Chapter 2 Fleeing the Bond

Edited by LapisLucius42 & Starfang's Secrets

Reviewed and approved by Kittah4

The two Chieftains hanging unceremoniously over the gargantuan cape buffalo's shoulders were glaring at one another. The journey back to the watering hole was a rough one. Once the hulking mammal had forced the forces of the fox clan back to their den, making Chief Wilde vow not to attack the rabbit clan while he was away, he had marched straightaway towards the gathering of the species, grumbling the entire way.

"On the day of peace, you two are willing to murder each other for no apparent reason. How many raids or ambushes have the two of you put on each other? How many children have you lost due to this ceaseless violence?"

Forty seven...Stu thought with shame.

Nineteen...John pondered, his eyes cast downward over the buffalo's back, watching the dirt and rocks as they passed.

He scowled over at the buck on the opposite shoulder. They had already tried to reach each other, trying their best to bring some sort of harm to the other leader, but the distance was too much for either to reach across. Failing that, the two Chieftains resorted to dozens of insults hurled at each other until, in a fit of annoyance and rage, Bogo brought them back over his shoulder, glared at them, then bashed their head together to knock them out.

It was a nice, peaceful time Bogo felt. No constant arguing. No insults. Just him, nature, a long walk...

"Stupid pelt!"

"Dumb bunny!"

And they're awake. Bogo grunted, shuffling them on his shoulders as he progressed over the final rise towards the watering hole. Walking to the tune of insults and slurs, he kept repeating the mantra...just another few minutes...to keep himself sane. To his relief, the group of assembled Chiefs were still there, lazing around, speaking to each other or scooping water from the lake with tortoise shells to douse over themselves in the stifling afternoon heat.

Bogo walked straight through the group, avoiding eye contact with everyone else as he focused solely on the towering lion still pacing in front of the Peace Stone, as it was going to be referred to from here on out. Spotting the buffalo coming, the lion let out a toothy grin, though it was soon replaced by a scowl as he noticed the way the Chief's of the rabbit and fox clans were being mammal-handled.

"I'm guessing there were...complications, Chief Bogo?"

Grunting, he dragged the two, still bickering, Chiefs from his back, dropping them unceremoniously to the floor.

"I found them in the heat of battle...again. Though this time," Bogo glared hard at the the fox at his hooves, "It seemed like they were both going to eradicate the other. Nearly the entire fox clan I found marshaled to the drums of war, and already inside the gates of Clan Hopps' burrow.

A murmur arose through the crowd, hushed whispers between mammals as the fox suddenly found himself under a massive wave of heated looks. In previous wars, it had been agreed upon that no tribe would try to annihilate another. Theft and raids were common, with low risk and high rewards causing the disturbances.

Theft of a few chickens from one predator clan from another was one thing. Trying for wholescale slaughter was another.

"Is this true, Chief Wilde?" Leo asked, his glare burning holes in the top of the fox's head as he kept it lowered to the ground. Sullenly, with a swish of a vulpine tail and subtle nod of the head, the lion got his answer.

"And why is it that you were trying to annihilate Clan Hopps?" Chief Leo the Stouthearted asked rhetorically.

"You know the reason," the fox snarled, his head shooting up to glare daggers into the lion; though the larger predator was far from cowed at the intensity of the glare. The fox jabbed a paw sideways at the rabbit patriarch, both anger and sorrow burning their combined feelings into his words. "It's because one of his sons killed my daughter when she was getting water for her siblings!"

The hushed whispers turned into a deafening silence. Even Leo was stilled by the fox's words. Large brown eyes slowly focused onto the rabbit, who was wringing his paws nervously.

"Chief Hopps." It wasn't said with malice, but if looks could kill...

"My son has been dealt with in the lapine way." Stu gulped down a nervous breath. After hearing of what Harold had done, he had instantly banished him from the tribe. To a rabbit, the warren was everything and as at the time there was an uneasy peace between the rabbits and foxes. A peace that had then been shattered forever it seemed.

"I banished him as soon as I learned of his crimes and offered recompense to Chief Wilde for his loss." The elder buck's words took on an angered tone. "Of which Wilde declined by finding my son, killing him and nailing his hide to my warren!" The brown bunny launched himself at the fox, tackling the larger predator into the dirt. Bogo quickly went to separate them when a mighty roar echoed across the fields.

