Chapter 1 Starting Bonds
Edited by LapisLucius42 & Starfang's Secrets
Reviewed and approved by Kittah4
Artwork provide by the amazing "Red Velvet Panda" on Tumblr aka, "Caliosidhe" on DA. Find their artwork here... : / / red-velvet-panda . tumblr . c o m or here... caliosidhe . deviantart . c o m (just remove the spaces)
"Let today be written in the history parchments as a momentous day for all of mammaldom."
The speaker, a large lion, stared out with pride at the crowd of mammals gathering before him. The group, consisting of the Chieftains of the various tribes of mammals in the land, nodded in approval. It had taken years of convincing the gathered mammals to come together for such an occasion as this.
"We are each here to sign for our established species...to prove our dedication to the cause of peace between all of us."
The gathered mammals hummed, growled or crooned their approval. An elephant, clothed in a cotton robe, carried a roll of papyrus forward before spreading it onto a stone dais before the lion. The feline pressed his paw against the scroll, reveling in what its accomplishment meant for him, and for everyone else.
Thousands of years of violence ends today...Leo the StoutHearted thought, the weight of the momentous occasion bringing a smile to his toothy jaw. His paw passed over the document to the stone beneath where the names of each Chief would be carved after signing, signifying that their tribes would keep the promised peace for as long as the stone would last.
"Now," the lion spoke again, a gratifying silence re-settling over the crowd. "Starting at the front, please form a line and we will each, one by one, sign this document." The mammals began pushing and shoving each other to get into the front of the line. "One by one...please, thank you. One by...ugh...ONE BY ONE!" The lion roared the last comment and it instantly quieted the crowd. Seeing the wrath on his face, the mammals quietly shuffled into an orderly line.
The lion turned to the hulking form of a cape buffalo next to him, the mammal clad in a loincloth and chest plate comprised of sea turtle shells.
"Sometimes I wonder if I shouldn't have just eaten a few of these Chiefs, it would have made this a lot easier than it has been these past few years, Chief Bogo."
The buffalo snorted, folding his arms across his chest. "But then you wouldn't have had peace, and this piece of paper could hardly prevent some of these tribes from continuing to wage war with each other." The mammal's eyes flickered to, and settled upon, several sets of species he knew wouldn't get along, even with the proposed treaty setting high penalties for any mammal breaking it.
The bear and deer tribes...Bogo thought, spotting the leader of the white tail deer tribe, Chief Flutterfoot keeping a watchful eye on the hulking grizzly several mammals in front of him. The dingos and kangaroos...foxes and rabbits...
Bogo searched and searched the lines, his arms unfolding and ears flickering in annoyance.
"Sir," the cape buffalo began, facing the lion with a curt stare. "We have a problem."
"What is it?" Leo replied, taking his eyes off the parchment a kudu was signing, while still bickering with the leader of the oryx tribe behind him. The lion's eyes scanned the crowd. A grimace formed and eyebrows knit together in a frown. "Ah for crying out loud..."
"Should I gather them, sir?" The cape buffalo glanced at the large spear placed against a nearby tree.
"Yes, go and bring those two here please," Leo groaned. It just had to be TODAY that they didn't show up when I needed them to...
Grunting in response, the hulking bovine lumbered towards his weapon, snatching it up without breaking stride as he marched towards the lands of the rabbit and fox lords; Chief Wilde, and Chief Hopps.
It would be a thirty minute jog to the territory of the latter, and without a doubt in his mind, Bogo knew that the former would most likely be there as well.
"Those two just have to try and mess everything up don't they."
The bright, clear sky and the soft breeze blowing through the meadow that tickled her fur as it blew was about as wonderful a day as Judy could imagine. She let her eyes close, wiggling in the tall grass a bit to find a more comfortable position to relax in. Her elbow bumped into her spear, but she paid it no mind. Even though she was quite content laying in the grass, she could hear well enough to know of any encroaching dangers to her tribe.
