Kaboom! Sorry... stepped on a landmine... a figurative one. you know... that one labeled 'Don't go there'.
I couldnt resist and now i'm sky high, and not the drugged up kind, or the one from that movie.
At least I can see the curvature of the earth for a short while before going splat on the ground.
Anywho, I'm loopy right now from lack of sleep, so i'll post this lovely bit here and let you speculate all the things you think i'm going to do from here. Mwahhahaha.
Here is the third installment of Silence and Valiance. I do hope you enjoy, review, and follow. my ego loves the boost. He's such a glutton.
The next ten days became a source of far more preferable treatment for the fox.
Nicholas still suffered the slurs and stares of most every rabbit in the burrow, but because of some form of hierarchy he was beginning to understand, most everyone just allowed Judith to deal whatever treatment she saw fit.
On occasion, she would play the part and verbally berate him as necessary. He would also play into it, feigning shameful submission, averting his gaze and backing away slightly.
These past several days, he had been able to talk more and more, exercising his vocal chords any chance he could when they were most assuredly alone.
At this point, most of the burrow had heard of the mute fox that Judith had taken as her personal servant. Thankful that he didn't need to deal with the parents directly, he was no more excited to deal with the other elder siblings who had their own servants. There were a few vixens, a couple lynxes, and a few other small predators that Nicholas hadn't had a chance to examine from afar.
Heather seemed tame in comparison to the malice that some of Judith's other siblings were spewing.
It was a small price considering the previous potential future. Now he was fed well, especially considering he was expected by all others except Judith herself to fulfill all her needs and desires. They played the part well enough and had little in the way of skepticism directed at them.
He did do as much for her as she allowed, seeing as she saved him from a cruel fate. In the morning, he would allow her to dress without a wandering eye and helped her finish putting on any garments that were difficult for her to deal with. During her studies, which were far too limited in comparison to the scholarly level of training they gave the males of the family, Nicholas would patiently wait for her with the other servants in the rear of whatever room was being used.
He observed everything he could and made mental notes of the layout of wherever he went. On those times he wasn't eyed suspiciously for doing so, he would assemble and bring Judith a meal. Anytime he decided to show her the kindness she had shown him, she seemed disappointed to a degree as if he were forced to what he did.
On this day, he was allowed to accompany Judith and a small entourage into town for a shopping excursion. The small rabbit seemed overly excited about the prospect, though he could possibly understand that she might feel cooped up in this burrow. As large as it was, only a small portion of it was actually explorable without belonging to another sibling as their bedroom.
For his bedding situation, Judith had taken it upon herself to have a fairly decent mattress brought in to her room. Low to the floor and only just large enough for his frame, Nicholas had no complaints when he had slept on the soft surface the first night. For the sake of appearances and such, Nicholas had found and used a rope to tie himself to the bed.
It had worked in their favor, much to Judith's displeasure, when Heather decided to intrude with a clear goal in mind of checking upon her sister's 'disciplining methods' of servants. He feigned fear of Judith, to Heather's great satisfaction and was left alone. That was a sight to behold. Once they were alone, the small grey rabbit had looked as if bordering between anger and sadness. He received his first true chastising from her to which he smiled and agreed to tell her next time.
Interrupting his reverie, Judith tapped his shoulder and said, "Can you tie the back of my dress? I can't reach." The fox obliged and stood back to allow Judith to admire the outfit in the mirror.
"Thanks, Nicholas," she beamed at him.
The fox wagged a finger at her.
"Remember my lady," he chided her, "I cannot speak and nor do you know my name. especially if we are to spend our day in the company of one another AND your family. Privacy will be a luxury in short supply for either of us."
"Right… of course," the rabbit corrected herself, "Silence."
As unimaginative as the name may have seemed, Judith had to call him something. On a whim while referring to him in front of others, she called him Silence, and it stuck in both their heads.
At least it was better than Mute.
The fox nodded to her gently.
"Don't let it get to you, my lady," he comforted her. "You can take solace in the fact that you and only you know my name."
She gently smiled, murmuring to herself when Nicholas turned away to grab her coat. His ears flicked as they picked up what she said anyways.
"And yet you never call me by my name…"
He pretended not to hear her, so as not to embarrass her, and also because he didn't know how to respond to that. He hadn't called her by her name as of yet for reasons he had yet to ascertain and understand.
He assumed it was simply due to the fact that he didn't want to make a habit of it and become too attached to her. If he ever wanted to leave this place, he needed to make it easier to cut ties with.
This outing would seem like a perfect chance to leave, but with the density of guards and soldiers in this area and within the city, he would be remised to account for the likely mammal hunt and following burning at the stake if he should be cornered and caught.
