Chapter 3 Engarde

"There, finally finished."

Judy grinned, wiping at her brow while trying, and failing, at stifling a rather large yawn as she surveyed the damage. She had long forgone her service coat, throwing it over the side of the chair in her office as she began the process of cleaning the space to begin to make it even the least bit serviceable to her. "At least now I can actually accomplish work in here."

Another yawn escaped her lips, and her stomach gurgled in reply. It had been nearly two days since she last slept due to trying to make the five day trip to Zootopia in Bogo's allotted three days. She had barely slept, eaten even less, and even though her legs were beginning to feel like soggy loaves of bread, there was still more to be done before she could finally call it a night.

gurgle

"Guess I should probably eat..." she mumbled, dragging herself out of her new chambers and heading downstairs. Exiting the adobe structure that made up both the living quarters and office for the Capitan of the fort, she made her way towards a fairly well lit building nearby. Song and music issued forth from the windows and slightly open door, and as she walked in, she saw the reason why.

Sergeant Clawhauser was holding a frothy mug of ale while singing a rather boisterous drinking song to the laughter of the soldiers nearby. A smile parted her lips as she watched the scene with increasing curiosity.

He actually has quite the good voice...she thought, crossing her arms across her chest while leaning against the door post. Her gaze shifted to the canine soldier playing a guitar, a Corporal Reyes Wolford, if she remembered correctly. The Corporal expertly strummed the instrument, laughing as the Sergeant finished a rather long note, followed by an even longer sip from his glass. The wolf's smile was genuine, or at least it was, until his gaze fell upon Judy.

Several sour notes split the air as his paw scraped across the guitar, the wolf's eyes widening as he quickly tried to stand at attention, whipping up his paw into a salute.

"Capitan Hopps, I didn't see you there!" he yelped, causing many of the other soldiers in the room to frantically scan the room for their new commanding officer, stumbling to their feet and offering salutes in every which way and direction. Much of the earlier cheeriness vanished in favor of awkward stares, and by an even more awkward silence.

Judy moved through the room quickly, striding over to a counter that her ears barely reached the top of. Frowning, she jumped up onto the stand, scaring the cook behind it so much he nearly dropped the bowl of soup he was holding.

"Oh, Capitan, I didn't see you there," the pig stammered, placing the bowl quickly onto the counter and offering a salute, a large stirring spoon still in his hoof, dripping its contents onto his forehead. Each drip caused him to wince as the hot liquid sizzled on his skin.

"At ease," Judy stated, watching as the pig sighed in relief, while frantically wiping at his brow.

"So, what is the meal for tonight, private..." Judy scratched her chin, the pig's name not coming to mind.

"Swinson, sir," the pig replied. "And the meal is this wonderful broccoli soup which I hope you enjoy."

Judy stared down at the bowl in front of her, ignoring the urge to gag at the bubbling broth inside it. Her stomach rumbled again, and after eating almost nothing the past two days, she was too hungry to complain about any food offered to her, even if the broccoli looked more brown than green.

"Looks...delicious, private Swinson," Hopps stated, grabbing the bowl he offered her and turned, only to frown again at the large drop to the floor she'd have to make with the broth in her paws.

"Is there a problem, Capitan Hopps?" Swinson asked.

"Oh no. No problem," came Judy's reply, though her mind was furiously going through any and all scenario's for her to get both her, and the bowl of soup, off the counter and not all over the floor or worse, on herself. The situation was finally decided for her as Judy's stomach growled once more, and, after grabbing a spoon from a nearby plate, she plopped herself down on the edge of the counter and dug into her meal.

She was pleasantly surprised by the broccoli soup as she sipped at it. Not bad...she thought slowly, before diving into the soup eagerly, her stomach urging her to eat as quickly as she could. Even though the looks of the soup was horrifying, to say the least, the taste was the exact opposite.

