Chapter 4 Growing the Bond

Edited by LapisLucius42 & Starfang's Secrets

Reviewed and approved by Kittah4

It had been a harrowing day for both the rabbit and fox. Making their way out of Calamity's army camp the same way they had came was an exercise in futility. The area was swarming with soldiers combing the area for whoever killed the three hyenas, toppling over every barrel and leaving no stone unturned. The unlikely duo ended up escaping through the relatively quiet north side of the camp. Between Judy's ears and Nick's nose, they managed to sneak their way out through a grove of trees that abutted the massive encampment, then heading straight west as fast as they could.

Twelve hours later, with aching paws, burning lungs, and after running straight through the night and into the next morning, they finally stopped for rest near the pond that Judy had first come across heading east. Nick fell into the grass, his chest heaving while Judy flopped down next to him, too exhausted to care if she was brushing up against her former enemy.

No...enemy. He is still your enemy. Just...an enemy that you are in an uneasy truce with. Rolling her head, she glanced at the fox, who would have looked quite serene and peaceful if not for his tongue that had flopped out of his mouth.

"Think we got enough miles between them and us, Carrots?" the fox asked between pants. Judy nodded, too tired at the moment to do anything else. The two lay in silence for several minutes, enjoying the quiet that permeated the area.

A quiet cough interrupted the silence and brought Judy's attention back to the fox.

"Thank you."

Judy's ears perked against the grass, tickling the appendages. "What for?"

Nick chuckled. "For saving me from becoming a Fox Flambé of course."

The rabbit doe found herself laughing easily at the pun. "You're welcome. Just don't get used to it. After we get back and warn everyone, the truce will be over."

The fox settled back into silence, though Judy saw his muzzle tighten in concentration. After several moments of watching him, he turned his head, gazing back into Judy's eyes.

"Is that so?"

Judy nodded, though somewhat unsure. "Of course. Your tribe has killed many of my siblings and we need to avenge their deaths."

"Only because your brother killed one of our tribe member," Nick shot back.

Judy pushed herself upon her paws."And we exiled him. What more would you have wanted us to do?"

"What we did to him," Nick replied. "Karma demanded a life for a life and that is what we gave her."

"So all my other siblings are just bonuses?" Judy snarled. "You're 46 over your limit. Maybe I need to start following Karma a bit more?"

It was Nick's turn to sit up and snarl. "We took care of your brother and we were satisfied. Karma's justice was no longer hanging above either of our tribes' heads. It was you who attacked us after that. Or did your tiny bunny brain forget that, hmm?"

"Excuse me?" Judy raged. "We went to your lands to ask for his body back only to find that you had destroyed it already and mounted his tail from your den!"

"Then who threw the first stone at us and hit my cousin Bartogh in the eye?" He leaned forward, pushing his muzzle into the bunny's face.

Judy, undeterred, leaned forward as well, her fists clenched at her sides. "That happened after my brother Stephen was assaulted, or did Destiny pass over your species when it came to intelligence?"

A growl issued from Nick's lips as he leaned in more, roughly pushing the rabbit doe back. Judy in response jumped forward, knocking her shoulder into his chest, pushing the wind out of him. Nick wheezed, then growled as Judy jumped at him again. Shifting his weight, he moved his body out of the way of her attack, and swung his arm down, swatting her into the dirt with a loud 'oomph' from the rabbit. Nick was on her in an instant, and the two tussled in the dirt, Judy elbowing him at every opportunity while Nick went to press her into the ground. Nick finally pinned Judy beneath him, his much larger paw pressing down on her chest. He tried holding on, but Judy's kicks into his arm loosened his grip until he wobbled backwards, holding his bruised paw.

Judy tackled him into the dirt, wailing on him with her paws, pushing him into the slight rise of the hill they were on.

Thunk

Both paused as a brush of a spear flew in between Judy's ears and impaled itself into the dirt just above Nick's head. Fear filled their eyes as they turned and saw a rather large jaguar grinning at them.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" the feline purred as he advanced on the fox and rabbit. "Do my eyes deceive me or is a bunny trying to get frisky with a fox?"

The cat cackled with glee as the mortified doe availed herself of the fox, scrambling off of him in a panic. The jaguar merely laughed all the more.

"Oh, this is delicious!" he laughed. "No wonder why Calamity had deemed Zootopian's a filth to be trodden under his armies paws if they are willing to practice such an abomination as what I've just seen. Destiny will truly have many souls to sort through in the coming days."

"Wait, you think that we were..." Nick asked, choking on the words as he said them before barking out a laugh. "Oh, you can't be serious can you?" the fox asked, covering his head with his paw. "Don't you know anything about foxes and their dining habits?"