No, he needed to make sure his escape would be met with as much of a gap between last sighting and the beginnings of a search. That likely meant leaving after dusk and getting as far away as he could by the next morning. The northern forests that he traipsed through weren't too far from the city. Once there, he could easily lose any tagalongs and make his way back to a more predator friendly area and continue the search for Honey.
The most difficult part of that plan, should it be called that, was finding a way past all the rabbits in the burrow that served as guards. Lax as some of them might be, their leanings towards predators definitely made it difficult to talk… or mime… his way out of trouble should he be caught.
He suspended that line of thought for the time being as he found Judith's coat and brought it to her.
"Thank you," she stated in a small voice. "So, we're going to find some new books to read. I'm so excited." The rabbit bounced on the arch of her feet, her toes very nearly leaving the floor.
"Of course, my lady. Don't worry. I know of many we could attempt to acquire, should they be in stock."
She put her paws through the sleeves and let the fabric wrap around her comfortably. Her eyes looked back upon him and locked with his own for a few seconds before averting and shifting down to something on the front of her coat. Nicholas believed it to be nothing until her ears seemed to wither and curl downward.
"Might I ask what is bothering you, my lady," the fox inquired.
The grey rabbit turned towards him once more, looking at his face, as if trying to read him. He kept his face locked in a neutral expression.
"Do you feel happy in my charge?" she asked. "I know it's not the most civil of circumstances… but I don't like the prospect of seeming an oppressive burden to you."
Nicholas sighed heavily, knowing he couldn't give her a logical and likely emotionless reply.
"I don't know if I am happy," he remarked in all honesty as Judith's ears wilted further, "but I am not the miserable mess that I have been for a long time, even before arriving here. In time, I believe I could call myself one that is… 'happy'."
The grey doe seemed to like what she heard enough for her ears to erect to their former glory, much the same as her smile.
"I never did ask…" she started, "how did you get sent here? I hear stories of many who have arrived here, but I am not so dull and witless as to believe every senseless tale that follows a predator here."
Nicholas could only chuckle at the rabbit's growing intellect. When he first met, and conversed with her, she seemed generally optimistic but naïve. As the days, and increasing number of conversations, came to pass, he found that she hid a certain amount of herself from her family, much the same as he did to the world. Lower their expectations of you, and they pay you less mind.
Despite her lack of scholarly knowledge, she was highly adaptive and intelligent to his best assumptions. Maybe she could even learn to hold a sword, if she wasn't hiding that talent already.
"I tried to help return a merchant's dropped cargo from a cart… and was accused of stealing," Nicholas divulged bluntly.
Judith looked utterly appalled at the prospect of what he had said. He wasn't even sure she believed him.
"That's ridiculous!" she seethed. The fox merely waited for her to possibly tell him off for saying such outlandish things. "How could they accuse you so readily like that? You seem so generous and kind."
This threw Nicholas for a loop. He was expecting tepid disbelief or maybe even skepticism, but not quite implicit trust in his words.
"How am I either of those things?" he asked, genuinely curious.
She shrugged slightly, looking for the right words.
"Your actions show as much," Judith explained. "You put yourself in compromising and quite possibly uncomfortable physical and emotional positions for something as useless as my reputation. You never ask for anything from me beyond making it easier to serve me as you insist upon doing. And you even forego your own dignity as a mammal without so much as a reservation, if it means that it benefits me."
"It is not as noble as you make it out to be, I assure you," the fox replied. "Such a concept as 'dignity' is an ever-changing ideal that mammals either imprint or inflict upon each other to serve as a means of shaming those who have it into staying away from certain social practices that are not… accepted. Such would be the view of our friendship."
The rabbit's eyes widened and Nicholas worried that he screwed up for a few seconds before her gaze grew soft.
"You believe me your friend? Not your captor or oppressor?"
"If saving me from my previous fate means you are my captor, then I wonder what treatment I garner as what you consider friend," Nicholas said with a gentle tone. Judith started to giggle, her paw coming up to cover her mouth.
"Now then, Let's away, my lady. We mustn't be late for the departure of your party."
He opened the door, closing his muzzle and assuming the state of the mute he pretended to be, while gesturing Judith out of it.
Walking at a decently brisk pace, at least for a rabbit, the two of them made their way to the foyer area and exited the large doors to see a carriage waiting for them.
A few other siblings shuffled in, their servants trailing behind as a plethora of larger predators heaved the reigns, readying to pull the carriage to the city. Nicholas and other servants would have to trod the ground behind them, not that he minded much. It might give him a chance to get a read on the others currently walking the same path as himself.
