(A/N) I've had a bit of a hectic weekend, so unfortunately I haven't been writing much the last few days. Today, though, I had another burst of energy and was able to get this chapter finished! I also forgot to clarify in the last chapter when I said I didn't go to school (and someone asked me about it lol) that I was homeschooled. So I didn't go to school, but I did still get an education. XD

As usual, proofreading credit goes to the awesome Zephyr Fyrian.

(has anyone else who writes on this site had trouble with their view count and visitor count always matching? i'm pretty sure that isn't supposed to happen but it's been that way for probably a month and idk what the deal is)

OK also prepare yourself for frustration in this chapter because ughhhhhhhhh :(


Nick couldn't remember ever feeling so free in his life, even before he moved to Bunnyburrow. He had been disheartened by how he and Judy had left things at the end of the spring semester, but Trevor and Vanessa had come by several times to hang out with him during the summer, and it wasn't long before he was feeling a lot better. Not only did he have friends to talk to, but he soon learned to be comfortable as himself and started to drop the calm act he'd gotten so used to ever since meeting Judy.

At first, it felt a little off. Trevor and Vanessa were constantly amused whenever Nick would instinctively talk under his breath to hide his fangs, or keep his voice down so as not to seem threatening. When he met them, he was barely able to eat in public without worrying he'd scare someone, but by the end of the summer he felt like a completely different mammal. Being with other foxes had definitely changed him; even Brendan could tell.

"You seem…kind of scary now, Nick," he had said before their first day of school. "But, like, in a good way. Does that make any sense?"

"No," Nick had replied, smiling. "But I think I like the sound of it."

His first day of school had gone even better than expected. At first, he was worried about being back in a school full of prey all over again, but he soon realized that his former apprehensions were all but gone now. Now, instead of looking around at all the prey mammals and worrying that any move he made might scare them, he found himself feeling oddly flattered whenever one of them seemed frightened of him. It wasn't so much that he wanted to scare them, but seeing them show even the slightest signs of fear towards him reminded him that he was a predator, that he was intimidating, and for some reason he liked that feeling.

The only downside to his first few weeks in junior high was Judy. He still hadn't spoken to her since their fight back in the spring, and he had been hopeful that she might come and talk to him again now that a lot of time had passed. He had hoped she would get over whatever it was that made her so angry and want to be friends again, but she never approached him. He saw her in the halls and in the cafeteria a few times, but other than that, it was as if she didn't exist.

And it was this thought that was still racing through Nick's mind as he was walking through the halls one seemingly ordinary day at school, passing by his locker before continuing on his way to his next class. He had picked up everything he'd need for class, when he noticed a light brown bunny trying to gather up several papers that were scattered across the floor. Realizing he still had a good amount of time to get to class, Nick bent down to help her.

"Aah!" the bunny exclaimed, jumping away as Nick's clawed paw came too close to her.

She stood up and backed away, her eyes widening in fear. As Nick looked up at her, he was met with an odd feeling. Seeing her frightened expression had reminded him again that he was a predator, that he was a mammal to be feared, and though he liked that feeling he couldn't help but feel bad for her. He had no intention of trying to act calm and prey-like again, but maybe he could find a way to show this bunny he didn't intend her any harm while still being true to himself.

"Hey, don't worry," he chuckled. "I'm not going to eat you or anything. I just thought you might want some help with this. It looks like you had quite the accident here."

"O-oh…" the bunny said.

She knelt back down by Nick, still shaking a bit as she nervously reached out and started to pick up some more of the papers; notably the ones that were farthest from Nick.

"Why are you so scared anyway?" Nick asked, though he knew it was probably kind of a dumb question.

"I…I mean…" the bunny started hesitantly. "It's just that…your claws…"

"Oh, these?" Nick replied, holding up one paw in front of his face to examine it. "It's ok; I've learned to be careful so I don't hurt anyone with them. Actually, it's kind of helpful that they're so sharp now; it makes it easier to lift these flat pieces of paper off the flat floor."

The bunny giggled nervously.

