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Chapter Eighteen: The Sheep Enclosure

The Rainforest District is thought to be the largest District in the entire city of Zootopia by many of it's citizens. It is a common joke that the wall separating the biome from the others is more of an effort to contain it rather than to differentiate it. The lush and moist conditions cause the natural flora of the land to swell and expand into every available nook and cranny. But on top of the voracious foliage, it is also made up of levels of stacked stores, housing, and natural areas that if laid out would probably turn out to be bigger than the rest of the city three times over. That being said, even Rainforest District natives found themselves getting lost amidst the dense jungles, and overgrowth of the wilder and untamed parts of the District.

Dawn wasn't sure how much time had passed before she regained consciousness. At some point when matters had reached a fevered pitch, the little ewe had simply blacked out. The first thing she was certain of was that she was moving, but not walking. The leaves and vines were slowly passing her by. It had also started raining at some point, and the falling droplets continued to speckle her un-even frames. Her hooves were trembling as she brought one up to wipe her soaked lenses clean, in an effort to get a better look of her surroundings. Looking down she could see the ground, and Vernon's tail gently swaying beneath her. Gingerly she grasped his shoulder blade and squeezed it a few times to make sure what was happening was real.

"Ouch, easy there Floof's." She heard the wolf groan. "I'm still sore from the landing."

With the wolf's utterance the memory came flooding back. It had happened, all of it. The motorcycle, the high speed chase, the near death experience of the jump. It had all really happened. With the initial shock finally starting to fade, the ewe could feel herself begin to seethe.

"Vernon, put me down." She said firmly.

"Easy Floofs, I'll put you down once we find a place to get out of the rain." The wolf replied.

"VERNON, NOW!" The ewe snapped.

Dawn felt the wolf come to a stop. Slowly she felt herself lift before being gingerly placed down in front of the large wolf.

"Floofy, we really need to get-"

"Vernon. How could you? The ewe looked at him with sharp eyes.

"W-what?" Vernon replied.

"HOW COULD YOU DO SOMETHING SO STUPID!" The ewe began to swat at the wolf with all her might, swinging and slapping with reckless abandon.

"Hey, Hey." Vernon tried to gently push her back, but she continued to slap. Dawn could feel tears pooling in her eyes.

"YOU DUMB MUTT! YOU STUPID, STUPID DOG!" Vernon grabbed both of her hooves to restrain her, and she flailed against him as he crouched down to her level.

"Hey, now. Dawn that's-"

"I DON'T CARE!" The ewe pulled away sharply, causing him to let go of her hooves. "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!?" She continued to shout.

"HEY, I SAVED YOU!" The wolf finally snapped.

Dawn marched back up to the wolf and gave him a hard slap across the muzzle, causing him to yelp in pain. Vernon stumbled back before falling on his rump in front of Dawn. The wolf held his cheek, looking at the ewe in shock. Under any other circumstance, Dawn would have never done something so daring. The wolf was easily three times the size of her. But remembering the stunt with the motorcycle was filling her with a rush adrenalin.

Dawn could feel anger burning inside her, and it was terrifying. The ewe had done all she could to repress that feeling. Everything that had happened to her since prison the sheep had taken with silent resignation. She knew deep down she had deserved it all, not even Vernon could convince her otherwise. But if there was one thing that still managed to get under the ewe's wool, it was being reminded just how weak and small she was. It was that feeling that drove her to try to take over Zootopia all those years ago, and it remained a painful reminder of her past crimes. And now her best friend, the wolf she was falling for had made her feel that way again. He had taken away her choice, and forced the two of them along despite her protest. Her feeble resistance and small size had made it impossible to stop him from enacting his insane rescue plan. His thoughtless act had opened the floodgates, and incurred the long dormant wrath of Dawn.

"I DIDN'T NEED SAVING VERNON!" She yelled back at him. "I chose to go with them!" She balled her fists.

"B-but." The wolf sniffled. "You don't deserv-"

"I DO VERNON! I DO!" The sheep snarled. Walking closer to Vernon, the ewe placed her hooves on both sides of the wolf's muzzle and stared him directly in the eyes.