But Judy doubted that any dangers would dare challenge the Hopps clan. Her small clan had already proved themselves adept at defense and surprise. She herself had already sent several marauding bears into flight a few weeks prior, and had the tail of a fox hanging above her mantle as a trophy from the last time the Wilde tribe had dared to raid their lands.
Enjoying the peaceful afternoon, Judy grabbed a bit of straw nearby and bit into it, chewing as she contemplated how the harvest had been going so far. She kept a watchful eye on the skies and her ears on the ground as she thought.
"Judy!"
Judy pushed herself up upon her elbows at the sound of her brother. Picking up her spear, she waved it above the tall grass. "Over here Marcus!"
The sound of grass being pushed apart grew closer, and Judy rolled her eyes at her brothers' approach. Deciding to have a little fun with him, she crept through the tall stalks of lush spring foliage, nary making a sound as she circled around the spot she had been. Crouching low, she made sure she was hidden from sight as her brother walked past, trampling the grass as he went. Just as he passed, Judy attacked.
Leaping from her position, she pounced upon her brother, tackling the older buck. In a second, Marcus found himself on his back, Judy standing over him with a paw on foot paw on his chest.
"Didn't I teach you how to sneak through the grass?" Judy taunted, giggling as her brother dropped his head to the ground and groaned.
"I was just coming to relieve you from your guard duty," he coughed, pushing himself up and dusting off his breechcloth and shorts. "Didn't think you'd attack me."
"A scout should always be prepared," Judy retorted, giving her brother a paw and helping him up. She almost missed the grin Marcus shot at her, but couldn't miss the subtle way he flexed his arm. Judy realized what he was doing, and smirked. He tried to pull her forward in an attempt to flip her over him but, she easily caught him and twisted mid-flip, landing on her paws and while still gripping her brother's paw, lightly pulled him backwards.
Already off-balance, the buck toppled onto his butt to the sound of Judy's mirthful laughter ringing through the air.
"I thought I had you that time," he muttered.
"Almost...you almost had me. Nice try though brother."
Offering his own laugh, the two spoke for a while, topics ranging from the late rainfalls of the spring, to the eligible bucks and does in the neighboring tribes. Judy herself didn't care much about the latter part of the discussion. She had never paid many of the bucks from the Skippson or Saponte tribes. Her training to become a warrior and scout for clan Hopps had taken precedence over all else. The proudest day of her life was the previous year when she had finally earned her warrior's armband...proof of her standing as a protector of Clan Hopps.
"EAGLE!"
Both sets of ears jerked towards the shrill cry, eyes soon rising up to search the skies.
"There!" Marcus shouted, pointing towards a dark blotch high in the sky above them. The beating of the drums from within the Hopps compound sounded, calling all the rabbits to gather within the warren and the protection it offered. Birds of prey didn't appear often, yet caused chaos when they did.
"Marcus, make sure all the kits are inside and check in with mother."
The buck nodded. "And what will you be doing?" he asked as they began running down from the hill overlooking their home warren and fields of crops. They broke out of the tall grass and into a field of carrots, the green leafy tops just springing forth from the loamy soil.
"Finding Jessica."
Nothing else needed to be said. Marcus nodded, then shifted course towards the warren as Judy traversed across the fields to where she knew her sister liked to play. Judy bounded forward, the rush of her calling as a warrior of the clan pushing her faster as she sped across the fields, keeping an eye skyward to keep track of where the eagle was. To her horror, it was already circling above a small corpse of bushes, opposite of a pond where a grey furred bunny of her own age sat gathering water into a clay pot. Long gashes ran down across the bottom of both her ears, crossing down and across her left eye. The scars were old, but clearly seen against her pale fur.
The marks causing the total deafness to the rabbit and the reason why Judy began training to be a warrior in the first place. She had made sure to avenge her sister from the fox who had scarred her...whose tail was currently mounted above the entrance to her sleeping quarters in the warren.
Reaching her sister, Judy tapped her shoulder three times to get her attention. Jessica turned, grinning at first when seeing her sister, though it quickly turned to a look of worry as the rabbit warrior pointed skyward.
