Judy's arm itched and there was nothing she could do about it.

It was a terribly trivial thing to think about—she was also tired and hungry, and that was leaving aside her concern about Nick—but somehow the too-tight bandages wrapping her altered arm wouldn't leave her mind. But then, thinking was about all she could do while waiting to be delivered to the City Guard.

"Delivered" seemed to be the word that fit best, too; she was no longer walking under her own power, but was instead securely harnessed to the back of one of the four mammals who had ordered her and Nick to go with them. The harness she was fastened into might have been designed for her own safety, as the calm springbok who seemed to be in charge of the other three mammals—a gazelle and two cheetahs who looked so similar that they might have been twins—had said. But it also worked quite well as a restraint, and Judy couldn't so much as move an inch as she watched Phoenix grow ever smaller and smaller.

Judy didn't quite feel like a prisoner, but she wondered if that would have been different if she and Nick had refused to go along with the four mammals who claimed to be scouts from the City Guard. Not that they would have been in much shape to resist, of course. With her own bag lost in the ruins under Phoenix, the only supplies they had carried had been what was in Nick's bag, and those hadn't been nearly enough. Nick had demonstrated his ability to transmute rocks into perfect copies of what little food they did have remaining, as well as fresh water to replace his nearly empty canteen, but Judy had seen the effort it cost him. Even days after healing her arm, he was still obviously exhausted, and a certain hollowness had come into his features that she didn't like the look of.

It had meant that they couldn't travel nearly as fast as they had on their way to Phoenix, which in turn meant that the meager amount of food which might have been just barely enough at a faster pace was completely insufficient when traveling slowly enough for Nick to keep up. Even when Judy insisted on carrying his bag, which felt as though it weighed about as much as she did, he tired easily. On their first night back under the sky he had fallen asleep mid-conversation, and when it had come to be his turn to keep watch for anyone from the army surrounding Phoenix chasing after them he had fallen asleep again.

It had occurred to Judy part of the way through the second day that they had switched positions from when Nick had been trying to save her life; she found herself telling him long and rambling stories of her days as a kit in Totchli Barony just to give him something to focus on. If it had bothered Nick when she diverted into tangents as she tried to remember complex family trees and which cousins had been part of a particular story he hadn't given any indication of it; his responses had tended to be no more than a word or two.

He had given her an explanation, though, one that made a certain kind of sense even though she suspected he was glossing over a number of details. "It's like a rain barrel," he had said the first night, holding her close with one paw and vaguely patting at the air with the other, "Use too much water and you have to wait for it to fill up again."

"What does alchemy use?" Judy had asked, both because she was curious and because she wanted to keep him talking.

Nick had shrugged expansively, his tail curling around her as he yawned widely. "Every mammal has it. A gift from the gods, some say," he had said at last.

"Your soul?" Judy had suggested, rather tentatively.

The idea that Nick was somehow spending the everlasting portion of his being to change rocks into food was more frightening than the idea that it cost him physical effort. What would happen if he pushed too hard while his mysterious reserves were too empty? Would it kill him? Or, worse, would it leave his body alive but without the spark that made him who he was, still breathing but motionless?

"If you want to call it that," had been Nick's answer, and he had fallen asleep almost the instant after speaking the words.

Judy had set the conversation aside, although her mind kept running back to it, especially when four figures had appeared as dark spots over the horizon, clearly coming toward them from the direction of the heart of Zootopia. It seemed possible that if Cencerro had allies in the city-state itself, he could have sent them out to ensure that his version of the story of what happened in Phoenix was the only one that anyone heard. Nick had seen the figures a moment after her—which was in itself somewhat troubling, considering how sharp his eyes were—and had collapsed to his knees, gesturing for Judy to let him rummage through his pack. "We have to cover your arm," he said, pulling a roll of bandages out.

Judy had wanted to protest, but she saw his point after a moment. Her uniform tunic was ruined, the left sleeve completely gone, and without her own pack she had no spares, which meant that her altered arm stood out spectacularly. "Easier if there's one less thing to explain," Nick had said, seeing the expression crossing her face, and then he had slumped onto his back.

"I really hope they don't want to fight," he had said with a sigh as Judy had wrapped bandages around her arm, "But I think the gods enjoy laughing at me."

There had been a touch of his normal put-upon cynical air to the words, and Judy had been glad at even the small sign of recovery. If it did come to a fight, she got the feeling that he would be of no help whatsoever, and she wasn't so arrogant as to think that graduating at the top of her class meant that she could take on four mammals with no trouble. Especially once the figures in the distance resolved themselves into mammals wearing the uniforms of City Guard scouts, the thin red tunics woven with a pattern that approximated the quilting of her own much thicker uniform top.

