Hey all, DLW here with a new chapter. A huge thank you to all the readers, follows,fav's and reviews (Honestly, it helps me think)! This arc and the next arc have me incredibly excited to write them (No spoilers though). Disclaimer: Zootopia and its characters are copyright Disney. (I own none of the characters in the story aside from the O/C's.).

The Dystopian Society

Chapter Three: Pitch Black

'Encroaching Obscurity'

"As you held out your hand in the dark, I asked. 'Where are you taking me?"

[February 4, 'Nocturnal District' 6:43 PM]

No matter how far they had walked throughout the series of neighborhoods, Judy couldn't stop gazing in awe at the scenery.

While the layout of the streets, the fauna, and pathways themselves hadn't changed, she did take note of a small handful of cars there.

There had been no more than a dozen randomly placed about in the housing area, and though she thought of it as odd, she could see why Nick had told her cars were rare down here.

Even with well-lit paths and traffic signs at every corner, the district felt different from the world above. It felt like the kind of place one would go to for a vacation or to visit friends and family.

She could see a few mammals walking about, some groggy and others cheerful. None looked too busy or in a rush to be anywhere.

They had many differing species as she could see a hyena yawning and strolling lazily about just down the road while a goat pranced about delivering packs of newspaper to certain residences.

There were several young mammals, both prey and predator, racing down the street, hauling backpacks and other such things with them. She could easily identify many of them as nocturnal, but easier so as children nearly late for school.

She looked on with curiosity as to what kind of school the district had and how it differed from the schools she had seen downtown.

She didn't even know if it looked the same as those, but she continued to look around to find it if at all possible.

In her search, they had passed by dozens of apparent complexes, townhouses, and small fenced shacks; each of which had different architecture, yet still made the whole scene quite interesting.

She had seen an apartment building that looked to be completely made of carved stones, even its door and windows looked to be cut from the same block. Whether or not it was more welcoming inside, she couldn't tell.

Next to it was a small townhouse, made solely of wood and painted blue. While it did seem quaint and pleasant, it stood out as it was sandwiched between the stone-faced building and a much larger brick house.

She didn't know how this colash of buildings came to be, but they all seemed to somehow manage to complement their surroundings in ways she didn't think possible. It made the area feel a lot more friendly than even her neighborhood did.

While she didn't mind sight seeing and in new information with each step behind Nick, she couldn't help but feel as though something was off.

Every now and again, she could had the feeling as though piercing eyes were watching her from somewhere.

She kept up with Nick's pace and made sure that the greater effort of her focus was placed upon him. As she did this while watched the streets come and go, she at times glanced over her shoulder to hopefully place her unease at rest.

Though she saw only a few other mammals going about their 'morning' routine, she did believe a few times that she had seen one in the distance following the same path they did.

'Who is that? Are they following us?' She wondered.

Around every corner they turned and down every street they walked, she repeated this, catching only the faintest of shadows and glimpses of a consistent mammal in the distance.

Noticing their presence and how far away they were from them and closing in, she mentally readied herself. They could be anybody, and with Nick around, she couldn't tell if this was one of his friends or not.

Knowing how far away they were, she thought of a plan of action in case things went wrong. She took note of how Nick never once deviated from his pace and only moved forward wordlessly to get them 'hopefully' to where this mysterious friend was.

She contemplated how things would go and began to worry as she did before. She would be going alone to a predators den.

'Why isn't Jack's teammate here?' Her thoughts screamed out to her.

Her paw slightly shook as they turned another corner, her thoughts rattled with every step and she could feel her breath become heavier.

She didn't blink or bother to look behind her as she knew that she was being followed. 'I still have my taser, my radio, and the cuffs.'

Listing off every available tool that she had, she carefully listened out for even the slightest of footsteps that may follow hers.

She could hear Nick ahead of her, her own footsteps and the faint rattle of the cuffs that she wore around her. The sounds of the surrounding area and distant echoes of mammals they had since passed by filled her ears.

Yet even from all of this, she could hear no steps behind her. She didn't know what had disturbed her more, the fact that there were no steps, or that there should be.

They were nearly down the street when she chanced a glance just behind her. The moment she did so, she felt a chill run down her spine.

