Hunt For A Shadow

The blog where I will make posts about my bloodhound detective, his rabbit partner, and the mystery of why I made the characters animals.

[huntforashadow]

Here are the characters that the story focuses on:

First is the bloodhound detective himself, Baxter Stake.

Then there's Baxter's assistant, Alex Leep.

Here's the sole witness to the crime, Sam Corder.

Finally, we have Kimya Kutengwa, a suspect picked up along the way.

[skeletomez]

[huntforashadow]

Me with Kimya because I just had to insert one of my fursonas into the story

[huntforashadow]

Did you think I had forgotten this story? I could never forget the one original creation I have!

Here's an illustration of one of the scenes! What could they be searching for in those folders? Why not read and find out?

[huntforashadow]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Big news, I’ve finally started posting the story to AO3! I’m posting each part as its own work in a series, pretty much solely for the sake of adding tags where they need to be instead of just having them thrown in all at once. So far, I’ve posted six parts. I’m only now promo-ing that here because I genuinely forgot that I could. Anyway, I’m really excited to share this and get feedback on it!

Also, this is my first time posting an AO3 link, so please let me know if there are any issues with the link!

[mispelled]

Actually we need more nonverbal/mute characters in media

[huntforashadow]

I hate that I haven't had inspiration to write for the actual story, but I've had the idea of a non-canonical sequel thing that would be fanfiction if I wasn't the creator buzzing around in my head. Also, I can't even post most of the incorrect quotes things I have because they contain references to the end of the story.

[ficwip]

Describe the plot/concept of something you're working on in the tags, but poorly.

[three-masked-ducks-chugging-hj7]

The one bad thing about getting somewhat into Sam and Max is that I now can't help but see Baxter as Sam in my head. I don't have that problem with Alex since he is so vastly different from Max, but I keep having to remind myself that Baxter doesn't look like Sam.

[three-masked-ducks-chugging-hj7]

I randomly got a burst of motivation last night to write a specific scene in this original story I'm writing, and that scene has been on my mind all day. I'm basically just desperate to share it (and possibly get some feedback). So, if you would like to read what I've written so far, then go ahead; if not, that's fine. I just couldn't think of anywhere better to share this than tumblr.

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Faunasun City; a place where all animals have lived in peace for decades. The population, at first, was almost entirely urban animals. As time passed, and word spread, forest animals and jungle animals also took up residency in Faunasun City. No crimes had been committed since before the decades of peace, but there remain a few individuals who stay in their positions of detectives simply for the love of the job. One of these few being Baxter Stake, a bloodhound who became well-known for his incredible abilities to track down suspects. Then there's Baxter's partner, Alex Leep, who had been working with Baxter since the start of his career.

     The day began like any other day for Baxter. He got up, ate breakfast, then went off to his office. He's known for years that his position as a detective was basically meaningless, and probably always would be, but he still enjoyed looking into crimes from the past that were never solved. On this day, however, that reality he had built would be torn down before his eyes. As he was looking through his collection of files on crimes in history, he heard the phone ring from his desk on the other side of the room. He was confused, but considered that it may be Alex explaining why he wasn't at the office yet. Granted Baxter himself had only been there for about 5 minutes, but his partner rarely arrived after him.

     Baxter answered the phone to hear an alarmed male voice, "Hello? Is this Baxter Stake?" The voice continued after Baxter confirmed this. "Look, I know you haven't had any work in years, but I've heard how incredible you were at solving crimes. That level of expertise and skill I've heard about, it is very much needed."

     "What?", Baxter couldn't help how his voice wavered and cracked as he replied, "Are you saying a crime has been committed?" Baxter's voice then began to fill with a trace of excitement as his words started to pour out of him rapidly, "What is it? What happened?"

     There was a slight pause on the other end of the call, then the voice continued. " I didn't see how it started, but I saw everything after. Someone in a dark cloak kept scratching and kicking and punching a squirrel. I'm not sure, but I swear I think they bit her at some point. Either way, I just saw this squirrel get killed. I even checked after the fact, hoping she wasn't dead. But she was. She IS. Someone is dead in our city."

     Baxter could hardly believe what he was being told. A part of him was tempted to doubt the story and scold this young man for bringing such dark subject matters into a prank call. However, he knew that no one would have a reason to make up such a story for a prank. He could feel that the individual he was speaking with was genuinely shaken up. He was feeling the old fire again, and knew he was going to take this case. "Where are you at this moment?"

     Again a pause, "I'm on Chamelo Street, right outside the Chinchilla Cafe. But I'm pretty sure you'll see the body before you see me. She's sat propped up on a bench."

     Despite not being face to face with the witness, Baxter nodded as he responded. "I'll be there as soon as I can. Don't worry, I guarantee I'll solve this crime, just as I have with every case." He then hung up the phone after receiving a grateful thanks from the witness.