"It was my choice to go, not yours!" She asserted. "I was willing to go to jail!"

"But you're innocent." Vernon weakly replied, his lip quivering. " It's not right, those two cops have it out for you Floofs."

Dawn looked up at the forest canopy and sighed. Releasing the wolf's face, she turned and walked away from him.

"I know I'm innocent, okay?" She extended her hooves before letting the drop to her sides. " But they would have let me out eventually. They didn't have any evidence Vernon!"

She turned back to stare at the crumpled wolf, crossing her arms.

"Now not only do they have me for fleeing police custody, but they'll arrest you too!" The ewe leaned toward the wolf to shout the last bit.

Vernon clambered to his feet, rubbing his muzzle from the previous belting.

"I don't care Dawn. I promised I was-"

"And that stunt with the motorcycle, you almost KILLED US VERNON!" Dawn clenched her fists again as she stared the lumbering wolf down.

The wolf's head sunk under the ewe's tirade, his body exuding shame.

"JUDY COULD HAVE DARTED YOU! WHO KNOWS HOW BADLY HURT YOU COULD HAVE GOTTEN IF YOU FELL OFF!" She continued. "AND...AND" The ewe was grasping now, her rage was reaching a head.

"ALL THIS FOR ME!? TO PROTECT ME!?" Dawn's breath was ragged now, and she was biting at the air. In response the wolf's ears had dipped, and his overall presence seemed to shrink.

"WHY? VERNON WHY? WHY RISK YOUR LIFE LIKE THAT!?" The ewe concluded, panting hard.

Her panting dwindled, and eventually came to a stop as she waited for an answer. It was silent for a long while before the wolf managed to croak out a word.

"I-I-" The wolf's voice was cracking.

Vernon raised his head, and Dawn could see his eyes red and swelling with tears despite the steady rainfall.

"I don't want to lose you again Dawn." The wolf sniffled. "I can't."

Dawn could feel her anger fading as she stared into the sad wolf. His glassy eyes bringing her back to the memory of the little wolf she had met on the playground. It wasn't thoughtless, Vernon wasn't the thoughtless kind. It was all a misguided attempt to protect his friend in the face of an injustice, just like all those years ago. A friend who he had obviously seen as powerless to the whims of everyone else's sharp judgment. With her anger dissipating, it was becoming increasingly clear that Vernon's actions were not driven by her perceived weakness, but because of his own fears.

"It was stupid, I know." The wolf shook his head. "I g-guess I got more of my Mom's impulsiveness then I'd like to admit." He sniffled hard.

"B-but I thought, I-If I let them take you..." Vernon pawed at his tear soaked eyes. "T-they'd never let you out."

"Vernon." Guilt was starting to wash over Dawn.

"I know w-what you're gonna say." The wolf continued. "That they'd have to let you out, they d-didn't have any evidence." The wolf wiped his eyes with his arm, seemingly trying to do whatever he could to stop the tears.

"But w-what's to say they don't drum some charges up. Find some excuse to l-lock you away again. I couldn't bear it." The wolf began to choke out a few stray sobs, his attempts to suppress the tears clearly weren't working.

"To h-have you back in my life, only to have you taken away again by a b-bunch of scared mammals l-looking for someone to blame. I..." The wolf's head dropped again, obscuring his face from the now teary eyed Dawn. "It would feel like some mammal twisted a k-knife into me."

Vernon lifted his head, his composure seemingly regained although his eyes remained glossy. "I had to do something, anything. I'm sorry it was so stupid." Vernon shook his head.

Dawn slowly walked up to Vernon. Once she was within a few inches of the wolf, she wrapped her hooves around his waist and hugged tightly. Looking up, her eyes met the wolf's own confused face.

"V-Vernon..." Dawn's eyes darted away from his as she spoke. "I care about you." She buried her face into her chest, to hide the blush she knew was building.

"I care about you more than any mammal I've ever met." She sighed.

