Chapter 5 Defending the Bond
Edited by LapisLucius42 & Starfang's Secrets
Reviewed and approved by Kittah4
Artwork by Caliosidhe on DA (check her out!)
A trembling bunny and shaking fox left the tent of Leo the 'Stouthearted'. Yet not with fear like the trepidacious lion within. No...they were angry. Vibrating with rage at how easily the lion had given up at the news that a Celestial was wanting to kill them all.
"You'd think that Chaos would intervene and stop Calamity," Nick growled. "He's his son after all."
"Chaos breeds more chaos," Judy reprimanded as they came to a stop several yards outside the tent. Even though they could still hear the lion weeping inside, they chose to ignore the sound.
"This coming from a follower of Serendipity?" Nick asked quizzically. "I would think you'd revel in chaos and want more."
Judy glared up at the fox. "No, I prefer there to be a balance between them."
Nick hmmed. "Well, seems like you should have been born a fox then."
"Excuse me?"
"Well, you like a balance and that is kind of Karma's thing," he replied with a smug look. Before she could object, he continued. "So, with Leo the Kit-Hearted back there weeping his pride away, what should we do now? I'm not for waiting around to be butchered by a Celestial."
The question gave Judy pause. Her foot thumped the dirt as she thought, going over different ideas, scarping them, then searching for more. "How far away do you think Calamity's army is?"
"Two days," Nick replied. "Give or take. We did kind of book it here rather quickly and an army of that size would take time to move and take down each day. They seemed quite sure of themselves to have brought so much baggage and tents with them instead of roughing it."
Judy snapped her fingers, a grin growing on her face. "Maybe we can use that to our advantage! If we can figure out where they encamp for the night, we could possibly raid them-"
"And destroying their supplies would be a huge blow to morale-"
"-which they might not recover from." Judy finished. The two mammals were grinning at each other, their mischievous looks catching the attention of several nearby mammals. "So," Judy added, placing her paws on her hips. "Which tribe has the best archers?"
Nick smirked. "Why Carrots, I never thought you'd ask..."
Judy spun and walked away, speaking over her shoulder with a smile. "Good. Because I think a little bonfire might be in order tonight." Nick began walking after her.
"So, what's the plan, O Fluffy one?" the fox quipped as he joined by her side, the duo making their way down to the watering hole.
"Once our fathers get here," she began as she found a rock to sit on and stretched out, letting the sun warm her fur. "We're going to commandeer our families for a little...bonfire activity."
Nick grinned as he stretched out next to her, letting the sun warm his fur as well. "Sounds good to me, Fluffbutt."
Judy slapped him in the stomach, getting an oof out of him. Rolling his eyes, Nick shoved her off the rock, earning a loud 'hey!' from the rabbit. Wiggling to get a better position, he didn't notice the angry grey doe leaping at him until she tackled him off the rock.
The next morning, Calamity looked over the smoking ruins of part of his camp. A fierce growl exited his muzzle as he kicked the charred remains of a fish barrel, the food inside entirely inedible.
"How did this happen!" he roared, staring over half of his camp which lay in ruins. "How could the Zootopians have been so organized to pull this off when you stated they were in disarray and almost at war with each other.
"It...it was so sudden, Calamity," a nervous leopard stated. "I...I don't know how they would have pulled together like-"
The movement was so swift that none of the mammals around the Celestial caught it. The stuttering leopard's eyes widened, a paw reaching for his neck as Calamity re-sheathed his sword. A thin line of crimson appeared circling just below the feline's head before the cat slumped to the ground, his head toppling from his body.
"I want every soldier, injured or not, to be ready in the next ten minutes," Calamity snarled, his hackles bristling. The hyena Celestial glared murderously in the direction of Zootopia. "We are going to slaughter every last one of them even if it's the last thing any of you do."
The animals around him nodded before hurrying off. Calamity looked up into the sky and snarled. You think you can stop me Chaos? Order? he thought with a malicious grin. He trudged off towards his tent, his armor bearer already preparing his weapons.