     At that moment, the door to Baxter's office was thrown open, startling Baxter momentarily. Then he realized it was only his partner, who looked stressed, but otherwise fine.

     "Baxter, I'm so sorry I'm late! I don't even have a great excuse, in fact an excuse just sounds bad. But it's not a good reason, it's pretty dumb actually, I-"

     Even after just learning that a murder had occurred, Baxter's attention was immediately drawn to his anxious partner. "Alex, relax. I'm certain you've gotten yourself worked up over nothing."

     Alex shakily nodded, still beating himself up for being late. "You're right. A small spill on a carpet really shouldn't have gotten me worked up. It, uh, shouldn't have made me late either, but-" he was once again cut off by Baxter.

     "You're here now, though, and that's what matters, right?"

     "Yeah, yeah you're right," Alex sighed in relief, "So, uh, same old grind today?"

     At that, Baxter realized he had momentarily forgotten about the call he had just received. The spark reignited in his eyes, and he placed his hands on his partner's shoulders with a great amount of force. "No! We have a case! A real current case!"

     The shock on Alex's face was entirely obvious, "A case?! What kind of case are we dealing with, here?" He was honestly kind of frightened by the excitement in both Baxter's voice and his face.

     "It's a murder, Alex! On Chamelo Street! We need to go!" Baxter was heading for the door the moment the final syllable left his mouth, leaving his stunned partner standing rigidly in the office.

     After a moment of processing the situation, Alex followed Baxter out the door, and the two made their way to the scene of the crime.

     As the duo approached the café, Baxter was on the watch for the body. Then, he saw it; just as the witness had said, on a bench, sat the body of a squirrel. Baxter found a space to park, and he left the car. Alex sat a moment longer than his partner; he seemed transfixed on the body. Baxter noticed this, and he simply gave a reassuring look as he held his hand out. Alex took a breath in and took Baxter's hand, finally leaving the car.

     The two now stood in front of the body. Just then, the door to the Chinchilla Café opened to reveal a cat. He approached the detectives.

     "Um, hi. You must be Baxter. I'm Sam; I'm the one who called you this morning." Sam held his hand out to the detective. Baxter promptly shook Sam's hand in response.

     "Yes; I'm Baxter Stake, and this is my partner, Alex Leep. So-", Baxter motioned to the body seated on the bench, "-this is the victim. Do you know anything about her?"

     Sam slightly shook his head. "I don't know much. She would occasionally come into the café, but I definitely wouldn't call her a regular."

     Baxter nodded, "So, tell me what happened. This poor girl's body is in pretty bad shape."

     "Right. So, I was just cleaning up at the end of my shift, and I saw her walking by. Like I said, she'd come into the café every now and then, so I recognized her. I waved, and she waved back. Right as she was almost past the building, I saw someone run in her direction. Now, if I'd known what was about to happen, I would've run out after that person right away. But, I had no idea that anything bad was coming. Then, I heard a scream. I'd never heard a scream like that in my life. It scared me so much that, I'll admit, I froze for a few seconds. When I came to my senses, I ran to the window to see what was happening. That's when I saw someone in a cloak. I never saw any distinct features, other than two bulges on the top of the hood; they must have had ears or horns that stick up. Anyway, like I told you on the phone, this person was beating the poor girl in just about every way I could imagine. Sadly, I have no idea where they went after they'd killed her; I uh, I think I fainted, or passed out, or something. That's also why I didn't call as soon as it happened."

     Sam looked more distraught than ever, clearly feeling guilty about not doing anything to prevent the murder.

    

     "I understand."

     Baxter turned to his partner, only now realizing that this was the first time he'd said anything since they arrived at the scene.

     Alex seemed to have his eyes glued to the body, "I'm looking at the body, and part of me still doesn't want to believe that this could have happened. I can't fully bring myself to believe that a murder has taken place here; nothing like this has happened at any point in my lifetime. Sure, I've read the old case files and looked at all the pictures, but it's so much different having an actual corpse right in front of me." Alex finally looked up at Sam, "In your position, I may have fainted too."

[MAJOR TIME SKIP]

Baxter and Alex dragged Kimya off as they went to search for Sam. They eventually spotted him sitting in the grass of the Faunasun City Park. The three of them approached, and when they got somewhat close, Baxter called out to Sam.

     "Hey Sam-!"

     Baxter was cut off by Sam letting out a small cry and jumping to his feet. Baxter brought his hands up in a sign of nonaggresion.

     "Woah, sorry about that. I didn't realize I would startle you that much."

     "It's...it's okay." Despite saying this, the cat was still shaking, and he had a wavering voice to match, and his eyes showed almost nothing but fear.

