Chapter 9: Compassion


They decided to head to Bunnyburrow early in the morning. Nick thought that sitting in the front would ease his mind except he caught a glimpse of Jill's miserable form within the cage before he entered the car. Every whimper she made stabbed at his heart despite the fact that he couldn't see her. The commotion at the back of the car did not help.

"Jewel, why did you shock Jill?" Janna asked icily.

"Because she was making too much noise."

"You've let power go to your head. That's not one of the infractions. We're going to the toy store and I'm getting you a matching collar. Whenever Jill's shocked, you will be too."

Nick turned on the music to drown out the sound of Jill's whimpers, but they were still loud enough for him to hear so he focused on the scenery to ease his mind.

"Is that number of real?" He saw the ever-increasing number of inhabitants.

"Unfortunately," Janna said.

Janna directed Judy towards a toy store. The store's exterior was just like the ones found in Zootopia. Every toy store had its own forbidden section, toys that were on the verge of illegal but remained for the sake of tradition. Muzzles, collars, and leashes were seen as toys back when predators still ate prey.

"Both of you stay in here; we won't be long." Janna stepped out of the car with Jewel. They also allowed Jill out of the carrier who tried to instinctively stand once free from that cramped position. One corrective shock was all it took for Jill to resume walking on all fours while whimpering in misery as much as her gag allowed.

It only took twenty minutes for them to step out of the shop. Jewel's ears were pointed downwards as she walked back to the car while sporting a new collar. Jill reluctantly got back into the carrier once more before they drove towards the Hopps' family farm.

Their car arrived at the farm, but the rabbits continued about their business as if they didn't matter. Multiple kits ran around the fields with abandon while older rabbits kept a watchful eye on them.

A young rabbit of about eight years old dashed towards them. "Jewel, can I play with your new pet?"

Janna answered for her, "No."

"Can you shock her for me then?"

Jewel shook her head as well. She flashed her crescent moon amulet making the young rabbit run away in fear.

Nick's heart ached at seeing cruelty from such a young rabbit. It was not lost on him that Jill would be completely naked throughout their stay in full view of the kits. Mystic Spring Oasis was one thing, but he thought that kits shouldn't be exposed to this. The rabbits obviously didn't care, nor did they avert their eyes at their now naked sibling.

Jewel leaned towards his ear. "We need to talk alone, please." Her voice was on the verge of outright pleading which contrasted her normal demanding attitude.

He gave her a quick nod as they walked towards the farm. Before they reached the door, multiple rabbits came out to greet them.

"Hi, Mom, hi, Dad," Judy embraced her parents.

They returned her affection. Nick couldn't detect any animosity between them much to his surprise. He knew her father put her through so much enough to make him feel hate.

"Who's responsible for the pet? Make sure she behaves."

Nick clenched his fists as anger clouded his mind. He witnessed Stu callously approve what had become of Jill.

"Father, this reunion is nice and all, but I've got a fox pelt to prepare. Come with me." Jewel tugged on Nick's tie, beckoning for him to follow her into the building. They passed a myriad of passages that failed to captivate his interest before ultimately reaching her room. "First, you need to know that you're not safe until we officially start the courtship process. If they think we're planning to court you, it won't end well and second, what can I offer you to take my shock collar off?"

Nick glanced around the room which had multiple portraits of heads, hung on the walls. They all had a name, and a timespan which Nick figured was their age but other than that, there was nothing in common. Some were old, some were young, there both predators and prey. "Why do you have these photos up on the wall?"

"Search on the internet yourself. Is there any way I can persuade you to remove my collar? I need this, but I'm too prideful to persuade Janna. You're my master, and I know the collar isn't good for my sanity."

"You turned Jill into a pet."

"I know."

"Don't you care about her sanity?"

"Of course, I do. It's just… I don't see a better way. You don't know Bunnyburrow as I do. The difference is her role is necessary, while mine is a punishment."

"What can you offer? You're already my slave without any legal recourse."

Jewel wasted no time listing things one after another to the point that Nick asked her to slow down. He wasn't ready to absorb such rapid-fire information. All in all, there was nothing that Jewel offered aside from her promise to not discipline Jill herself. She was willing to be tortured or taken advantage of by him just to avoid wearing a shock collar.

"Thank you," she said.