She could feel one of Vernon's paws begin to gently rub her back.

"I don't want to leave you either, I know that now." She chuckled as she threw her head back to look at him again. Vernon's eyes were still glossy.

"But we can't do things this way. You know that."

The wolf was silent, the tears in his eyes beginning to rise as he reluctantly nodded.

"I have to go back Vernon. I have to apologize, say anything I can to prevent you from getting jailed, and go with Judy and Nick. You understand that right?" Dawn felt her own tears beginning to stream down her face.

Vernon sniffled hard, before managing to croak out a reluctant "Y-yeah."

"I have to Vernon, I choose to." She sniffled.

Vernon looked away, only for Dawn to reach up and grab his shirt, pulling him back to face her.

"You'll be in my corner, right Puppy?" She smiled through her tears.

The wolf closed his eyes hard, and he choked out another ragged sob.

"Of course, I-I'll be right there w-waiting for you...always."

Dawn buried her head back into the wolf's abdomen. She was still crying but she remained silent, savoring the last hug from her Puppy that she was sure she'd be receiving for a while. The two stayed like that for awhile before dawn reluctantly broke the embrace. Looking back up at the wolf, she smiled weakly. Vernon, in-turn, smiled a faltering smile back.

"Okay. So how do we get back?" Dawn asked.

"The road's fairly close by." The wolf said, attempting to peer over the overgrown wilderness. " My brother used to work in the Rainforest Precinct before he got bumped up to TundraTown. He told me how easy it is to hide and get lost in this place, It's why most cops hate working at Precinct Four." The wolf stated.

"Oh?" Dawn replied.

"Yeah, that's why I thought it would be a good idea to hide out here, hard to find. But you can still stay close to the roads without being seen." Vernon murmured as he pointed toward the nearby overgrowth of weeds. "Road's that way." The wolf began to push through the tall grass, and the ewe quickly followed suit.

"What about the traffic camera system? Surely that helps." Dawn queried.

"This plants in this District grow like crazy, so half the time the cameras are getting blocked out by leaves, and the other half the time the plants grow into the camera and destroy the mechanism. From what my brother said, the camera crews up keeping them were fast, but not quite fast enough to keep them all running constantly. How do you think the cops didn't find us for three hours?" The wolf chuckled, pushing weeds out of the way.

"We've been out here for THREE HOURS?" The ewe blurted out in shock.

"Jeeze, you were really out of it." Vernon chuckled.

As the last bit of the brush fell away, the two finally reached this side of a roadway. Looking around, Dawn couldn't tell exactly where the duo were. The road was clearly a more rural one, less traveled then most of the district. Each side was equally flanked by jungle.

"Where exactly are we?" She tugged on the wolf's shirt, causing him to look down at her. The wolf scratched his head sheepishly.

"Welp, we crashed Val's bike pretty far North, so I'd reckon by now were nearly at the border between the Rainforest District and The Meadowlands. Somewhere around Cliffside."

Dawn shuddered at the thought of Cliffside, home to the asylum that had housed the mammals she had infected with night howler. She shook her head briskly in an attempt to shrug the terrible memories away.

"How far are we from a main road?" Dawn asked.

"If we head south we'll probably hit one in a few minutes. From there it should be easy to find a cop." Vernon muttered sadly, it was clear the wolf was still hesitant about turning her in.

Dawn took the lead, walking ahead of the wolf down the road to give him little time for second thoughts. The lamb looked back to find the wolf reluctantly beginning to follow her.

"Keep your eyes peeled for any cars Puppy, maybe we can hitch a ride to the nearest phone." Dawn chirped at the forlorn wolf.

"Yeah..." She could barely make out the grumbled reply.

The lamb continued her stalwart trot, eager to get as far away from Cliffside as she could. The end of the lane lead to another side street, again featuring no traffic. As the march went onward, the two remained silent. Dawn could feel the awkwardness in the air, Vernon's reluctance and the shared sadness between the two leaving little urge to speak. Dawn tried to find the words to break the silence, but found herself struck dumb.