"ENOUGH!"

Leo stood, panting as he glared daggers at the rabbit and fox, both looking at the lion, frozen in place with paws around each other's throats. The feline pointed at the two mammals, his eyes burning with a fury that no mammal would dare deny.

"I have had it with the two of you!" he roared. "Not only do neither of you seem to care about what we are trying to accomplish, but you are having your families suffer through your foolishness and ignorance."

"But he-" Stu attempted to speak, but was silenced by another roar, one which nearly blew him upon his back from the force of it.

"Shut it! You two will get along, and you will be best friends about it. I don't care what you have to do to get there, but you will or else I'll revoke the law against eating other mammals specifically on your two tribes."

Both fox and rabbit blanched at the news. That law, signed a year before, had helped keep many smaller species safe from being meals of predators while mammaldom attempted this transition to peaceful co-existence. Having it re-instated would mean that any tribe could go back to their primitive, savage ways and feast upon both the fox and rabbit tribe to their content without retribution or consequences.

It was the harshest punishment that Leo the Stouthearted could think of that might keep the two warring tribes in line. He began rubbing his temple, annoyed at just how much of a problem some of the smallest mammals in the land were to him. Almost would be worth it to just eat them and move on...he thought darkly. Looking around at many of the tribes, including the prey ones, it seemed that sentiment had a large following of adherents as well.

"I may have a solution, Leo."

The lion raised an eyebrow as he looked at the cape buffalo standing near him. "Oh? Speak on Chief Bogo."

The buffalo nodded, pointing at the fox. "Chief Wilde lost his daughter, correct?" Leo nodded as Bogo continued, pointing at the rabbit this time. "And Chief Hopps lost his son." It was more of a statement than a question, so the massive mammal continued to speak. "Then here is the idea for an accord. We all want peace in our lands and under the old laws, tribes could unite by marrying the eldest son to the oldest daughter of two tribes, uniting them by blood. Hopps lost a son, Wilde a daughter. If I remember correctly, Chief Hopps' oldest is a daughter, and Chief Wildes' a son. Let us correct the injustice by giving them back what they lost through a Bonding ceremony."

Leo blinked once...then twice, as he pondered the idea. It certainly wasn't new, as most of the tribes in the region had done this to become stronger, and a Bonding ceremony wasn't something new to any of them. The original propagators of the idea was the powerful Rammington clan who merged with the Woolther clan through marriage. That, combined with the wealth they made through trading their wool to make clothing for the various tribes, predator and prey alike, made them a powerful tribe indeed. One which only the lion tribe under Leo could say was more powerful.

"Hmm...that could work," Leo finally muttered, scratching at his chin. The lion grinned as he appraised the two shocked mammals staring wide eyed at him. Clapping his paws together, he made up his mind.

Though it seemed as if the other two mammals he was watching had also made up theirs.

"There is no way my daughter is marrying the son of a butcher!"

"There is no way my son is marrying the daughter of a murderer!"

Leo chuckled. "Oh, do you think I am suggesting such a thing?" Both nodded vigorously, though jolted backwards as the lion reached out to both of them and placed his paws on their shoulders, which nearly encompassed both of their them completely, and offered them a scowl of the darkest magnitude possible. A snarl escaped his lips as he flashed his teeth as he lightly squeezed their shoulders, the Chieftains feeling the lion's claws.

"Oh I'm not suggesting it...I'm demanding it."

Carl...

Edith...

Larry...

Dean...

Four dead, nine wounded...including her twin sister Jessica who had a new scar along her back from a fox that slashed her from behind.

The coward...

Judy kept watching the fields to the west, waiting for her father to return from the meeting as the names of those who passed ran through her mind. Her tears had long since dried against her fur as she recited the list of dead and injured again and again. She had found Jessica herself, her twin weeping and curled into a ball just inside the warren. One of the foxes, who three of her brothers were in the process of dumping onto a burial pyre, had managed to get into the burrow itself and found her near the entrance, bringing up logs to brace the door against assault.

Don't think about it Judy...don't think about her...

The images came anyways. Unwanted and unheeding to her feelings.