Well, think again...
The raid against the hyena Celestial's camp went much more smoothly than anyone had thought, even if the rabbit and fox leading the raiding party needed to threaten their clans with physical beatings to accomplish it. Under Nick's leadership, archers from the Wilde's clans made swift work of the sentries along one side of the camp while Judy led the rabbit clan forces to smear pitch across that side of their tents. Their padless paws making sure they were unheard from the slumbering predator army. As soon as every last rabbit was back over the hill they were hiding behind, they had lit the torches and lit the tips of the fox clan's arrows.
The inferno rose into the sky and the screams of terror throughout the camp had been deafening. Nick and Judy thought it slightly ironic, as their group of saboteurs fled back towards the watering hole, that the only terror being inspired that night, was in the Celestial's of terror's own camp.
The group was greeted with thunderous applause, trumpeting and roars from the different clans who had gathered around the watering hole to participate in the celebratory homecoming. Though Judy and Nick enjoyed the small sense of relief knowing that part of their foes forces had been destroyed and their morale weakened, they should still be prepared. However, the mammals surrounding, would not stop in their revelry, no matter how much the rabbit and fox told them to prepare for battle. After several hours of pleading, both doe and tod grew nervous, and a feeling of worry began to nag at each of them.
Calamity was the Celestial of Opportunity after all, and what better time to strike than when the enemy has thought they've won.
It was in the middle of the day, at the height of the Zootopians celebrating that a cry of alarm rose from across the hills to the east. A lone figure, a cheetah, rushed across the plains shouting the alarm.
"Calamity is coming!" she shouted, causing a wave of fear to enter into the celebrating mammals. The cheetah, Jackie, halted to catch her breath when she reached the mammals celebrating around the watering hole. Nick and Judy wormed their way towards the front of the group, sneaking in between the legs of the larger mammals.
"Where is he? How far away is he?" they asked in tandem, before giving each other incredulous looks at both speaking identical questions.
"Seven miles is my wager," Jackie breathed, leaning on her spear. "Acceleration may have blessed me with speed once I saw their army in the distance, but that army seems imbued with Fervor's conviction to be moving towards us so fast."
A panic swept into the crowd of leaders gathered around the watering hole. Judy searched and finally found Chief Bogo, the massive cape buffalo speaking with the leader of Clan Trunkaby.
"Chief Bogo!" she yelled, gaining the larger prey's attention. "How many mammals can we ready before they arrive?"
The cape buffalo snorted. "Not enough. It would appear that none of the Chief's here thought to rally their warriors after the raid last night. They all felt that they would be no need to do so."
Judy's ears dropped, her nose twitching in fear. "We've sent our warriors home to rest...we have nobody here besides us?"
The buffalo nodded solemnly as Nick joined at the rabbit's side, his own tail twitching behind him. "The warriors we have now are those that were preventing your two clans from going into war against each other. The lynx clan and my clan should be on their way, but it will take time for them...where are you going?"
Nick glanced at the rabbit speeding off towards the east. "Where are you going, Fluff?" he shouted. The rabbit looked back and shouted her reply.
"To give us some time!"
Nick and Bogo blinked, before the fox started after the rabbit, swiping his bow from the previous night off a nearby table. "That rabbit's crazy," he muttered as he snatched his quiver off the bench as well, then bolted off after the bunny.
Bogo watched the two mammals speeding off towards the east and scowled. Those two are going to get themselves killed... he thought in annoyance. Staring over the group of mammals, he felt his resolve starting to build. If they are going to sacrifice themselves to save all of us, I should at least try to save them.
Bogo began bellowing forth orders as the rabbit and fox disappeared into the tall grass of the Zootopian Prairie.