Jessica's eyes widened. She nodded in understanding, dropping the pottery into the pond. She quickly hitched up her skirt and dashed towards the warren. Judy took off after her, keeping an eye skyward. She quickly noticed that the eagle was much more visible now, to the point where even the feathers and talons were visible to the rabbit.
And also that it was focused solely on the two bunnies running toward the warren.
Whipping out her sling, Judy loaded it, skidding to a stop as the eagle pulled its wings together and began racing down towards Jessica. Spinning the sling around, Judy timed her shot until it was almost above her before letting the stone loose.
The smoothed, polished stone flew true, reaching its mark with deadly accuracy. The bird of prey screeched, fluttering its wings briefly before tumbling from the sky, the force of the impact sending it flying in the opposite trajectory and away from the two bunnies. Judy didn't allow herself to take her eyes off the threat until it landed in some bushes nearby. It landed behind one, a shout of pain different from that of the eagle's rising from behind the shrubbery.
"Wait, what?"
Judy stared quizzically at the spot, holding her spear close as she approached the foliage.
"Aw, what was that?" a whispered voice growled.
"Shut it, do you want to give us away?" yipped another.
"Who's there!" Judy shouted, her nose twitching and paws anxiously gripping her spear. "Show yourselves!"
"Ah cripes," the voice muttered. A shrill yipping sound echoed throughout the valley, followed by several dozen more from the treeline a hundred yards away.
Foxes...!
A dark red furred fox leapt over the bush, rolling as he landed before rushing forward. He was soon followed by another, a sandy brown toned fox who instead chose to rush around the side of the bush.
Judy readied her spear, crouching low as the fox garbed in traditional raiding clothes gave a bark and raised his hatchet above him as he leapt into the air.
Keep the warren safe!
The warrior's code etched into her mind gave her focus as she ducked low, avoiding the first fox's swing while simultaneously bringing the butt of her spear into the back of his knee as he jumped past. The attack hit a nerve behind his kneecap, eliciting a cry of pain from the fox before he fell to the ground. Spinning her spear, she brought the back half down onto the back of the fox's head, dropping him instantly.
She barely had time to dodge the earthy toned fox's spear stab, the obsidian tip nearly spearing her, rushing past within an inch of her tunic. The fox swung the spear sideways, catching her in the chest and flinging her across the field. Tumbling to a stop, she grabbed at her spear which had fallen from her paws as she hit the earth, pulling it up above her head and flicking it in time to send the fox's next spear thrust deep into the earth, instead of her skull.
The fox had not expected resistance to his attack and found himself overbalanced and hanging directly above the rabbit. Judy smirked, curling her feet before landing a powerful double kick into the fox's creamy furred chest. A satisfying crack came from the fox's chest, the mammal whining in pain as he stumbled backwards. Judy rose to her feet, preparing to send her spear into the side of his head when a vulpine arrow wisped between her ears. She looked ahead, eyes widening as nearly two dozen foxes raced towards her and the warren.
"Ah cornhusks," she cursed, turning and fleeing towards the warren. Two or three foxes she could handle, but a whole raiding party?
Another arrow flew past her, shattering on impact with a boulder that she quickly ran behind, using it as a block from any more arrows. The warren lay only two hundred yards ahead, and Judy could see rabbits already lining the walls, the beating of the war drums signaling all available warriors to the palisade.
A whirling sound behind her caught her attention, the sound growing closer as she snuck a peek behind her. Judy's eyebrows raised in alarm, and she attempted to jump into the air as a bola snagged her back foot, tipping her off balance and sending her crashing to the ground.
Judy quickly sprung to her feet, tossing off the bola and flinging it at the closest fox twenty yards away. It did little to stop the predator, but it did cause him to slow giving her time to sprint off again.