At least that fox is dead for what he's done...she thought. Eyes flickering to the burning pile of wood, she saw the outline of a pointed muzzle currently sitting ablaze in the center of it. The sun was just setting, stars beginning to twinkle in the burgeoning night sky as the smoke rose towards the heavens. The celestial Destiny must be enjoying tonight...

Judy sighed deeply, leaning against the palisade with her ears drooped behind her. Hopefully her father would be home soon. All she wanted to do was go visit her sister in the infirmary, clutching the worn blanket that Jessica had made for her several years earlier.

"He's coming! Papa's coming!"

The shout rang out along the walls, as dozens of rabbits gazed upon the setting sun to see a lone figure walking towards them. Judy let her instincts kick in and leapt over the walls, hitting the ground running towards her father. Barely having the time to look up from his feet, Judy embraced him in a massive hug.

"I'm glad you are back," she whispered into his neck as she hugged him close. Pulling away, she saw the dejected look in his eyes. "What's wrong?"

The elder buck sighed, though he didn't look at his daughter when he spoke.

"Judy, come with me...we...have a lot to talk about."

"And you're letting this happen!" Judy roared, her whole body quivering in anger. She ran a paw across her ears, stomping away from her father as she began to pace. "There is no way that I will be forced to marry that filthy pelt! Do you now know how many of us he has killed? Do you think nothing of the kits you have lost?"

"It wasn't my decision to make," Stu sighed, the fight gone out of him way before he even begun the trip home from the peace treaty. "It was either that or the old laws would be put back into effect on our tribe and I wouldn't want to lose all of us."

"So you've agreed to just lose another daughter with this deal when he slits my throat the first chance he gets, hmm?" Judy hotly replied.

"His tribe is under the same orders."

"Hasn't stopped them before."

"Judy..."

"Chief..."

The buck flinched. His eldest daughter almost always referred to him as pappa, father, or Stu if she was angry. Never just his title. Ignoring the slight, as well as the glare she shot his way, he continued. "Judy, he can't do that. It would endanger his whole tribe. Even if he laid a paw on you..."

"Oh, so you think that the Fox tribe would be trustworthy about an 'accident' that may have happened to me then? I'm sure with their slick tongues and conniving ways they could contrive one to get rid of yet another rabbit."

"They wouldn't. It's aga-"

"Against the treaty, I know. You keep saying that like you trust them."

Stu groaned. "We don't have a choice in this..."

"We always have a choice," Judy snarled back, her paws bunching into fists at her side. Ignoring the raised paws Stu pushed towards his daughter, Judy fled the room, slamming the thick oak door behind her as she stormed out.

How could he care so little or understand nothing about what he had decided upon! This would only lead to more death, as you can never trust a fox father than you can kick one!

Her family moved aside for the angry bunny as she passed through the burrow, many eyes following her as she marched on, ears lowered and anger flickering in her amethyst eyes. Reaching her room, she waltz right in, slamming the door behind her before letting out a frustrated scream. She slammed her paw into the compacted dirt wall of her room, letting out a hiss of pain as her paw began to throb. Muttering curses, she paced her room, growing more and more frustrated at what her father had agreed to without the Burrows consent...without her consent.

Her father had told her that Leo the Stouthearted would be at the Burrow in the morning to conclude the deal, picking Judy up and meeting up with Bogo, who would be picking up the son of Chief Wilde. They'd meet at the boundary of their two lands to enact the marriage and bonding pact.

One, which she decided then and there, would be absent of a certain rabbit.

Judy grabbed a few of her possessions that would be useful, her sling, flint, tinder and chew stick, before poking her head out the door of her room. Normally she wouldn't have a second look cast her way . But with a pack over her back, she was bound to attract unwanted attention. Darting from her room, she made her way to the pantry. Only one bunny was in there, Jethro, her brother who handled the family meals, and thankfully the hard of hearing rabbit was facing the other way, preparing what smelled like carrot soup for any rabbit who was still awake this late at night.

Taking two loaves of bread, some lettuce, carrots and blueberries, she snuck back out of the pantry with her spoils. She made her way to the back exit of the burrows, only running into a few of her brothers and sisters along the way. None asked questions thankfully, and everyone seemed much too downtrodden with the deaths they had experienced at the paws of the Wilde Clan that day to seem to care about her.