     Baxter clearly noticed.

     "What has you so scared? Did something happen?"

     "N-no? I've just - I've just been sitting here."

     Clearly something was wrong. Even after witnessing a murder, Sam hadn't previously been stuttering like that. Baxter decided to at least seem like he was dropping the subject.

     "Alright. Back to the matter at hand then; you were the only witness to the murder, so you're the only one who can identify whether or not this is the man who committed the crime," Baxter pushed Kimya closer to Sam, who flinched in response.

     "I-I-I'm sorry, I really don't know! I didn't see any-," he shook his head, "-any details!"

  Baxter sighed. "Let me ask you this: did you ever hear what the killer's voice sounded like?"

     Sam was visibly growing more upset. He looked like he was ready to just run far away from there. "I do-don't know! I don't kn-know!"

Something was definitely wrong,  but Baxter didn't want to be responsible for any unnecessary trauma.

     "Alright then. Thanks for the help." He couldn't keep his frustration out of his voice.

     At that moment, Alex placed a hand on Baxter's shoulder. "Can I...try something?"

     Baxter gave a slight smile at his partner as he replied, "Uh, sure." Baxter then leaned in and whispered, "Just be gentle. The kid's clearly shaken by something."

     Alex nodded in response.

     Alex went back over to Sam. He tried his best to have as much of a calming aura as he could.

     "Hey. Do you think you could try something for me? It's nothing difficult; I promise. It's just a basic way of grounding; it usually helps me when I'm feeling anxious."

     The cat nodded, "O-okay."

     "Alright. Look around you. What do you see?"

     "I see - see...grass...trees...the - the sky."

     "Good. Now listen closely. What do you hear?"

     "...L-leaves...the wind blow - blowing past...the...water...rippling."

     "Where are you right now?"

     "F...Faunasun City Park."

     "Why did you come here?"

     "I...needed to...release nervous energy."

     "What is your name?"

     "Joey."

    

     The cat's eyes now widened as he realized what he had just said.

     Alex smiled gently as he continued to speak in a soft reassuring tone, "It's okay. You performed the exercise perfectly. You don't have to hide anything anymore. Doesn't it feel better?"

     Tears began to form in Joey's eyes, and he clasped his head. "But I...I wasn't suppo - supposed to s-say anyth-thing! I was supposed to - to act normal!"

     "But now you don't have to act. You don't have to pretend to be anyone else; at least, not with us. I am sorry that I did that to you, but I had to know for sure who we were speaking with. So tell me: what do you know about the events that took place [insert number of nights prior]?"

     After a few moments of sniffing and pushing back tears, Joey sighed and looked at the ground. "I'm sorry. I really don't know any - any details. All I know is that it caused some real prob-b-blems for us. I'm here now because I couldn't han - handle being stuck inside. S-Sam and Tara were o-okay with it since none of us thought that the two - two of you would come b-b-b-back for anything."

     "That's okay. Do you know if Tara knows anything?"

     Joey shook his head, "No. S-sorry. If she kn-kno-knows anything, she hasn't tol-told me."

     Alex took out his cell phone. "How about this: I'll give you all my phone number. If you have any way that you can leave a message for Sam, since he's the only one we know has information about the crime, please let him know to call us once he's back. Does that sound good?"

     Joey gave the closest thing to a smile that Alex had seen from him and nodded. "Sure. Sounds good. And I'll gi-give you our numb-ber. Just put Sam's n-name as the contact for sim - implicity's sake."

     With that, Alex and Joey exchanged phone numbers. They then said their goodbyes, and Alex returned to Baxter's side.

     "So, how'd it go?" Baxter asked.

     "Well-", Alex began, "That wasn't Sam we were just speaking to; his name is Joey, and he didn't see anything. I'm not sure when Sam will be back, but I gave Joey my phone number so Sam can call us when he does return."

     Baxter had to pause for a moment. "Wait a minute. Are you saying that...? I mean, I knew he was acting differently, but how did you find out for sure?"

     Alex rubbed the back of his neck as he gave his answer, "I sorta used a grounding exercise as a way of getting him to calm down enough to where he would just say his name without thinking." He let out a chuckle. "Guess my psych degree is finally coming in handy, huh?"

     As impressed as Baxter was with Alex's knowledge of psychology being displayed, he couldn't hold in his immediate thought, "Great. Our one witness isn't always around."

     "Buuuut-," Alex grabbed Baxter's shoulder and pulled him closer as he spoke, "-I told Joey to leave a message for him so he knows to call us as soon as he's back. So, we just have wait, and hope that he isn't gone for too long. Though, based on what Joey said, if Sam and Tara--another alter Joey mentioned--are aware that we found out about all of them, Sam might come back sooner than they had originally thought."