"Wow, you're right!" she said. "Sorry if I'm a little scared… It's just that I'm not really used to predators and my sister is always telling me to not get close to them…"

"Your sister?" Nick asked. "Wait…June?"

The rabbit nodded.

"I didn't know if you'd remember me," she said. "It's been a long time, and…well, I kind of thought you might hurt me, because those other two foxes are really mean sometimes…"

"You mean Trevor and Vanessa?" Nick replied. "They're not actually that mean once you get to know them; they're actually pretty cool."

"I…I don't know about that…" June said. "I…I think you're pretty cool, though. I never really thought about how your claws might help you; I just thought they were scary…"

Nick chuckled again.

"Hey, they are pretty scary," he said. "Just like we predators are scary. But just because we're scary doesn't mean we're all mean."

Having finished picking up the papers, both kits stood up. They stood still for a few awkward seconds, during which June noticeably didn't make eye contact with Nick.

"June…are you still friends with Judy, by any chance?" Nick asked.

"Not really…" June replied disappointedly. "We haven't really seen each other much in a long time. Sam doesn't even talk to Judy or Sharla or any of our other old friends anymore. Actually, she might get mad if she finds out I'm talking to you… I should probably go."

"Alright, then," Nick said. "See you around, I guess."

June waved goodbye to him and then hurried off down the hall, clutching her papers much tightly. As Nick turned back to continue walking to his next class, he couldn't help but feel a little weird about whatever had just happened. He hadn't realized it until now, but he hadn't really spoken to a prey peer at all since sixth grade started, aside from growling at a few of them who'd complained about having to share 'their' school with a fox. In those interactions, he'd thoroughly enjoyed seeing the frightened looks on the preys' faces, but this was different. There was a part of him that definitely liked how impressed June was by his predatory attributes, but he didn't know that he wanted her to be so afraid of him. It disheartened him a little, thinking about that fearful look in her eyes…

"Nick, stop this," he told himself, taking a deep calming breath. "This is exactly where it all went wrong last time. It's not your fault that prey are scared of you, and it isn't your job to make them feel comfortable. You're a predator, and if they can't accept you for who you are, that isn't something you should try to fix."

Still, it made him sad to think about how many prey mammals might be friends with him if they weren't so uncomfortable around him. Admittedly, it had barely been a month since sixth grade started, but so far no one other than Trevor and Vanessa had made any effort to converse with Nick like an equal. Everyone else either avoided him or tried to outright shame him for his existence. The latter had become much rarer recently, but the cynical part of Nick told him this was likely because they were just too scared to voice their bigoted views around him anymore.


Later in the day, at lunchtime, Nick was still mulling over what had happened with June as he walked through the line with Trevor and Vanessa, and then went to sit down with them. Once they sat down, he decided he couldn't hold it in anymore and told his friends what happened. Both of them looked a little surprised at the news, giving each other glances before they looked back to him.

"Doesn't it sound like you were trying a little too hard to act like a prey?" Vanessa asked.

"Wait…what?" Nick said, surprised. "I wasn't acting like a prey; I was just trying to let her know that I wasn't going to hurt her. I didn't try to cover up my snout and hide my fangs or anything like I used to."

"I have to agree with Vanessa," Trevor replied. "Why go out of your way to reassure this bunny you're not going to eat her? If she can't figure that out on her own, let her be scared. She's a prey, after all; most of them are always going to be afraid of us anyway. I thought you were trying to embrace that, not still trying to change yourself to be what the prey want you to be."

"But…I…" Nick started, not sure what to say. "I wasn't trying to change myself! I just didn't want to be mean to her. I don't have to scare everyone I come across in order to be a real predator, do I?"

"No, you don't have to go out of your way to make prey uncomfortable; of course not!" Vanessa said. "But what's so wrong with prey being scared of you? We're predators, Nick! They're supposed to be scared of us! Trust me, you'll feel much better about yourself if you just embrace that."

"I…I guess so…" Nick replied, though inside he wasn't so sure. "Trevor, do you think that's true?"

"Absolutely," Trevor agreed. "Those prey will only keep you from being who you were meant to be. They'll keep trying to soften you, but you aren't some fluffy bunny or sheep. Keep your fangs and claws sharp, Nick, like they were meant to be. Don't let them take away from you what makes predators great."

