The boys were sitting at the desk, existing off of two and a half hours of sleep on the uncomfortable cots in the holding cell and empty stomachs. Springer scanned the room, many of their family came out and sat in their respective seats. He smiled at his adoptive family, a pair of mountain hares. They were simply incapable of having their own, so they adopted him before he was even old enough to open his eyes. Springer, and about four other siblings, were an unplanned pregnancy, so he’d never met any of his biological siblings. All of the siblings who he does know were also adopted. 

    He could point out his mother, father, his two brothers who were also adopted, several friends and former teammates. He focused on his teammates for a moment, not picking up any signs of resentment from them. They all seemed worried, none of them had a sour face, none of them had the look of “serves you right” in their eyes. He waved at them, and they all waved back, his father and brothers comforting his mother who held a piece of cloth in her hand, assumed to be in case she cried. 

As he stared into the crowd, he realized there weren’t any servals, or any kind of cat, and he recognized everyone sitting there. He glanced back at Wilson, who didn’t even bother to look back. He just sat there, hands folded in his lap, ears flattened against his head, staring blankly at the table in front of him. 

“Hey, it’s okay.” Springer whispered, “We know we didn’t do anything wrong, and I’m sure they’ll realize that, too. As soon as they realize they don’t have anything against us, they’ll let us go and we’ll be fine.” he said with a smile. Wilson said nothing, only giving a subtle nod and swallowing, letting out a shaky breath. Springer frowned, then looked to the other side, being represented by a female reindeer. Her antlers were trimmed and her fur was gelled and kept out of her face by a few bobby pins. She set her briefcase on the table and folded her hooves neatly in front of her. Springer’s ear twitched to his right, and he gave a hopeful smile as they’re family lawyer, Mr. Gos sat down next to them. A middle-aged goose wearing a brown suit with a high caller and red tie pulled out his briefcase and pens.

“You boys know why you’re here, right?” he asked, the boys nodded. 

“Possession of illegal explosives?” The golden hare asked. 

“And arson.” 

“Arso- They think we blew up that shed?” Springer remarked. 

“Yes, they do. Do you boys happen to have an alibi?” 

“We were at the gas station down the road. We just bought snacks, we don’t have a car so we just walked there and back.” Springer told him, Mr. Gos nodding. 

“That could work, you have the recite?” he asked, the young hare giving him a blank stare. 

“Uhm… no” he muttered. 

“Do you know where it is?” 

“Garbage probably-”

“No,” Wilson interrupted, “it was garbage night last night, it’s oughta be in the dump by now.” 

“Okay… anything else?” Mr. Gos tapped his wing against the table. 

“The check-in lady at the front desk. Can we call her?” Springer stated.

“At the college?

“Yeah.” 

“Okay, good. We’ll get there. For now, just stay quiet unless someone asks you to speak.” he said, snapping his attention to the judge, a massive rhino with a shaved down horn.

“All rise.” he commanded, everyone standing and only sitting back down when he did.

“The trial begins on september 30th, 2021. A black-tailed jackrabbit and a serval charged with arson and possession of illegal explosives.” He scanned the papers inside a folder, then set it down and stared up at both sides, meeting Springer’s eyes with a glare. 

“You - and each of you, solemnly swear that you will well and truly try this case before you, and a true verdict rendered, according to the evidence and the law so help you God?” he said impatiently. 

“I do.” both sides said. 

“Your Honor,” the kerabu started, “these boys have been seen by three separate people blowing up an old shed and then fleeing the scene. One of the witnesses is the owner of the shed.” 

“OBJECTION, are these people certain they saw them lighting a fire, or simply running away? It was dark, wasn’t it?” Mr. Gos slammed his wings on the table. 

“Your Honor, may I call up a witness?” the other side asked, the judge nodding, “Mr. Chinna, would you mind taking the stands?” She pointed her hoof to an elder black and white spotted rabbit, who stood and was guided to the stands by an officer. 

“Raise your right hand, sir.” the judge ordered, “Do you swear to tell the truth and nothing but the truth, so help you god?” 

“I do.” the elder rabbit said. 

“You may proceed.” 

“Mr. Chinna, you are the owner of the property that was destroyed, correct?” Mrs. Roseline approached him. 

“That is correct.”

“And I understand that you submitted photos of who you suspected to be the culprits, yes?” 

“Yes, ma’am.” 

“May we see them?” 

“Of course.” he said, and an officer approached them, handing a folder to her, the judge perked his ears forward. Mrs. Roseline opened the folder and took out the screenshot. 

“This was captured from a surveillance camera, Mr. Chinna, is this a motion-activated camera?” the keribu asked.

“Yes, it takes many pictures very quickly when triggered.” 