Judy and Nick stood together at the top of the rise, staring down at the massive army streaming towards them. The sun at their backs and shining off the weapons of the invading horde which marched less than a mile away. They chose the best spot they could for the oncoming battle. The rise that they were on was steep enough to where the oncoming army would have to slow down considerably to climb it and long enough to wear out any mammal coming their way. At the bottom of the hill a shallow river, wide, but not deep, flowed along at a leisurely pace. It was perfect for further slowling down the mammals, who'd have to slog through the channel before cresting the hill.
It was the best they could find that was still in the path of Calamity's army, which was close to reaching the stream. They had already spotted several of the mammals pointing up at them, and the howls and snarls of their enemy had already reached their ears.
"Well, this will be a glorious battle," the fox declared, gripping his bow between his paws. "Short, but glorious."
"We could still win," Judy stated, though she couldn't for the life of her think how they could. It was the two of them against an army. An army led by the Celestial of Terror himself. "Who knows what the Celestials could be planning. I'm sure they aren't happy that one of their own has betrayed their laws. Though if we don't succeed..."
Her gaze dropped to the ground as she trailed off, the realization this was most likely the last few moments of her life hitting home. She hoped that Serendipity would bless her family somehow to escape the coming war, or at least for most of her siblings to survive it, even if she would have to be watching out for them from above.
She was startled from her thoughts by a russet paw placed on her shoulder. Looking up, she saw Nick smiling down at her. "Never thought I'd see today."
"What do you mean?" Judy asked after a moment's hesitation.
"The day I teamed up with a rabbit of all mammals to halt an invasion by a Celestial."
Judy snorted, a smirk coming to play across her muzzle. "I think the least likely of that was teaming up with a fox. I still owe you for the scars you've given me."
"If we survive this, I promise to let you win our next fight," Nick quipped, earning a punch to his side from the rabbit.
"Oh I'm sure I'd win, Slick," she replied, earning a grin from him in return. She looked back over the fields and now saw, and felt, the horde coming towards them. "Just after I slaughter more of our enemies than you."
Nick chuckled as his eyes scanned the oncoming masses as he picked an arrow from his quiver. "Well, if you manage to get Calamity, just know that he still only counts as one." His cheeky reply came as he drew back his bow. Judy watched as he let loose, the arrow flying true and hitting the chest of an oncoming cougar. The feline toppled forward, tripping a black bear behind him and causing a chain reaction in the line of soldiers following.
"Good shot," Judy quipped as she loaded a rock into her sling. "Almost could beat a bunny with that." Eyeing an oncoming rhino, one of the few prey mammals in the marauding horde, she let loose the stone with deadly accuracy, striking the mammal between his eyes. The rhino let out a pained bellow before stumbling to his right, crashing into several predators before landing on top of them, crushing several of them with his weight.
Nick let out a low whistle before notching another bow as the enemy reached the river and began to ford it. Taking aim, he fired it off. Judy laughed when it impaled itself into a tree just on the opposite side of the creek.
"Great shot," she said, loading another stone and slinging it into a wolverine, the creature slipping into the water, only to be trodden down by the ones behind him. "Remind me why I brought you along?"
Nick hummed as he lined up another shot, hitting a cheetah that tried to speed across the river. For his eagerness, he was rewarded with an arrow in his shoulder, spinning him around and landing him face down in the river. "Might want to check the mammals near there."
Judy slung another stone before checking on the tree, only to snicker at the sight of several dozen of the toughest looking warriors fleeing and clawing at themselves; a massive beehive lying shattered on the ground near them. Pausing only to recompose herself, she quickly joined in with Nick as the two began taking down the enemy one by one. They had no thought they could take out the entire force...not even a fraction of it. But they could stall the army long enough to at least save a few lives.
Nick's arrows ran out about the same time that Judy reached into her pouch and found her sling bag empty. By then the army moving towards them was swarming the hillside, roaring in triumph as the fox and bunny laid down their sling and bow.
"Well, it's been nice knowing you Carrots," Nick stated flatly, letting out a sigh as he pulled his long dagger from its sheath. "Even if you are a rabbit."