"Oh! I forgot I had this!"

Dawn turned at the sudden excited outburst to find Vernon holding a familiar orange pen in the air triumphantly.

"This was that cop's right? It has buttons! Maybe it's some kind of tracker or beacon?" The wolf mused.

Dawn walked back up to the wolf, trying to stifle a laugh.

"No such luck, It's just a dime store recorder pen." Dawn replied.

Vernon's ears drooped briefly, only to snap back up with renewed enthusiasm. Handing off the pen to the ewe, the wolf gave a weakly optimistic grin.

"Well, maybe if we return it she'll be more lenient regarding our little get away?"

Dawn chuckled again. "Judy's probably got a ton of these, they probably sell them at every cheap rabbit gift shop in town." The ewe tucked the pen in her breast pocket, patting it gently after placing it.

"Hey, specific mammal gift stores can be pretty nifty. That's where I got your mug, Shepard's Gift's in Savannah Central. Man you should have seen the odd looks I was getting from the clerk when I picked that up." Vernon cracked a cheesy grin.

Dawn nearly doubled over with laughter. The idea of a wolf as big as Vernon in a tiny shop for sheep was absolutely priceless, and it took the ewe a moment for the lamb to regain her composure.

"Hey, a van!" Vernon interrupted, raising his paw to get a better view down the highway.

Dawn turned around to catch a glimpse of the oncoming car, letting out an exasperated sigh as she spotted the white van shambling up the lonely road.

"Finally, some sign of civ-"

"Dawn, t-that van...th-that ca-"

Vernon didn't get a chance to complete the thought as the van suddenly let out a loud screech. In the blink of an eye, the van went from cruising to hurtling at the two.

"VER-!" Was all Dawn got the chance to say before she felt to wolf grab her, and pull her into his arms. Before she knew it they were running down the opposite end of the road. Vernon was bounding at a mad pace, but despite his speed Dawn could hear the van approaching fast. Clambering up the wolf's side, she managed to peek her head over his shoulder to watch the oncoming car. It was still coming fast, rapidly closing the distance between itself and the pair.

"VERNON! INTO THE BUSH-"

With no warning, the van suddenly stopped, revving it's engine menacingly at the mammals. Dawn was about to tell Vernon what happened when she felt the wolf' come to a complete stop.

"Vernon, what's wro-"

Words failed Dawn as it quickly became apparent why the wolf had come to a sudden halt. Now parked at the other end of the road was another beat up white van, revving it's own engine as if calling to the other vehicle like a wild animal. Dawn watched Vernon's head snap back and forth, his expression becoming more and more panicked with each glance at the offending vans. With a roar the two vans came to life again, each now bearing down on the trapped mammals.

"VERNON! BUSHES! NOW!" Dawn yelped!

Vernon looked to the lamb briefly only to nod, before barreling into the nearby bushes. As he bounded with breakneck speed through the brush, the lamb could make out the sound of the cars coming to a sharp stop.

"FAN OUT! THEY CAN'T GET FAR!" A fading voice bellowed.

"How in the hell did they find us before the cops!? Vernon sputtered, trying to keep various branches from getting in his face as he ran.

"I don't know! Just keep going!" Dawn replied, now clutching the wolf's arm tightly as he carried her.

As Vernon cleared a particularly large log, a gunshot rang out over the sounds of the jungle.

"That doesn't sound like a dart gun!" Vernon yelped.

"Oh gods, oh gods..." Dawn mumbled.

Dawn watched as the wolf continued to rush through the oncoming brush. Looking up at Vernon, she could see the terror in his eyes. In that moment she felt shame overtake her. Here she had been getting mad at Vernon, and now once again her problems had dragged the two of them into a life or death situation. This is what she wanted to avoid, this is what she couldn't bear to do to the wolf. As if reading her thoughts, Vernon glanced down at the ewe.

"We're getting out of this Floofs, I swear it." The wolf panted through gritted teeth.