It wasn't long before she turned back to Swinton, her bowl empty and eyes twinkling as she asked for seconds...then again for thirds a few minutes after that.

On her third bowl, she took much more time to enjoy the meal, grateful that for the first time in nearly 48 hours, her stomach was not pleading to be filled. She began one of her more pleasant hobbies of mammal watching as she gazed around the canteen, trying to place the names of each of the soldiers she saw. It was after a few moments of this, she began picking up on their hushed conversations, her mood souring after each comment that was directed at her.

"Why do you think Commandante Bogo sent her here? Does he do it to spite us, having to take orders from a rabbit?" a grizzly bear asked of a jaguar.

"Growlcia, there's a new betting pool, you want in?" a hyena stated, approaching a table with a wildebeest and a cougar sitting at it. "We're betting to see when our new Capitan calls it quits."

"Of course I'm in," the cougar chuckled quietly. "Place me down for three days."

"Three days?"

"Yeah, usually The Fox greets all the new Capitan's in their first three days. I bet she doesn't last half a minute when she see's him."

"Oh you're probably right about that. If that's the case, I doubt she'd last two days before..."

Judy slammed her spoon into her empty bowl, both making a rather large ruckus as she stood, her rather carefree attitude of moments before long gone. The attention of all the animals in the room were drawn to her as she stared down each and every mammal who had spoken ill of her.

"Do you think she heard us?" the wildebeest whispered to the cougar.

"Yes, I did hear you," Judy stated, causing both the cougar and wildebeest to jump, and their eyes to widen. Again she glared around the room, challenging each and every pair of eyes that met hers until the either lowered or turned away.

So, they all think that this, Zorro, character will run rough-shod over me? Judy mused, hopping off from the counter and making her way to the door of the mess hall, her troops making way to let her pass between them. They all will see I am more than capable of handling this post.

Judy yanked open the door, and without looking back in, yelled at the assembled troops. "Tomorrow, 5:30am drills for everyone in this room, understood?"

She could have heard a pin drop as silence filled the hall.

"Am I understood?" Judy repeated. "Or would you all like to drill at 4am instead?"

The scraping of wooden chairs against stone riddled the hall as the soldiers stood at attention.

"Understood, Capitan," they all roared, some less enthusiastically than others.

Capitan Hopps turned her head, grinning at the assembled mammals. "Good, I'll see you all at 5:30am, sharp tomorrow morning." And with that, she slammed the door behind her as she left.

Yawning widely as she walked across the parade grounds, Judy managed to feel even more tired than she was before as she made her way to her office, waving to Sergeant Clawhauser who was patrolling the grounds outside.

As Judy walked into her room and locked the door behind her, she finally felt the day catching up to her. Unlatching her sword from her belt, she placed it against her desk. Crossing the room, the rabbit removed her cap, placing it upon a nightstand before grabbing her blue overcoat from over her chair, placing it onto the nightstand with her cap before crossing back to her desk.

Sitting roughly down in her seat with a wearied sigh, she rubbed her paws into her forehead, much of her anger from the previous few minutes dissipating to just how exhausted she was feeling. So much had happened in just the past three days.

My first assignment...she thought, suddenly wondering if accepting this post was going to be worth losing her sanity. With only a rucksack across her back, she'd made the five day journey here in three days, not even sleeping for the past two nights as she was worried about getting here on time. The meal she'd just eaten was the first real food she'd had in nearly just as long, as stopping to eat would mean stopping her mad dash to get here.

At least she made it, and after a good night's rest, she could begin trying to patch up the horrible mess she'd made with the residents of the town, and maybe figure out why they wanted her to fail in her mission to catch that desperado known as, The Fox.

Of course, all that would come after the training drills tomorrow morning with the troops that seemed to respect her about as much, or less, than Bogo did.

"Tomorrow's another day," Judy sighed, letting her paws fall to her desk. "It can only get better from here, right Judy?"

