Edited by BeecroftA

Ready for another dose of my oddities?

Well…. TOO BAD! Suffer more of my horrendous work and regret ever knowing me!

Mwahahahahaha!

Sorry… I'm off my meds and everything is so purple and pudding. (both good things)

Anywho, Have fun because I know I did. Read, Review, and Enjoy! Also, grab that strange snack. Mine today is purple plum pawpsicles. I made them a thing! They are quite delicious.

Groans and wails lined the walls as much as the portraits hung upon the walls themselves. A few dozen mammals lay injured or possibly dying in the main foyer of the Hopps homestead.

Judith attended to a wounded bunny, tan in color and sporting blotches of buttercream fur. The buck's thigh had a stab wound from a bayonet, having caused significant bleeding and missing greatly vital areas, though not precluding death as a close result of the future.

The doe changed his wrappings, seeing the discoloration that marred the edges of his wounds. It was likely an infection accompanied the blade on its way into his flesh, with the current affliction being the result.

Placing a soaked bandage to the exposed injury, the buck thrashed and wailed in kind, biting down on a slat that was effectively placed in his mouth by another sibling of Judith's.

"You should really allow them to catch their breath more easily," chided Heather, a brown doe and Judith's older sister. The younger grey bunny offered a tepid grunt in response. The older rabbit sighed, "You don't need to be so blunt with them…"

"And what good would that do them?" Judith replied with a false grin. "I baby them and give them time enough to steel their nerves, only for those nerves to make the fear of what I'll do worse. Best to get it over with and let them feel relieved, even if a bit annoyed."

"And you wonder why you can't get a buck…" Heather sassed to her sister. The violet eyed doe let loose a short laugh.

"None of them could handle me," she jibed to no one in particular. The brown rabbit chuckled, rolling her eyes at her sister.

"Who could then?" Heather asked her. The two were now carrying baskets of leftover materials, having helped who they could and walking off to dispose of what they needed to. "You don't exactly entertain a lot of courting offers."

"That is because I am not afforded the respect I believe all of us does deserve," Judith retorted. "We're not all some females who are going to wait on them, paw and foot, willing to make them dinner and rub their feet just because they expect it."

"Fair enough," was her sister's reply. Her hazel eyes became curious and inquisitive as she looked to her younger sibling. "So… what kind of male would interest you?"

The grey doe drew in a breath…

Judith groaned, a long and drawn out release of breath following.

She was carrying a small crate full of tools. The thing was small but heavy for its size. The grey doe had to kick in the door of the barn to properly make her way inside, the door nearly falling apart as the hinges creaked.

"Quite a kick you've got there," voiced a slightly pleasant, but recently increasingly annoying fox. Nicholas steadied himself from a leaning position, using a crutch tucked under his arm to limp over to the bunny doe. He reached out with a good paw, attempting to take the item from her. She twisted to the side, rebuking him and his offer to assist her.

"I can take care of this myself," Judith told the red fox. He chuckled.

"Alright then," the tod responded, shrugging his unoccupied shoulder. "For all your effort, I wanted to ease your burden." Judith stopped and gave him a once over.

The past week had been rather… interesting for the conflicted doe. Attending to his injuries as she had was nowhere near the infuriation that she expected it to be. Despite their meeting, the fox was oddly polite and respectful, excepting the occasional sass and joking remark at her expense. She was quite used to hearing such things, but usually in reference to herself in a more… disrespectful manner.

Nicholas was certainly mindful of his words and actions around her, not that he had much room to enact the latter. His wound would open back up if he moved around too much.

The barn they were in now was a completely different one to the barn that the fox and bunny met in previously. Being closer to the warren, it would have been visited often. That's especially so, considering that a whole lot of produce was being stored in it. Her family wouldn't leave the produce there for long and the tod had no real means to remain stealthy for the long period of time he would need for proper healing.