Another gunshot rang out as the two entered a clearing in the woods. Vernon stopped in the center, sniffing the air and peering around.

"W-why'd you stop?" Dawn asked nervously.

The wolf's eyes darted to the brush on their right, then left. Then his head suddenly jerked to look over his shoulder.

"Damn, damn, damn." The wolf growled.

"what!? WHAT!?" Dawn grasped at the wolf's arm tighter.

"I can see the tops of the brush moving from those three directions..." The wolf groaned. "There's more of them, and they're trying to box us in."

"W-what do we do!?" Dawn stuttered.

The wolf didn't answer, simply wrapping his other arm around the ewe and barreling forward through the brush at the far end of the field. There were more gunshots as the continued the chase, seeming growing closer with each passing minute.

"They're signaling each other." The wolf huffed.

The brush came to an abrupt end, and the two found themselves at the edge of a path, leading straight up to a sky tram platform. The most recent gondola was just leaving the station as the two were frozen, trying to absorb just where they had ended up.

"TOURIST PATH! SON OF A...!" Vernon growled.

"OH GODS! ARE WE TRAPPED!?" Dawn sputtered.

Vernon suddenly grabbed her shoulder, looking Dawn in the eyes. He was sweating profusely, and his eyes were filled with fear.

"They knew the area, they must of done this on purpose...we...I don't know what to do Dawn!" The wolf panted. "I-I-" The wolf's ears sagged.

Dawn looked away from the wolf toward the loading platform for the sky trams.

"W-What about the sky tram?" She stammered.

"They'll be on us before the next one comes in." Vernon replied.

It was then an idea struck Dawn, a way to clear her name and make a clean get away. But it would all depend on how long she could keep whoever was leading her pursuers talking.

"Puppy, I have an idea." Dawn grinned weakly.

"As bad as mine?" Vernon replied.

A single mad cackle escaped Dawn's muzzle in response. "Probably worse, but it's all I have."

After divulging her plan, the two mammals backed themselves up against the nearby platform, as close as they could to the edge and waited. Vernon stood firmly behind Dawn, his paws on her shoulders gripping tightly. She gently pet one of his paws, looking up to give the wolf a weak smile. If Vernon even had an inkling of doubt about her crazy plan, his face didn't show it. Vernon smiled a toothy grin at the ewe.

"Whatever happens, I've got your back Floofs." The wolf said.

It only took a few moments for the rams to begin to filter out of the brush. There were six in all, dressed to the nines in full hazmat regalia. Dawn could hear Vernon's growl grow louder with each ram that came out of the brush like ghosts through a fog. All of them had guns at the ready, aimed directly on the pair. A hush fell over the scene, like an old western stand off as the two sides waited for each other to move. A sudden 'Ahem' drew the duos attention back to the brush directly in front of the platform. As the weeds parted, Dawn's gritted her teeth at the ram who revealed himself. She hadn't expected it, but it wasn't surprising in the least.

"Mouflon!" She growled.

"Oh Dawn, you don't sound surprised to see me." The older ram chuckled.

"A ram as nasty as you? I'd find it hard not to suspect you being up to something evil." The ewe snarled.

"Oh please, my tenure at Alpine Crag Correctional has been nothing short of stellar. I've received awards for my tireless commitment to rehabilitation." The ram chuckled softly. "I even denied parole for Zootopia's worst criminal at every opportunity despite my eventually being outvoted. Most may see me as a hard ram, but an honorable one. You're the only one who'd think so lowly of this public servant."

"Make that two, you grizzled old Tup!" Vernon snarled.

Mouflon chuckled as he walked closer to the two.

"And I see you're still traveling with that mangy mongrel, how quaint."

"Who you callin' mangy, greywool!?" Dawn could feel Vernon's grip on her shoulders tighten. Reaching a hoof up, she placed it on one of his paws and squeezed it back.

"Although I must say, I was disappointed we weren't able to get him to rip you to shreds, but still this dumb hound's stupid antics placed you right back into our hooves." Dawn watched as Mouflon drew his own pistol from a holster at his side.

