Chapter 42 Escape!

Edited by Euphonemes

Judy groaned, blinking her eyes and gritting her teeth at the pain swelling in her head. Darkness was a friend which encompassed her, all except a single, flickering torch in the distance.

"Nicholas..."

The word was as throaty, heavy, and dry as the scorching Califurnia sun. She licked her parched lips, her sight acclimating to the darkness surrounding her. Faraway torchlight danced merrily in its sconce, reflecting against the solid, rocky surface beneath her paws as she groped in the darkness for her companion. A pathetic attempt in the darkness as she fumbled around, like a blind mammal for their lost cane.

Clink.

Metal sounded harsh against the rock wall. The pull of cold steel biting her ankle restrained her movements. Surprised, she tried again, only to find herself limited by a chain encasing her left leg.

"Ay caramba..." She began noticing slight details about her accommodations while enclosed by the unnaturally cold and dense shadows. The slight gleam of rusty metal bars, thick with rust and caked in grime, stood several feet away from her. She found the source of her chained ankle: an eyelet several feet above her head, drilled into the wall and locked so tightly in its casings that she doubted even McHorn could have shattered it.

The steady 'drip...drip...drip' of water falling nearby.

The echoes of faint voices, calling in the distance, accompanying the groans and sobs of others.

A light, raspy but rhythmic intake of breath near her.

Eventually, even her eyesight allowed her to see a faint, huddled form chained to the grainy wall. He was still out, judging by his slow, rhythmic breathing. It eased her heart, though without seeing him clearly she still worried if any head wound lingered from the blow struck by the pommel of Skye's sword. Slowly she stood, stretching her stiff legs, and walked towards him, only to feel the chain jerk her foot harshly less than half the distance from him. Measuring her strides showed her limit to be roughly four feet, and, if Nick's chain was near the same length...

They wouldn't even be able to hold paws...she realized in growing frustration. Judy sighed in frustration, pinching her nose and letting out a melancholic groan. She wanted the comfort Nick could give her, and to offer him some solace as well. But, even something as simple as the warmth of his fur against her own wouldn't be.

"Carrot sticks..." Judy wondered how Nick and her had wound up in this situation. She cursed herself for not being more cautious in the canyon. She knew they were being watched, and could now look back and see the signs clearly. "At least Ake'cheta isn't here."

And you and Nick are still alive...her mind reminded her. It was like her father always told her…

'Judes, just look for the silver lining, as you'll never be rich enough to find gold ones.'

She snorted at the memories of her father's words of wisdom, her favorite coming to mind. 'If you never try, you never fail'.

Truly words of wisdom, she thought in quiet amusement. Staring into the darkness, barely able to move, imprisoned in a cave somewhere miles away from home and safety…

"Is this worth all the effort?" the doe wondered aloud, staring into nothingness while leaning against the cold, barren cell wall. Had she and Nick succeeded at all in this venture, or had they just become another two mammals to find shallow graves and be forgotten while the villains escaped justice?

All she could do at the moment was hope they were doing enough.

She slumped against the chilly, bumpy wall, doing her best to focus on what she knew and could sense about her current situation. Her gaze kept straying to the huddled form across from her. Her shoulders sagged as she rubbed her paws together. The thought of Nick holding her from behind, his tail wrapping her in its marvelous warmth gave her the illusion of peace...until she opened her eyes once more and saw no tail around her feet, no arms around her chest.

She gave one more look at Nick, and he was as still as the stone surrounding them. "Focus, Judy...what can you learn about this place..."

With her ears trained towards the barred entrance, Judy closed her eyes and focused.

Echoes of voices...dripping water somewhere...Nick's breathing...

She sighed and shook her head. Most likely they were in some sort of cavern system, probably an old underground river channel if the smoothness of the rock wall bracing her was any indication. Idly clawing at the wall revealed it as sandstone, rough, yet easy to scratch off and slightly malleable. A chore to burrow through, but manageable if it came to that.

Judy idly passed the time picking at the rock wall behind her. Several times the flickering of light preceded a guard patrolling their cell. None of them stopped, just casually glanced in to make sure they were there before traipsing on, the light disappearing once more, shadowing Judy in darkness again.