100...75...50...Judy was breathing hard as she rushed towards the gate, the war cry of the foxes sounding louder and louder as they neared. With the gates already closed, Judy turned and ran towards a raised bit of earth ten yards away from the entrance. A hole opened in the mound, revealing the face of one of her brothers, Aaron, waving her forward before disappearing from view. Without a moment's hesitation, she abandoned her spear, throwing it behind her, catching the legs of a fox following her and tripping him, before she dove into the hole head first. The loud thunk of wood hitting wood sounded behind her as the door was shut and a supporting beam placed across it, barring it from opening. The howls and war cry of the foxes pounding on the door a second later made Judy realize just how close a call it had been.
"Cutting it close to the whiskers, eh sis?" Aaron asked, tossing her a new spear as she navigated past him in the dim light of the corridor. Thankfully, the tunnel was short, with the light at the end already in view. She heard the sound of more doors shutting behind her as Aaron made sure that each and every one of ten fortified, tortoise shell barriers were locked securely in place behind them.
Judy had tested the doors herself, and had only made it through five of them in two hours before calling it quits. It was more than enough to keep the foxes of Tribe Wilde out.
Judy sprung out of the semi-darkness of the tunnel, darting quickly for the wall. Climbing up the ladder two rungs at a time, she eagerly joined by her father's side.
"Cutting it close again, Judith?" Chief Hopps declared.
"Sorry father," Judy said in a hushed tone, her ears drooping behind her. "I managed to incapacitate two of them before I was overrun."
"Outnumbered, not overrun," her father said with a proud smirk. "Ain't no Wilde fox that can outrun a Hopps clan rabbit."
Judy smiled, though soon donned her most serious of looks. "There appeared to be at least two dozen warriors coming from the woods. I'm guessing this is a full scale assault?"
Stu harrumphed as he peeked his head above the sharpened wooden stakes on the top of the wall. "It would appear that Chief Wilde wants to try and end us before that peace treaty is signed. If anything this will just make it quicker to defeat them all in one blow."
An arrow whizzed past his head, making him duck down back before the wall. A shout from further down the wall brought everyone's attention to the forces on the other side of the wall.
"Here they come!" a rabbit shouted. "Ready the kickers!"
Judy nodded at her father before opening up a peephole built lower into the wall. Rabbits began lining the top fixture, one standing every two feet while another stood at a similar hole. While the fox tribe had became adept with bows, the rabbit clan, with their smaller form couldn't build a bow to even shoot close to the range of their adversaries. The time it took to sight in a sling to fire upon attackers from atop the walls made them easy targets for the highly accurate bows of the fox clan.
So instead of relying on ranged weaponry, the rabbits of Clan Hopps developed a purely defensive strategy, built upon the concept of 'kicker's.
"Charger! Charlie...now!" The rabbit named Charlie, standing roughly ten rabbits down from Judy, leapt into the air and shot his hind feet out, nailing a fox that was sailing through the air with a solid shot to his muzzle. The force propelled both mammals backwards, the fox missing the edge of the wall while the rabbit tumbled backwards, falling into the awaiting paws of several others, only to dart back up the nearest ladder to retake his position.
And thus began the latest attack. The foxes of Clan Wilde would run towards two of their comrades, jumping onto their paws before the pair would toss them up and over the wall; only for most to come crashing back down after being met by a solid defense of Clan Hopps. Several foxes eventually made it through, either by landing on the wall and scaling it, or by managing to avoid the rabbits trying to prevent their entry.
"Judy, now!"
Judy leapt into the air, ignoring the cries of battle around her, focusing solely you the red blur racing up towards her. The bunny's eyes narrowed in rage.
"You!"
The words barely escaped her lips before she kicked forward, only to catch emptiness as the fox twisted mid air in a display of acrobatics that would have impressed her; if not for him tumbling into her, his teeth snagging the lip of her tunic as they tumbled off the wall and onto the dirt below.
Judy landed with a loud grunt, scrambling to her feet and pulling a dagger from a sheath on her exposed thigh. The fox righted himself, smirking as he pulled his own obsidian dagger from its hilt. The two black paw marks on his chest made his identity well known to Judy.