The only constraint to his inquisitive nature right now was that he couldn't speak to gather information. It wasn't a big obstacle since he never cared to anyways, but the prospect that he now knows he can but won't gave light to a minor flame of frustration.
He would have to simply rely on his observational skills.
Three vixens, two lynxes, and a mongoose. Most were keeping their gazes on the ground or the wheels of the carriage in an assumed attempt at keeping their heads down. All except one fox vixen. Nicholas remembered her as being Heather's servant. Her eyes wandered across the back of the carriage throughout the journey into the city.
When he looked down, her paws twisted around themselves, looking as if she might rub the fur from them with any more forceful grasping and nervous fiddling. What could drive her to be so nervous?
The red fox went a little wide-eyed upon a surfacing thought. Was she thinking about bolting? No, she wasn't looking around, searching for a moment to run from the guards that surrounded them in a loose rectangle.
The vixen stiffened as if realizing something and dared to dart her eyes towards him in a split second, then back at the carriage. She did a double take when she realized Nicholas was staring at her with a sideways glance and took to staring at the ground like the others, huffing a slow and deep breath to calm whatever nerves he touched.
Nicholas's eyes narrowed a bit as he resumed looking forward and trying to figure out what that was all about. He could have sworn that he saw a tinge of a blush beneath the white fur that wrapped right under her eyes. It wasn't from his gaze though. She was embarrassed. Of what, he could only assume and that he did. It was far more interesting to do so than stare at the ground while walking. Nearly a dozen ideas came to mind, but none really seemed liable.
The walk went quicker than he primarily assumed it would, seeing the borders of the city pass his peripheral. It felt like a lifetime since he was taken away from the not so welcome environment of the city. Honestly, he had forgotten the name, if it even had one.
The streets cleared rather quickly upon seeing the banner of the family arriving. Shops stayed open for the sake of profit, obviously, but many mammals, predators and prey alike, saw fit to slink away from the imposing presence of multiple Hopps' family members, both elder and guard alike.
At least it was a short and uninterrupted walk to the shopping district that was their destination. Looking more elegant and well-kept than the outer limits that the fox had frequented more during his rather short visit. The shops had their own glass displays, unlike the less appealing districts. Such was the way of a business catering to the wealthy and politically well leaned.
Most other shops he had visited himself were mostly just a small shutter and door entry way for guests. They served their function even if not in the most aesthetically appealing manner. Overly embroidered dresses and suits lined most of the displays. Others had cumbersome looking and unwieldy weapons, ranging from a dagger with jewel encrusting in the hilt to a spear with no sense of balance in the design whatsoever, looking more like an expensive toothpick for a rhino.
The carriage finally stopped and the rabbits inside spilled out, giggling and continuing a semblance of whatever conversation had started in the confines of the overcompensated version of a wagon. Each servant attended to their charge's safety descending the steps placed at the door. The vixen from before attended to Heather a little more nervously than the others and seemed more calmed once her charge was on solid ground.
Interesting, Nicholas couldn't help thinking, restraining himself from perking an eyebrow.
The fox tod pulled himself to the door and guided Judith when she chose to take her leave last. Her paw found his and he let her glide down the steps with moderate grace, her breathing stilled as each step was made carefully. Upon making contact with the cobblestone of the street, the rabbit hissed slightly at the cold that permeated her feet.
Getting used to the chill, the group formed together and Judith did her best to keep her and Nicholas lagging from the pack. Much to her chagrin, Heather felt it necessary to keep close to Judith and tried to guide them into her ideal choices for shops.
Judith could see the book shop they wanted to visit down the street. Just a short distance away but nearly impossible to head towards with the other rabbit overbearingly tugging them in the direction she wanted to go.
The red fox sent a look towards the vixen accompanying Heather, trying his best to goad her into looking at Judith's forlorn stare at the door of the shop they now vehemently wished to escape from.
The vixen was slow on the uptake but noticed the lost look in the younger rabbit's eyes and gave a tentative nod to Nicholas, who smiled slightly. Watching as the vixen found some dresses to catch the attention of Heather, who suddenly seemed enamored with examining and gabbing about each one to her servant, not really waiting for a reply. The red fox listened haphazardly for the vixen's voice and found her to be soft spoken, even if he couldn't properly pick out the words she said.
Grabbing Judith's paw, he heard her gasp slightly, but then tighten a grip over his own paw as she quickly seemed to understand what was going on.
