"Ladies and—and gentlemammals," Gazelle spoke hesitatingly into the microphone, "my name is Gazelle."
Down below, Koslov growled audibly.
Gazelle noticed, but did not let the polar bear's resentment get the better of her.
"I am... Gazelle," she repeated, still fumbling somewhat over her words. "And I'm here to tell you that what Mr. Flanell has just said... is completely wrong."
There was a mixed response from the crowd. Some yelled in approval, others screamed hateful things in her direction. Jonathan Flanell, from his space in the box behind her, contorted his face into a look of utter confusion and rising anger. Governor Bellwether also looked confused, his face twisted in wariness.
"I have noticed," Gazelle said, her confidence growing ever so gradually, "that there is a lot of talk about predators being savages. I thought the same way for years."
Down in the crowd, Koslov spluttered some words in Russian (words, Gazelle assumed, were not quite polite in the common language). The old polar bear looked like he was going to explode, but then she spotted Morris, the little cub, put his paw on his father's pant leg, and the old bear slowly began to calm down.
"My parents," Gazelle began, "were harmed by a gang of predators. My whole village in the Third Quarter was destroyed. The fear of predators I held onto like a fawn to its mother caused me to do some terrible things. I participated in a riot that destroyed a predator's livelihood, and regretted it afterwards. In my desperate attempt to escape it all, I lied and deceived a group of predators. That was where I encountered, truly, for the first time, what it is like for a predator to live in this fearful city."
The crowd murmured amongst itself for a few seconds.
"Fear is one of the most powerful weapons in existence, and it is used far too often," Gazelle spoke again. "Look at yourselves," she said to the audience. "You've let your fears control your actions and you will give in to anything to alleviate your fear."
She turned her eyes towards Jonathan Flanell, whose face was turning bright red, from a mixture of anger and embarrassment.
"Some animals like to use fear because it makes them more powerful," she said somberly.
She then turned back to the crowd, and began to move a bit on the stage, standing freely off to one side of the podium.
"What are you all afraid of?" Gazelle asked, although everyone in the crowd already knew the answer. "You're all afraid of predators because of something they might do. I know you have reason to be afraid of predators. But the predators who have abused you—and me—do not define predators. They were individuals that made their own choices, their own decisions, their own actions—not the actions of predators as a whole."
Gazelle was on a roll now, and was slowly pacing back and forth across the platform, her brown eyes still full of nervousness, but it was beginning to dwindle.
"I know this now," she said solemnly, "because of my recent experiences. My fiancé, a cheetah, was killed by a group of animals that were motivated by fear and by vengeance. And now, because you claim that predators must no longer abuse prey, you hold them more accountable than the prey who murder, vandalize and terrorize the entire city. There is only one standard of accountability, laid down at the creation of the world, and that is the one all animals are told to follow. Claiming to be just and having more than one standard is an absolute lie."
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Zootopia: Runaway: Gazelle's Story
General FictionShe's the most beautiful, talented and wealthiest animal Zootopia has ever known. She rose from tragedy and ashes on more than one occasion to change the course of history forever. She loved once and has suffered ever since then. She became an overn...