She wasn't sure when she slept, the difference between her eyes open or closed non-existent in the darkness. The doe was sure of one sound, though, that shot through the air like a muted musket's blast.

Ka-Klink.

"Finally!"

Ears swiveled towards Nick, unseen in the darkness but noisy in his movements. Judy's ears found him easily.

"Nick?" Whispering to catch his attention, she rattled her chains, hoping he'd figure out where she was. Maybe his chains are long enough so we can reach each other?

A quiet chuckling brought a hint of concern to her, though. It was not the reaction she wanted.

"Carrots, if you are trying to do an impression of a ghost, you are doing an espléndido* job of it."

Judy couldn't help but roll her eyes, shaking her chains once more. "I am the ghost of Carrots..."

She could feel his own eyes rolling as he laughed his reply. "Alright, you're milking it now."

"Welcome back to the land of the living, Nick."

"Spoken like a true ghost."

"Oh hush. And what was that clinking sound?"

"Oh, that? It was just this..."

Judy heard a shuffling of feet against coarse rock and the scraping of claws against stone drawing closer to her.

"I don't think your chains will let you more than halfway, Nick," Judy said. "Tried that already-oh..."

Her thoughts stalled when an arm bumped into her nose, sending it into a twitching frenzy. A muttered apology and a second later, two arms she recognized immediately wrapped themselves around her torso as a gentle kiss landed between her ears.

Judy blinked in surprise as his paws followed her arms to the chains around them. In all the motions he did, she didn't hear the one thing that should have been as obvious as the darkness concealing them...

"Did they not chain you up?" Judy asked, as his paws found the manacles on her left arm.

"Oh, they did. They just didn't count on one thing."

"And that was?"

Ka-Klink.

The weight upon her arm disappeared, and the intrusive feeling of metal against fur dropped to the ground with a soft 'thud'.

"I'm a fox."

She was sure of the self-satisfied, smug look he must have been wearing. Judy raised her now freed paw, rubbing the raw fur and flesh tenderly as Nick's paws made quick work of the second manacle.

"Clever fox," she whispered as she traced his arms to his muzzle. And once she found it, she brought it close for a quick and chaste kiss.

She could feel Nick hum into the kiss, returning it with vigor as a paw cupped her cheek. Ending the kiss was nearly as hard as the stone they sat upon, so Judy quickly dove in for another.

"My, my..." Nick breathed huskily when they finally moved apart. "If that is the prize for freeing you, then I'd gladly reattach those manacles a hundred times over."

Judy grinned. "Just a hundred times?"

"Cheeky bunny."

"Smart fox."

With a soft 'oof', Nick placed himself next to her, the two leaning against each other and holding paws as they stared into the inky blackness surrounding them.

Nick decided after several minutes of peaceful bliss that they needed a plan. "How long have you been up for?"

"Not sure, could have been hours. Was trying to keep count of the drips from wherever they are coming from, but lost count at around 275."

"That or you fell asleep."

"I did not."

"You snore, mi amor."

"Wh..what?" Judy stuttered.

"Like a logger's sawmill-OOF!"

"Jerk!" Judy's punch landed in his side like a comet. Though just as quickly, that same paw started rubbing the impact site. "Sorry..."

Nick placed his paw over hers and held it tenderly while flashing a cheeky smile. "Did I deserve that? No, no I did not." Before Judy could object, Nick pressed on. "So...we must have been in here for hours, and I can assume that they'll have been searching for Ake'cheta while we've been in here."

"Which is why they haven't come for us, yet," Judy added, staring through the iron bars and imagining the freedom beyond their cold prison. "If they would have found him, they would have brought us out already. They want us all together to gloat."

"Most likely," Nick added. "Monologuing is what villains do best, no? And if they don't find him soon, then they'll come to see us if we know where he went. Can't have their hideout revealed if Ake'cheta escapes, after all."

Judy scratched at her chin, leaning back into Nick's soft embrace. "So where would Ake'cheta do in a situation like this? Do you know Ake'cheta well, Nick?"