"Really it ended up working out perfectly, well almost." He sneered.

"How did you find us!?" Vernon growled at the old ram.

"A little police radio scanning, causing inconveniences to keep the police away from where we thought you were. We could have done a great deal better if we had access to the traffic cams, but we didn't have our little dictator working for us this time around did we?" He flashed the ewe a smug grin. "Unfortunately that doesn't give us too much time to play, that's why we have to make this quick." The ram flicked his wrist, causing the chamber of the gun to spring open.

"After all, we don't need the police showing up too early to our little staged suicide now do we?" Mouflon gave a hearty laugh.

"If you wanted to kill me, why all this torture!? Why not just do it earlier!?" Dawn sputtered.

"Trust me, I would have loved too." The ram sneered, placing a round in the empty chamber. "But that damn Doug was so determined to get you to play ball. He was so dead set on getting you back into the fold. Obsessed would be a better term." Mouflon growled.

"The fire was his crude attempt at giving you the motivation to come back around to his way of thinking, as well as our little dart attempt on your wolf friend." Mouflon feigned a shocked expression. "Oops, cat's out of the bag Doug." He snickered.

"And Don?" Dawn whimpered.

Mouflon stopped loading his pistol for a moment, doing his best to stifle a bellowing laugh.

"That old fool?" Mouflon grinned. "He was causing us far too much trouble." The ram gazed up at the sky, letting out another barking laugh before setting his eyes on the pair again.

"After the little incident with your apartment, Polaraski had taken to hiding your location from everyone at the prison. He may not have known who it was, but he knew someone in the prison was tracking you. I'm afraid the poor old bear was a bit too smart for his own good." The ram sneered.

"I can't say I didn't enjoy watching him die though." The ram glowered. "Polaraski had always been a pain, too soft hearted for prison work. Quite surprising for filthy predator scum."

He closed his eyes, a look of pure pleasure coming to his face. "It's quite funny..." He sighed. "No matter what we did to him, he wouldn't tell us where you lived. He was quite loyal."

His grin widened to fiendish proportions. "Made it all the more pleasurable to watch him suffer under the gas, his agonizing screams were almost musical."

Bringing his pistol back at the ready, the ram shook his head. "Of course killing Don had the added benefit of removing another one of your supports. I mean if you had no one to turn to Doug was certain would make you come back to him. We hadn't counted on the dog though." The ram hissed.

"So that's what this all is, Doug's lame attempt at winning me over?" Dawn's eyes were tearing at the thought of Don's suffering, but inside she was burning with utter hatred for Mouflon.

"Oh ho, ho." The ram chuckled, loading another round into his pistol. "No, no Dawn. It's much bigger than that. Greater, grander. You've been nothing more than a distraction that's threatened to undo year's of planning." He waived his pistol at Vernon. "You and that mutt."

Closing the barrel, the ram cocked the weapon. "I was actually just supposed to bring you in, but I feel you two have been too much of a threat to this operation for far too long. Despite what Mr. Ramses wanted, I was out to kill you both last night by any means. Play it off as a simple an accident, the plan spiraling out of control. But ironically the plan did spin out of control." The ram grit his teeth.

"But I can make this work, I'll just tell Doug that things got out of hoof on this little recovery mission and I had to kill you both. Even if he finds out, it won't matter. The threat you pose will be eliminated, and everything will be smooth sailing from here on out." He grinned, aiming the muzzle of the gun at the ewe.

"You're mad!" Vernon snarled.

Mouflon merely chortled. "The Zootopian Gazette would have a field day with this one. 'Dawn Bellwether dies in bizarre suicide pact after evading police custody.'" The ram scoffed. "Well, maybe if there was still going to be a Zootopian Gazette by tomorrow."

"What are you saying?" Dawn growled.

"No, no, no." Mouflon shook his head. "I've seen far to many television serials to know it's poor form to reveal the details of your plan to your enemy, no matter how sure you are of victory."