Surprisingly, Judy felt herself hold back a sniffle at the fox's words. "And it's been nice fighting by your side, even if you are a fox." Judy was surprised to see the corner of his lips drop into a frown.
"You know," he began. "I'm sorry that life worked out the way it has." His statement perked Judy's ears up, as the bunny wondered what he meant. Was he apologizing for something? He caught her looking at him and offered a sad grin. "Maybe we could be friends in our next life and not enemies?"
This time, Judy actually did feel tears threatening to be released, though she tried to blame it on the idea that she wouldn't be seeing her family again and not her sworn enemy asking her forgiveness and acceptance. Not feeling able to speak, she nodded, withdrawing her own dagger as the horde descended upon them.
Judy dashed forward, Nick by her side as they ran down the hill towards the oncoming predators. Both released a feral war cry at the same moment before plunging into the midst of the foe. Nick went low, slashing at a tiger's legs, slicing an artery while dodging beneath a sword strike. Judy leapt above the sword, placing a kick into the face of the bear who swung at Nick, then stabbed him in the shoulder, twisting the knife before ripping it out and pushing off the bear's back towards her next foe.
The bear roared, swinging his poleax which caught the neck of a nearby lion, who nearly toppled on top of Nick who leapt out of the way with barely a moment to spare before he would have been crushed. The fox tripped over his own tail, yelping as a badger's spear caught his side, nicking him just below his arm. Nick grasped the spear, yanking it and the enemy soldier charged forward at the same moment he stabbed it between two pieces of un-connected chest hide armor. Nick pulled away as Judy appeared, jumping off the badger's skull and using it as a trampoline to land a double kick into the chest of a nearby polar bear. The bear grunted, but that was all before he swiped the rabbit out of the air with a massive paw, flinging her into Nick's chest as the fox tried to dodge.
The pair of mammals collapsed onto the grassy field with groans of pain, Judy laying atop the fox. The rabbit tried to raise her head, only to have the massive weight of the polar bear's foot crush onto her from above. Judy let out a cry of pain, nearly as loud as Nick's pain filled yelp as the polar bear laughed deeply.
"My kills, my dinner!" the bear roared as he pressed his foot harder onto them. Nick let out a whimper and could feel his chest slowly being crushed under the massive weight.
The bear roared again, and without warning, the weight disappeared from off them. Both let in a deep gasp of air, spluttering and coughing as they could once again breath. Unconsciously, Nick wrapped his arms around the rabbit, patting her back gently as she cried and coughed into his chest. Trying to see what had caused the bear to not kill them, Nick was surprised to see an arrow lodged in the bear's left shoulder. Then was shocked to see another zip into his chest, sending the mammal tumbling to his knees.
A loud horn rang across the field, and both Nick and Judy could feel the army come to a halt around them. All the taller mammals around them prevented them from seeing what the cause of the noise or halt was, but they were relieved that, for at least a moment, nobody's attention was on the bunny and fox curled around each other in the grass. Another horn sounded, somewhat different than the first...then again as dozens more answered the call of the first.
The last two brought tears to the eyes of doe and tod, as the horn blasts were those of their tribes.
The ground around them began to shake, and the army around them began moving once more as a cacophony of sounds came from higher up the hill. The shrill cry of thousands of mammals sounded in their ears, as well as that of cries of pain and battle.
Staring up into the sky, as both mammals were too spent to do much else, they saw arrows by the hundreds soar over heard, the screams of mammals coming from further down the hill. The rumbling sound came closer to them. A trumpeting blast of an elephant sounded in their ears. The enemy army around them began moving back, cries of fear sounding through their ranks as the massive form of Chief Trunkaby barreled through their lines on all four, crushing all in his path as he passed directly over the bunny and fox, swinging his tusks from side to side as he went. The bull elephant had several spears stuck in his hide, yet charged forth, either oblivious to the pain, or more likely, the rage seen in his eyes drove him forward.
"Are you two alright?" A gentle paw was placed upon Judy's shoulder. Grimacing from the pain of even moving her body to look at the mammals above her, she saw the cheetah Jackie, as well as Chief DeClawe of the lynx tribe above them.