"Well it can't get worse," a voice replied. "Making a kit cry as your first official act as Capitan? Terrible form, Carrots."

"Who is it!" Judy shouted, grabbing at her sword leaning at her desk, only to find it suddenly missing. Twirling around at the sound of pawsteps behind her, she caught sight of a masked mammal in all black approaching her from the other side of the room, their cape billowing behind them. His outfit, all black, including a black sash, cap, and most unique of the assemblage, a black mask covering his face.

Her eyes narrowed.

"So, you're the one everyone has been telling me about. The Fox, or Zorro...whatever they call you."

The fox, and she could tell the intruder was one by the billowing black furred tail and protruding black muzzle, bowed with a flourish of his paw, . "Such sharp skills of deduction Capitan. I'm sure you must have graduated top of your class in order to deduce what you did." The fox smirked as Judy growled, just then noticing what was in the fox's outstretched paw.

Her sword.

"Give me that!" Judy growled, taking several steps forward, her paw out, only for The Fox to draw his own sword halfway out of its scabbard, halting her in her tracks.

"Uh, uh, uh," The Fox tut-tutted, waggling his finger at the bunny. "You broke that poor otter's sword, so I don't think you deserve to get this back until he gets his back."

Judy clenched her fists, before pointing at the fox. "I already made him a new one," Judy growled, noticing the frown that suddenly sparked across the intruder's face. It caused her a small amount of glee at his temporary confusion, only if it lasted barely a second before his smirk returned. "And how did you get in here without me hearing you."

The intruder laughed, irritating the rabbit to no ends as she kept her eyes trained on her sword in his paw. "For a rabbit, you have excellent hearing but terrible eyesight. I was wondering when you'd notice me, since you walked right past me to place your cap upon that stand, but when I saw that you weren't paying any attention to your surroundings, as well as beginning an emotional pity party for yourself, why, I had to step in as I so enjoy parties. Can't have a lady crying without a gentle-mammal there to dry her tears, no?"

"So you stalk women in their rooms as well as attack soldiers?" Judy questioned, leery of the stranger, but wanting to understand her enemy a little more before trying to retrieve her sword.

"Today would be a first for stalking a woman, as I've not had the pleasure of meeting a Capitan of the female persuasion before," The Fox grinned, causing Judy to want to wipe that smirk from his face all the more.

Judy took another step toward her bed, her gaze never leaving Zorro as he leaned against her clothing cabinet, seeming to examine the claws on his right paw, though his left paw never shied away from the hilt of his blade. "So, what do I owe the pleasure of this visit, Zorro."

"A mere formality, is all," The Fox replied, not even looking up at the Capitan. "I try to introduce myself to all the new comandante's that pass through here, then visit them again as they are about to leave." He pushed himself up from leaning against the drawers, his eyes finally meeting her own. "Which, for some Capitan's, has taken only a single visit as they decided to test my reputation with the sword." The fox laughed, his mischievous smirk growing. "I hope this isn't that kind of occasion, as I'd hate to have to compel a lady of your intelligence and charm in any other way than with words. So hopefully this visit it won't go anywhere past a friendly hello. Especially since I don't want to have to attack a female, and a little bunny at that."

Judy's eye twitched. "You think I can't fill this job because I'm a rabbit, or a female?" Her voice was laced with icy venom as her words shot at the fox like daggers. She had quite enough of everyone from her superiors to her subordinates looking down on her, both figuratively, and physically.

"But of course not," Zorro laughed, grinning as he tossed Judy's sword at her, turning his back to her. She deftly caught it, whipping it out of its sheath in a fluid motion. The Fox grinned as Judy stood in a fencing position, glaring at The Fox's back. "I don't think you can do it as you are a thoughtless, cruel, albeit cute, little bunny."