Dawn felt Vernon squeeze her shoulders tightly, tapping his index fingers as he did. It was the signal Dawn had been waiting for, it was almost time.

"But I will say this..." Mouflon grinned. "Those Bug Burga attacks were only the beginning. We have grand plans for this city Dawn, grand plans that will do much better without you anywhere near them. I'm not going to let Doug's pining for an old flame screw up what we've worked so hard on!" He growled.

"The best part is, no one will miss you. In fact if things do go wrong, it will be so easy to frame you. Who wouldn't suspect the monster that nearly destroyed Zootopia to be responsible for all of this? The only mammal that knows the truth..." He waived his gun at Vernon. "will be taking it to the grave." The ram began to cackle loudly, clearly enjoying wielding power over the pair.

"Those Bug Burga attacks were only the beginning. We have grand plans for this city Dawn, grand plans that will do much better without you anywhere near them. I'm not going to let Doug's pining for an old flame screw up what we've worked so hard on!" Mouflon seemed to freeze as his words were thrown back at him.

"The best part is, no one will miss you. In fact if things do go wrong, it will be so easy to frame you. Who wouldn't suspect the monster that nearly destroyed Zootopia to be responsible for all of this? The only mammal that knows the truth... will be taking it to the grave." Dawn revealed the orange carrot shaped pen from behind her back, holding it up for the old ram to see.

"Got any more for me? Or do you think this is enough evidence for the ZPD?" Dawn grinned at the ram smugly.

"What is this!?" The old ram sputtered.

"It's...It's um..." Dawn scratched her chin as she desperately tried to remember the words Judy had used on her so many years ago.

"It's called a hustle sweetheart." she finally rattled off. "Yeah, that was it!" She mumbled quietly to herself.

"And that's out cue!" Vernon shouted.

With one swift motion the wolf scooped the lamb back into his arms and dove off the side of the platform. They could hear Mouflon's gun fire as the pair landed on top of an on-coming tram. As it rose back above the cliff side, Vernon slung the two into the tram carriage, and once inside Dawn slammed her hoof on the button to skip the station where Mouflon was still waiting. With the gondola in full view of the rams, the pair ducked behind its protective shell as a flurry of bullets began to fire at them.

"SHOOT THEM YOU IDIOTS!" Dawn could hear Mouflon cry, as the tram continued to move up and away from the rams.

More stray shots rang out, a few leaving bullet holes in the sides of the compartment as the two stayed as low as they could. Dawn prayed that the two would remain lucky enough to get out of range before one of the shots managed to graze them.

The gunfire continued, before growing quieter and eventually stopping all together. For a moment Dawn thought they were fully out of range of the crazed rams before she heard Mouflon's voice cry out.

"THIS ISN'T OVER DAWN!"

Dawn didn't move from her position pressed against the floor of the tram, but she couldn't resist responding.

"APPARENTLY YOU DIDN'T WATCH ENOUGH T.V. SHOWS TO LEARN TO KEEP YOUR MONOLOGUES SHORT!" She heard the wolf chuckle in response.

Turning around to Vernon, she placed a hoof on the side of his face and gently caressed it.

"Are you hurt?" She asked.

"Nah...those rams can't shoot for shit." The wolf grinned.

Dawn let out a chuckle.

"How bout you?" Vernon asked, concern lacing his features.

"A bit frazzled, but fine." She gave a weak grin.

"That was a crazy plan!" The wolf laughed.

"What can I say, I think you're rubbing off on me Vernon Hunter." The ewe gave the wolf's shoulder a playful push.

"So..." Vernon mumbled. "Do you think we can stand up in this thing now or...?"

"Just to be safe, we should stay on the floor till we get to the next station." Dawn laughed.

Meanwhile, less than a mile away. A heated argument is going on between a familiar pair of cops until it is interrupted by a dispatcher's report.

"Hopps, Wilde, this is Clawhauser. Someone reported shots being fired near Cliffside. Local traffic cam caught a wolf and Sheep riding in a sky tram on it's way to Cliffside asylum."