RaBunzel - Chapter One

Written by Chatears

Edited by Cimar

Judy Hopps sighed happily as she walked down the sidewalk in Sahara Square. The day was quite peaceful for the doe as her husband, Nicholas Wilde, currently was out of town with a few friends and their kits were with their grandparents, giving the bunny a chance to have a day to be on her lonesome. She loved her fox just as much as he loved her, but once in awhile both needed a bit of time to themselves to just sit back, relax and think for a few moments.

And at a moment like this, the doe knew exactly what she had in mind for the day ahead. Entering a familiar arcade, the doe was immediately welcomed by the cool air provided by the AC. She waved at Mr. Fitwick, the panther giving a smile and wave in return as he watched the doe head to the PIXAR machine situated in the back. Ever since their first time experiencing the machine, both the fox and the rabbit had returned multiple times, trying a different reality experience each time.

Although Fitwik was surprised to not see the red fox by her side -Nicholas Wilde- he knew she would enjoy whatever it was she planned to see a glimpse of. Shaking his head, the feline left the doe to her own devices as Judy took a seat at the machine. The screen immediately was brought to life as a multitude of choices lit up before Judy, prompting her to pick one. Her violet eyes scanned each option, her mind at war as to what to pick, before she spotted one that made her grin widen. Grabbing a few coins from her pocket the doe pushed them into the machine slot, grinning in satisfaction at the sound of the clink of each coin hitting the slots in the machine.

Plucking the helmet that sat in the holder between the two chairs, Judy set it onto her head, adjusting it so that her ears weren't being pushed inside of the hat. With one more click Judy watched as the machine began to accept her request and she sighed sitting back in her seat as her eyes closed and fantasy became reality.

Judith Hopps sighed as she once again finished all of the seven books she owned, and now had nothing to do in her lonely tower. She had baked, cleaned, crocheted, and painted every single space on the walls of the prison she currently occupied. She had been stuck in this same dreadful tower since she was merely a kit, raised only by a single old sheep by the name of Dawn Bellwether who claimed her parents had died when she was born and she had no one left. From there Judith continued to grow as a young beautiful bunny and so did her hair. Yes you heard right, the bunny had hair. Long luscious beautiful blond hair, which could heal any wound, big or small, just by singing a few cheesy lines. Not to mention it could also make anyone stay young. Such an extraordinary gift like so, needed to be protected , and as her mother explained, people would want Judy only for her hair to experiment on her and keep her locked away in a lab.

So Judy stayed in her tower for many years to come. A lizard she named Curie her only friend, who was at the time currently sleeping. Sitting up from where she was perched on her bed, the doe made her way to the lone window in the tower, her only connection to the outside world. Her mother Bellwether currently wasn't home, which gave the bunny plenty of time to see the view and long to be a part of it.

Opening the shutters that covered the window, Judy placed her paws on the frame and moved her legs to sit on the ledge. From there Judy could see the mass of trees and the sunlight that shone through them. She studied the view, her smile not waning and ears perked as she heard familiar music in the distance.

For many years each time on her birthday, a music festival in the city beyond the hills would be held, as well as a lifting of the lanterns. Judy could not understand what the strange lights were but she felt somewhere deep inside her heart that the lights were meant for her. Her heartbeat quickened when she suddenly heard her mother call for her, the ewe slowly coming into view. Judy hopped down from the ledge before using her hair to create a rope as she slowly let it down for the sheep.

Once Bellwether reached the window, she held a hoof out requesting the assistance of the bunny. Judy quickly helped her inside before the windows were once again shut and the ewe quickly turned to reprimand her.

"Judy, how many times have I told don't leave the window open unless I ask you to, someone could have seen you," Bellwether bleated in frustration, her eyes stern. The doe in question lowered her ears at making her mother upset with her.

"I'm sorry, Mother, I just wanted to see outside," she said lowly.

The sheep's eyes softened and she put a hoof on her daughter's shoulder.

"I know dear, but remember the reason you can't go outside is because the world is a cruel, cruel place. And filled with greedy mammals that will take one look at you and immediately see you as a threat. And as my daughter, the last thing I want for you is to be experimented on in some lab," the sheep explained causing Judy to give a worried glance her way.

Experimenting? They'd do that to me, because I look different. Maybe mother is right

Judy suddenly remembered the music she's heard and an idea suddenly formed. She looked to where her pet lizard still slept and smiled. Turning to Bellwether the doe mustered up the courage to ask something she'd been dying to ask. After all, her birthday was only two days away and this could be such a great birthday present.