Judy and her other littermates finally made their way to Jewel's room as Nick and Jewel were about to leave.

"Why have you removed your collar?" Janna asked icily.

Jill growled aggressively as if threatening to bite.

"He gave me permission," Jewel replied.

"What did you get in return?" Janna asked Nick.

"She's not going to shock Jill herself anymore."

"That's it?" Her blue eyes glared at him with fury as if he did something unforgivable. "Even I thought you'd come up with better terms than that!"

"She's already my slave. There's not much she could offer." He didn't feel comfortable revealing that Jewel indeed offered him anything she thought was a better alternative in graphic detail. If anything, she was too descriptive about how she would suffer.

"Fine," Janna huffed. She turned her head towards Jewel with her blue eyes piercing her soul. "The moment you shock Jill for any reason, I will make sure you regret being alive."

"I wouldn't break that rule as long as Jill's properly punished for her transgressions," Jewel said.

"Anyway, Jewel needs to go to work, and I need to help her so the task of watching of Jill falls to Judy."

"I don't think I can." Judy wept.

Janna's ears pointed downwards. "I feel bad for not tackling this sooner, but there's not enough time to bring you both up to speed on what needs to be done. We'll place Jill in a carrier again where she can't possibly break any rules. Please forgive me, it just slipped my mind."

Jill whined pitifully through her gag.

"Are we expected to leave her in a cage? And just put her out of our minds?" Nick asked.

"That's for the best. Again, please forgive me for forgetting this." Janna and Jewel headed off to work after placing Jill in a carrier again

Nick's stomach churned at what just happened. They abruptly left him and Judy along with condemning their littermate to a very unpleasant fate. A few hours trapped within a cage in Jewel's room due to their own negligence this time instead of by necessity.

"Come with me." Judy's voice hung by a thread. They left the farm. She guided him through a path in a nearby forest. "This feels so wrong, but I can't do anything to prevent it."

"Glad I'm not the only one deeply disturbed." He laughed miserably. "We're having a peaceful stroll through a serene forest while your littermate is trapped in a cage because we don't know the precise details of what she's allowed to do. It certainly doesn't help that Jewel told me that I wasn't safe until we formally begin the courtship process."

"I tried to prepare you the best I can. Don't forget that you need to abstain from eating anything within Bunnyburrow unless if it's delivered by Finnick. It's better than taking the slight chance of being poisoned because you'll regret it for life. The formal excuse we'll use is that you don't deserve to eat. My parents don't know that I'm planning on courting you, they also can't find out. We'll hopefully secretly start the process tomorrow when everyone should be asleep."

"Even though I know what to expect it still unnerves me as everything plays out. I feel so helpless against it all." Nick walked with Judy while breathing in the fresh air. They moved up a hill until they arrived at a top of the hill that allowed them to see most of Bunnyburrow. "This is beautiful, Judy."

It was certainly wonderful looking at Bunnyburrow from the vantage point of a hill. He could see a significant portion of the suburb.

"I know, you can see so much up here." She looked into his eyes. "So, I was thinking we should be anywhere but home especially since Jill's trapped within a cage."

"Can you deal with being cruel to Jill? I can't."

"I thought they would take care of it themselves without my involvement, but it seems like I have to. It's one thing to look away while it happens; it's another to actively participate. You've done so much for me already by agreeing to this. I won't ask or expect you to do this too."

"Will you be okay mentally?"

She switched topics. "What do you want to do for the entire day? We've a couple of hours until Janna and Jewel are back from work."

"Away from rabbits hopefully. I hate to be killed early."

They made the best of it by spending hours in the forest until Janna and Jewel would return home from work. Everything only got worse once with their arrival. Sure, they took Jill out of the tiny cramped cage, but it was little comfort compared to their next demands.

Both Janna and Jewel insisted that Jill wouldn't eat actual food fit for mammals. They gave her live insects and nothing more. This would be humiliating for a predator in of itself but for a rabbit, it was on another level entirely.

He watched as the rabbits reveled in Jill's humiliation of eating insects from a bowl of which he thought was way too much for her alone. She cried as she tried to force down the live insects one by one while fighting her gag reflex.

"There's no need to be jealous, you can have some too," Jewel said.

"But I wasn't." He felt pity for Jill.