"You guys look terrible," Jackie said, helping Judy into a sitting position as Chief DeClawe did the same with Nick.
"Looks like you saved at least a few for us," DeClawe said. Nick noticed that the sword the lynx held was already coated in blood. Turning to Jackie, the cheetah was missing half her spear. She shrugged.
"Lost it in a tiger."
"In, a tiger?"Judy asked, to which Jackie nodded.
"Come on, let's get you to safety, " Jackie said as she scooped up the bunny in her arms. "You've done enough for today."
Judy squirmed in her grasp. "No! I'm not going to leave until everyone is safe!"
"See reason, Judy," DeClawe stated as he picked up Nick and tried to pull the fox toward the back of the Zootopian army. When he encountered resistance, he paused. Turning, he saw Nick shaking his head.
"If a bunny can stand being crushed by a polar bear, Karma would have my hide if I left her now."
"You two..." Jackie muttered, before her ears flickered to her right. In a flash, her spear struck out, jammed into the chest of an approaching wolf. The lupine snarled, reaching for his knife when DeClawe jumped past the cheetah and tackled the canine. The two tussled in the grass before the lynx ended the wolf with a dagger to the chest.
"ENOUGH!"
The roar that echoed across the battlefield tore into the hearts of all who heard it, soldier and Zootopian alike; like an icy tendril of fear creeping into the very soul of every mammal. The aura was palpable, like a heavy smoke filling the air...
...and it was heading right towards them.
All soldiers from both sides of the conflict parted as a massive male hyena, taller than any polar bear, strode towards the foursome. Jackie gulped and took a step back as DeClawe produced another dagger, twirling both in his paws.
The hyena stopped several yards away from the group and even Nick and Judy had to nervously look at one another as this was not the Calamity they had seen before. A physical aura surrounded the hyena, the mammal glowing like a fire as his yellow eyes burned with the intensity of the noon day sun.
"SO...You are the ones who dare defy the will of Calamity!"
The hyena was staring solely at the rabbit and fox, his paws gripping two scimitars that were larger than either of them. Smiling cheekily, the fox nodded. "Well, defy means that we just stand against it. What I think you mean is another 'd' word, defeat. We are the ones to defeat the will of yourself."
"Silence!" Calamity roared, sending most of the mammals around him cowering back. "If you intend to joke-"
"Oh, I think he succeeded," Judy sniped, gaining a snicker from Jackie who quickly fell silent when the hyena snarled.
"You are unworthy to challenge me, rabbit," Calamity snarled. "Nor you fox. I have been given charge to set the balance in this world, and I will start with the two of you!"
The hulking hyena took a stride forward, as a blinding light shot from the sky. The beam fell upon Nick, Jackie and DeClawe stumbling away from the blinding light as a second, multi-colored beam, blasted down from the sky and surrounded Judy.
"Mortals may not be able to stand against you," a canine voice rang from the heavens.
"But a little help from other US can help out with that problem!" came a giggling tone that sounded whimsical and almost rabbit-y.
The beams of light dissipated, leaving a very confused Nick and Judy standing there, blinking quickly in confusion.
"What just happened, Fluff?" Nick asked as he felt a surge of power within him.
"I don't know," Judy replied, "but whatever it was, I like the golden eye look."
"The what?" Nick asked, blinking in surprise as he stared down at Judy. "And why are your eyes now red...wait, green, no...is that rainbow?"
A snarl broke them from their confusion.
"So Karma and Serendipity have favored thee?" Calamity snarled. "Doesn't matter as your blood will soon enough water the earth."
The hyena broke forward into a run at them. Nick leapt out of the way, his motions much more fluid and quicker than usual. Judy went to leap out of harm's way, but found herself floating in the air and not coming down.
