AN: Hello everyone! It's been a while hasn't it! 2018… I was still in college then and busy all the time hah, led me to have to take a break from writing. Now though I've graduated, and I have free time to be able to write, using it as an opportunity to get creative again and de stress!

With that being said I will be working on two projects, Darkness and a second, brand new Mass Effect themed story! I hope you'll enjoy the direction I take both stories, and that you'll leave a review, fav, and follow to let me know how I'm doing! Thanks so much, let's get back on with Darkness now, shall we?

PS: I denote Line Breaks with *LB*

*LB*

Captain Wilde comes to with a start, opening his eyes to find only the blacks and browns of dirt and mud. Gasping for breath, he wills his body to move, shifting the layer of filth thrown atop him by artillery. His face free, he finally fills his lungs, spitting bits of the ground back where they came from. His situation improved, his mind shifted from the fear of imminent death to understanding what had transpired around him. It was still nighttime, he could tell that much by looking up and seeing stars gazing back at him. Well, at least I'm not blind…

The second realization he had was that it was entirely too quiet. A battle (albeit a stalemate) had been occurring on this same sector of the line for weeks now, the constant staccato of rifles or the booms of artillery became commonplace. But now? Silence. Something must have happened, whether a Prey advance finally overwhelming his thinned lines, or the Predators taking down the seemingly endless reserves of bunny conscripts. The first seemed more likely, he had to admit, especially after the artillery barrage…

Nick's eyes widened as his mind sharpened. The artillery! My men! That rabbit! "Sergeant Finnick! Finn!" He began scrambling through the craters of what used to be his trench line, looking for any sign of life. Minutes passed, calling the names of his troops, but to no avail. Eventually, dejected, he returned to what little remained of his command tent, long since blown over by blast pressure and shredded by shrapnel. Inspecting the damage revealed little outside of metal scrap that Nick believed to be from his plates and utensils. He counted his blessings, though, that he kept all of his most precious belongings on his person, or else nothing would have remained.

A snap of a twig caused the fox to swing himself around, quickly drawing his Luger and scanning to identify the cause of this noise. What he saw, however, gave him some relief. It was none other than his captive rabbit, Judy, just as covered with dirt and grime as himself, but from the looks of things otherwise unharmed. "I was wondering if you had made it, are you alright?"

"I managed just fine, Captain… I lost you in the chaos of the first artillery shells but didn't get hurt. Can't say the same for your soldiers, the ones that weren't killed in the shelling were disoriented, the other conscripts charged, there was nothing they could do." The young rabbit reported, and to Nick - dare he say it - she looked a bit sad at the loss of his Mammals.

His head falling, Wilde responded, "Why didn't you go with your people? You were free, no one was holding you captive anymore, but instead here you are." Eyebrows twisted slightly in confusion, he looked back at his 'prisoner'. If I could even call her a captive anymore, it is just the two of us I suppose… No, she's been with us for mere days, she's still potentially a threat…

Sighing, the young doe explained, "Why would I want to go back? They would have thrown me back on the frontlines with the rest of my people, no regard for life. It's not even fighting anymore, just dying for the motherland! And if what you told me is true, maybe my people are the real monsters… I wanted to wait and make the choice for myself, not have some fat-bellied, bureaucratic bunny choose what to do for me."

"Very smart plan, for a dumb bunny. I suppose it's just you and me, Carrots. Our best chance might be heading southwest, get away from the horde of Prey forces that are surely following your advanced force. Maybe we'll find another Predator unit. I won't let anything happen to you if we do run into more of my kind, as far as I'm concerned you're my responsibility." Nick used his small compass to get oriented, looking back at the small rabbit, "Ready to move? I know it's late, but we shouldn't stay here, it's not safe." Judy nodded, and wordlessly the unlikely pair began their trek across the Prey Union countryside.

*LB*

As the hours passed, the earliest signs of daylight began to show themselves, both mammals appreciating the beautiful sight for the first time in quite a long time. Both knew that war takes many things away, even the simple enjoyment of a vibrant dawn. The ground that they walked on slowly shifted from a drab brown to intermixed subtle greenery, having somehow found a patch of land not as affected by the brutality. Not all was perfect, though, as Judy's heightened hearing picked up the rumble of more artillery strikes some distance away. Not their problem, for now.

Stopping only once to drink from a small stream, Captain Nick and his captive trudged on through the morning, old farmland their newest locale. Exhaustion was setting in, the only rest between the two being Wilde's unconsciousness due to the blast. He decided it was time to rest, as over the past hours they'd covered quite a distance away from the frontlines. Nick chose a less-rundown farmhouse on the other side of some long-dead wheat fields to claim for the time being as shelter. Drawing his pistol, he found the front door unlocked, slowly pushing it open and checking the small single-story dwelling for any signs of life, his rabbit glued to the hip behind him.

"No one's home, we should be safe here. Found a jar of fruit preserves in the kitchen, so we'll have rations for the day." The fox addressed his companion, undoing the seal on the pilfered berries and using his paw to eat a healthy scoop. "Blueberries, my favorite… have some, you'll need the energy."

Judy takes the offered fruit, but looks at the fox skeptically as she fishes out a few for herself. "Why are you being so kind to me? I'm your prisoner, or so you said. You foxes are pretty sly…".

Hearing this Nick let out a chuckle, "A sly fox? Me? Maybe, but in this case I think it's just better to not go it alone. Had to do that enough already to stay alive on the streets as a kit, but these aren't city streets, this is survival…" His earlier smile gone, he looked mournfully out the window, Judy watched him for a minute, but decided to leave him to think, walking away to find someplace to sleep.

Some minutes later, the Pred Captain turned to find the bunny gone. Sitting at the kitchen table with his head in his hands, he had to wonder to himself about the same question Judy had asked. Why was he helping her? Yes, it was about survival, that much was true, but he'd survived on his own before, and now he was traveling to who-knows-where with someone he grew up resenting as the enemy. The same enemy that killed his parents, for fluffs sake, but here he was days after taking her captive talking to her amicably, sharing food, working on making it to some yet unknown destination. What was wrong with him, he wondered? His dreams would be no help to him though, as he lay against the table and entered a deep, dark sleep.

AN: Well, what do you all think? Had an interesting position at the end of Chapter 2 that gave me multiple options of how to carry on with the story. I think this direction is a good one, giving the two opportunities to discover more about each other, and setting up for my future plans for the duo! Please feel free to let me know what you think! Very open to all suggestions and comments. Thanks for reading!