The infirmary was the last place she stopped at. The welling note of guilt that swept through her breast at the sight of her injured family members laying on makeshift beds was nothing compared to the sight at the far end of the room. Four shrouds covered four familiar shapes, surrounded by incense, flowers, and several members of her family, her mother included, weeping over the dead.

Judy almost stopped in her mission from the guilt shaming her, yet she pushed back those feelings and snuck the bare minimum from a supply chest; only a few poultices and ginger roots that she saw were in mass supplies. The rest she could find herself once she left.

The trip out the back entrance of the Burrow was non-eventful. Making her way quickly out of the warren, she just as quickly darted through the shadows of the late evening which covered the land.

If I'm not there for this sham marriage, then they'll just have to think of a new plan...Judy thought as she climbed a ladder that still leaned against a far point of the wall where the sentries were furthest from.

But what if they simply chose another?

The thought froze Judy in her tracks. The 'what if' chilling her soul. What if they did just chose the next eldest in line for the bonding ceremony? Could she live with the guilt on her conscious if she left and one of her sisters had to be forced into the deal? The thought of one of her siblings being forced to bond with that fox was nauseating. She shook her head. They wouldn't. The next ten eldest are all brothers. They'll simply have to make a new deal.

Justifying her actions with a final nod, and ignoring the tears streaking down her cheeks, she bounded over the wall and in a few quick strides, disappeared into the long grass, only two black tipped ears viewable in the sky as clouds rolled in over Zootopia.

The sturdy chair smashed against a wall, splintering into dozens of fragments and littering the floor of the den with wooden bits and pieces. The fox stood above the broken furniture, one of its broken pieces still in his paw as he panted heavily. Snarling, he threw the piece down, watching it bounce off the floor and join the rest of the broken splinters of wood covering the floor.

I can't believe he'd do something like this...make peace with those dumb bunnies? And by having me...

Nick couldn't even complete the thought, his fury rising to new heights. Raising his fists, he brought them down upon the table in his room, the desk meeting the same fate as his chair as it easily snapped in half from the force of the blow. Kicking one half of the desk, Nick yipped at the sudden pain in his foot. Hopping around, he stumbled and tripped over one of the chair legs laying on the dirt floor.

His muzzle met the ground with a harsh thud. The fox groaned, anger temporarily displaced by pain flooding his mind and spots hampering his vision.

"Why would he even agree to this?" Nick said with a groan as he pushed himself off the floor. "We were so close to avenging our fallen clansmammals and ending this conflict today."

Nick's rage found a temporary dwelling, focusing on the stubborn and obnoxious cape buffalo that had interrupted what would have been a glorious victory for Karma over the forces of Serendipity. The bunnies had started the war, and Nick felt they were simply fulfilling the canine Celestial's wishes in wiping them from the face of the earth.

Another few seconds and she would have been dead at my paws and we wouldn't even be having this deal.

Nick's thoughts again flew back to the doe he had nearly defeated that day. He had stared into her lavender eyes, unspotted by fear as they had fought. His ear flicked, the sliver of pain pulsing through it reminding him of the power and skill the bunny had. It would have been a glorious victory to add to his record. Another story to enamor the vixens with who would sigh as the recounting of how he defeated one of the proudest warriors of the lapine race.

You still can you know...

The thought gave him pause, halting the fox in his tracks. Could I? He turned his gaze from his rooms, his eyes tracing a path through the rough dug walls of the Wilde den to the place where he knew the infirmary would be. His twin lay in there, a fever now causing his brother to be delirious from the pain he was in thanks to that doe.

Karma demanded that a debt be paid.

Making up his mind, Nick hurried to the corner of his room. Picking up his bow, quiver filled with arrows and his obsidian knife, Nick rushed from his room, carefully avoiding others throughout the den by hiding in unused rooms as he made his way outside. The darkened, candle-less hallways of the Wilde home helped his cause and in no time at all he was out, rushing low to the ground through the tall grass filled plains near his home. One thought was on his mind, his actions centered on the form of his brother writhing in pain from his fever...

...he would kill that rabbit doe...even if it was the last thing he would do.

AN: Okay...so maybe the fluff will be coming in a bit longer time... XD ;) Big thanks to Lapis, Star and Kittah4 for their help in this chapter. So go check their stories out! :D