"A monster is not defined by what we are, but by our deeds."

-Judith Hopps

Judy giggled to herself as she snuck out of the family burrow with the ease that came with doing so as many times as she had. Of course, usually, she had a sibling or two with her. Tonight they were much too tired to join her or so they groaned out when she tried to rouse them. Truly the day out in the fields had been very tiring, it was harvest time which meant for labor. But the prospect of seeing the comet that only came around every hundred years or more was just too appealing to pass up. She would never get the chance to see it again if she didn't see it now. She'd be long dead by the time it showed itself again. In spite of her fatigue she really didn't understand how the rest of the family didn't want to join her. She had been talking about it all day, but they all said the same thing just like they always did.

"You know the rules Judith, we do not stay outdoors when night falls. There are monsters out there that would love to find a defenseless rabbit," she quoted mockingly.

And yet she had snuck from her warm bed regularly and she was still just fine. There were just some nights she couldn't sleep because she was still restless from all her playing or working. So she'd leave her bed and walk through their crop fields or just run around the upper level of the house a few times. Or she'd go out to look at the stars and the moon that sometimes looked so close she could just reach up and touch it. A few times she had also seen Gideon out and about as well and they snickered at how naughty they were sneaking out as they chatted with each other or played until they were too tired to go on. Tonight would be no different and she'd brag to her siblings tomorrow morning and tell them in detail about what they had missed out on. She wondered if her fox friend would be outside too and they could watch it together, it would be nice to have at least someone to watch it with. Company always made things like this better. Or maybe she just thought so because she was a rabbit and lived with such a large family. There was no such thing as being alone when having so many siblings and loving-albeit overprotective-parents.

It would probably bother or even annoy some mammals, like the loner types like she heard some canines were. But not her. As overprotective as her parents were, even she knew that it was only because they loved her. She had even had to assure them for a long time about Gideon when they found out she'd befriended a fox. But they eventually calmed down and trusted her judgement, even invited her fellow kit in for dinner from time to time. It had been a nice surprise for the red fox she recalled when she was called in for supper one day and asked him if he wanted to eat with them. She snickered as she remembered his dumb struck expression as he looked from them to her and then back to them as if wondering if he'd heard correctly. Judy had giggled then too and took his paw, pulling him along with her to the house as she told him he could sit by her. That had been a nice evening, it was also the first time she'd heard of his dream to grow up to be a baker.

"Becuz 'ah love sweets an' I know other folks do too. 'Ah would like ta make somethin' fer 'em they would enjoy. Plus show 'em 'ah ain't as shady as some of 'em think," he'd said.

Judy had felt bit sorry for him when hearing that and nodded in sympathy. That was when she told him that she wanted to be more than another carrot farming bunny and wanted to make her own path. She had said she wanted to be a part of the church, a nun or a slayer. She had been at an age where boys were great friends, but the thought of kissing one and mating was gross. Both kits had agreed to that, making fake gagging noises and laughing afterward. She'd also entertained him with poorly done impersonations of her family and some of the things they would say to her. Things like "you will understand when you are older Jude" and "you know the rules Judy blah, blah, blah." That night had been the only time she could remember that her parents had gone out at night and that was to walk Gideon home.

Looking back she should have known that for every worry her parents had, there was an occurrence at some point that had caused it. Oh she believed in the existence of demons and vampires since her folks had been adamant in making sure she and her siblings knew they existed. But she didn't believe one would come all the way out to the burrows. That was why she snuck out without fear at night at times. To her there was nothing out there in the shadows anymore than there was in the broad daylight and if there was her instincts would let her know ahead of time. So she left the safety of the burrow and walked through the yard, past the crop fields and up a hill to get the best view. She'd make sure to really rub in the details on her brother. Earlier in the day he'd said quote "Big deal its just a light in space. Ya see that all the times. S'called stars Jude."

A comet was more than a star, according to the mammals in the city they were made up of rock, water, and some kind of space gas. Those mammals were called quacks by most, but at least they were attempting to explain what it was made of. They were using their heads and calling what they did Science. Judy liked Science, it sounded interesting, perhaps that was what she would do instead. She would learn from those mammals and theorize on what was out there in the great beyond. Who knew? They may just turn out to be right and then she would go into down in history like the others for the discovery and her part in proving it. There were a lot of things she could do when she grew up and the possibilities were endless. She would show them all that a bunny could do just as much as any other mammal in the world.