"Besides his frightening ability to summon spirits to attack his enemies, to conceal himself perfectly in broad daylight with nothing but a straight twig and a glare? Not much. So don't worry. If it's been a few hours, they won't find him."

"Do you think he's gone for help?"

It was Nick's turn to scratch at his muzzle. "Possibly...though his tribe is leagues away from here so we wouldn't be able to expect help for days, and we still don't know where we are."

"True..." Judy sighed, slumping her shoulders. "At least we can try and figure out what we can do for our part."

Nick nodded his agreement. "Which is why I have just the plan..."

Judy turned to look up at him, grinning broadly. "Please, Señor Wilde. Do tell."

Jackson's duty in the Pit of Despair was an easy one, the donkey felt; guarding the prisoners was as simple as walking past their cells and making sure they weren't dead. Though his job was tedious, and the bare rock walls, creepy echoes and vacant stares of the prisoners were sometimes disturbing, he was grateful for his station. The whole route through winding corridors and dark, barren, tomb-like caves took barely an hour, the cavern circular and with only one entrance and exit. Thankfully, the prior guard, a forgetful elephant named Jumbeaux, had marked arrows on the walls, the faint chalky outlines delineating how far along the path he was. Cell block locations and directions towards the entrance would be helpful in case he ended up walking in circles.

The donkey passed by one such crude chalk sign on the wall, 'Turn around Dumbo.' "Idiota," Jackson chuckled, his hooves treading across the rocky, uneven terrain before passing the first cell for his first run of the day. Inside was a fox and bunny, glaring at each other a great divide. An emotional chasm between them as deep and dark as the caves themselves felt chilly even to Jackson.

"I will not give you a hug!" the fox growled, turning his head, red scarf flipping over his shoulder while he did his best not to look at the bunny's pleading face. Annoyance lined his features while his tail angrily flicked behind him.

"Please, Zieg?" she asked, arms outstretched towards him. A combination of twitching nose, limp ears and longing look was devastating to behold. Jackson looked away immediately, the bunny's pleading stare almost breaking his heart, his hoof already reaching for the keys on his belt. I don't know how that fox hasn't given in yet, that stare is too cute.

"I am NOT cute!" came a feminine shout.

Jackson jumped, flicking his torch to light the cell to see that same innocent, ear-drooped bunny now glaring at him. A fire deeper and more passionate than his torch burned within those eyes.

Can she read minds?

"I know that look, that 'isnt she a cute little rabbit look so stop it right now you jack-".

He bolted from that particular cell, unsure of the prisoner rabbit's abilities and not wanting to find out, her heated eyes boring holes through his coat until he turned the corner. Another quarter mile through the dark, damp and crumbling passage, narrowly missing stalactites and a muddy, gurgling stream which poured from a sizable hole in the wall and drained into another opposite it, and he was at the second cell block.

Again, this one only contained two prisoners in the alcove dug into the cave wall. The cramped space within, short enough to where Jackson needed to bend to see within, contained some of the newer prisoners. He rather enjoyed messing with the newer inmates, as breaking their spirits sent his soaring in this dull atmosphere deep within the earth.

The white furred wolf inside was sitting where he always was: against the wall, holding onto his wife, a female thylacine, whispering words of sweetness to her as Jackson bent down and rapped on the bars. The noise drew a whimper from the thylacine and a harsh glare as cold as ice from the wolf.

"Don't worry my sweet Pumpkin. I won't let anything happen to you."

The donkey wasn't sure why he referred to her as 'his Pumpkin,' but the sickeningly saccharine scene, the polar opposite of the prior cell's antagonism thick like San Furcisco fog, was enough to incite a nasty headache. He again hurried on his way, rubbing his temples. They had been Skye's personal prisoners, the vixen dragging them in when she returned from her last assignment. She boldly claimed she wanted them, but wouldn't explain why to the likes of Jackson. The feeling of irksome belittlement he had once felt months ago when told he shouldn't meddle in the affairs of the vixen were long gone, diffused and scattered like chaff in the wind after seeing the vixen's anger against one of their 'former' associates who'd decided to test her.