“Your Honor, take a look.” Mrs. Roseline said, handing the folder to the judge, “Correct me if I'm wrong, but don’t the figures in this image look awfully similar to our suspects?” 

“Object- Your Honor, may I see this photo?” Mr. Gos interrupted. The judge looked up at him, then back at the photo and then to the boys, then nodded and handed it back to the officer. Mr. Gos took the folder and examined it closely. It was dark, but you could clearly see two figures, one with large ears and one with triangular pointed ears, both seen hiding behind the shed. The time in the top corner reads “7:53pm”, two minutes before the explosion occurred. His brow frowned as he held it up and constantly glanced between it and his clients. 

The worry on his face concerned Springer, he nudged the lawyer and he let them see. He felt his face grow cold, he bit his lip and Mr. Gos handed the folder back to the officer, who stood by the desk and kept the image until asked again. Springer gazed at the room, his eyes locking with Mrs. Roseline’s and made him queasy. The look of pure confidence smeared across her face, she had no doubt in her cause, and he had no idea of Mr. Gos’s experience, but he seemed defeated. 

“O-Objection, my client says he has an alibi. Can I request a ten minute recess?” Mr. Gos stammered. 

“Do you have any questions for Mr. Chinna?” the judge questioned.

“…No, Your Honor.” the goose said, standing and sorting out his papers. 

“Ten minute recess, starting now.” The rhino slammed his gavel on its block, everyone either standing to do business or remaining on their posts. 

“Now, what’s the alibi?” Mr. Gos asked.

“Mrs. Colly, she works the front desk at night, that computer has the times our IDs are checked in and out.” 

“Okay, what’s her phone number?” Mr. Gos got out a pen and paper. 

“I have it,” Wilson said, reading out the number from memory, as his phone was confiscated. 

“Okay, you boys stay here, I’ll be right back.” 

“I don’t think we’re allowed to leave…” Springer confirmed as the goose got up and left the room. 

“You know, she’s probably asleep right now, right?” Wilson whispered. 

“Yes, but the computer data is still there. Who works the day shift?” Springer whispered back. 

“I don’t know.” Wilson shrugged, “will this prove anything?” 

“I… I don’t know. Just stay positive, we’ll be fine.” he chirped. 

“Stay positive? Really? Everyone in this court probably thinks we burned down this random old man’s shed, we’re probably going to prison or… worse.” Wilson tailed off. Springer’s ears flopped over a little, and he turned back and just stared at the table. A knot formed in the pit of his stomach, he felt like he was gonna be sick. He couldn’t believe that they were their only suspects, but that picture did show a spotted cat of some kind, maybe it was at an angle where it looked like they were standing behind the shed when they were on the sidewalk. He bit his lip and prayed that this little piece of an alibi would be enough of a brake to let this whole thing go. 

---

    Mr. Gos finally came back after what felt like an hour, a slight bit of confidence returning to his eyes. He sat down, wrote down a phone number on a little piece of paper and folded his wings politely.

    “So, she can’t come in person, but she’s waiting for us to call her back. You boys have nothing to worry about.” he chimed proudly. Springer felt a pressure lift off his chest after his words. He took a deep breath, though shaky, and just waited for everything to settle down, but Wilson grit his teeth. 

    “Nothing to worry about? NOTHING to worry about?! We’re still in court, there will be SOMETHING to worry about until this is over.” the serval thought. He rapidly tapped his claw on the wood table, staring at the judge, who had just sat back down.

    “The trial prevails, it is currently 10:03 in the morning,” the judge spoke softly as he wrote, then leaned back in his chair, “Mr. Gos, you did manage to get ahold of this alibi, correct?” 

    “Yes, Your Honor. She cannot be with us in person, but she is waiting by the phone as we speak.” the goose said, handing the phone number to an officer, who called and set the phone on speaker. The phone buzzed, and every time it buzzed, Wilson felt that knot in his stomach grow tighter. After the third or fourth buzz, Mrs. Roseline sighed softly and Mr. Gos cleared his throat. The judge tapped his finger on the table in wait, until the sound of the other side picking up was heard. 

    “Hello?” an old, female voice asked. 

    “Mrs. Colly, you are in court being called an alibi, do you swear to tell the truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God?” the judge called from his desk. 

    “Oh, I do, Your Honor.”

    “Hello, Mrs. Colly!” the goose exclaimed, asking the judge for permission to approach, to which he granted, “I’ve called you up as an alibi, all you have to do is answer a few questions.” he smiled, leaning against the stands the officer holding the phone was sitting in. 

    “Oh, is this about our two students?” she politely asked.

    “Yes, ma’am, it is. You have the check-in times on your computer, can you see if you can find the time Springer- what’s your last name?” he muttered to the hare.

    “Bonfield.” 