The jaguar arched an eyebrow at the fox's words, then watched as the fox standing several paces away from him snatched the bunny roughly from the grass and brought the doe next to his face.

"Act afraid and play along and please don't do anything stupid if we both want to make it out of here alive!" Nick whispered through his teeth as Judy struggled in his grip. Judy paused in her struggling, only to have Nick shake her, a none-too-gentle reminder of what she was supposed to be doing. Severely annoyed at being so roughly handled, Judy pretended to thrash about in his grip.

"So, there should be enough of this bunny to go around between the two of us, what do you say?" Nick held Judy out to the jaguar, watching in relief as her attempts to squirm out of his hold on her increased. She's a better actor than I thought she'd be...

The jaguar marched forward, drawing a short sword from his belt. "What's your ploy fox. I've been following the two of yours' scents across the plains and either you are terrible at playing catch the bunny or you two are together. Now..." he pointed his sword at Nick, its tip barely a few inches away from Judy's madly twitching nose.

Nick's smarmy grin faltered. Judy stopped moving to twist in his paw, her eyes connecting with his.

"Well, I thought this would have gone better," Nick chuckled nervously. "I thought that if I could throw you off enough that I could get the bun here close enough to stab you were her little knife of hers."

"What?" the jaguar growled in confusion. At the same moment, Nick winked towards Judy, then tossed her at the large cat. Her blade was already in her paw when she collided with his shoulder and she delivered a long slash down his left side from his shoulder all the way to his stomach. The jaguar hissed and swiped at the bunny, knocking her away and the knife from her paw.

"You little twits!" he shouted, before swinging his sword at the fox. Nick ducked beneath the blade, rolling to the side towards Judy. Picking up the groggy rabbit, he sprinted away from the feline.

"Well, you did good Carrots," Nick remarked, "Though I was hoping you would have, you know, stabbed him a little deeper and more in the instant death kind of area."

"My knife!" Judy shouted, flailing in the fox's arms as she realized she no longer had her weapon with her.

"Forget the knife, we're out of here," Nick growled. Checking behind him, he saw the feline giving pursuit, pausing only to put his blade back into its sheath before switching to running on all fours towards him.

"But that was my grandfathers!" Judy yelled frantically. That blade had been in her family for generations, and was passed down from the oldest of each generation to their children. It was a family heirloom, and Judy was acting like a rabbit possessed to get it back.

"Well now it's not, so we are out of here."

Judy turned and saw the feline gaining on them. She whirled on the fox. "And you think you can outrun a jaguar?"

"Could you do better, Fluff?" Nick shot back angrily.

"Yes!"

"Not with that new fashionable scar of yours donated by the cantankerous kitty back there."

"My what?"

"Look at your leg!"

Judy did so, and stifled a gasp at the line of crimson streaking down her right leg. She couldn't tell how deep it was, but knowing that she couldn't feel it, was a bad omen.

"Serendipity help us," Judy groaned as the jaguar let loose a loud roar behind them. She felt the fox holding her stumble over a large rock, the distance closing between the predator and his quarry.

Rocks...rocks!

"Nick!"

"What!"

"Do you trust me?"

"No!"

"Good!"

"What?!" Nick yelled. "Why is that a good thing!"

"Because if you did you'd never let me try what I'm about to do."

"That doesn't even make sense, Fluffbutt!"

"Think of it as me trying to save my hide," Judy shouted back. "Now put me on your back and start running on all fours unless you want to meet Karma tonight!"

Nick growled in annoyance, but did as the bunny asked. He swung her onto his back in the same fluid motion as he switched to running on all fours. The rocking motion of the fox speeding along jostled the rabbit, but after several strides she got used to the rolling motion.

"Alright," Judy shouted into Nick's ear. "When I say, 'jump', jump as high and as far as you can, got it?"

"You better know what you're doing rabbit!" Nick snarled.

Judy grinned, something she knew the fox wouldn't see. "I don't. Just do it."

Nick shook his head and pushed himself further and faster than before.

"Jump!"

The command was sudden, energetic and came faster than he expected. Nick groaned, coiling his legs beneath him before jumping into the air. He didn't dare look back as he heard a whirling sound, then a sudden 'crack' split the air. A howl of pain ripped across the plain the moment Nick landed. His curiosity peaked, he slid to a stop, nearly throwing the bunny off his back in the process.

"What did you do Fluff?" Nick asked, panting heavily as he turned to find the jaguar, but instead saw nothing...

...until he finally spotted the cat crumpled into a mound in the tall grass. His gaze flickered to the rabbit, who was putting away a sling into a pouch on her belt. Slipping off his back, she limped towards the cat, making only a few steps before crying out in pain.

"Carrots!"