Nick nodded absently, though he wasn't really sure how he felt about what his friends were saying. It all made sense in theory, but he wasn't quite convinced that he would really feel any more like himself if he started snarling at every prey he saw. He had actually been feeling pretty good about his interaction with June; he had felt perfectly comfortable and didn't feel like she was repressing him at all!

"Then again," Nick thought, "I did kind of talk really softly to her, probably more than I usually do. Is that really such a bad thing? Do I have to be ferocious all the time, just because I'm a predator? I get that I shouldn't repress myself, but…what if sometimes I actually want to be gentler? Is that just me still being too afraid to be myself…?"

Nick didn't talk much more for the rest of lunch period; he was too lost in his thoughts to pay much attention to anything else. It just didn't feel right to him that he should have to keep himself from reassuring mammals that might be scared of him. If he wasn't intending to hurt them anyway, where was the harm in letting them know that?


The next day, Nick made a promise to himself that he would stay true to himself. He was going to make sure nothing he did was done out of any attempt to repress his true feelings, regardless of what the reason was for it. He still didn't think that he had to be mean to everyone in order to be a real predator, but today he was intent on testing that theory and finding out for sure. Surely Trevor and Vanessa would be able to tell if he was really being himself, as opposed to still hiding and trying to act like someone he wasn't. They were his friends, after all, and he had to believe they had his best interests at heart.

As he was walking out to the bus that morning, Brendan turned and looked up at him.

"Hey, Nick?" he said. "How come Judy never comes over anymore? Aren't you still her friend?"

Just seeing the look in his brother's eyes as he asked the question made Nick's heart sink. He told himself there was nothing more he could do to repair his friendship with Judy, but it still made him sad to realize just how far they had gone. Back when they were best friends, it seemed like it would be that way forever. Now, hearing Brendan asking about Judy suddenly made it real that she was gone.

"We…had a bit of a fight back in the spring," Nick explained. "She might still be mad at me about it; I haven't talked to her since then."

"Oh," Brendan said, looking down at the ground sadly. "I was just wondering because Mallory says she hasn't seen you in a long time either."

"So…you and Mallory are still friends, then?" Nick asked. "You never get mad at each other or have fights or anything?"

"No…" Brendan replied. "Well, sometimes we do fight a little bit, but we always make up really quick and then we get along again. Sometimes some of the other kits are mean to her, so I stand up for her. Did you know that a lot of mammals are scared of us because our teeth are sharp?"

"Yeah," Nick chuckled, "I've known that for a while now. Is…Mallory ever scared of you?"

"No, she doesn't mind!" Brendan said happily. "It's just the bunnies that bully her sometimes who are scared, so I growl at them and then they leave her alone. She says I don't have to stand up for her, but I still do because they mostly just bully her because she's friends with me, and a lot of them don't like foxes."

Nick didn't reply right away. Though he knew his brother would have to grow up at some point, it still saddened him to hear Brendan talk about being hated for his species. At least he didn't seem to have any problems with being himself and still being friends with a bunny, though…

"Well, it looks like your bus is here," Nick said. "I guess I'll see you tonight."

"Yeah," Brendan agreed. "Bye, Nick."

After saying goodbye to his brother, Nick waited a little longer for his own bus to arrive, and spent the whole ride thinking about what had happened yesterday as well as what Brendan had said. Clearly, he didn't seem to have a problem being friends with Mallory and not scaring her, but Nick wondered if that was just because he was repressing himself too. He certainly didn't seem like he was, but then again Nick hadn't realized he was doing it to himself, either.

"Is it true, what everyone's been saying?" he wondered. "Is it really impossible for predators and prey to be friends? Are we just too different?"

By the time he arrived at school, Nick felt mentally dazed from trying to figure this out. He thought all of this had ended back when he met Trevor and Vanessa, but yet it was still causing him distress even now. He didn't know what to believe anymore; he trusted his friends, but it just didn't feel right to him to have to be mean to prey in order to be true to himself. He didn't feel like he was a mean spirited mammal, and he didn't understand why he should have to be if he genuinely wanted to be friendly to others. His encounter with June…it hadn't felt like all those other times when he'd been afraid of scaring prey and intentionally tried to hide his fangs and all that. He just saw that she was nervous and wanted to make her comfortable, that was all there was to it.