"Are you saying that I'm wrong?" Her voice held a dangerous edge to it with connotations of being unpleasant if he chose to disobey. "I thought Judy trained you properly when you said that you didn't deserve to eat. Rabbits are never wrong."

He glanced at Judy for some indications of what to do. She only nodded which he took as approval of Jewel's plans. Due to safety concerns, he skipped lunch and even planned on skipping dinner. Every insect he ate was fulfilling even though his face burned as the rabbits watched him. They didn't force him to all fours but eating from a bowl on the floor was humiliating enough. It was actual food but extremely degrading. Jill suffered less because the more he ate, the less she had to.

As soon as he finished eating, Stu decided to formally give him a room. He followed Stu while being wary of the entire place since he was alone without Judy or her littermates.

"This will be your place," Stu said.

Much to his surprise, it was fitting for a guest instead of some decrepit room in disrepair. "Thank you." He bowed. The room had a bed, a few books as well as a television screen along with a computer.

Unfortunately, before he could settle in his room. Jewel knocked on the door while brandishing a whip. "Get on all fours, now."

A moment's hesitation was all it took for Jewel to strike.

He reflexively cried out as the whip hit.

"On all fours, now."

It wasn't too difficult for him to overpower Jewel within seconds. He loomed over her with claws around her throat.

"Hm, this didn't go as planned," she whispered in his ear. "Don't kill me?" She grinned nervously.

"What were you thinking?"

"Oh, dropping off a message, be awake at five in the morning sharp. We're going to come to get you. The sooner we're safe from family the better. I was hoping to have a little fun. Just so you know, my stunt at supper was out of concern for you. I didn't want you to starve."

He debated if he should demand a creative apology from her but figured that could wait after they officially begin courting him. "So, are you just going to leave just like that?"

"That depends on you, doesn't it? Pretty sure in most places, slaves don't whip their masters. Anyway, I'll be off now."

The crazy rabbit slipped away from his claws just like that. He hated himself for letting her go since he didn't feel comfortable to ask for more. If the shock collar was still around her neck, he would've used it. Something had to change around here since she was getting more and more brazen and unreasonable.


He was awake at four since he didn't want to oversleep. His very life was on the line if they did this wrong. It took an hour before Judy and her littermates arrived at his room.

"Finally." He failed to stifle a yawn.

"Everyone's asleep still hopefully so we can sneak into the courtship hall undetected," Judy whispered.

They tried to move with absolute silence throughout the farm trying not to disturb anyone as moved into a stone corridor with a door.

"So far, so good," Janna remarked. "Once past these doors, our family wouldn't directly try to interfere with the courtship process. Brace yourself."

The stench of death assaulted Nick's senses as the door opened. "What is wrong with all you bunnies?" There were numerous corpses of rabbits as far as he could see on either side of the wall.

"You already deduced that we killed each other," Judy said.

They journeyed into the sacred hall where dead rabbits lay on either side. The corpses were simply there because no one bothered to remove them. A weak groan came from a nearby pile causing Nick to look up to find the source. He saw giant letters painted on the ceiling; they were currently at the letter B. His eyes drifted towards a rabbit groaning in pain.

"That one's still alive," Nick said.

"She'll die soon enough. It might take a few days. Starvation will claim her if nothing else would." Jewel grinned wickedly. "Pay the rejected no mind." She tugged on Jill's leash, motioning for her to walk faster on all fours.

"If you run away, we will kill you." Janna helped him walk even though she just threatened to kill him. He had to fight his instinct not to run away screaming while minimizing the air he inhaled since it reeked of death.

Step by step the group made their way down the gruesome hall towards another door. Nick's steps were unsteady as his efforts to avoid breathing made him lightheaded. He tuned everything out, absentmindedly walking forwards like a zombie.

They finally reached the end of the hall upon which Judy caused a hidden chamber to open by pressing a button. She pressed another button causing five pedestals to rise from the ground. Four were tall, one was short. All the rabbits except Jill leaped on top of a tall pedestal.

"What a shame, she can't act like a normal rabbit. She's only a pet." Jewel laughed. "Pets don't leave this place alive."

Jill jumped on top of a given pillar. Janna shocked Jill with her remote for disobedience.

Judy motioned for Nick to jump on the remaining pillar.