All four mammals had moved with the incredible speed and stamina that could only come from quauhxicallis, which Judy had chosen to be cautiously optimistic about. It certainly suggested that they were members of the City Guard, which sounded promising except when Judy remembered that Lieutenant Colonel Cencerro had been as well. The leader of the group, who had introduced herself as Lieutenant Del Oro. She hadn't bothered to give her first name or introduce her team, and her bluntness had continued with her line of questioning. "Are you Judy of Totchli Barony?" she had asked.

Judy had to resist the urge to frown before answering that she was; it was perhaps not a good sign that her rank hadn't been included. "Are you Nicholas of the Middle Baronies?" Del Oro had subsequently asked Nick, her attention turning away from Judy so completely that it was as though she had forgotten she existed.

If the springbok found it odd that Nick was flat on his back with his eyes half-closed, she didn't say anything. Nick had simply nodded, idly waving one paw. "I have orders to bring you back to Captain General Bogo," Del Oro had continued, "You will surrender any and all weapons on you and comply."

Mercifully, Nick hadn't piped up to say something that could have escalated the situation, like asking what would have happened if they didn't. Frankly, Judy was curious as to the answer herself, but Nick had given up a small dagger Judy had never seen him use and she gave up her sword. That, at least, had finally caused a crack in the professionalism of the springbok; Del Oro had raised an eyebrow at seeing the finely made sabre, and the gazelle had whistled appreciatively as he collected it. "Getting a head start on captain, are you?" he had asked, sliding the sabre a few inches out of its sheath to admire the wickedly sharp edge.

"Odd pommel, though," he had added as he inspected the miniature golden replica of Nick's head.

"That's enough," Del Oro had replied sharply to the gazelle, even as Judy felt her ears burning.

It certainly hadn't been her intent to put on airs by carrying the sword Nick had made her, but he had been in no shape to make her a replacement spear for the last few days. Worse, she wasn't sure what the scouts were reading into the sword. It'd be bad enough if they thought that she was one of those officers who broke traditions and rules alike, particularly considering that she needed to convince Captain General Bogo of the threat that Cencerro posed. But what if they thought that there was something suspicious on the basis of her relationship with Nick?

The springbok had turned back to Judy, fixing her in a level stare. "How bad is your injury?" she had asked, gesturing at Judy's arm.

Normally, such a question would have betrayed at least a little bit of concern, or at the very least a sort of false interest. Del Oro had sounded more as though she was trying to determine the solution to a puzzle, as though her only concern was in whether it would make her job more or less difficult.

"It's— It's not life-threatening," Judy had managed, clutching at her left arm with her right, "I got hurt in the ruins."

Del Oro had made a noncommittal noise in the back of her throat. "And what about you, fox?"

"Just tired," Nick had replied, lifting one paw in a lazy wave before letting it fall to the ground again.

He hadn't moved at all from his position on the ground, and Del Oro turned away. Each officer carried a small pack, and when Del Oro began digging through her own the others followed suit. "Lieutenant Del Oro," Judy began, "I'd like to—"

She hadn't been sure exactly what she was going to say, just that she wanted to know more about what Del Oro knew. "I'd like you to make my job easier," the springbok had interrupted, her tone politely neutral even though her words weren't, "We're getting the two of you back to the captain general as soon as possible."

Shortly thereafter, Judy had suffered the indignity of being strapped to the back of one of the cheetahs, with Nick on the other and his bag on the back of the gazelle. And with that, she was stuck watching the landscape bounce by at high speed as the woven straps dug into her thighs and elbows. And as the bandages covering her left arm made it itch terribly.

Judy resisted the urge to sigh; the harness was so tight that it would have been more than a little unpleasant. There was no point in trying to talk, either; when she had tried, the cheetah had simply ignored her question. That might have been because of Lieutenant Del Oro, who seemed to be keeping an eye on the other officers, alternating between running ahead and behind as part of a constantly shifting pattern. When one of those shifts let Judy move her neck—which seemed to be about the only part of her body she could move—she had caught a glimpse of Nick. He was asleep, which was more than a little impressive considering how rough a ride being strapped to the back of a mammal moving at incredible speed was.

Her only option, then, as she tried to ignore the itching in her arm, was to think. Del Oro had known her name and Nick's name, which seemed to suggest something, but she was at a loss for what it was. She said Captain General Bogo sent her to get us. You really do have friends in high places, don't you? Nick's voice asked in her mind. Judy knew that it wasn't really Nick, but there was something comforting in imagining his words as though she could actually speak to him rather than just occasionally catching a glimpse of his nodding head or limp tail. Very sweet, Carrots. But you're thinking about the mystery, because of course you are. Can't waste any time fantasizing about me?