The very next night, Judith helped the poor fox trudge and shuffle his way to another farm on a portion of her family's stead that was not in use. When asked, the doe merely said it was a rotating crops thing, explaining in short that certain crops were planted for the purpose of revitalizing the soil for future use. In this instance, clovers lined the fields around the barn and would for the current season, needing little attendance or general watering.

That made it the smart choice to attend to Nicholas. None of her family would need or care to visit the barn, save for some strange circumstance that she hoped wouldn't arise.

Currently, Judith's reason for coming here was finding replacement tools from one of the old barns to replace the ones that were a bit worn, of which she brought within the small crate.

She was wearing an apron over her summer dress, setting down the crate to dust it off. The bunny doe then reached into the pouch on the apron to pull out a small sack of food.

"And give you further reason to be cared for by me by extending your stay? I think not," the grey rabbit snarked at him. Letting out a scoffing snicker, Nicholas held out his paws for the food, having settled into his impromptu chair made of a pile of hay and a wood board settled on top. "Sorry I can't provide you with anything… meaty… but you know."

The red fox began to pop in some blueberries from the sack, giving Judith his own once over and shrugging. Taking a few seconds to devour food and satisfy his complaining stomach, the fox tod swallowed.

"It matters little," he stated, brushing off her worry. "Not every predator needs to eat meat all the time. I'm perfectly fine without it for a long while." Nicholas dove into the bag, pulling out a pretty generous piece of fresh bread and giving it aggressive bites.

Judith was suddenly thrown into a tense and anxious state, having never really seen a predator's fangs so closely before. Now, they were in full view with every open maw bite that the fox had of his food, sinking his long canines into the crust of his bread, or flesh of an apple, after he'd devoured the bread. A mixture of fear and tentative curiosity pervaded her mind.

On one paw, she'd been taught all her life that predators were not exactly to be trusted and were all aggressive, impatient, and prone to savage outbursts mammals. On the other paw, she hadn't much actual exposure to other predators. So, the sight of fangs was something of a discoverable experience. Her eyes locked onto the pearly white fangs as she gulped slightly.

"See something you like?" came the jarring statement from the fox, snapping Judith into awareness and nearly falling over. She hadn't noticed the tod staring at her own gaze. Words failed her as she murmured to herself and felt like a young kit with her paw caught stealing cookies or some such sweets from the kitchen.

"I…" Judith mustered, "...it… I haven't seen fangs often. Not this close."

"Oh?" came his short inquiry. "Haven't met many predators I take it?" The grey bunny nodded slowly, eyes narrowed a bit, making Nicholas hum in amusement. "You're not missing much. We're all the same really. Some of us just have bigger claws, bigger ears, or even smaller hearts, but personalities are pretty much similar things across the board."

"Ha! In comparison to all the bucks who vie for my attention, you are far more polite and respectful," the doe began, with the red fox raising a brow in interest. "And all that even considering I shot you." Judith started laughing hysterically. Wiping a tear she looked over to Nicholas, saying, "Sorry… I'm not laughing at that…"

His grin turned devious, eyes falling into a half-lidded gaze.

"Sounds like you have an interest in this fox," the tod mentioned. And it wasn't a question. "And I know."

Judith blushed profusely, aiming an accusing paw at the smugly smirking mammal before her. It shook as the fox merely grinned at her, never faltering in his piercing gaze.

"That is NOT what I said," Judith seethed. "I never said I was attracted to you, you...arrogant idiot."

Nicholas barked a good, throaty laugh, full of mirth and amusement, his eyes turning a bit devious as he calmed down after.

"While that's a shame, since I actually find you quite entrancing," the tod divulged without any shame or real filter. "I never said anything about attraction. Just interest." The grey bunny doe was suddenly shocked into speechlessness, woefully flabbergasted by the unabashed admission of the fox she was taking care of. Her own slip up on the mix up of her wording also jammed the gears in her head from turning properly. Much to her reluctance, the rabbit's cheeks and ears started burning, suffusing with a surplus of blood and infuriating her further.

"How… but I'm…" she stuttered out, eyes unable to properly look at the fox, whom she knew was still gazing at her with that teasing grin.