The marking of the cross upon his chest for his deceased colleague was instinctually and he moved on with his thoughts.

Several more scenes unfolded in a dozen other cells. Cramped, dingy alcoves, filled with dirt and mold. The straw placed as bedding was beyond filthy, yet the mammals chained inside didn't seem to mind. They were as filthy as the straw, after all. Most of the prisoners at this late hour had succumbed to their exhaustion and lay passed out on the rocky floors. Others stared at him with vacant eyes, filled with the despair Jackson expected to see in this foso*.

He knew the end of his circuit was imminent. The chill in the air devoured what little heat rose from his torch. He shivered as his fur cooled, and he slow-stepped down the trail coated with icy residue from the nearly-frozen stream. He was particularly eager to see the last two prisoners, as he had been told they'd been a particular thorn in his boss's side for quite a while now.

Especially the rabbit.

He had heard she'd taken out nearly all their boss's operations in Zootopia single-pawed, had defeated a batch of their toughest desperados en route here, and had fought Skye without dying. That last one was impressive enough to make him beg for this shift, just so he could see this rabbit up close before Skye killed her. Judging by the sounds of the arctic vixen screaming at their boss, he'd heard before walking down here to the dungeons, the rabbit's demise had to be close, whether the moose wanted Skye to do it or not.

"I wonder what she'll look like..." the donkey murmured as he neared the cell, his imagination concocting visions of some Angus MacAskill bunny. His thoughts crashed to a halt as he slipped upon the slime. He measured his steps much more carefully as he rounded the final bend, coming upon the cell, his anticipation growing with each step. His eagerness was soon dashed when he waved the torch near the bars and only saw a single prisoner: a fox holding his bulging stomach and bearing a satisfied grin.

"Where's the bunny?" Jackson asked, scratching his head.

Even with his extended belly, the fox swaggered towards the bars, and Jackson instinctively stepped back. "I ate her liver...with some fava beans and a nice Chianti." His grin felt colder than the very air. "And then I couldn't resist dining on the rest of her delicious corpse."

A cold shiver ran down the donkey's spine. "You...you what?"

The fox motioned for the donkey to step forward, and against his rational mind's warning to stay put, his body complied. When the hoofed mammal reached the bars of the cell, the fox whispered into his ear.

"It's called a hustle, sweetheart!"

In a flash, the tod grabbed the donkey by his ears and slammed his head against the bars with a sickening metallic clang. Jackson suffered two more nasty blows before he slumped to the ground, laying in a pool of his own drool and blood.

Nick shook his head and wiped his paws together, his grin only growing. "Did you get the keys dangling from his belt there, Carrots?"

Judy poked her paw out from under Nick's shirt, a round metal ring with several large keys dangling from it. Her head appeared a moment later, the torch laying on the ground nearby showing her buck toothed grin.

"Got em!"

"Alright, then come on out and let's get this door unlocked."

Just as quickly as she appeared, Judy once more disappeared under his shirt. Nick waited a moment, sighing when that moment turned into a minute.

"Carrots..." he teasingly admonished. "As much as I love spending time alone in the dark with you, I believe we have things to do, no?"

"Just one more minute?" she asked, her voice pleading. "You're so comfy."

Nick groaned.

Judy hopped out shortly after his audible complaint, enjoying the embarrassing blush spreading along Nick's ears. After undoing the lock, they pulled in the donkey guard and shackled him with their own chains. Judy had the smart and devious idea to use his bandana as a gag to keep him from raising an alarm. Nick was happy to take the animal's sword, and while heavy and larger than his own, his experimental swings showed promise. Judy took the flintlock from the donkey's belt, double checking the pouches along the desperado's belt for extra ammo and powder. Now armed and slightly more optimistic, the two looked at both paths they could take.

"So, where to, my capitána?" Nick asked.

Judy looked down the direction the donkey had come from, pointing before they hurried in that direction. They nearly shot past the first cell they came across, but skidded to a stop when they heard a moan from within. Peering through the bars, the malnourished form of a black panther appeared, one eye swollen shut from a series of gashes across his face.

"We can't just leave them here," was all Judy had to say before Nick unlocked the door and then the panther within.