Judy frowned, feeling a blush creep up her ears as an image of Nick in all his glory crept into her mind. She wasn't sure what it said about her imagination that it was teasing her in the voice of her—lover, of course, Nick's voice seemed to interject into her thoughts. I do hope that's what you were going to think next.

The image of his face, his eyes sparkling with mischievous delight as a slow smile crossed his muzzle, seemed so vivid that it was as though he was somehow floating next to her and not lashed to the back of a rapidly running cheetah. Once I can keep my head upright, I promise to show you what that means. And to mock those ridiculous stories you told me about your misspent youth, but there are priorities.

"And right now mine is figuring out what's going on," Judy said, speaking the words out loud before she even realized that was what she was going to do.

Excepting the time she had been dying of Ehetcatl venom, Judy had never imagined someone so vividly, and that had been with Nick actually telling her a story and her mind filling in the gaps. Her imagined Nick was somehow just as real, and speaking to him had seemed so natural that the words had just slipped out. The cheetah who was carrying her was still pointedly ignoring Judy, which was just as well because she doubted she could explain herself. Yes, yes, and you need a clever fox to help with that. Now, how does Bogo know who we are? I've never met him, and somehow I doubt you have either.

Judy wasn't sure whether or not what Nick—or at least, the Nick her imagination conjured up—had said was true for him, but it was certainly true for her. Her rank and assignment were both too low to have ever met the mammal responsible for all of Zootopia's City Guard, but everything flowed upward in the City Guard. Someone had signed off on her assignment to escort Nick, and someone had signed off on that, and so on and so on, until it likely made its way into something less than a line item on a report that hit Bogo's desk. Sad to see your life reduced to that, Nick replied agreeably, But I think you're right. He knows who we are because he wanted to know who we are. I doubt he remembers everything that crosses his desk. Or maybe he does and that's how he got the job.

Judy ignored the flippant remark—which her own mind had been the source of—and tried to run through the implication of it. If Bogo had bothered to find out who the two of them were, that meant that he had some reason to suspect that things weren't going right in Phoenix. And the reason for that would likely be—Birds, Nick's voice interrupted her thoughts, Just like the name of the settlement. Little on the nose, don't you think?

"I knew that," Judy muttered despite herself.

No, I think I'll take the credit for that one. Even in her mind, his words were smug. No class Judy had ever taken at the academy had suggested imagining a partner to work through a mystery, or what it meant when you started getting annoyed at that imagined partner for giving answers before you had the chance to consciously think of them yourself. Maybe that you were going a little crazy with nothing else to do. I hope you can live with that, Nick's voice came again, the shrug somehow evident in it, But back to your mystery. Birds.

When Phoenix had been taken over, it certainly meant that any communication between the settlement and the rest of Zootopia had stopped. Judy knew that Fermina or Fernanda or whatever she wanted to call the shrew must have been one of the last ones out of Phoenix, which suggested that Cencerro hadn't stopped communication out of Phoenix before his coup or whatever it was he had done.

So someone on the City Guard actually does their job and notices that there haven't been messages between Phoenix and Zootopia for a while. How long does that take? A day? Two?

Judy didn't know the answer, but she supposed one day would be the absolute minimum. And then we spend some time in jail before I cleverly make a way out, lose even more time in the ruins before I cleverly give you a new arm and build a bridge—either one of which I'd love to see anyone else match—and then a few days staggering back toward Zootopia before this bunch picks us up. Judy wasn't sure exactly how much time they had lost, but she saw what the inevitable conclusion was.

Bogo must have sent mammals to investigate Phoenix very soon after the city went dark, and he had done enough research to know that the two of them were among the last mammals to enter the settlement. And that he had bothered to do so, in the middle of investigating an attempt on the princess's life, suggested that the two events might be connected.

Or that Bogo can focus on more than one thing at a time, Nick's voice countered cheerfully. Judy thought it was too coincidental for the events to be unrelated, and in her imagination Nick nodded slowly, stroking at his muzzle.

How far can these scouts go, anyway? The quauhxicallis must cost a fortune.

Nick—or at least, Judy's imagination—had a point there. Every fifteen minutes or so, by Judy's best estimate, the scouts would pull a vial off a belt at their waist, down the contents, and throw the empty vial away with an impressive smoothness. For four mammals, that was a lot of quauhxicallis. I'd probably cough up a lung if I tried drinking and running at the same time.

Judy smiled a bit at the thought of it; in her imagination the red of a scout uniform somehow complemented the red-orange of Nick's fur. Without a heavy breastplate like the standard guard uniform, it would really emphasize the lean strength to his arms and torso and—Now who's being a distraction?