But now, as he walked down the halls again, passing by several of his prey peers, he couldn't help but wonder if there was some truth to what Trevor and Vanessa were saying. He had never particularly liked the way they treated prey; it had always looked unnecessarily harsh to him, but now he was questioning whether or not that was just his own apprehensions that made him feel that way.

"Would I actually feel better if I was…like them?" he wondered. "If I could actually act like that without feeling any desire to tone down my 'predator urges?' What would that be like…?"

Nick didn't want to admit it, but the idea didn't sound entirely bad to him. As long as he was still holding himself back, he would never fully be able to let go of the hesitation he felt. It seemed that being around prey was always going to be difficult for him, no matter what he did.

And just as he was thinking this, he noticed James Hopps and a few of his buddies up ahead, talking loud enough that Nick thought half the school probably heard them.

"I can't believe he keeps telling us where we can and can't sit!" James shouted. "We aren't gonna let those foxes keep pushing us around, are we?"

"Well, no," one of his bunny friends said, "but I don't want them to get mad and eat us!"

"Pfft, like they'd be able to do that!" James scoffed. "Come on, guys; we're cool! We're, like, practically heroes or something. They can't tell us what to do!"

The other rabbits looked unsure, but they didn't argue with him. It was clear that James was the ringleader of this group, though whether or not that was a good thing for them was unclear. He was pretty sure James was referring to Trevor and Vanessa, who had on multiple occasions gone out of their way to take whatever table James and his friends sat at in the cafeteria. While Nick found his friends' actions to be somewhat harsh, he had never been particularly fond of James and so didn't bother to question them. The buck was known to be kind of obnoxious to most of the school, even to other prey mammals, so he didn't see much problem in him getting pushed around a bit.

Just as Nick was pondering this, one of the other rabbits turned back and froze as he saw Nick, then poked James to get his attention.

"What are you—?" James started.

He turned around with an annoyed look on his face, which turned to a fearful one when he saw Nick. He clenched his fists, looking like he was trying to be brave. Nick stepped closer to him, curious to see whether or not he would actually try to do anything. James only backed away ever so slightly, his friends hiding behind him.

"What do you want, fox?" James demanded.

"Don't let him threaten you," Nick told himself, taking a few calming breaths. "You're a predator; he should be afraid of you, not the other way around."

"I'm warning you!" James said.

"Oh, really?" Nick chuckled. "Right, I forgot you're 'heroes.' I overheard your little plan to get revenge on my friends, if you could even call it that. What exactly do you plan to do, again?"

"I—well, I'm not telling you!" James replied. "But you'd better tell your friends to stop messing with us, or we're gonna…well, it's not gonna be good for you, that's for sure!"

"Right," Nick said sarcastically. "Or, alternatively, you could stay out of our way and quit bothering us."

"We're bothering you?!" James exclaimed. "You're the ones that keep—"

"Let me make this perfectly clear," Nick interrupted. "Stay out of our way and we won't eat you. Is that clear enough?"

"Y-you can't threaten us like that!" James protested.

A few of his friends were tugging at his ears, gesturing for them to leave, but he ignored them and kept glaring up at Nick defiantly. Unable to stop himself, Nick bared his fangs and snarled, eliciting a frightened squeak from the once brave bunny. It felt so good to be able to show off his predator attributes unapologetically…

"Why not?" Nick said. "What are you going to do if my friends and I decide to eat you? Do you really think a bunch of little bunnies like you can fight off three foxes?"

"That's not the point!" James replied, now backing away again. "Y-you can't just eat us! I-I mean, we're mammals, just like you, and—"

"Oh, so now we're the same?" Nick snarled. "Don't try to act like you want equality. You've hated me since the day we met! And if you think all foxes are just dangerous predators who want to eat every prey they see…then that's exactly what I'll be."