"Woah, this is strange!" Judy cried, waving her paws around like she was trying to swim through air. Each stroke sent her flying further around the massive hyena. Another swing of the hyena's scimitar at her and she jumped, pushing off from nothing and flying backwards. "Strange, but fun!" Judy shouted as she loaded a stone into her sling and fired it at the hyena Celestial. The stone crackled and glowed, whizzing through the air and leaving a fiery, multi-hued trail in its wake. Calamity snarled in rage as the stone smashed into his snout, a loud crack sounding through the arena.
"Why you little!" he shouted, only to howl in pain as a pain from below caused him to stumble to his knees. Nick stepped back, his knife glistening with golden blood as he pulled it from the right calf of the hyena. Calamity swiped the fox away, slicing the canine's shoulder.
"I shouldn't be bleeding purple, right?" Nick grunted, placing a paw to the wound, noting the magenta smear covering his paw.
"Just go with it, Nick!" Judy shouted, flinging stone after stone at the hyena. "Why don't you try to see what you can do?" she said, floating out of reach of another of Calamity's attacks.
Nick closed his eyes and focused. A calmness filled his mind and after several quiet moments, his eyes flashed open. The fox drug himself to his feet, then sprinted towards the hyena. He circled him once, twice, than a third time before slamming his dagger into the hyena's chest as he was distracted by Judy. A prism of light surrounded the hyena, freezing him in place.
"What are you doing!" Calamity roared.
"Finishing this," Judy and Nick stated together. Giving each other a smile, the pair darted towards the Celestial, their daggers aglow in light as they leapt at the trapped hyena from two sides. A blinding flash lit the field, blinding everyone who didn't look away.
Slowly, as the dust settled and mammals blinked away the spots from their eyes, they turned their gaze upon the rabbit and fox standing in an empty circle of scorched earth; twin scimitars laying at their feet. The two small mammals noticed the looks of the enemy army.
Both grinned.
"So..." they exclaimed together, each picking up one of the fallen Celestial's scimitar and giving each other a quick grin.
"...Who's next?"
Judy yawned loudly, stretching her paws out above her head as her eyes fluttered open. She momentarily wondered where she was, before her mind jogged her memory.
Fitwick's Arcade...in the PIXAR machine, with Nick. On lunch...break...
Oh sweet cheese and crackers!
Judy pushed off the helmet, her eyes scanning the room for a clock. "What time is it?" she cried, startling the fox just waking up next to her. Nick pushed his visor up, blinking tiredly.
"Wow, what was...bloody," the fox stated, wiping at his eyes. He couldn't remember most of what had happened, only that the whole experience felt like a dream, and he felt more than a little drained from the experience. Judy, on the other paw...
"We have to get back to patrol before Bogo finds out!" the rabbit yelled. She grabbed his paw and yanked him from the seat. Nick stumbled before gracefully catching himself as the bunny pulled him past the curtains surrounding the PIXAR machine and dashing through the arcade.
"This is Officer Hopps, coming back from 10-7," she declared into her radio as the fox offered a good-natured salute to Fitwick who waved them goodbye.
"Wait, don't you want a copy of the experience?" he asked.
"Maybe later!" Nick shouted over his shoulder as the bunny officer dragged him out the door and back to their vehicle. Nick did want to find out what happened in the experience, as whatever it was, sent a chill down his spine. Fitwick had mentioned that it would be a like a dream, with all sorts of scenario's that could happen but the fox hadn't expected anything quite like the bits and pieces he could recall at the moment.
Guess we'll just have to try this again some other time. I wonder what the rest will be like.
AN: And that's the end for the first story that folks voted on through a combination of votes on Deviantart and here. Next up, Carrot Farmers! Written by the talented Midnightopheliac who writes the absolutely amazing "Safe Paws" story. Get ready for that fluff I know you're all wanting because she is the Empress of it! Big shout out to LapisLucius42, Starfang's Secrets, and Kittah4 again for helping to edit and draft these scenes. If you haven't read Celestials by Kittah4, it is a must read so go check it out! And check out Lapis' Christmas story! It's a good one!