"A bunny? Yeah, I noticed," Nicholas supplied, seemingly unwavered by her flustered state. "Why shouldn't I find you appealing to look at?"

Judith could barely help herself as frantic denial took over, her voice breaking as she spoke, "Because it's… not right."

"It's left?"

"There's quite the size difference…"

"I can stoop down to make somebunny feel taller."

"There's a lot of hate and opposition for it…"

"Eh… I've always been a good swimmer. I can fight the current."

"You just have an answer to everything, don't you?" inquired Judith, her voice full of sincerity.

"And you're acting like I proclaimed my undying love for you," retorted Nicholas. "I only said I found you entrancing and appealing. Leave those other concerns for if you actually try courting a fox or something." His tone sounded a bit devoid of his usual energy as he went on, making the rabbit feel a bit guilty at her over-reactive statements and assumptions.

She tried to reach out to place a paw on the tod's shoulder, wincing slightly as he shirked away from her in response. He turned over, putting his back to her as he found a position lying on his side. A large amount of hay with a thick sheet over it had become his bed for the time being. Another week and Judith figured he would be able to walk or even run properly on his own.

A look to the light bleeding between the wood boards making up the walls told the doe that dusk was quickly approaching. She chose to murmur a 'good night' and take her leave, feeling rather ashamed of her short outbursts.

Judith tossed and turned in her bed, the recent smell of a blown out candle smoldering the air. A small and well worn book lay on her night stand. She desperately tried to take her mind off her fresh faux paw by reading, but could barely get through two words without feeling a massive headache from attempting to go further.

The moon was rather bright this night, at its apex and waxing to near its fullest, giving the bunny a very clear view out her window. While far off, the doe could see the barn that Nicholas was residing in. She clutched a paw to her chest, a dull pain only supplementing her guilt.

In all seriousness, Judith hadn't actually said much, but she knew something in there probably felt like salt on the wound for the fox.

Flashes of light cascaded in the distance, a faint echo of small pops reaching her ears. The grey doe tensed up and bolted to sit upright. Nearly tripping over herself to reach the window, she pressed her paws against it and looked out, attempting to strain her vision to its upper limit. More flashes followed by resounding pops made her ears twitch.

Suddenly, much larger flashes reached her eyes, with pervading booms resounding across the fields.

Cannonfire.

A night battle was happening on the clover fields. It wasn't unheard of. With enough mammals in a garrison that had night vision, opposing armies would attempt to take advantage of that fact and meet on the battlefield to exert that potential edge.

Judith's legs became locked in nervousness, as the idea that Nicholas's current abode could be threatened by all the fighting. All these flashes and cannon fire were dangerously close to the barn.

Each resounding pop and boom set her teeth on edge as she despaired over the decision to pursue him. The grey doe was determined to keep him safe and promote his recovery, so she couldn't just leave him.

The rabbit didn't have time to contemplate why a battle was ensuing directly on her family's farm as she bolted from her room in a rush, attempting some guise of stealth by avoiding letting her claws skitter over the floor. The members of her family that were still awake were finding a place in the warren to hunker down, knowing full well that keeping close to walls or windows might expose them to stray gunfire.

Keeping clear of common areas and the hallways with rooms full of other siblings, Judith made her way as hastily as she could muster to the back door. The door would have noisily creaked, had the doe pulled it open slowly, but her jerky tug only let a short and low grind sound out. Having the presence of mind to close the door without slamming it, she then turned on her heel and ran in a dead sprint towards the battlefield.

Judith hadn't run this hard since she was a kit trying to make the dinner call from the edge of the property, quickly resulting in her panting and heart wrenching pain as she pushed herself further. The sharp pops and bangs of gunfire became louder as she drew closer to the barn, her vision aided by the waxing moon.

A large boom from a cannon reverberated across the field, making the small doe crouch down in response and cover her ears. The echoing thrum faded away over several seconds, sounding like rolling thunder on a stormy night. Before the next could go off, Judith slicked her ears back to keep the sound from stunning her like that again.