Nick was at her side in an instant, holding her up and helping her towards the feline. Once they reached the unmoving predator, Judy ripped a strip of fabric from the tunic he wore and begun wrapping her leg. Nick rolled his eyes and went to examine the cat more closely. "You gotta teach me how to use one of those," Nick said, grimacing as he saw the stone lodged in between the feline's eyes. "You hit him while midair and him moving?"

"No," Judy said, pausing in her wrapping of her injured leg. "A rock serendipitously fell from the sky and lodged in his skull."

Nick looked at the rabbit for a second before frowning. As he walked around the cat, he could have sworn the bunny quietly said, 'Dumb Fox', under her breath. Nick stepped over the long tail, whistling as he came across the soldier's scabbard. Untying the straps, he removed it from the feline's belt, and slung it around his shoulder. The weapon, small to a jaguar, was a long sword to the fox.

"Sword's mine," Judy suddenly said, appearing at his side.

"I saw it first," Nick shot back.

"I killed him and saved your life, the sword is mine as is anything he has. That's the celestial law of Fortitude."

"Well, it's the celestial law of Drive that finder's keeper."

Judy grinned, crossing her paws across her chest. "Fine...then we're getting my knife back. That's the law of Karma. One who owes another his life, owes them a debt. And I believe that I've saved your life twice now."

Nick opened, then closed, then opened his mouth again. Finally, he shook his head before offering his paw to the grinning rabbit. "Fine, we'll get your little pin-pricker."

"Smart fox," Judy chirped.

"Annoying bunny," Nick retorted.

"You know you hate me," she cooed, giggling softly.

"Absolutely, 100%."

Judy's leg injury and the brief tussle with the jaguar cost them quite a bit of time making it back to the borders of Zootopia, but both let out a sigh of relief once they reached familiar grounds. The two stumbled into the field in front of the Watering Hole nearly a day after their flight from the camp of the warlord Calamity in little less than half the time it had taken to make it there in the first place.

Their entrance caused a massive disturbance throughout the camp of mammals. Hundreds of whispers raised around them, rumors swirling as quickly as a raging river as the two known enemies walked close enough that if they had wanted to, they could have gripped each other's paws.

The encampment ahead them was abuzz in activity. Nick could see a cheetah conversing with Leo, the lion's eyes widening in surprise, then turning to a scowl as he sat back in his massive wicker seat. Her attention was then drawn to the hulking form of Chief Bogo beside the lion, whose hoof pointed to the pair of them, his roar was heard over the entire field.

"You two...where have you been! Do you not realize your clans have nearly gone to war over your disappearance. What do you have to say for you-"

"Calm down Adrian," Leo said, waving his paw like the whole matter was of little consequence. "I'm sure they have a relatively good explanation for why they nearly destroyed a peace deal a hundred moons in the making."

Both rabbit and fox winced at the retort, Judy's ears lowering in shame while Nick's tail curled around his legs.

"We apologize Chief Leo," Nick began, only to be cut off by Judy. The fox sent her an annoyed glare as she spoke.

"Chief Leo, there is an army on their way here to destroy all of us."

Dead silence met her pronouncement. For half a minute nary a mammal spoke a word...until the cheetah began chuckling. A hurried glare from Leo brought the other feline's laughter to an abrupt halt. "So, tell me...what is this army that is coming our way? I have heard of no such tribe in existence that would fight us in our own homeland. And certainly none that could have enough warriors to even challenge our numbers."

Leo waved his paw across his field of vision. "Zootopia is strong, and will only be stronger once you two agree to being Bonded to secure this peace." The lion pushed himself up out of his seat while calling over a badger. "Honey, do you have the Bonding bracelets for these two?"

"Chief Leo-" Judy interrupted, only to be silenced by a raised paw. The bunny shrunk back in annoyance, her foot beginning to tap feverously.

"I believe what my companion is saying," Nick began, only for him to be curtly stilled by the lion glaring at him.

"Not one word out of the two of you until we can complete the ceremony," he snarled. Leo gazed upon the surrounding group of mammals, spotting the two he needed next. A male impala and a female cheetah.

"Antlerson, please check in on the DeClawe clan that is guarding the Hopps compound and bring Chief Hopps here quickly with a guard from the lynx tribe. Jackie?" The previously laughing female cheetah stood at attention as Leo continued. "Please escort Chief Wilde here and make sure that my clan has been keeping them in check."

"Understood," the cheetah and antelope said in unison before racing off.

"Good, now that that is done, I think we can-"

Ka-thunk

Thwump

The massive lion paused, the two mammals coming into view as he turned to focus on them...then onto the items they had dumped onto the table in front of him. A rather, vicious looking short sword of curious make and a small medallion, an inscribed 'C' in the center of it.

"What are those?" Leo commanded, pointing at the objects.

"The emblem of the army coming to kill every last Zootopian," Judy began, pointing towards the medallion.