"I want to go to the music festival for my birthday in two days," she blurted out. The sheep whom clearly heard her stopped in her tracks from where she stood, her entire body tensing. Judy exhaled loudly, hoping she'd agree and the doe would get to see the lights and hear the music.

"No. It's too dangerous."

The doe's smile dropped. Did she hear right? No? She quickly thought up another solution.

"I know mother but if you take me, then I'd be safe and no one could touch me or my hair. In fact what if I wore a mask so that -"

"Judy."

The doe continued talking determined to find a way to get to that festival.

"Jude."

The bunny continued to ignore her mother, not wanting to let another opportunity slip away where she couldn't be outside even for just a few minutes.

"JUDITH!"

That got the doe's attention. The bunny turned to see her mother glaring at her, hooves clenched into tight balls at her side.

"You will not leave this tower. With or without me. Do you understand?" she bleated once more, this time filled with anger. The doe's ears drooped and her nose twitched in obvious sadness and anger.

"Yes Mother. And Uh you know what would better than the lights for my birthday, mother?" she asked giving a nervous smile. The sheep sighed.

"What? Dear." The bunny grinned.

"Perhaps a new sketchbook like that nice one you got me on my last birthday. The one I already filled up. "

Bellwether sighed moving from her position to stand closer to the doe.

"That's a long trip Judy. Almost a week's time," she explained. But looking at the distraught bunny the sheep figured it could be done. After all it wasn't like the bunny could escape, seeing as they were in a tower high enough to touch the skies. Not to mention how the doe valued the sheep's rules.

Bellwether smiled.

"Alright dear. I will leave as soon as possible. I'll miss you a lot dear, be good for me." The sheep smiled before packing a small basket of food and grabbing her coat. She bid the doe adieu, giving a kiss to Judy's forehead before leaving the tower, using the bunny's long hair for the way down.

As soon as she was gone the doe sighed making to sit on her small wooden chair. Curie, her lizard who had just awoke from his nap, crawled over to the sad bunny and sat in her lap, nuzzling his scaly chin against the doe's cheek.

The doe laughed at the funny feeling before kissing the lizard on the nose, she spotted one of her books lying on the floor and picked it up, opening the pages so her lizard could see.

Judy only was able to read through four pages before the sound of pawprints outside her window caused the bunny to stiffen. Curie climbed atop her shoulder as the rabbit cautiously walked forward listening for the sound of the intruder.

Her ears perked up when she heard an unfamiliar voice muttering to themselves as she assumed they'd begun climbing the tower.

The doe looked to her pet reptile who nodded once at her, and she quickly readied her hair while grabbing a frying pan from the kitchen sink.

No sooner did she do this, did she finally see as the window move and was thrown open, with a male fox (she could identify the mammal seeing as the doe had read about all types of animals) climbing into the room.

Judy quickly hid, watching from the shadows as the vulpine moved to shut the windows, pulling a bag from his side and then looking at it.

He muttered something and then turned to face the opposite direction, not having taken notice of the doe whose home he'd invaded.

Judy smirked, readying her pan as she slowly moved behind the fox. Just as he was opening the bag to remove whatever he held in it.

Without thinking further into it, Judy swung with all her might, watching in slight satisfaction as the pan connected with the back of the fox's head.

The tod let out a yelp as he fell to the floor, his tongue lolling out as his eyelids closed. Judy jumped back startled as she examined the intruder. She noticed he had russet colored fur, his paws and feet colored like they were dipped into soot, as well as the tip of his ears. And from the way his mouth was positioned the doe could see plenty of teeth that weren't too sharp. The bunny moved around looking at the mammal before her, when she caught a glimpse of the brown bag she's seen him with, when he first came in.

The doe picked the bag up, using a paw to trace the leather seems of the item. She hesitated for a few moments before opening the flap that hid the objects inside.

Her paw met a single paper and she pulled it out, her eyes widening in shock as she saw what it was.

WANTED

NICHOLAS WILDE

DEAD OR ALIVE !

The paper read with a large picture of a familiar red fox on it. The doe studied the picture more, her violet eyes drifting to the ones of the fox as she opened one eyelid to peek.

Shimmering green eyes, greeted her. The black pupils shining amongst the green. Judy looked towards the paper in her hand then towards the window, an idea forming in her head. She looked to her lizard who seemed to know what she was thinking, as he nodded back.

She turned to the fox who lay still on the ground, his ears twitching a bit as he was unconscious.

Curie, who had been resting on the rabbit's shoulder, decided the tod had been asleep for long enough. He climbed down from Judy's shoulder, scurrying over to where the tod's tail lay and before anyone could blink, the lizard suddenly bit down hard, embedding his teeth into the appendage, causing the fox to wake up with a huge yelp of pain.