"You sure she'll be kept busy?" the rabbit inquired, to which Nicholas merely shrugged as he pulled her into the street and tugged Judith into the lead, so as to avoid suspicious glances out in the open. A fox dragging a young bunny doe around might attract more than accusing glares. More like actual accusations against him and scandalous rumors that might sully Judith's reputation.
Nicholas huffed at himself. She was right… he did try protecting her reputation.
The walk towards the book shop was short but grueling. Judith desperately wanted to sprint with all due haste towards the heavenly haven that she dreamed about for the past few weeks. It wasn't until Nicholas showed up that her want to read more became more than a tickling flame. With his help, she would be able to expand her horizons and maybe her mind. Adventure, romance, suspense, mystery, thriller, and angst awaited her in the words of many novel texts. She might even pick up a most learned text to further her understanding of the world in certain manners.
Finally crossing the threshold of a very old shop that looked more aged than the rest of the district, Judith and Nicholas padded into the world of printed paper. The familiar scent of books bound in thick cloth or wood borders reached the fox's sensitive nose, eliciting a plethora of memories pertaining to his sessions buried in books. The rabbit crinkled her nose as she found the new scent of such a place intriguing. She barely smelled something like this unless her nose was almost literally in a book. It was refreshing and brought forth a calming feeling like being in a place with windows to other worlds.
All she had to do was open a book and a window would be revealed to show her something outside it. Grabbing the first book she could find, she opened it and proceeded to figure out what it was. A tale of a princess in a far-away place breaking all social etiquette and sneaking into the city from her closed off palace only to find herself in trouble, but saved by a common thief.
Putting the book back on the shelf, she grabbed another…
A story of two cities warring over a sacred treasure that turned out to be a farce to weaken their military so a third party could close in.
Another….
A collection of short tales pertaining to the woe of the main characters, likely meant to instill a moral understanding in the reader. Judith placed that one back on the shelf with less enthusiasm than the others.
Little did she know, until she turned to search for Nicholas, that the fox had already scanned the shelves rather efficiently, and gathered a short stack of books he found would be most intriguing to the intellectually curious rabbit. Some looked too small to be interesting or lengthy in their plot and others looked overly large.
Seeing the inquisitive and skeptical look, Nicholas opened one of the smaller books and showed her the smaller text, likely having been printed in a smaller press for smaller mammals. The larger ones had illustrated depictions of certain scenes in beautiful printed color.
After several minutes of perusing the shop, an old goat wandered in from the back and looked rather surprised to see anyone actually in his shop. Her shop? Neither mammal could really tell with the strange beard that most goats were known for.
"My my," a feminine voice exuded, clearing up the answer to that unspoken question, "I daresay I haven't seen a sight such as yourself here. Not many rabbits wander in here. Foxes even less so. How may I help you?"
The polite manner that the old goat addressed the two made Nicholas blink in surprise. He was used to the prey around here, save Judith, looking at him like a piece of filth that was scraped from the side of a ship left too long in harbor.
Nicholas remained silent, miming to Judith, whom was having trouble finding her own voice.
"I... I…" she began to stutter, working her jaw as she nervously searched for the words, "I wanted to… buy these here." The rabbit gestured to the stack of books the fox was still holding, with a couple more thrown on the pile that Judith found interesting enough to try grabbing. She trusted Nicholas to find her something interesting and fulfilling to read, but liked the prospect of making a few decisions based on her own speculations.
"Of course," the goat said, taking a peek at all the titles and flipping through a few books to see that nothing was being slipped in between the pages. "I believe this should cover it." The goat scribbled out a number on a small scroll of paper, handing it discreetly to Judith, who looked at it and seemed slightly deflated.
The red fox peeked over her shoulder and his ears pinned back at the seemingly steep, but somewhat fairly priced amount for the small library she was trying to buy herself.
Judith gave a heaving sigh and pulled out a small pouch filled with coin, sifting through it and counting away. Once she seemed satisfied with the result, she handed all but one silver coin to the shopkeeper.
"I'll be out of coin for a while, but this seems worth it," Judith voiced more towards the fox than the goat, her smile returning as she felt a rising feeling of satisfaction at now owning the books she came to get.
"Thank you so very much, my dear," the goat remarked, gathering some materials and beckoning the fox to set the books on a table nearby. She set them about in an organized fashion and used small wood slats to brace the whole bundle, wrapping it in cloth and thick paper, finally tying the whole thing together with twine rope. In its new form, the package was far easier to handle even if it did look hefty.
"Allow me to make this easier," the goat stated, pushing the fox to set the package back down. She trotted around to another shelf and pulled one of many odd cloth belts, attaching it to the package and raising it to sling the impromptu strap on Nicholas's shoulder.