"And the weapons of which they will commence the slaughter with," finished Nick, his paw pressed against the handle of the sword.

Leo the Stouthearted was neither a complicated mammal, nor was he unlearned in the ways and workings of the world. He had travelled far to visit many lands and tribes over the past three decades, though never in his life had he come across such curious artifacts as the ones presented to him. The sword especially caught his attention. Very little metal could be found in Zootopia proper, and any to be found had to be mined out of the mountains to the northeast. Even then, the metal was of low quality and broke easily compared to the tools made from the obsidian quarried from the Blackrock Fields to the east.

Yet as Leo ran his paw across the blade, he recognized the craftmammalship immediately. "Whoever made this blade has been blessed by Industry and Phantasm to produce such a blade."

"And there are hundreds more like it," Judy recalled, remembering the barrels full of similar blades that were scattered throughout Calamity's camp. Judy walked forward, clasping the medallion she had torn from the jaguar's clothing she had killed. "And this, is the symbol of Calamity, the Celestial of Terror."

The lion had brought the blade off the table, examining it more closely when the mention of the Celestial's name caused such a start that he dropped the iron sword to the table, the weapon clacking loudly.

"Did you say, Calamity?" The lion gulped, eyeing Bogo for a moment who had also paled slightly before turning back to the rabbit and fox. Taking a step backwards, he then turned and motioned for them to follow him into his tent.

The pair quickly obliged the soon to be ruler of a united Zootopia, gaining quizzical stares from their fellow mammals at the lion's odd behavior. Slipping into the tent soon after the feline, they found him opening a chest, removing scroll after scroll while his tail twitched behind him.

"Not this...is it this? No...Wait...not that one..." Several terse moments went by before an exultant cry came from the larger mammal. "Ah, found it."

Lion turned, showcasing a large papyrus tapestry which he had unfurled. The scale of it being so large that Nick could probably use it as a blanket if he had wanted, along with several of his siblings. His massive paw followed along the words written on the manuscript until he came to a certain line.

"Um, sir?" Nick finally spoke up after a full minute of silence passed by without the lion seeming to notice. "Could you give some mammals a clue as to what is going on?"

"Raitherhell."

"Gesundheit," Nick said smarmily, earning an elbow to the ribs from the rabbit.

"What was that?" Judy asked much more respectively.

"Raitherhall." Leo repeated. "An old legend that the elders used to tell my siblings and I when we were younger. The Celestials keep a balance in our world between Chaos and Order and they have kept it fairly well without interruption for thousands of years. However, if that balance is ever disrupted, then it would have to be restored through an avatar of one of two Celestials, Destiny a daughter of Order...or Calamity, a son of Chaos. That event, whatever it is, is known as Raitherhall."

"Wait, an avatar?" Judy asked. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," Leo said with a sigh, looking much more forlorn than before. "That the Celestial will imbue a mammal with their power to pull back the balance of life from too much Chaos, or too much Order. I...I think with what we've tried to accomplish here in the peace accords, we may have tipped the scales too much in Order's favor."

"Thus signaling the start of this, Raitherhall, with Calamity bringing Chaos?" Nick finished, scratching at his chin. "So, basically what you're telling us is that this Hyena leading the army coming to destroy us has the power of a Celestial on his side?

"A hyena you say?" The line was nearly a whisper, causing Judy to strain to hear what the lion spoke. "You've seen the avatar of Calamity?" Nodding, the bunny stepped forward to catch the attention of the lion.

"Yes, a hyena. Taller than any I've seen before. His eyes were like the sun, flaming yellow in their brilliance and his aura brought a fear upon us as we saw him."

Leo the Stouthearted, for all the bravado he exuded, slumped to the ground, limbs quaking and eyes fearful.

"We are all doomed then."

"Wait, what?" both Nick and Judy shouted at once in alarm.

Leo's head slowly turned to face them, yet his eyes held a vacant expression. "The avatar of a Celestial does not grow to enormous heights, or craft an aura around them. No, an avatar of a Celestial could be like you or me, and we'd never know who they are." The lion shook his mane, his voice catching as he looked at the unrolled parchment before him.

"No...we aren't facing the avatar of Calamity." The catch in his voice was now overflowing with emotion as his words themselves seemed to exude fear. "This is worse than Raitherhall."

"Worse?" Nick asked nervously, cautiously looking at the bunny at his side. Leo nodded.

"This...no Celestial is allowed to come to Earth in physical form. Calamity has broken this rule. We are facing Gnarlbrask...the end." His voice finally broke and the tears flowed freely.

"We're all going to die."

AN: *blinks* Well, that sounds...terrible. Now what will these two do? Again, massive thanks to Lapis, Star and Kittah4 and again, check out their stories! You will not regret it!