That's...IT! Judy grit her teeth as she charged forward, stabbing her sword directly at the intruder. The Fox laughed, dodging the attack, wiping his sword from its sheath in a fluid motion to parry her thrust with his own. Judy danced to the side, bringing her own sword up to meet his as they began an intricate dance with their blades. In the rather large room, the two danced around each other, slicing and stabbing, parrying and defending as Judy went on the offensive.

"How dare you come in here and call me that word!" Judy spat as she sliced at the masked mammal, managing only to cut through the tip of his cape before his sword caught her own and he pushed her's away. Another parry of his blade and she saw an opening as The Fox bumped into a chair behind him, momentarily sending him off balance. A thrust and it would all be over.

Thrusting her blade forward, she felt a smile grace her lips as she saw a bit of shock coming from the fox at her maneuver.

It was short lived as that smirk she was growing to hate overtook his fearful expression. The Fox performed a back flip over the chair, tipping it slightly as he did while riding the edge of it top of it to the ground, with Judy's sword caught inside one of the decorative holes, trapping it against the floor. Judy tugged at her blade furiously, trying to pull it out as Zorro laughed.

"Which word was it that I called you that you don't like?" he taunted. "Was it bunny?" Zorro continued laughing as Judy abandoned her attempt at retrieving her sword, and surprised the fox by leaping forward, smashing her legs into his chest at full force, tumbling him over backwards and across the room. Judy growled as he stood, quickly turning to face her as she slid her foot under the hilt of her blade, easily flicking it up and into her paw, swishing it in front of her.

The Fox smiled. "You are much more feisty than the previous Capitan's, I'll give you that," he stated as Judy darted forward, engaging him again as she made a slice at his leg, only to quickly turn and stab at the other. He jumped sideways, rolling up and over the large bed in the center of the room, Judy giving chase as she jumped over nearly the entire width of the bed to engage him again.

He was an able swordsmammal, Judy would give him that, after he fended off another jab while parrying it with a quick thrust of his own. His attack narrowly missed slicing the tip of Judy's right ear, as she could even hear the subtle whistling of the sword as it passed overhead while she ducked below it. The rabbit winced, feeling it slightly nick her ear, but replied to his assault with a deft Coulé, sliding her blade along his before they stood muzzle to muzzle against each other, each pressing against the other's blade to overpower the other. Judy glared into her opponents eyes, finally noticing the brilliant emerald orbs behind his mask.

Then again, she noticed that insufferable grin, as she grit her teeth while pushing against his blade with her own.

"I guess bunny wasn't the word either then," Zorro replied, the vigilante so close to her that she could feel the warmth of his breath against her cheek. Judy pushed him away, enveloping his sword with her own before he parried her assault. Bringing her sword down, their weapons clashed again, as they neared each other for a second time in less than a minute, he leaned in again. "Perhaps it was calling you beautiful then?"

Judy was about to retort when the fox leaned forward the final few inches, placing a quick kiss upon her lips. Judy's eyes widened in shock and as the masked intruder pulled away, he deftly twisted his blade, catching the rabbit's blade at the hilt and knocking it up and out of Judy's paw, disarming the rabbit in one fluid motion.

As she recovered from her shock, and before she knew it, two sword's were now at her throat. She was slow to recover her composure as she backed away, nose twitching as The Fox advanced. It was only when she felt the wall against her back did her wide eyed stare transform into one of steely determination. If she was to die tonight, then she would go out fighting with all the spirit a Capitan should have.

But maybe, she could still pull out of this alive.

"So, will you finish me off like you did with Capitan Koslov all those months ago?" Judy asked, gritting her teeth as she gazed about the room, hoping to find something she could use to her advantage against the intruder, hoping that distracting him like before could work.

Even underneath the mask, Hopps noticed the arch of the fox's eyebrow. "You think I killed Capitan Koslov?"

"Of course," Judy replied, stealing a peak at the blade to her throat, hoping that he'd be puzzled enough to not notice her reaching down for the knife secreted in her boot. "I attended his funeral right after I became a Capitan months ago. This was his last post before you struck him down."