A small mammal stood under a streetlight, facing towards them as they walked away. She couldn't tell at this distance what they were, but knew that something was amiss.

"Here we are." Nick's voice called out to her from just ahead, startling her slightly and causing her to halt immediately.

She had been deep in thought, so much so that she had already had her paw on her radio. Had Nick not said anything, she would have called the ZPD on suspicion at any moment.

As she thought about what to do with her set of dilemmas, she noticed how different the immediate area was in contrast to where they had just been.

They had crossed from one side of the road to the other. Whereas the street they left had fully developed masses of buildings, this side had one peculiar standing structure.

Ahead of her stood a less welcoming sight of a house built directly into an alcove on the cave walls. While she could see the structure made mostly of wood and brick like some of the others they had passed by, it was secluded from the rest and separated by a small tightly woven wooden fence.

Though the fence did little to stop anyone from jumping over it, she could see a faint glow emanating from just beyond.

The sight of the house was just as eerie and ominous as the light that shone upon it. Judy's eyes widened with a mix of both mystery and disgust. Compared to the other housing structures, it was definitely one that she couldn't see that anyone would want to live in.

From what she could see, there were no actual light structures on either the porch or anywhere in the yard at all. The windows had a black sheen on them as if they had been completely tinted or perhaps even boarded up from within.

The painting of the house was indistinguishable from the stone that it was cut out from, making it appear as though it was part of the cave itself.

Before Judy could even question why there was a glow or say anything about the sketchy house itself, Nick pulled the gate open.

It creaked and feebly rocked as it swung, barely hanging on to its hinges while it did so.

The moment the gate was open, Nick walked through and Judy was welcomed with a soft blue light much like she had seen from the trees in the park.

Curious to see what the light was, Judy walked forward, following in Nicks footsteps and onto the path of soft dirt and soil.

Once she was able to see what the glowing light was, she held her breath in awe at what lay just in front of her.

On the cave floor, embedded in the dirt and glowing softly were dozens of mushrooms. She turned to see them on either side of the path, mushrooms both large and small, blending into the grass and shedding light everywhere they grew.

The yard itself was aglow with them, so much so that she could see every inch of it even up to the house itself.

While she had no doubts that the mushrooms shouldn't be considered as food, their sheer calming luminesce was a beauty to behold.

Ahead of her, Nick stood at the door to the house. He swished his tail and waved her forward.

"What is this place?" She asked, walking toward him and casting small glances at the fungi every few steps.

Nick smirked at her question and shrugged his shoulders. "This would be a house."

Immediately, the look on Judy's face changed from one of inspired wonder to stalwart anger.

Feeling as though he would potentially regret his little joke, he laughed. "This is where Honey lives."

Now just a few feet away from Nick, Judy paused for a moment. She mulled over the thought of what he had just said, then the realization hit her as to why they came here first.

"What, is she your girlfriend?" She asked, nervous as she could soon be in the presence of yet another fox.

To her thought, she hadn't heard any mention of Nick's life beyond what he had said and from what Jack had read from his dossier. Though she could understand why he never mentioned her as it could cause further incrimination.

Nick, however, cringed at the thought.

"What, no! That's her nickname." He protested.

Doing so not only made him nearly gag a little, but he watched as Judy questioningly glared at him.

"No, she's," He began, tilting his head towards the door and scratching his ear to find the words. "Well, she's technically my godmother."

As he said this, Judy stared at him with fury. Her eyes refused to leave him as she felt her foot tapping quickly on its own.

"And you were going to withhold information about this pred for how long?" She accused.

She didn't know if this was better or worse for her, but once again he had kept something from the ZPD. Once again he couldn't be trusted to do something as simple as reveal what they needed.

The moment she asked this, Nick let his paw drop to the side. He saw Judy's stone-faced stare and met it with astonishing bewilderment.

His mouth agape, he tried to ask. "What is it you have against-"

He had to stop himself from even finishing the sentence as he felt his blood boil. He knew if he kept this up, he'd only end up losing the argument and eventually his own sanity.