He growled again, and this time James and the other rabbits finally turned and went running the other direction. He didn't follow them, but he watched them as they disappeared around a corner.

As he continued walking to class, he kept thinking over and over what had just happened. He had loved how it felt to act like a predator, to finally let out his aggression against some of the mammals responsible for repressing him so much to begin with. He certainly didn't intend on actually eating them; that would be disturbing, but he found that he didn't so much mind if they were afraid he might do just that. Back when those other bunnies had muzzled him, he had avoided fighting them partially because he knew that he could do a lot more damage with his sharp claws and teeth, and he really didn't want to hurt anyone. But now that he didn't feel ashamed to be a predator anymore, there was nothing holding him back from fighting his hardest.

"I will never let them push me down again," he promised.


Later that day, when Nick met Trevor and Vanessa in the cafeteria, he was feeling more confident about himself than he had in quite a while. Both of them looked cheerful as well, running up to him excitedly when he entered the room.

"Nick!" Trevor said. "We heard what happened this morning!"

"What?" Nick replied. "Wait, you mean with—?"

"James Hopps?" Vanessa supplied. "Exactly! We were surprised when he and his friends didn't try and stand up to us today. Then he said you scared him and his little friends off earlier."

"Well, technically he said you tried to eat him," Trevor clarified.

"I didn't try to eat him!" Nick protested. "I mean, I guess I might have said I'd eat him if he bothered us again, but I didn't actually try to—"

"Chill out, Nick; we know!" Vanessa laughed.

"Yeah, no need to freak out," Trevor agreed. "I just think it's cool you're finally being a real predator. I know those prey friends of yours never made you feel comfortable enough to be your true self…"

"Well…it wasn't really their fault, though…" Nick said. "I just did that because I didn't want to scare any of them…"

"Nick," Vanessa said, patting him on the shoulder, "do you really think those bunnies and sheep would want you to go around showing off your fangs like that? They'd never let you be yourself, and you and I both know it."

"I…I guess…" Nick said.

He wasn't really convinced, but he didn't want to argue with them. Both foxes were clearly much more comfortable with themselves, so he trusted that they likely knew a lot more about this than he did, even if he really didn't understand their view sometimes. He suddenly found himself feeling the slightest hint of regret for what he'd done to James and his friends. Sure, like he said, he hadn't intended to actually hurt them, but he'd definitely terrified them. And while part of him had thoroughly enjoyed playing the 'scary predator' role, he wondered if he had finally taken it too far this time. He had been less bothered by Trevor and Vanessa's actions in recent weeks, but doing them himself was a completely different experience.

"James is a jerk," Nick reminded himself, trying to make himself feel less guilty about what he'd done. "Even Judy and her other friends can't stand him. She'd probably thank me for taking him down a few pegs, honestly! I shouldn't be worried about this."

The words made sense, but he wasn't sure he was entirely convinced. As much as he didn't want to admit it, deep inside he was still afraid that what had happened today might be a step in the wrong direction. Trevor and Vanessa clearly didn't share that view—and maybe they were right—but something told Nick that they might have gotten too comfortable being predators.

Nick stayed silent as they went through the line and headed to their table, which thankfully was an empty one today. He was afraid his friends might want him to join in their 'taking seats from prey who can't fight back' game now that he was getting more comfortable with himself, but thankfully it didn't look like that was going to happen today.

"So," Vanessa said enthusiastically, as they sat down. "Tell us the whole story. I want to hear exactly what you did to scare those bunnies so badly!"

"I…well, um…" Nick started nervously.

"Come on; no need to be modest!" Trevor said. "When we first met you, you were barely able to open your mouth in public, afraid you'd scare someone with your teeth. Now you're scaring bunnies like it's nothing! I wanna hear what happened."

Trevor and Vanessa's enthusiasm somehow just made Nick feel worse about what he'd done, but he wasn't going to tell them that. So, with a sigh, he told them the whole story of what had happened. They both seemed to get a big kick out of hearing about how much he'd scared the rabbits, something that made him wince internally whenever they seemed overly enthusiastic.

"Wow," Trevor remarked. "Cool! Sounds like you really are getting used to the idea of being a predator. I hope I'm around to watch the next time you do something like that."

