Chapter 37 - En Garde
Edited by Euphonemes
"So, how do we want to do this?"
The fox was watching the oncoming horde with a slight bit of nervousness. Several had crossbows they were loading at the back of the group. Most seemed much better trained than your average trail thug.
Next to him, the coyote warrior huffed. "Easy. One at a time until they've all met their maker." Nick watched the larger canine's grip tighten on his twin tomahawks.
"I don't kill," Nick shot back. Ake'cheta shrugged.
"Then I'll make sure to bury you when these mammals decide to do what you cannot."
"Well, that's a solid plan," Nick replied with a huff before turning to Judy. "Judy, what do you...think..."
Judy was gone. In her place was an empty trail, only scuff marks from her feet showing she had run off. His tail puffed out as he frantically searched the nearby area. "Hopps! Judy!"
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The noise of the crossbow being fired had him instinctively ducking, the missile shooting the bolero off his head.
"That was my best hat..." Nick muttered as he jumped back up to his feet, the first mammals reaching his position. The clashing of metal next to him and a quick glance showed that Ake'cheta was already engaged with a deer. Before he could dwell on that fight, he raised his own sword, blocking a downward slash from a bull elk; the weight of the blow nearly sent him onto his back in the dirt. Instead of eating dirt, he turned his hilt, letting the elks' much more massive blade slide along his own sword's length to the fox's left, a shower of sparks lighting the air between them before its tip slammed the earth.
The larger mammal grunted at the vibrations sent up his hoof and into his arm. With the slight opening, Nick sliced the sword forward, cutting through the elk's belt like butter before rolling to his right as the elk followed the fox with his blade.
"Woahahaha!"
Nick grinned as he heard a pained bugle from the elk behind him. Taking a quick look behind revealed the overextended mammal, pants along his feet and the mammal on the ground, dizzy from his fall. "You belted that out quite well," Nick sassed before blocking a thrust from a coyote. The two mammals dueled until a third mammal announced itself. Neighing loudly, as the two smaller canids had their swords locked, the horse swung downward with a broadsword at the fox. Eyes widened as Nick grabbed the coyote by his lapel and jumped past him, feet first on the coyote's left, throwing the larger mammal off balance.
The coyote spun on his heels in a circle, yipping loudly as a horse's blade sliced through his tail, neatly trimming the fur down its length.. Nick used the distraction to its fullest. Turning swiftly, he kicked the coyote in the chest, knocking him into the horse's blade, catching the flat side full on with his back. The guard on the horses' sword, a large sphere strapped to his hoof, snapped like a twig as the extra weight broke the ties that held it to the equine's arm.
"Down!"
Recognizing Ake'cheta's voice, Nick ducked as a throwing knife sized for a bear whizzed overhead, the blade striking the flustered horse in its right shoulder and knocking him to the ground.
"Thank you!" Nick yelled over the din of battle, narrowly avoiding a second throwing knife from the black bear advancing on him. Nick looked around him and saw Ake'cheta struggling against two cheetahs, blocking their swords with his tomahawks. The fox grinned as he saw a small piece of wood on the ground. Flicking it with his sword edge sent the branch skyward, and with a second flick, Nick shot it at the head of one of the cheetahs.
The feline straightened, grip on his sword loosening as he stumbled into the side of his comrade. The coyote grinned, eyes alighting in a greenish fire as he jumped and swung the blunt sides of his tomahawks into the sides of their heads.
Both cats crumpled to the dirt, stupid grins on their faces. Nick and Ake'cheta nodded once at each other before the assault renewed.
As Nick fought off a leopard and moose, one thought kept repeating through his mind.
Where's Judy?
Judy was running. The sound of the battle behind her caused the ache inside her to grow exponentially. She had to remind herself she wasn't fleeing, but setting up for the only way any of them would survive this many bandits attacking them.
As the rabbit climbed the hill, she kept her eyes focused on her objective. Thirty feet from her, and about a hundred feet up the hill, the rotten remains of a log lay wedged against a rock. The tree, an old pine by the look of it, groaned at the task of remaining on the hillside, the boulder the only thing keeping it from tumbling onto the path below.
She decided to liberate it from its quandary.
Reaching the pine, Judy looked around for anything she could use as leverage. She spotted a large, sturdy branch nearby and grabbed it. She edged her way along the tree before slamming the limb into the ground behind the boulder. Crawling out from underneath the log, Judy's attention was drawn to a cry from below.