Nicholas Wilde the Cunning...the eldest son of Chief Wilde.
Judy twirled her dagger, readying her grip as several more foxes scaled the walls, grabbing at the rabbit defenders and pushing them off the top of the walls with them. Dozens more rabbits flooded out from the underground burrows, while a line of slingers formed around the entrance of the burrow, aiming and firing their polished stones quickly to impede the advance of foxes into the burrow itself. She quickly saw her sister Jade, the green eyed, tan furred doe smashing her quarterstaff into the back of a fox attacking one of their brothers. The fox yipped in pain before being silenced as her staff connected with his muzzle. A vixen replaced her fallen brother, attacking the green eyed doe with a short staff of her own.
The sounds of battle, the cry of the wounded; shrieks from bunnies and shrill yips from wounded foxes, sounded across what would have been an otherwise idyllic afternoon.
"Come to meet my blade, fox?" Judy spat, circling her opponent while returning her attention on the russet furred mammal.
Nicholas grinned. "Sounds like someone's happy to see me again. I like the scars, are they new?"
Judy did her best to ignore the subtle twinge of pain from the three lines across her cheek, the mark from her last encounter with the son of Chief Wilde the Bold from their last raid on their fields.
"How's your muzzle," she challenged, grinning as his smirk fell.
"Was still useful enough to eat roast rabbit with.
Judy's anger was ignited, and the doe let out a snarl before charging, loud enough to be heard across the compound. "Serendipity Vult," she cried. "Clan Hopps! Kill them all!" Her dagger flashed towards the fox in an arcing path, a lethal blow aimed at the fox's chest. Nick easily dodged the strike, parrying it with ease as their duel began. Both mammals fought with a savage fury, the bunny drawing the first blood as she scored a shallow wound across her opponent's arm, only to feel his knife slash the tip of one of her ears a moment later. Glaring at the fox, she watched him lick his lips at the sight of the blood.
Judy drew her knife up to block the fox's next attack, then as she pushed the blade away, jumped over it when he brought it under her to slice at her legs. The bunny landed a one-two kick under the fox's chin, sending him stumbling backwards. He snarled, wiping at his lip which had begun to bleed. Judy smirked, raised two fingers and waggled them, taunting the fox.
It worked.
Nick launched himself forward, their blades once again crashing together. Judy's speed allowed her to dodge most of the fox's blows, while Nick's perceptiveness saved his neck from several, life ending thrusts. More foxes and rabbits began pouring into the enclosure as chaos reigned around them. A rabbit near Judy fell with a gutteral cry, a fox's arrow sunk into his shoulder. A fox bumped into Nick, sending both to the ground. Nick snarled, shoving the other mammal off who whimpered, holding a limp and bleeding arm as a white rabbit with black stripes launched himself towards the fallen canine, only to be tackled away by a arctic vixen.
Judy went to finish off her arch-nemesis when a shrill cry to her left jolted her in that direction. One of her brothers had a fox standing above him, the predator's hatchet ready to fall upon the wounded rabbit when a knife appeared in the fox's back. The vulpine cry of pain echoed throughout the compound as Judy stood still, her arm still extended from where she threw the blade into the predator's back.
The fox collapsed, Judy giving her brother a grin before a black furred foot caught the side of her head from behind, knocking her to the ground.
"That is my brother!" Nick snarled, pacing towards the fallen doe with malice in his eyes. Nick raised his dagger for the lethal blow, only for Judy to roll to the side as it plunged into the dirt where her chest had been a moment before. She stood quickly, readying herself for a fight when a sudden boom shook the ground. Nearly every eye turned towards the sound as another deep groan came from the main gate to the compound. Several of the foxes and rabbits nearest the wooden gateway backed away in fear as the wood gave a final, heavy groan before bursting inwards.
As the dust from the broken gate settled, a massive blue toned mammal walked slowly through the shattered remains of the barricade, dipping his head as he walked under the tower that went over the entrance.