Now the confusion on the fox's face was clearly evident as he retracted both blades from Judy's neck. Sheathing his own, his next move surprised her greatly as he flipped her blade around in the air, grabbing the end while offering the hilt of it back to her. Stunned by the move, she hesitated to grab her sword, retreating a step while keeping her eyes trained on him.

"Whatever they told you I did to Capitan Koslov, I did not do," Zorro muttered, turning his head momentarily as if deep in thought, his paw coming to rest below his chin. "But I can tell you this." His gaze retrained upon Judy with a look of such resolution that whatever he would say next, she knew it could not be a lie. "I do not kill," he stated slowly, emphasizing each word. "I only persuade...with force only when pressed. And I only go after those who deserve my wrath."

"Then who was in that casket if not Capitan Koslov?" Judy shouted. The Fox looked as if he was going to respond, when a shout from downstairs startled them both.

"Capitan Hopps, are you ok!" the muddled voice of Sergeant Clawhauser rang through the door. "I heard some sounds and was wondering if you are alright."

Hopps turned her gaze from Zorro, to the door as she yelled a reply. "Zorro is here, sound the alarm."

"Si, Capitan Hopps!" came the stuttered reply from downstairs, followed by a ringing of a bell a few seconds later.

She turned her attention back to the intruder, only to see him now standing in the window, his black tail twitching behind him. He turned to look at her as his paw gripped the outer rim of the windowsill.

"I do not know who was in that casket," he began, pulling himself out the rest of the way from the window. "But the last I saw of Capitan Koslov, he was alive. Something else is at paw, and it is something I think we both should look into."

Oh no you don't! Judy screamed inwardly as he began to leap from the window. Grabbing the dagger from her boot, she thew it with all her might at the retreating figure, only to growl in frustration as it embedded itself next to his paw and not in it as he jumped out the window.

Judy ran towards the casement, muttering as the sound of hoarse cries from outside began sounding throughout the fort. Hopping up onto the windowsill, she spied The Fox as he ran deftly across the rooftop below, jumping onto the barracks wall, running across it and towards the outer wall of the fort. Pounding her fist on the windowsill, she darted to the door as it burst open, Sergeant Clawhauser filling the doorframe, panting heavily.

"Capitan Hopps! I have sounded the alarm, where is the intruder though?" he asked, looking around the room.

"Sergeant, you and I are going to take a squad and track down The Fox," Judy commanded as she grabbed her Capitan coat and hat from the nearby nightstand, buttoning it up as she barreled towards the door, her sash floating behind her as she ran.

"I understand Capitan, but, I have very short legs that do not move very fast," the overweight mammal replied, following her out of the room. "I do not think that I could catch up to someone as swift as The Fox."

Judy stopped and turned at the Sergeant, the same steely determination from earlier alight in her eyes, her exhaustion replaced by adrenaline. "Then I'd suggest you move those legs as quickly as you can, Sergeant Garcia Clawhauser. As tonight will be the last night The Fox is a free mammal."

With that, Judy turned and ran downstairs, summoning the few soldiers who had listened to the sounding of the alarm and bade them to grab torches and follow her. Sprinting through the now opened gate leading out of the fort, she led her troops to where she saw The Fox jump over the barracks wall. Several of the soldiers gasped at what they saw.

A large Letter F carved into the adobe on the side of the fort.

Judy grit her teeth, her head jerking to the right as she spotted a shadow darting off into the distance and bid her soldiers to follow her as she sprinted off after it. In the back of her mind, a quiet nagging thought was asking her instead of following The Fox into the night, to instead get some rest. She shook it quickly from her mind.

She had a fox to catch.

AN: And there was their first meeting. Did it live up to your expectations? I hope so as it was immensely fun writing this. Let me know what your favorite, or least favorite parts were, and I'll try to make sure to either include your favorites more, and fix the rest.