It felt like an eternity approaching the barn, not even wasting time to somehow let Nicholas know it was her as she barreled through the door. The click of a cocked gun reached her once again raised ears, turning to see the fox's prone form aiming a gun in her direction before his features softened.

"Rabbit…" he sighed in exasperation, lifting the barrel of the gun away from the bunny's direction, "You will be the death of me."

"Funny… I thought I was the one with a gun pointed at me," Judith sassed at him, slightly out of breath and recovering. A stray round from a rifle burst through a wood slat in the wall of the barn, kicking up hay from a bale as it embedded in it. Both mammals turned to survey the damage, scowls apparent on both muzzles. "We need to get you out of here."

Nicholas grunted as he lifted himself up to stand, gesturing around the barn, saying, "Where? From what I could see when I peeked out earlier, we're pretty much surrounded. I'm not even sure how you got by without drawing attention to yourself."

"All the more reason we leave… NOW," the doe stated in finality. It didn't quite take as effectively as she would've thought, with the tod shaking his head and settling in, holstering his revolver once more.

"I don't think so," he breathed. "I'm pretty sure this place, as old as it is, has a much better chance of protecting me from rifle fire. Outside, I wouldn't rely on the stray tall piece of grass or the gentle sway of the breeze to protect me from a potential cannonball. You know what they do to a mammal like me?"

The rabbit scowled further at him.

"Let's just say I'll be less mammal than I was before."

Judith was tempted to call him a coward, but still felt quite emotionally sore from her recent guilt over the things she said before. She took a deep breath and figured it wouldn't do well to hold back now.

"I'm sorry," the grey doe simply stated. "I didn't mean to insult you with the things I said before. They were rude and insensitive…" The red fox appeared ready to respond to her, until she continued from having trailed off. "But right now, I would prefer to keep you alive and well. It was my fault you were injured and I'll be darned if my actions get you killed here because you couldn't properly escape. We're going and I'm helping you. Or… I could stay here and chance the gunfire, same as you."

Silence would have permeated the barn, if not for the shouts, cries, shots, and thunderous impacts of cannonballs hitting the ground nearby. Nicholas's eyes darted around, seemingly mulling over her words and figuring a way out of this mess. The rabble outside grew ever louder, letting them both know that the fighting was likely closing in on their location. It was a smart choice, seeing as the troops of either side could use the barn and surrounding equipment laying around as cover.

The fox tod finally let out a groan, getting up and pointing to Judith as he said, "You're trying to kill me aren't you?" The bunny shrugged, withholding a grin she wanted to display at the small victory.

"Didn't I already try and fail at that?" she questioned sarcastically.

"Angel and a demon," Nicholas muttered with a light chuckle, gathering himself and shaking his head as he started walking for the door. The grey bunny doe helped him, though he had been faring quite well on his own, if he didn't push it. "Let's go then, shall we?"

Judith nodded, both mammals opening the door and making a break for the unkempt brush a few dozen yards away. The doe was grateful for the slower pace, but was greatly fearful of stray rounds piercing her flesh. The same trepidation made her keep her ears down to avoid that end. The fox tod kept a good pace, heaving his breaths in pain, but focused and determined on reaching the brush.

A thunderous boom shook the very air, followed by a very high pitched whistle and resulting impact of a cannonball. The two looked back very briefly, but didn't need to look very long. The shell bounced from the ground blasting through the side of the barn and making a ruckus inside.

Not a few short seconds later, a large portion of the barn exploded outward in a spray of fire, hay, and splintered wood. Luckily, it was focused on the other side of the building, but the fox and bunny took to the ground all the same.

Judith was more or less thrown under Nicholas, with his body curled over hers and keeping her protected from any falling debris.

"Can you stop being right?" the tod snarked shakily, trying to exude some level of calm and collected nature. "I'm starting to really feel like a dumb fox here." A light chuckle followed from his maw, the breath tickling the doe's ears pleasantly.

