanks, and I was wondering how high you can fly? You must have tested it right."

"Actually Mr. Shanks I have never felt the need to do so, so to answer your question I have no idea."

"Oh, well you should test it, I would if I had wings."

"Thank you for calling Mr. Shanks," said Alex clicking over to the next caller.

"Hello my name is Avery Winters, I actually have a question for all of you. Last night on stage you said you have been staying with a group of mammals but you never specified who they were and how you all met, could you share?"

"No I can not, they asked me not to speak of them so I won't. But they are some of the most caring people I have met and they welcomed me with open arms. They gave me food and shelter and even found someone to tailor clothes for me, I don't know how I can repay them."

"To answer your question about how we all met they are like family and when I said I needed a place for a friend to stay they accepted immediately," said Judy with a smile.

"And Nick and I go way back, so when they asked for my help how could I say no," Gazelle added.

"Ok, thanks for answering my questions."

"No problem, have a nice day Avery," I said.

After an excruciatingly long 30 minutes, the director stated that we would take a break much to my relief.

"Before we answer any more questions will be taking a 10-minute break and then coming back to this Q&A session. Thank you for watching ZNN," said Alex.

"Annnnd, we're off the air," said another indiscernible figure in the background.

"Why don't you all have some water and something to eat, I think we will be here for a while."

"That sounds lovely Alex, thank you."