But the problem with bunnies, or at least with her was that once her mind started to wander, she didn't really pay much attention to her surroundings. And with her gaze focused on the sky, she didn't really notice the uneasy feeling that made her back tense. Her attention was further divided as the spectacle she'd been waiting for began to take place. The sky suddenly lit up just slightly with the white light of the comet as it leisurely swam in the midnight blue of the sky. It was beautiful just like she knew it would be, long tail and all. She especially enjoyed that it tracked it's way through the sky slowly whereas a shooting star zipped past and if you blinked at the wrong time you'd miss it.

It was when she felt her fur rise that she stilled and teased, her ears shooting erect and listening intently. She only now noticed that it was unusually quiet out. Even in the harvest time insects would sing at night or at least buzz around. But even they seemed to be completely still and the silence was so thick it could almost be called loud. Her first thought was that Gideon was nearby, that he'd spotted her and wanted to scare her playfully like he sometimes did. Any new presence would make the bugs quiet for a little while so she turned to look around with a smile, searching the darkness for him.

"Gid, is that you?" she called with a giggle. "You will not scare me this time."

She'd heard Gideon's growl before, seen his eyes in the night and how they seemed to glow from the shadows. But what she heard and seen was most definitely not her fox friend. Her smile dropped instantly and her heart plummeted into her stomach. Now that she was paying attention she noticed her instincts were screaming at her to run so after just a split second of being frozen, she shot off with a hammering heart. The feeling all around her was bone chilling, sending shivers of fear and dread through her and making her every step clumsy as she tried to think of where to run to. She had heard enough stories to know what was chasing her and tried to keep from sobbing. She knew that it would only hinder her vision and she didn't need that, she already could barely see in the dark. It was a new moon tonight, the only light was the stars high above, even the comet had already trekked too far to offer light.

Blindness aside she had to find somewhere to go, but the nearest church was miles out yet and she couldn't lead that thing into her home. But she had to think of something and fast, she could hear it gaining on her and used her ears as best as she could. The wind separated, rushing around and closer to her as the vampire made a leap and she quickly changed her direction to the side. She barely avoided it and sprinted for her life back through the fields, but instead of running for the house she made for the woods and the hidden path inside it. She had heard of vampire vulnerabilities through the church who had a slayer visiting during one of the services, he had told them one of the vampire's weaknesses was running water. He had said that they couldn't cross it for some reason that they had never understood. But who needed to understand it if it worked?

That's what she was counting on as she made a mad dash for the path and navigated it through the now pitch black by memory alone. There was a stream further out, if she could just get there and keep distance between herself and the creature she could wait until daylight. She'd get the ear lashing of her life from her family, but she wouldn't be sneaking out anymore that was for sure. She just had to get to the stream! She could make it if she hurried and didn't slow down!

As if fate was against her, she hadn't taken into account the storm that had blown through just days before. A tree had fallen in the path and with the shadows of the tree branches and the full branches of needles above she never seen it. When she ran into it and fell, she screamed, thinking the vampire had caught up and moved in front of her. She realized that wasn't the case quickly and scrambled over the fallen trees just as the sound of the pouncing beast reached her ears again. In spite of her wishes, her eyes started to burn with tears and frightened sobs left her throat as she ran, begging and pleading with anyone who could hear her to help her.

"Great Creator please save me!" she sobbed as she ran, but she noticed she was slowing down. Just like in the nightmares when you ran for your life from something behind you. The kind where you started slowing down no matter how hard you tried to push yourself to move and could feel and hear the creature gaining on you. Judy was there in that moment and her sobs grew louder as she tried and failed to push her burning legs and lungs to endure more. "Please Great Creator, Virgin Ewe, please! I will not be naughty anymore I promise! Please save me!"

Someone had heard her, or rather something had heard. But it wasn't the rescue she desperately called for. It was the evil and blood chilling laugh behind her. Close behind her, very close, too close! She tried to push her legs even harder and even made a leap into the air to put more distance between her and her certain death. She could hear the trickling of the stream nearby, she just had to get to it. She came down hard on the sharp end of a rock as she landed from her mad leap and screamed from the biting pain as it lashed her hind paw. She didn't let it register beyond that and leaped again though this one wasn't nearly as strong, but she was right up on the stream now and as she came down, she made one last leap and was over it.