From there, Judy and Nick knew they couldn't leave behind the rest of Skye's prisoners. Each new cell increased the number of mammals they freed until a long line snaked its way through the cave system, the slow, cautious group staying silent as they moved through the dungeon.

They were nearly done with their liberation when Judy began to worry. "Nick?" The fox looked down at her. "That guard is going to be missed soon. I know I want to rescue everyone here, but…"

Nicholas stroked her fallen ears. "But you're worried whether this," he waved his paw behind them at the trickling thread of mammals disappearing far beyond the torchlight, "will all be for naught?"

Judy nodded. "I didn't think there'd be so many of them. Why are they all here?"

"Because we dig," a gravelly voice behind them stated. The two leading mammals turned to see the panther step behind them. "We've all been kidnapped for one purpose: to dig. We know not for what, and we dare not ask. For those who ask, die."

"All the more reason to free everyone now, huh, Carrots."

Nodding her assent, they continued forward to the next cell. Nick's tail bushed out, and he ran to the bars. "Eliot? Chloe?"

The white wolf inside looked up from his protective hold over his wife. "Nicholas?" The wolf's tail began to wag as Judy appeared within the torchlight. "And Capitána Hopps! Oh, Pumpkin! We're saved!"

Nick had the door unlocked and wrapped his arms around his friends. "Don and Mistress Fanghanel, what happened? How did you get in here? You were just at my gala!"

Eliot blushed, his cheeks brightening. "Well...I was distracted by my sweet Pumpkin's beauty and took her on a walk through the vineyards after leaving. And we…"

"We were ambushed," Chloe finished for her husband, whose wagging tail failed him.

"I'm sorry, my sweet Pumpkin," he said in a woeful tone, tail curling around his wife as he trembled. "I failed you so badly." The warble of his voice showed his anguish for all to hear and only a brief nuzzle from his wife stopped the sniffles he so desperately tried to hold back like a cracking dam.

"No you didn't, sweetie," Chloe stated cheerfully, placing a gentle kiss upon his nose. The wolf quieted, pleading eyes begging for an explanation. "You took down a lot of that group that attacked us to protect me. Yes, we were captured, but you've done your best to protect me at every turn, and have protected me from these foul, twisted mammals imprisoning us since. None have laid a paw on me thanks to you."

Eliot's tail wagging began anew as he enclosed his bride in a massive hug. Both Nick and Judy smiled fondly at the scene, sharing a discreet glance towards each other, the love sparking in their own eyes,. Nick quietly took Judy's paw and placed a kiss upon it. "Someday, Judy," he whispered as he cupped her cheek. "Someday we will have this and more."

Judy's smile was warm and glowing, filling the cavern, and Nick's heart floated with light and joy. "I'd like that, Nicholas. Very much."

The scene, however, had to come to an end, and after several minutes of watching the Fanghanels' impromptu cuddle session, Judy's heavy cough into her paw signalled to the couple that time was precious. "Anyone know how many cells are left?" Judy asked to the group behind them.

"Just one," Manchas offered with a chuckle, "though I think you'll find them to be amusing."

Nick and Judy's reactions were the same. Each raised an eyebrow before the group continued onward, guided by the flickering flame of their torch and a rekindled hope in their cause. They stepped over a stream trickling across the path, and almost immediately after, the sound of a rather heated argument rose from a dull echo into obvious shouts.

"I will not be giving you a hug! You're just trying to seduce me with your cute ways-stop it with the lowered ears!"

Rounding a corner, the freed prisoners found quite the eclectic scene before them. Most had been used to the two mammals arguing, as they'd been doing so since they had been brought in, yet the scene was cast with such an oddness that, outside the cell, the fox and bunny's only reaction was to stop and stare.

"I'm so pure and innocent, I just want a hug," the rabbit inside the cell stated, sniffling as she held her arms out in a pleading motion.

"Go hug yourself!" the fox in the long, flowing red scarf shot back, staring into the corner of the cell as far as possible from the doe.

Several snickers and murmured comments came from behind Nick and Judy as the argument continued before them.

"Those two need to get a room…"

"They're already in one."