    “Bonfiled! Springer Bonfiled, two nights ago.” he said, a grin smeared on his face. There was a pause on the other side of the line, then the elder spoke.

    “Yes, I have him right here.”

    “Can you read out both check-in and check-out times to me please?” Mr. Gos waited.

    “The card was checked out at 7:22pm, and checked back in at 8:07.” she said, the jury murmured. 

    “Objection, Your Honor! The times confirm when they got to and from the campus, but it proves nothing while they were out. Surely, you can see this flaw.” Mrs. Roseline exclaimed, putting her hooves on the table. 

    “We can get proof they were at the gas station, Mrs. Roseline. Every one has cameras-” Mr. Gos argued.

    “Again, Your Honor, this would not prove where they were in between destinations. Surely, you understand how much of a waste of time this is.” she pinned her ears, the judge nodded.

    “She’s right. Do you have any more questions for Mrs. Colly?” He looked at the goose.

    “Yes, Your Honor. Mrs. Colly, is there anything else that can be used to track their whereabouts?” 

    “No, not that I can think of. But I do only see Springer’s ID, you did say he was with someone else, right?” the voice said.

    “You don’t see a Wilson anywhere?” Mr Gos asked.

    “Wilson…?”

    “Wilson Pamble.”

    “No, sir.” the jury murmured again. Mr. Gos thought for a moment.

    “Your Honor,” Mrs. Rosaline started, “isn’t it true that we can only clearly see Mr. Pamble in the photo as well? We saw one large ear, but a tree branch was in the way of the other half. What are the odds of Mr. Bonfield harbored him by letting him back into the complex, since he claims they were together all night?”

    “Objection…! We don’t have any- we- You can see them both!” Mr. Gos stammered, his mind racing so fast he didn’t realize what he had just said, Wilson held his face in his palms, shaking his head.

“…no further questions.” The goose hung his head and took his seat. “Mrs. Roseline, do you have any questions for our witness?” The judge asked, the keribu shaking her head. “Mrs. Colly, you’re excused. Thank you for testifying.” The judge said, the officer hanging up the phone. 

    “I call for a fifteen minute recess to let the jury decide. I expect you all back by then.” the judge said, slamming his gavel on its block again. The jury stood and shuffled into a separate room, Mr. Gos pressing his wing against his forehead. Wilson felt queasy again, he bit his lip as his heartbeat thumped up into his throat. He couldn’t help but let his mind wander to the Isle of The Damned, and wondered what it was really like. He heard rumors about how even guards were forced to stay there. As soon as they were hired, they basically kissed their lives goodbye and moved to the isle. The rumor said they weren’t allowed to leave. Ever. 

It was also said that they weren’t given much training, but that part couldn’t be true. Though the Isle was only used by less than half of the countries on the planet, that was still too many for untrained people to guard, why wouldn’t they train them? It seems stupid, but this city was no stranger to wierd romors, obviously. There was another rumor saying that underground meat plants genetically modified animals and crossed the DNA just for kicks and giggles. Even if they did do that, it probably wouldn’t just be for fun. 

Wilson snapped himself out of his thoughts, having to force himself to stop gnawing on the inside of his cheeks and lips or else they’d start bleeding. Instead, he stuck his claw in his mouth, then stopped doing that, too, when he realized he’d probably be needing them nice and sharp.

He also couldn’t take his mind off of his hunger, he hadn’t eaten since dinner the previous night, he didn’t know they wouldn’t feed inmates the day of their trial. He just wanted to go back to his dorm, back to his own bed and back to where people weren’t staring at him constantly. But, he really wanted to get back to his meatless meatball sub he had in the fridge. 

The judge sat back down, banging the gavel a couple times to get everyone’s attention. The courtroom fell silent in anticipation, the rhino shot a glare at the boys.

“The jury pleads guilty, the sentence is life by isle.” he confirmed by slamming the gavel again. Springer’s ears dropped, he heard his mother sob behind him. 

“Your Honor, don’t you feel like the Isle is a bit much for-”

“For arsonists, Mr. Gos? Would you prefer them live amongst us? Officers, deal with them.” he ordered, police grabbing the boys by their handcuffs and dragging them out the door. Springer caught glimpses of his mother, tears in her eyes and being physically held back by his father. He heard her voice say something, but he couldn’t quite catch what it was over the sounds of people leaving and chatting. All he could do was shoot her a quick, shy smile as he was dragged out of the building and behind it to a parking lot. Huge trucks with modified cargo crates that were lined with padding filled every space, two of them were opened by one of the officers. Both of the boys were shoved against the side of a truck, muzzled and patted down, and then shoved inside their own truck. Springer turned back to face the door, catching a glimpse of his family before the door slammed shut and he was thrown into darkness.