"Yeah… that's… let's keep moving then," she spoke, gently pushing the fox to his feet and reestablishing her support. "I don't mind the closeness presently… but I prefer to be out of the firing line before letting our fur meet."

"Are you seriously making those jokes? Now?"

"Just shut up and move it," Judith demanded of him with a nervous smile.

The duo made their way into the brush, crouching low to crawl on all fours and avoid the ensuing battle closing in around them. If both could make it out of the center of the conflict, it would be so much easier to follow the treeline to another barn and let him recover there.

Nicholas had wondered why there were so many barns, but his intuitive nature, and mentions from the grey rabbit helping him along, told him that with all the siblings she had and massive amount of land to work, it was prudent of them to have various barns to store equipment nearby.

"Nicholas," the rabbit called out to him, making him turn his head to Judith, who was looking in his general direction but not entirely focused on him. "I need help finding the barn itself."

"You were doing fine before," he fired back softly. "What could have changed to affect your…." He stopped talking upon seeing the grey doe's paw extended up, a digit pointing at the sky. The tod entertained her, scanning the sky.

"Oh," was his only reply. Cloud cover had set in, obscuring the moon from painting the fields in its glow. It made sense now. With the light from the moon above diffused by the clouds, it was all that much harder for a bunny like Judith to see. "Alright, keep a hold of me and… don't. Let. go."

Grasping his paw with her own, Nicholas could see her nod. Limping along, keeping as much weight off his injured side that he could, the fox pulled out his service revolver, cocking the hammer back. He didn't want to chance being confronted by another armed soldier separated from the garrison. Even if it happened to be one his own, the possibility of a misfire from fear of being shot was too high.

"We're going to the barn nearer to the house," Judith explained. "Anything further away is too much a distance to walk to and I don't know where all the fighting has spread to."

"Got any path I can follow? I see a few barns from here."

"Uh… yeah. I think it's the one that has a skewed wind vale," the bunny revealed, gesturing out towards the general direction of a barn that was closer than the rest. Nicholas saw it. The wind vale twisted in the light night breeze, turning just enough to show its deformity.

"Got it."

The red fox picked up the pace, his pain less of a problem as before. It was like the workout and adrenaline was making things easier to take for now.

It felt far shorter than their previous journeys, with the barn approaching at a much more decent pace.

"Finally," he sighed. "I think I can feel my wound giving me trouble now." A short laugh escaped him.

Judith was about say something, the light from the moon coming back as the clouds made way, when a large, blunt, object swung through the air and cracked across the back of the fox's head.

He fell in a slump on the ground, a few feet short of the barn door, much to the doe's horror. Turning about and looking for the source of the strike, Judith was shocked to see her father standing over her and the tod.

"Are you alright, Judith?" he cooed to her, helping the younger rabbit up. She nodded, still stunned as to what had happened and why. Not only why her father knocked him out but why he was out here in the first place.

"How?" was all she asked. The elder Hopps pulled his daughter into a hug.

"I saw you from the house being pulled around by that filth…" Her father mentioned. "I don't know how he got a hold of you but you're safe now. We'll take care of him." Judith's eyes went wide with worry at her parent's insinuation.

"What do you mean? Aren't we just going to kick him out? Send him back to his troops?"

"Of course not!" he fired back, voice laced with venom. "He threatened one of my daughters… so, he'll face my justice."

A lump formed in the grey rabbit's throat, her vision able to see a couple of her siblings closing in with rifles. Before she could properly protest, something else in her mind proposed a more sensible idea, so she stayed quiet.

"Tie him up, boys," the elder Hopps commanded his sons, as they came in close. They slung their rifles over their shoulders, pulling out rope and tying the tod's wrists together in front of him.

An empty eyed stare was cast down from Judith's father onto the red fox in a heap as he spoke in a low, menacing tone, "Keep this cur locked in the cellar until the battle is over… then we'll hang him."

Judith's paws clenched on her skirt, mind racing. She had to come up with a plan…

Or Nicholas would lose his life because of her.