"Nick!"
She caught the fox wincing as he grabbed his right arm while kicking away a muskrat. He barely managed to block a pronghorn's thrust, allowing the sword to pass in between his left arm and body. Clasping down on the blade with his arm, Nick slammed the pommel of his blade three times into the ram's skull, attempting to stun the mammal only to be headbutted away.
I've got to hurry...
Judy moved around the boulder on its downhill side and began digging. Soil and plant refuse flew behind her as she toiled until the large boulder groaned, the tree behind it snapping once, then twice. The boulder slid slightly as Judy jumped out of the way, but halted only inches lower on the hillside.
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Judy's back arched and she let out a cry as a surge of pain shot through her body. The doe felt her knees wobble slightly, the crossbow bolt nicking one of the more sensitive spots on her body, her right ear.
"Aww, nuts!"
Judy whirled, spotting the bobcat thirty feet away reloading his weapon. She watched him and when he looked down to reload, she charged. When he looked up again, aiming his weapon at the spot where the bunny had been, she'd vanished from his sight.
"Where'd she go?"
"Looking for me?"
The bobcat spun, firing blindly but missing as he saw the rabbit doe leap at him, jumping over the bolt as it flew beneath her. The feline could only mutter a quick 'Guau!' as he watched the bunny's body turn. Her poise and elegance was marred by the anger in her eyes as she brought her right foot around full force from her spin directly into the stunned bobcat's face. The cat rocketed down the hill, skidding several times on the dirt before being sent flying into the crowded fiasco below.
Judy was already sprinting back up the hill towards the lever that she hoped would level the playing field and maybe, just maybe, save all their lives.
Nick danced around the lion's attacks, grimacing while avoiding the veritable mountain of a sword the feline was wielding. The road, thankfully narrow, meant that few mammals could attack them at once, but also meant that their enemies just kept coming. Thankfully none had rushed past them to surround them, but Nick and Ake'cheta were losing ground quickly against the flood of banditos.
In his eyes, a miracle happened. As he went to dodge another blow, a bullet of fur and cloth slammed into the side of the lion's head, nearly becoming invisible in the mammal's large mane. Nick used the opportunity to rush the male lion and do the one thing he knew how to put him out of commission, rearing his leg for a kick.
"Perdóneme por esto," Nick apologized as he slammed his foot between the lion's legs. The feline dropped his sword as his yowl turned into high-pitched mewling. Nick, Ake'cheta and most of the canines in the air winced, the wolves in the bandit group suffering the most from the high pitched whine as the lion dropped to his knees. Nick wasted no time and, fighting through his own pain, took several steps back. He rushed the lion, jumped, and using the mammals head as a springboard, leapt at a moose behind him.
The bull's eyes widened at the russet-furred comet speeding towards him. Nick used the moose's antlers as any gymnast would. Grabbing the outermost antler, he spun fully once, then as he neared the second turn, let go and shot his feet into the face of a bear. A satisfying crunch sounded from the maneuver as the bear stumbled back, clutching his nose. Nick, still standing on the bear's head, grunted and pushed off the bear's face, sending the ursine onto his backside while Nick now shot backwards past the confused moose who was coming to the aid of his friend.
While flying past the moose, Nick sliced the bull's belt. Using it as a swing, he yanked it off and used it as a whip, snapping it across the larger mammal's backside.
Bellowing in rage, the moose swung his hoof towards the fox, only to knock over two wolves and a deer that had tried following the vulpine.
Nick ran back in front of the downed lion, who was still mewling like a kitten, panting heavily. Ake'cheta was faring better, though the aura he was giving off, that unearthly green glow, caused most of the bandits to avoid fighting the terrifying animal.
"Ow!"
Nick jumped onto his left foot as pain stabbed through his right. Holding his foot, he spotted a gerbil swinging from the tiny sword that had impaled the fox's foot. Growling in annoyance, Nick yanked the mammal and sword from his paw and tossed the animal into the crowd of bandits coming towards him. The small mammal bounced off the head of a beaver, knocking the beaver out cold as he rolled to a stop and tumbled atop the fox. Nick groaned at the now dead weight atop him as a deer behind the beaver, wearing an odd black uniform, glared at the fox.
"You rebel scum!" he shouted as she rushed the smaller mammal.