"Well that seems rather useful," Judith seemed obliged to remark. The fox shifted the weight around a bit and felt comfortable that nothing would shift and cause him issues. The duo made a polite bow to the goat shopkeeper and readied to leave. Heavy footfalls could be heard entering the shop and the goat perked up to walk in a quick and brisk manner to the front.
Sounding quite different than before, the goat gave an almost giddy yelp as she said, "Well Lord Bogo, if it isn't a pleasant surprise to see you! You're usual I take it."
"Yes, that would be most ideal," came a low and gruff voice. Judith had never heard it before, but her gaze rested on Nicholas and she became confused. His eyes narrowed and he became stiff, almost respectful in his stance.
Turning and heading quickly around the corner of the bookshelf, the fox nearly knocked his shoulder and the package against the shelf.
He looked up to a towering buffalo that took a second to look down at him and take a shocked step back. His eyes bugged out as he tried to compose himself.
"What is wrong?" Judith inquired, following behind Nicholas. Upon seeing the buffalo, she took a tentative step back and nervously smiled, trying to show decorum to a Lord. What she saw when flicking her gaze down was a small mammal trailing the hooves of the towering buffalo. She couldn't see their body around the leg of Lord Bogo, but those ears… they stuck out with more size to body ratio than her own did.
Nicholas wasn't paying attention to the smaller creature behind the buffalo. He was busy locking his gaze with the stunned Bogo, making sure it was him. The last mammal he thought he would find here, as a lord no less. A mammal he respected above most others, except Honey.
Captain, he thought to himself, assured that this was the mammal. Captain Nyati was the name he grew to know him by. Whether this Bogo was his real name or not, he now knew they were the same mammal. The one who inducted him as a soldier. The one who gave him a chance. The one who showed him respect. And he was a subjugator of predators.
The look of shock dissipated from Bogo as he saw the look the fox gave him, sighing in resignation. He gave a glance towards the rabbit and seemed to understand a certain degree of what was going on.
"Is everything ok?" the goat interrupted, not knowing the silent communication being attempted between the two mammals.
"Quite alright, Miss Jocabi," Bogo replied kindly. "This fox reminded me of someone I knew." As he turned to face the goat, Nicholas finally noticed the little fennec fox that was trailing behind the buffalo. He was giving both the fox and rabbit a rather smug and bored look, closing the distance upon seeing the strange glare of the fox.
"Lay off buddy," he chided with a smirk. "Ol' Bogo here is a good guy. You can trust him."
Judith wasn't paying attention to their exchange as she followed Lord Bogo.
Nicholas however, was having a hard time deciding whether to laugh and guffaw, or be terrified of the rather deep voice that could give the captain a run for sounding intimidating coming from such a small mammal.
The fox took a calming breath and gave the fennec a pointed look.
"What?" he said irritated, "Rabbit got your tongue?" the fox tapped his throat. The fennec seemed to understand as he shrugged.
"No worries, pal," the fennec continued. "He's no slave driver. Can't say much more but I have a feeling we'll see you again." He held out a paw to Nicholas, who stared at it a second, noticing the annoyed look passing over the fennec's muzzle.
The red fox shook his paw and gestured to the fennec in an inquisitive manner.
"Name's Finnick," he grumbled, pulling out a tiny slat of wood to chew on. "Got it memorized?"
So out of curiosity... anyone know what the first book Judith picked up was? 100 pointless points to all who guess it correctly.
Now then, I would do review responses, but i'm too tired. forgive me for that. give me a bit and i'll make an edit to commend those who have reviewed. you all deserve the recognition, especially when it comes with honest opinions devoid of malice.
EDIT: Here is the edit to put in the reviews. I have my sleep and i'm off my shift or work now so i can say my thanks.
NOW... because of the amount of guest reviews, i cant really respond to each one individually, but i will give a collective 'Thank You' to all who gave me a review and said many nice things about my current releases.
sur2sur: You are absolutely right. it was Aladdin. which is a strange hint in it's own right to what I loosely used for about 15 percent of the baseline plot foundation for this fic. No i dont mean Aladdin. i would hint further but ill let the creeple figure it out.
Missingno50: Even if i dont use it, I am woefully curious about this idea now.
: Thank you and thank you. I have a wonderful and somewhat lengthy plan for everything in this story. Also, I am a huge Kingdom Hearts fan. made over 25 life size keyblades, cosplayed at least 3 of Sora's forms, and couldnt resist giving Finnick an upturn in his attitude. he only had three or four lines in the movie and i figured that left me room to play around with his supposed character.
Until next time, It's been a hustle, Sweethearts.