She heard the monster slide to a quick stop on the other side and looked back to see it glare at the moving water then at her before it began to pace back and forth on the other side. The priest had been right, it couldn't cross over moving water. So she finally stopped and stumbled blindly towards the other path she knew was there somewhere. She just had to find the tree there that always wet and then she would be on the path that led out. By the time the monster went around she would already be out and a good distance away. She would go to the pond to mask her scent and then run for shelter until sunrise. Maybe Gideon's house. He and his folks wouldn't turn her away, they would keep her safe until morning and would lecture her about staying inside at night. But at least she'd be alive.

"Thank you...Great Creator...Virgin Ewe...I will...keep my prom...ise.." she panted softly, now crying in sheer relief. She knew she had only narrowly escaped the clutches of death.

Her parents had been right all along, she never should have gone outside at night. Who knew how long it had been watching her while she was none the wiser? She recall a few more times now that she'd felt uneasy when she snuck out. She had thought that, that was just because it was dark though and because she was alone most of the time. After tonight she thought better, it had to be that monster that had been making her feel that way after all. She was very lucky all things considered.

No, not luck. She had the grace of the Great Creator and The Virgin Ewe with her that night.

"You will learn kit that they are not as gracious as you think."

The rotten breath at assaulted her, the bone chilling, gravelly voice, the sensation of freezing from the inside all hit her at once. Her mouth came open and she let out a piercing scream before a stabbing, burning pain went through her neck. Struggling was useless, it only tore her skin and fur which made her instinctively try to get away even more. But the demon's grip didn't let up, if anything it grew tighter as it laughed evilly against her neck. But how?! She had been across the stream how...did...did it-

She lost consciousness before the thought could complete itself, but she swore she heard that evil voice in her mind before her mind went completely blank.

'Just my little game, princess.'

"He had heard my thoughts, he let me get across that stream and think I was safe. He toyed with me and I fell for it."

Nick could tell that even as she told him her story, her mind was back on that night she was taken. He hated this Rogan even more now, Judy had deliberately disobeyed her parents, but what kit didn't at some point in their lives? He was sure he would have at some point too if they had remained alive. He may not remember a lot from kithood these days, but he was sure he had at least entertained the thought if not actually disobeyed them. Judy back then had thought it was because she sneaked out that the vampire had come after her. Really though according to what he was hearing, had she been outside or not he would have still gone after her or another mammal. He would have toyed with them and then sank his fangs into them as Judy described. He wanted to reassure her it wasn't her fault, but he didn't want to cut her off either if she wanted to continue to talk about it.

She slowly seemed to come from her reverie though and sighed as she stepped up a step that Nick didn't realize was there. A quick check of his surroundings showed that they were standing in front of what looked like an old house that had been burned down. A quick check of his surroundings showed that they were standing in front of what looked like an old house that had been burned down. He sent a look at her showing his confusion and a slow brightening of the sky further increased said confusion. It was nearly daylight and they were at a burned down house? If she was looking for shelter from the sun, this certainly wasn't the place to go. And weren't they supposed to find him some food? Had she forgotten that? Could vampires even forget?

She had to have heard his thoughts, he didn't even attempt to disguise them. Not like his trickery which he constantly kept hidden at the back of his mind as he let random memories or thoughts in the front. It was a trick he had perfected during his time in the order and now used on her so she would be none the wiser about his real goal. But even with his confusion at the front of his mind and no doubt loud, she didn't even glance at him. Instead she trekked through the ruins of what used to be a home and shifted her weight from time to time until she seemed to find what she was looking for.

He watched her, still confused as she bent down and slid her small claw through a crease. When she pulled up and a door opened exposing an underground room was when he understood. Well she'd had shelter in mind after all. He supposed he'd have to wait for food the following evening, there wasn't much time before sunrise. The sky was already graying to welcome the day. She gave him a look and dropped down into the room and he soon followed, closing the secret way behind him.

TBC...

AC: So the update is quicker this time and we get a look into Judy's past. This is part one of that part of the story. The next part will be coming soon~ I hope you all enjoy. You know what to do my dear readers~ ^^

Disclaimer: I wish I owned it. If I did there would be no doubt that WildeHopps is canon. Alas, I do not. *Author sulks in a corner.*

Note: Sorry everyone I didn't realize a part was missing until I was reading over it for myself. Here's the full chapter.