Nick raised a brow in confusion. "Really? Rebel scum? That's all you can come up with?" Nick stated as he tried shoving the beaver off him. With the deer almost on top of him, Nick did the only thing he could and grabbed the beaver's tail.
"Sorry about this!" Nick shouted to the unconscious mammal as he brought the flat appendage in front of him just as the deer struck.
"Gah!" Nick pulled back as the blade nearly stabbed his muzzle after piercing the beaver's tail. The deer jerked on the sword, pulling the beaver from atop the fox and allowing Nick to escape as the deer flailed, trying to remove his sword from his compatriot's tail.
"Inconceivable," the deer muttered, before dropping his sword and pulling a bowie knife from his belt, which to Nick was nearly as long as his own sword. The deer leapt forward, engaging the fox as their blades danced. Nick led the deer backward, enveloping the mammal's blade and flicking it to the side.
The deer looked at his empty hoof. "Inconceivable."
Nick grinned as he panted. "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means." With a soft flick of his blade, Nick sliced one of the deer's cheeks, startling the mammal. Too stunned at the move, he didn't have time to react as Nick crushed the hilt of his sword into the mammal's head, knocking him out.
Breathing heavily, Nick held up his blade to deflect another assault by a wolf. Nick twisted in place, blocking a forward stab from the wolf in front of him. Twisting his body in a fluid motion, he grabbed the bandit's paw and twisted under his arm, wrenching the wolf's sword from his paw in the process. Ending the step behind the now astonished mammal, Nick slammed the hilt of his blade into the bandit's head.
The mammal slumped to the ground motionless as a new voice bellowed out from the back lines of the bandit group.
"EVERYBODY MOOOOOOOVE!"
The battlefield fell silent, a large path created as mammals moved aside to allow a hulking rhino covered with armor to advance on the two canines holding the path.
"This won't be good..." Nick muttered, trying to keep his legs from wobbling from his exertion during the battle.
Ake'cheta nodded but grinned. "Ah, I sense a change in our fortunes."
Nick's ears perked. "Really? Think he'll," Nick pointed at the rhino, "surrender peacefully?"
The path fell into silence as the rhino halted a dozen feet from the two mammals. "You two fought well," he said in a gruff tone, eyeing the fallen and groaning mammals around his feet. "But there is a time for everyone to die, and today's the day you pay the piper."
"What for?" Nick joked. "He's only ever played sour notes for me."
Nick chuckled for what might be his last time as the rhino pulled a large chain from his back. Two massive cannonballs attached at each end of the makeshift bola, making the fox gulp as the rhino began spinning them expertly.
"Nick...need some help?!"
Every mammal's eyes were brought to the top of the hill as a rumbling filled the air.
"Ay caramba..." Nick gasped at the site of a massive log crashing its way down the hill, bringing with it a flood of smaller rocks, debris and refuse in a natural landslide.
The fox shot backward, landing on his tail and yelped at the sudden pain. He clawed his way backwards, flipping over to jump the rest of the way as the massive log thundered down the hill towards the group below. A group, which now attempted to scatter out of the log's way on the clogged path. The snapping of small trees and crunch of rocks drew closer as the log crashed into a line of them, bowling them over as easily as a rhino crushing matchsticks.
Hitting a large stone, the massive log flew into the air, twisting as it went. The now spinning wooden projectile slammed into the rhino, knocking it backward into several other mammals, pushing them off the path and rolling down the hill as the log tumbled after them.
The eerie silence that followed the shocking scene was nearly as gut-wrenching as the scene itself. Nearly a dozen mammals had been knocked to the ground, limbs bent at unnatural angles while pitiful, moaning whines filled the air. The rhino's eyes rolled backwards as he twisted and fell into the mammals who had huddled behind him for protection. The three wolves, panther, gemsbok and ram had no chance as the rhino toppled into them. The massive mammal shook the ground as the screams of his fellow banditos filled the air.
Nick and Ake'cheta watched as a crack in the pathway appeared beneath the bulky beast, the ground fracturing, growing and slipping down the hill towards the river below. With a groan, the earth gave way, and soil, path, mammal and flora sped down the hill, disappearing into the river below with splashes and sprays of water.