As soon as he landed, she said, "I hereby deem Nick Wilde worthy of courtship for us all. My fate shall be bound to his should I make an error."

Her littermates said, "We warn you that death is the price of failure." Judy joined in for the latter half. "The ones that die allow the ones that remain to live without restraint."

The entire performance memorized Nick as if it was rehearsed while he watched silently since he didn't know what to say. Hidden stairs appeared in the middle between the pillars. He followed them into the passage where he saw a computer.

"Really?" Nick rolled his eyes. The computer felt out of place with the décor. He expected something else from the dark ages instead.

"Well, we modernized." Judy typed all their names in an online database and an offline one. The offline document had several entries already giving Nick a sense of scale. He saw over thirty entries when it just dealt with J. There were the same rabbits present on multiple lines sometimes meaning the rabbits killed not only their littermate but the buck they were courting as well. From what he gathered, strikethroughs represented death.

An ear-piercing scream came from Jill as Janna shocked her once more for acting out of line.

Jill didn't resume her four-legged stance. She moved towards Nick instead, whispering in his ear, "Please make them stop. I can't take this anymore. They will if you listen."

"What will you do?" Janna asked. "Should we shock her more for non-compliance? You are our mate officially now."

He never knew why Jewel had such demands in the first place. "This is over."

"Do you have any reasons to persuade us, Jewel?"

Jewel's ears pointed downwards. "Nothing that I would admit to publicly."

Janna's fury had no bounds as she slapped Jewel's cheek hard. "You did all that to Jill without even the courage to see it through?" she shouted in her ear. "We did all this for nothing! She suffered needlessly." Nick had to intervene to prevent Janna from choking her to death.

"Your anger can wait. I need to go to work," Jewel croaked.

Jill rubbed her chin across his neck. "Thank you."

Janna stared Jewel in the eyes. "You make me so angry. I can't believe you did that! It's not that you relented, but you didn't even try to persuade him!"

Everyone still followed Jewel's lead when she suggested they should leave. They started their journey out of the sacred place. Nick hated the hall the second time around even though he knew how long it would be. The stench of death was no less revolting.

It seemed like all the rabbits on the farm were there right outside the sacred hall waiting for them.

"You… courted a fox," Stu said.

"And there's nothing you can do to stop us." Judy grinned.

"He was supposed to be a simple friend."

Judy stuck out her tongue.

Nick noted that not all rabbits hated the idea of Judy sneaking around their father. Some approved because they viewed him as a walking pelt while others held a sense of awe on their faces for daring to pull such a stunt. A few kits tried to tug on his tail for their own reasons while other kits fought them off. Stu called for order while they slipped away in the chaos to Janna's room. Jewel headed off to work as soon as they were clear from the mob.

The first thing Jill did was raid Janna's room for clothes. She eagerly put on suitable garments once more. Nick glanced around the room noting many printed news stories spanning several centuries on the wall. Judy and Janna wasted no time in displaying physical affection towards Nick by marking him with their chin.

"Isn't this a bit fast?" Nick asked.

"Not really," Janna said. "The courtship process officially started."

He certainly didn't expect the dynamic between them to change this fast. All three rabbits were busy having fun with his body in various ways. His lack of direct protest was consent for them to proceed. They nibbled on his ears and played with his tail.

"Everyone just… stop."

They respected his wishes even though he was too embarrassed to admit why. This was only three rabbits wanting him at once, he didn't think he could deal with four.

"I'm not comfortable with all of you touching me at once."

They certainly meant no harm, but the pleasurable sensations were a bit overwhelming.

Judy played with his tail while the others kept a respectable distance away for his comfort.

"Janna, come quick it's Jewel." A frightened rabbit barged into her room.

"What has she done now?" Even now her voice seethed with hatred. "Let's see."

The commotion wasn't hard to find as they found Jewel tugging the leash of an unwilling naked doe. No one stopped Jewel while the doe fought with her every step of the way. Every so often she whipped the doe to encourage her to pick up the pace or move in the correct direction.

"What are you doing?" Janna asked.

"Oh, a generous offer came up. I stick her in the oven and record her screams for ten points."

"You thought it was a good idea to expose Nick to this for a mere ten points? Are you out of your mind?"

"I was hoping that he wouldn't notice."