The vulpine looked around in panic as he realized he was surrounded by an enormous amount of hair and a creepy looking reptile. When he turned, he met eyes with the doe who managed to hold a strong poker face, her paw only shaking mildly as she held the pan up in a sign of threat.

"Tell me Nicholas Wilde, why are you here?" she demanded, amethyst eyes glowering at the fox who lay before her.

He moved to sit up, the lizard giving him a warning glare, and gave the doe a confused glance.

"Wha- What do you mean. I have no idea-?"

"Lying is pointless, so I will ask you again, Nicholas Wilde. Why are you here?!" Judy interrupted pointing her pan closer to his head.

The tod cleared his throat offering a smirk to the irritated rabbit as he explained.

"Look, carrots. I saw your tower, I was running from some bad guys and at the moment hiding seemed like a swell idea. So when I saw said tower, I climbed it, escaped the bad guys end of story. " He waved a paw about, his smirk still present and irritating the smaller mammal who held a pan.

However the smirk was lost as the rabbit suddenly grew a wide smile, producing a carrot pen from within her dress pocket.

"Thank you for your honesty Nick Wilde." She spoke before pressing a button on the side, causing his own voice to protrude from the device.

"Look, carrots. I saw your tower, I was running from some bad guys and at the moment hiding seemed like a swell idea. So when I saw said tower, I climbed it, escaped the bad guys end of story."

The tod's mouth fell open his wide eyes moving from the doe to the pen and back again.

"So Nicholas Wilde seeing as I currently hold a recording that can get you into jail for breaking and entering, if put in the wrong paws. I am willing to offer you a deal. If you take me to the music festival that happens every year so I can see the lights and the music and return me home safely, then and only then will I give you the pen, to delete the recording. Do we have a deal?" The doe raised a brow to the fox who gave a defeated sigh.

"As fun as that sounds, Carrots. I'm going to have to pass seeing as the city of Zootopia and I aren't exactly compadres at the moment."

The doe didn't look deterred in the slightest as she crossed her arms, her hair falling over one ear as she offered a reply.

"There's a thing called disguises, Wilde." She arched a brow, "So deal or no deal." The tod groaned in defeat knowing he had no other options to escape the rabbit's hold she had on him (metaphorically of course)

"Alright fine. Deal," he called. The rabbit squealed, jumping up and down as she picked Curie up to swing him around in her arms in obvious excitement.

She then left the fox, who was still tied up, talking to her lizard as she pulled a pad from her pocket and began to make a list of the things she wanted to do at the festival.

There were so many different things she had yet to experience and she wanted to try them all. Her lizard watched from over her shoulder as she made the list, nodding in agreement to each thing the bunny wrote.

Nicholas, at this point, resorted to tapping his claws loudly on the floor in hopes of getting the bunny's attention.

It was all in vain, as the doe continued to get things prepared for the long trip, her mind in another world as she babbled on as if the fox wasn't even there. The lizard that had been following the bunny around suddenly crawled towards Nick and settled upon his shoulder, curling into a ball and falling asleep.

The fox stiffened, feeling uncomfortable due to the sudden contact and rather odd texture of the said creatures skin.

Nonetheless the fox let the reptile sleep as he went to work on freeing himself from the rope he'd been tied in. It was a rather strong rope and the fox wasn't sure he could free himself but at that point his fur was starting to itch due to it and he was in no mood to stay in it. Especially since the doe was so far gone she didn't even realize other people were alive around her.

He had no idea how this day had come about but frankly, he had no time to ponder the strange events of the early morning.

Judy suddenly stopped noticing she had everything packed, including a meal for the trip, and it was then she realized she'd left Nicholas still tied up, her mind completely having forgotten his presence.

She made her way to the fox with her scissors she had on a nearby shelf and cut the rope, the fox sitting up at the sudden release on his mid section.

The doe apologized sheepishly before motioning to all the things she had for the trip.

The fox glanced at all her belongings before giving the doe an amused smirk, the expression grazing his entire face with mischief.

"Carrots?"

"It's Judy," she glared.

"Right. Well, you do realize we are walking to Zootopia right.

"Yes..." She hesitated.

"Right. Well then how do you expect to carry all of that." He moved a paw gesturing to the stuff before him. The doe immediately saw what he meant, her ears turning a dark shade of red at the tips as she removed a good chunk of things from her bags.

Finally, when all was left was a backpack full of God knows what, the fox gestured for her to follow him.

Moving to the window he opened the shutters, grabbing her hair for use of a rope.

"You ready, Carrots?" The fox asked his expression unreadable.

The doe turned to him eyes determined.

"I was born ready slick."

And then they were off.