The mammals that remained standing had their attention brought to the line of destruction the falling log had created. Nick let out a sigh of relief as he saw Judy walking slowly down the path of destruction looking every bit a siren of death, singing a song to lure the remaining bandits to their doom as her voice mesmerized them in their silent fear.
"You mammals..."
Her words flowed like ice through each bandit's blood, freezing them in place while several more whimpers were heard as the remaining marauders cowered before the livid bunny. Judy's eyes shone like fire, crackling with anger as she advanced down the hill, her blade drawing a line in the sandy dirt beside her.
"...have interrupted a very important conversation I was having with my fox."
Judy tugged on the rope, securing it tight against the tree. The strangled 'urrfs' and groans didn't bother her as she made sure the knot was tight. Dusting her paws, she glared at the mostly unconscious or slightly awake mammals before walking away from the tree, passing several others where the rest of the bandits were tied up. Out of the nearly twenty mammals that attacked them, only seven were left on the road, the rest falling into the river below thanks to the log Judy had shoved atop them.
Nick was busy securing the final rope around the second tree-full of banditos when she approached. "Well, looks like a job well done, Carro-oof!"
Her nicknamed died on his lips when she grabbed the back of his jacket collar and yanked. Nick tumbled backward, yelping as she dragged him along the ground, across the road and far enough away from the tied-up thugs for them to hear her.
"Now..." Judy dropped Nick to the ground and stood on his chest, jabbing her finger into his face. "We are going to finish our little chat that those bandits so rudely interrupted."
Nick's eyes were crossed staring at the finger between them. "I thought we worked it out?"
Judy shook her head. "We worked out the basics so that I wouldn't permanently hurt you for what you did to me and our relationship. But we still have a lot to discuss"
Nick gulped as she continued.
"Now," she declared, sitting down harshly on his chest as she glared at him. "We're going to go over every single detail of why you ever thought it was a clever idea to lie to me, then date me while living a lie, as well as every action you took during that time. You don't seem to understand, yet, how much you toyed with my heart. However, I am willing to forgive you because looking back, I should have recognized that you were struggling with something. At times it appeared you wanted to let me know what it was that was bothering you. That forgiveness, however, is based upon your truthfulness here, comprende?"
Nick nodded.
Judy's glare intensified. "Good. Now...I may know why you decided to be Zorro, but we're going to go over exactly why it was such a horrendous idea for you to continue to play this double life with both our feelings on the line. No excuses, just reasons, or else you will be tied to those trees with the bandits. We are going to start with this."
Pointing at her cheek, Nick winced as he saw the thin lines of scars from the lantern he had smashed into her face. The same guilt that flooded him back then, filled him again now as the doe folded her arms across her chest.
"I was scared."
A raised eyebrow was the rabbit's response, but when she stayed silent, he continued. "I didn't believe that Zootopia was ready to be Zorro-less. I had done this for so long, and fought so hard, I...I just believed I would have to do this forever."
Nick let out a heavy sigh, harder with the weight on his chest, both physically and emotionally. "I should have realized how wrong I was. That it wasn't me that the city needed then." He raised his eyes, daring to look Judy in the eye. Her expression was featureless. Just a furrowed brow and a locked gaze with his, so he continued. "As soon as you arrived, I could have hung up the blade. I should have recognized that, and as I spent time with you I...I was coming to realize that."
A shiver coursed through Nick's body. "The memory of the night I did that to you, to someone I adored, was the most painful, selfish and small-minded thing I've ever done. You didn't deserve it, but I was scared and hurt you in the process." A trickling tear matted the fur beneath his eyes as he looked up at the mammal he adored. "I hurt you, and you suffered due to my mistakes. My egoísmo is what caused it, and I doubt that any apology I could make would heal the scars I have sundered our relationship with. And if you wanted to...to tie me to a tree and leave me with these banditos, I would understand completely. You were right all along, Judy, mi amor. Zorro really is an insufferable, selfish fox."
Nick lowered his stare, not daring any more to look into his beloved's eyes. Just thinking of the moment he had hurt her, scarred her for life, was too unbearable. He hadn't gotten any sleep that night, and still, weeks later, he woke up in the middle of the night, panting and frightened of Judy abandoning him due to the hurt he caused her.
Nick felt warmth against his cheek. Raising his eyes, he saw Judy wiping away the tears matting against his fur, a soft, warm smile that was so...Judy.