"Why won't he give her a hug? Is he an evil fox?"

"Look at her, she's trying every trick in the book to sneak a hug! She's a diabolical bunny!"

Nick and Judy stared at one another in confusion. "Should we just...leave them here?" Nick offered, pointing down the path towards where he assumed the exit was.

Judy cast a cursory glance towards the arguing...couple? Friends? Enemies? She couldn't really tell, though the signs pointed to them usually being sweet on each other. Nick could certainly smell it, and he placed a paw gingerly upon Judy's shoulder. "I say we leave them be to their couple's quarrel."

"They're a couple?"

"Oh no…." Nick groaned, placing a paw over his head. The keys to the cell he'd been holding disappeared from his paw as a white blur of fur and friendliness rushed past him. "I just had to mention the 'c' word…"

Judy watched as Eliot first freed the bunny, then the fox, then squeezed both of them together in his arms while speaking as quickly as a hurricane. Finally she shook her head, shaken from the daze that had befallen her. "I didn't hear Eliot say cute."

"That wasn't the word I was thinking of, Carrots. I'll take, 'couple', for two hundred pesos."

"Oh…"

"Oh indeed."

It took several moments for the excited wolf to calm down, and many moments more to unwrap the blonde bunny and red fox from the fox's long scarf, tangling them up in exactly the kind of closeness that the fox had been avoiding with passion.

Finally back on track, the group followed the pathway, several chalk arrows guiding them out of the dungeon and hopefully toward open air. Along the way, Judy and Nick separated, asking the inmates about the path ahead, number of guards, and general layout of the caverns they were in. Ten minutes later they came back together, equally annoyed when each mammal had said the same thing. Each morning they were blindfolded and brought out of the caves, and each night they were blindfolded and brought back in.

They decided to march on anyway and eventually reached a junction, with two narrow paths separating into several even smaller paths. The only marker to show the caves were inhabited at all was hidden in a crevice...a small box filled with black, woolen blindfolds of all sizes.

A few mammals took turns walking as far down the paths as possible while still seeing the torch held by Judy. Each returned stating the same thing: several of the paths seemed to join together in a tangled, twisted replica of a braided stream. Other caverns headed in all directions while others ended abruptly, filled in with silt and sand. Two mammals returned, stating their paths had been blocked off by walls of stone and adobe.

"This is a quandary…" Nick muttered, listening to the growing discomfort behind them, as well as the argument that had rekindled between the the fox, who they learned was named Zieg, and the bunny, known as Rydia.

"Hush, Nick."

Nick raised his palms at the gruff retort from Judy. "My apologies, mi amor."

"Ssshhh."

"Uh, Judy?" Nick looked down to see her eyes closed tightly, ears flicking this way and that. "What are you doing?"

Her eyes opened, revealing their amethyst glow shining off the dimming light from the dying torch. "Listening for a way out."

"Listening?" he asked, before examining the torch held in her paw. He'd noticed before that the flames flickered and danced, and assumed it was due to their pace. However, while Judy was here, fully grounded and unmoving, the torch still flickered. "You're listening for the wind, aren't you…"

Judy nodded. "Now, if you could politely ask Rydia to help me as four ears are better than two. And also keep everyone quiet, please."

Nick smirked. "I think I can do you one better. Eliot?"

The white wolf's ears perked up. "Yes, Don Wilde?"

The fox's smirk widened into a grin, glinting brilliantly in tongues of torchlight. "How's your sniffer doing these days?"

AN: Angus MacAskill was an actual giant from the early 1800's, and was world known to be the strongest man on the planet, reaching 7'4" by the time he was twenty, and his greatest feat lifting a 2800 pound anchor to his chest. So I felt that would be a suitable reference for Jackson to compare to the feats of this Herculean bunny he was imagining Judy to be. Just a random bit of trivia for you guys. :)

As for the story, looks like Judy, Nick and Co have made their escape, finding a few friends along the way. Now that everyone is together, what on earth are they planning? Let me know in a comment what you think may happen since ZiegRydia and Eliot are now involved. ;)

Translations

Foso- Pit

Espléndido - Splendid