Nick's mind fought over fight or flight instincts leaving him to stare awkwardly as he listened to the exchange. "What have you done?" he asked the naked doe.

"I ran away because I didn't want to die."

"Can't you stop this madness?" he asked Jewel.

"Not without giving up my own life."

"Weren't you headed off to work?"

"I thought you were clever enough to know what my job entailed. Disappointing."

Nick tried to forcibly stop Jewel, but Judy restrained him physically despite his struggles.

"Nick, stop this. We're not going to spare a random doe at the cost of my littermate's life."

The procession followed her all the way to the kitchen. Nick refused to stay away despite knowing what was going to happen and being unable to prevent it. Their captive still struggled against her fate, but after a certain point, the desire for reprieve caused her to move forward as the stinging bites from the whips became too much.

It was just like Jewel said. She literally forced her into the oven before turning it on. Nick watched in horror as the doe's unearthly screams pierced his ears. The other rabbits within the room mostly watched with horrid fascination, some even recorded the spectacle with their cell phones.

The doe inside pounded against the window as well as trying to destroy the oven from inside. She tried so hard to escape her fate, but it was little use. It was clear she was going to die from the heat. None of her desperate pleas saved her. Not even an offer of slavery was enough.

Nick watched a doe being cooked alive while Judy physically restrained him. He stayed because he felt like it was something he had to witness even though he couldn't halt happened in front of his very eyes. As soon as the rabbit was done being cooked, Jewel said, "This is simply a formality, do you want a bite? You're well within your rights to refuse and expected to. I also recommend that you do."

He wanted to strangle her then and there as someone this cruel didn't deserve to live. His rage gave him the strength to overpower Judy. Within seconds he pinned Jewel under him like common prey.

Judy's paw stroked his head trying to calm him down. Janna and Jill tried to play their part too without directly stopping him by touching his tail.

"All I ask before you kill me is that you hear me out privately. Not here because of too many prying ears. There's something even Janna doesn't know," Jewel said.

"Whatever you're trying to pull…" He heard the sheer rage in Janna's voice.

"Fine," he grunted. Reluctantly, he let her up. He followed her with shaky steps as his mind still grappled with what he just saw. A rabbit being cooked alive in front of his very eyes. Judy escorted him every step of the way with the aid of her littermates. Soon enough, he was within a room that could be considered private.

"Try not to kill her, I won't blame you if you do," Janna said before they all walked away leaving him alone with Jewel.

He stared at the heartless black rabbit with red eyes trying to imagine what she had to say.

"Here's why you shouldn't kill me because I would do anything for the mammals I consider family. Right now, that also includes you, my mate."

"Justify why you cooked someone alive."

"Allow me to explain myself or try. I opted to work for the entertainment industry to protect Judy, which I'm sure you know. What you don't is, at the age of seventeen, they offered me a choice, kill two rabbit kits which they provided and become a regular member or raise them for a year and become something more. Common members are free to be used as assets within the very scripts I've written before. I've merely written scripts that required someone to die before. I remember how innocent the kits were."

"And I'm guessing you spared the kits," Nick said.

"Perceptive, at least you're not stupid," Jewel said, even now she tried to act normal by insulting him. "Anyway, it was a new experience for me entirely. I was lucky that my father provided me with the means to raise them, or rather he gave me money without even asking why. He couldn't be completely oblivious since it was he who set me on that path. I know others opted for this path but failed due to monetary issues. All three were killed mercilessly."

"So, you succeeded."

"In a way. The industry leads Bunnyburrow and back then I thought that position of reverence couldn't be completely vile, but how wrong I was. They certainly painfully disciplined me for the kits failures academically which gave me an incentive to care about their growth. After a year, they expected me to kill them in cold blood. Certainly, anything would be better than that even a deal where I signed my littermates' lives away and had to kill a mammal every single day just to remain alive or I would be next, and then so would they. I kill and torture by necessity, not by choice. Welcome to my world. My greatest failure is having compassion."

A victim of circumstance was something he could identify with, but it alone couldn't excuse everything. Her actions were horrible, but so was her situation. He didn't know what he wanted to do anymore.


A/N: Did I go overboard with Jewel? Painting her as a victim of circumstance. For people that read both stories, which Jewel is better as a character?