"Don't worry, tu estúpido Zorro," she said, her amethyst eyes sparkling with tears themselves. "While scars may stay, the heart can always heal through love and trust built anew."
"You're too good to me," Nick hiccuped, attempting a laugh as his emotions overflowed his mind and body. "And I'll have to remember that phrase and the beautiful bunny who said it."
Judy laughed. "Mi madre will be happy to hear that."
Both mammals smiled, recognizing their bond not only healing, but growing anew. Nick couldn't be more grateful for a mammal as empathetic as Judy. She not only had forgiven him his faults and rudeness towards her, something he felt was unforgivable, but she openly empathized with his plight. Nick's heart swelled with a growing love for the rabbit. Though he still worried about how his past would affect their relationship, and if she had truly forgiven him, she had told him not to worry. And that if his apology was heartfelt, which it was, then she'd accept him once more.
For Judy, she was glad to see Nick opening up completely, finally shedding his past and looking at the future. No longer did he have to hide his secrets from her, or live with the fear he had been holding within. He was a free mammal and during their time alone after Ake'cheta left, Judy told him what Valorie had said to her about Zorro and his motives. She admitted she still wanted to hate him right after that conversation with the feline, but later came to understand the struggles Nick went through. And with Nick's heartfelt apology, forgave him fully, mending the seams of their relationship once more
Their honest and frank conversation had given both mammals the answers they needed and gave them hope for the now, as well as for their future...together.
With both satisfied from their conversation , they began delving into each other's history, yearning to know more about the other mammal, and Judy still had questions for the fox regarding his antics since they had met.
Straightening her back, she moved a little further away from Nick's face as she leaned back on her arms atop his chest as they talked.
Ake'cheta covered his eyes and looked at the sun, then back at the bunny who, after an hour, was still berating Don Wilde. At first the coyote had thought it funny, a fox cowering before a bunny as they went over their differences and Judy getting Nick to realize all his betrayals and errors.
But that had been only the first fifteen minutes. The next fifteen brought more frustration than humor, so he had scouted ahead.
Upon his return just now, nearly an hour after she had forced the fox into his own sort of confessional that even a priest would be proud of, Judy was still at it. Though at some point it seems she had noticed his injuries, and he spotted hers as well, as several strips of white fabric speckled red were wrapped around Judy's ear and Nick's foot.
He was growing nervous. They were taking too long being in one place and open to another attack. Though he knew how important this conversation they were having was to their plans. It was only when one of the wolves tied to a tree tried to escape that Ake'cheta had to intervene. A thrown tomahawk implanting itself into a tree mere inches from the wolf's muzzle stopped him in his tracks. Ake'cheta's aura did the rest and the wolf fainted, making it easy to tie him to another tree by himself.
At least, the coyote felt his compadres would enjoy the wolf being tied to his own tree after the mess he made in his pantalones while trying to escape. Walking over to the bunny and fox, both seeming much calmer than earlier, almost friendly again. Judy sat back on Nick's chest, leaning back on her arms while he was leaning up to look at her better, he got their attention with a cough.
Two sets of ears and eyes swiveled in his direction.
"We need to be going before any more try to escape and alert more to our presence."
Judy's ears flew up and she groaned. "Oh no..." Judy realized how much time had passed when she looked up at the sun. Leaping off Nick's chest, drawing a grunt from the fox, she paused, turning around to help him up with a lent paw. Nick gratefully accepted it, holding it for a moment longer as he and Judy shared a smile.
"Are you two done?"
"Yes, one hundred percent."
"Yes, yes we are."
Ake'cheta nodded. "Then we have several miles to make up for lost time, on top of the miles we need to travel. We'll be running until dark to a place I know we can be safe from wapchey eyes."
The two remade friends nodded. After gathering several of their dropped items, as well as some of the throwing daggers, an arbalest and a dropped satchel of bolts, they went off after the coyote native, leaving the site of battle and reconciliation behind.
AN: Spanish words (hopefully I got them all listed here, if not, please let me know and I'll add them)
banditos - bandits
Guau - Wow
Perdóneme por esto - Sorry about this
Comprende - Understand
Compadre - friend
egoísmo -selfishness
tu estúpido zorro - you dumb fox
mi madre - my mom
Pantalones - pants
Wapchey (language: Sahaptin) - Villain
I hope that you all enjoyed this fight sequence. It was a beast to write, but so, so much fun. :D