Judy did the rough mental math as well as she could, based on her estimate of how many quauhxicallis each scout had been carrying when they arrived and what she thought the standard number of spares to carry would be. Her best guess was somewhere just outside the Middle Wall, and in her head Nick nodded his approval. So is Bogo at the Middle Wall, or is that just where the order came from?

The only answer she could think of was that either Bogo would be near the Middle Wall or they would stop there to resupply for a trip further into the city. But if Bogo knew about the barbarians at the Outer Wall, would he really wait patiently at the Middle Wall? You tell me, Carrots.

Judy suspected that the answer was a firm no. He'd be leading an army, which Cencerro would definitely know. Was it a trap, then? Well, that's one possibility. But what about that notebook of his?

Judy didn't have any of the messages Cencerro had received or sent using the code his book allowed, but she supposed that it mattered which one had been last. Either Cencerro sent a message to someone else—which would likely be on one of the last messenger birds out of Phoenix—or Cencerro received a message from someone—which would be one of the last messengers into Phoenix. Narrows things down a bit. Nick's voice was contemplative in her mind, his paws weighing the options.

Judy could only hope that Bogo would be willing to listen. Well, that and that he's not in on Cencerro's plan and about to have us put to death for treason, Nick's voice came with a cheer that didn't match the words at all.

Judy frowned for a moment, and then pushed the pessimistic thought aside. She was sure everything would end up fine, and Nick chuckled cynically in her head. Never change, Judy. Never change. But it looks like you can ask him yourself.

On some level, Judy had been paying attention to the scenery as she thought, but those thoughts had consumed the bulk of her attention. It made it more than a little surprising to realize that they had closed a significant amount of the distance between Phoenix and the Middle Wall—and that there was indeed an army.

It was a bit difficult to see, facing backwards, but Judy guessed that there had to be thousands of mammals and dozens of supply carts, all moving at a rapid march that was still far slower than the scouts.

With a seemingly unerring sense of direction, the four scouts approached one of the larger carriages, and once they were cleared for entry by a pair of suspicious-looking guards dropped Judy, Nick, and Nick's bag on the floor, gave one of the briefest reports Judy had ever heard—"No trouble, sir. A sabre and a dagger in the bag." to Captain General Bogo—and been out the door again.

Judy tried not to read too much into the fact that the scouts had simply removed the straps that connected the carrying harnesses to their own bodies rather than releasing her and Nick from the straps that held their limbs tight. She was helpless on her side, completely unable to move, and Bogo didn't do anything to change that. The real Nick was still asleep, snoring gently on the floor near feet, and the Nick inside her head had fallen quiet as Captain General Bogo regarded her from across the massive desk that dominated the carriage.

Even sitting down, he loomed over her, silently regarding her, and Judy tried to match his neutral expression. She lasted about ten seconds before she couldn't wait any longer. "Captain General Bogo, sir, there's a book I need to—"

"Ensign Totchli," Captain General Bogo interrupted, speaking slowly.

His voice was deep and gravelly, and when he spoke Judy could feel the low rumble of it in her chest. When the buffalo had given the address at her graduation, he had been too far away for Judy to really make out, and seeing him more clearly felt as though it emphasized what she had heard about him. His face seemed permanently creased by concern, and there was a hardness to his eyes that she suspected never left them. Despite his age, he was still muscular beneath his uniform, although Judy was more than a little surprised at the platinum torc he wore around his neck; evidently he had been made a lord sometime after her commencement. Judy couldn't help but wonder at what had gone on while she had been outside of Zootopia; had Bogo made significant progress on finding the mammal or mammals responsible for the attempt on the princess's life and been rewarded for it?

"I have questions for you," Bogo continued, and his eyes seemed almost to drill through her, "What happens next depends on how you answer."

Author's Notes:

The two cheetahs being so close in appearance that Judy thinks they might be twins is a bit of a nod to one of the most interesting facts about real world cheetahs. Real cheetahs have remarkably low genetic diversity, thought to be caused by the species nearly being wiped out during the last ice age and recovering from a very small population. This lack of genetic diversity has some interesting effects, such as that cheetahs easily accept skin grafts from other cheetahs without the sort of immune response that would be triggered in humans.

"Del Oro" is Spanish for "Of Gold," which seemed to fit a springbok fairly well considering their coloration.

As previously established in chapter 11, and referenced a few times since, sabres are reserved for members of the City Guard at or above the rank of captain, which Judy certainly isn't.

And with this chapter, the two plotlines have finally come together! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and if you're so inclined as to leave a comment I'd love to know what you thought.