"Yeah, me too," Vanessa agreed. "Can you imagine how scared all those prey will be now? With the three of us together, they'll be absolutely terrified!"

"Y-yeah…" Nick said nervously.

He was conflicted again. Part of him was still feeling guilty about what he'd done and didn't want to do anything like it again soon, but…he also liked the thought of being a team with the other two foxes. The way Vanessa had spoken about the three of them together made Nick feel so…included. He felt like he fit in with these two in a way that he never really had with Judy and the other prey kids.

"What are you still so nervous about?" Trevor chuckled. "You're a predator; you don't need to be scared of us."

"The preys are the ones who should be afraid," Vanessa added, smirking.

"Right…" Nick agreed. "Yeah, sorry…I guess it's just because this whole thing is kinda new to me. I'm sure I'll get used to it eventually. Thanks for…you know, letting me be your friend."

"No problem!" Trevor said. "We'll take in any pred who needs us. Hey, Vanessa here used to be just like you when we were little. The preys used to bully her and push her around and everything, you know?"

"And then I met Trevor and he helped me learn to stand up for myself," Vanessa finished.

"You used to be nervous like me?" Nick asked, incredulous.

He could hardly believe that someone as confident and cocky as Vanessa had ever been scared or bullied by anyone. Then again, Nick himself had come a pretty long way from the kit who was muzzled by the Scout bunnies…

"Sure was," Vanessa laughed. "That was years ago, though. I haven't been scared of a prey in a long time now."

"They bully us and push us down because deep inside, they know they could never be a match for us," Trevor said bitterly. "They want to keep us from finding our true potential because they know what we're capable of, and it scares them."

He gave a deep growl for emphasis, causing Nick to flinch slightly before he reminded himself that he wasn't supposed to be afraid of his friend.

"I…I don't think every prey wants to push us down, though," he said.

"They would if they saw just how dangerous we can be," Vanessa laughed.

"Um…I guess so…" Nick agreed.

He was genuinely uncomfortable now, but he really didn't know what to say. He still didn't entirely trust the other two foxes, but no one else had ever made him feel so good about being a predator. No one else had stopped him from feeling ashamed about what he was, and he didn't want to lose that feeling. Not after how long he had waited to find someone who would accept him…


That night, Nick lay awake in bed for hours, unable to stop thinking about what had happened with James, and how Trevor and Vanessa had reacted to it. The worst part was, he still couldn't decide how he felt about the whole experience. One moment he would be excitedly looking forward to hanging out with the other foxes and getting used to being a predator even more, and others he would curl up in a ball and cry, wishing more than anything that he could just go back to when he and Judy were the best of friends and he never worried that he wasn't a good mammal.

"I just don't know what the right answer is," he thought frantically. "And I can't trust anyone else to answer it for me."

He thought about what Judy might say. He imagined she would probably berate him again for ever being friends with the other foxes and make him feel even worse about himself, regardless of how pure her intentions might be. He would feel like a monster; he would have to start hiding himself again and play it so safe he could be sure he'd never scare anyone…

Then, he thought about what Trevor and Vanessa would say. He was pretty sure they would tell him to forget about all of his doubts, forget about ever trying to be nice to any prey mammal and just embrace being a bully predator like them. They would see any empathy he showed towards a prey as a sign that he was still repressing himself, and they would do everything to stop it.

Nick didn't like either option. He didn't want to stuff all his feelings up inside for the rest of his life, but he didn't want to stop caring about others' feelings either.

But he knew that either way, he was going to have to make a choice eventually. He couldn't keep trying to bridge the gap between two very different worlds; he needed to decide who he was going to be, and preferably soon.


(A/N) I just...UGH it's maddening to write. WHY DOESN'T SOMEONE WHO'S NOT A JERK HELP NICK DEAL WITH HIS FEELINGS. :(

The next chapter will probably go back to Judy's POV (?) but idk yet. As bad as the situations have gotten in the last few chapters, I'm really glad that the story I'd planned is finally moving forward. Anyway, thanks so much to all of my readers and reviewers for sticking with me, and I hope to see you again soon.