Instead, he placed both paws on his temples, shut his eyes, and breathed deeply. He had to keep himself calm somehow, and the rabbit was trying his patience to no end.

"I didn't withhold anything," He said calmly, opening his eyes and facing the door. "It's just that it's... it's difficult to understand her."

Seeing the fox act strangely and talk about this predator that was family to him, Judy wondered why it was hard to understand someone. She understood criminal minds effectively, so how could this be any different?

"So, how is she difficult?" Judy replied, feeling her foot slowly come to rest.

While she was still nervous about meeting the pred, she was confident that if the fox was old enough to be Nick's godmother, then she shouldn't pose much of a threat.

Nick sighed, never taking his eyes off the door. "I... can't really explain her that well without you getting to know her alright?"

Saying all that he could, and not hearing any form of protest, he reached for the door handle.

"Wait!" He shouted, ripping his paw from the door and turning to Judy in a mix of fear and urgency.

At his sudden change in behavior, Judy took a step back. She placed her hand up and glared at him with a fire in her eyes.

'What's he planning?' She wondered, once again thinking back to the mammal that she knew trailed them.

To this end, she glanced between him and the edge of the street. Though she saw nobody there, she knew that it was only a matter of time before they showed themselves again.

From Judy taking a stance again, Nick understood that she was still tense and was not going to like what he had to say.

"Almost forgot." He admitted, pointing towards Judy's belt.

She took a moment to intensely focus on him. She didn't know why he was pointing at her, but could only hope he wouldn't try anything drastic.

"When we get inside, by no circumstance can you pull that gun out on her." Nick added, his tone seemingly desperate and pleading.

Judy raised a brow at his statement. While she was informed that she couldn't use her taser on him, surely he didn't believe for a moment that he could boss her around on whom else to fire it at incase they attacked her.

With a belittling stare and clutching her paw, she asked. "And why would you think I'd follow you inside without it?"

Nick knew where she was going with this, he knew she would try to pull the trigger the moment she felt even the slightest bit afraid. This, however, didn't stop him from trying to reason with her.

"Thing is," He huffed, solemnly looking into her eyes. "She's a war hero, like Salt."

Judy could only stare back in amazement. Here he was again, potentially making up a story about a hero that he had no way of backing up. In fact, this 'Honey' may not even exist, or may not be his godmother. She'd have to see it to believe it.

"And?" She replied, crossing her arms and tapping her foot voluntarily as if to demand an answer.

Nick couldn't believe her response. Or maybe, somewhere in his thoughts, he could.

"And?" Nick repeated, watching the rabbit give him a demeaning stare.

Frustrated to no end, he felt himself breathe heavy. He heard the telltale beeping of his collar and he huffed.

He brought a paw to the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes.

Sighing, he answered. "And, she has severe PTSD."

Judy's heart felt like it skipped a beat for a moment. Whether or not Nick was lying about the predator before was moved out of her mind for now.

Her eyes, in sheer horror, jolted straight to the door. She had seen PTSD in prey mammals before, and in some preds as well. Though now, she was standing at the threshold of a far more dangerous situation than she had first expected.

Even beyond this, a looming fear gripped her. The fear that she may have to go in alone.

"Looking down every path, I whispered 'To the land where heroes were forgotten.'"

Hello there, and welcome to the end notes! Good news is that this is about the halfway point (maybe) of Volume 1! And yes you read that correctly.

I will soon try to add music suggestions for the story, but please know that it won't be easy (aside from maybe Archive of our Own in the notes).

I'm still scheduling Nick and Finnick for weekend updates (either every weekend, or every other weekend).

And I hope you get a chance to read this and the other at your leisure. Also, these stories can be found here as well:

fanfiction:
~dancinglunarwolves

deviantart:
dancinglunarwolves

archiveofourown:
users/DancingLunarWolves/works

If you liked this story and have time please post a review, and if you would like to keep up with the story please fav or follow. Questions, comments, concerns, feel free to message me about anything... More to come soon.

If you'd like updates, please check the profile page and or message me.

Also, I'm placing my other stories (non zootopia) on hold (just on hold) until I'm done with a good chunk of these. More info on my profile page.

I hope you all enjoy.

Till Next Time
-DLW