"Where are Chief's Hopps and Chief Wilde!" The thunderous roar from the cape buffalo caused all near him to jolt back in panic, though to her credit, she only felt her nose beginning to twitch at the site of the angry bovine standing tall over everyone.
Several paws pointed halfway down the wall where a rabbit and fox stood, their swords, raised above them still locked in combat even though their attention was fully focused on the mighty frame of Chief Bogo marching towards them.
"You two!" he hollered, jabbing at them with anger in his eyes. Before the patriarch's of the rabbit and fox clans could react, the bull buffalo had reached them, grabbing them both by the scruffs of their necks before glaring at them.
"Chief Leo and I have had enough of your insolence!" The hostile tone was clearly evident in his voice. "You two have quarreled long enough and I will make sure this ends today!"
"But he started-" Chief Hopps began to say, only for an enraged bellow to issue forth from the buffalo.
"I don't care!" he roared. "Now you two are going to come with me to the peace signing or so help me I'll have your skins hanging above my wall before dinner. Do I make myself clear!"
The two humbled leaders nodded furiously, eyes wide in fear. The buffalo snorted his disgust, and with them still in his hooves, marched towards the mammoth hole he left in the gateway. He paused long enough to turn and glare at everyone in the clearing.
"Now, I expect that every fox in Clan Wilde be out of this compound...now!"
The dozens of foxes quickly made their way out of the area, some carrying their wounded comrades along with them while the rabbits of Clan Hopps began tending to the wounded.
With a final frustrated snort, the buffalo turned and left the compound, following after the foxes scampering away. Judy watched them leaving.
"Sis, you okay?"
A gentle paw was placed on her shoulder, snapping her out of her daze. Blinking, she noticed her brother Alexander standing beside her. "Oh, I'm okay."
A drop of crimson dripping onto her nose from the tear in her ear seemed to tell otherwise, as her brother gave her a cautious look. "Come on, let's get you to the infirmary."
Judy shook her head, wincing at the pain flickering in her ear. "No, get the wounded there first. See who can be saved and who we just need to keep comfortable."
Her brother nodded and departed, orders issuing forth to the dozens of rabbits scurrying about. Judy let her gaze travel across the compound. Several rabbits lay unmoving across the field, red stains and slashes across their frames while other groaned and moaned in agony.
Shaking her head, she cast her eyes upon the retreating forms of the foxes rushing back the way they came, her stare focusing in on one individual in particular. A fox that followed next to two others that carried another fox. One that still had Judy's dagger in his back.
Nicholas Wilde briefly looked back, catching the glare Judy sent his way and returned one of his own. She could imagine the snarling sound as he bared his teeth at her and if her skill with reading lips was any good, she could have swore he had just vowed revenge.
One of the other foxes motioned for Chief Wilde's son to move. Slowly, he started forward again, ending the glare with a paw slicing across his throat, a single finger pointed at her, then to his mouth which flashed with razor sharp teeth.
The message was clear.
The gauntlet had been thrown down.
Judy returned the gesture, but instead of pointing to her mouth, a sign of the predator devouring their defeated opponent after a duel, she stomped the ground, signaling how she'd turn him into the dirt from which her food grew, a prey's own symbolic way of consuming their opponents.
Putting her back to the predator's disappearing into the tree line, Judy marched back into the walled enclosure. With her father in the hooves of Chief Bogo and heading towards the peace treaty, and as the oldest Hopps child alive-her five older brothers had been killed in battle with Clan Wilde-the leader of the Hopps clan fell to her.
Surveying the damage and rabbits weeping over their slain family members, she sighed, and began giving orders to fix the damage to the walls, bury the dead and save the injured.
It was going to be a long day ahead.
AN: A bit different than the usual fluff I write I think. Now how on earth will I turn that around. XD Special thanks to all those who helped edit this and also to Spinster-for-hire for allowing me to use her OC Jade in this.
Don't worry Fox in the Henhouse, I have plans for your Jade in future stories. Mwuahahahahahh!