A/N: I'm trying to choose the most misleading title possible that relates to the chapter.
Chapter 3: A Feast for Nick
What can I do? Would eating the kit even save Judy? Why am I still alive? What do they gain from keeping me alive? At least the sounds finally stopped and now I can think. What do they gain from me eating a kit then setting me free supposedly? They aren't questioning me of anything, so it's not information that they want. They haven't made physical threats towards me, yet. What is their purpose? I think I should tell the kit the truth at least. He deserves that much before I eat him.
"Alim, we have to talk."
"What is it, mister fox? Are you finally hungry now?"
"The thing that I have to eat to leave this room, is you."
"That's okay, mister fox. Does that mean I won't get to see Zootopia then?"Such innocence. How can I eat him now? I pick him up and nuzzle him and cried.
Alim says, "Don't be sad, mister fox it'll be okay." Alim comforts me while fully knowing his fate. Alim sniffles," I guess this is goodbye mister fox, it was nice knowing you. Can you wait until that mean fox comes back before you eat me?"
I barely manage to say, "Of course."
Mentally exhausted from the day's events. I fell asleep.
Alim is jumping on me again, "Wake up mister fox, I want to tell you something before it's time to say goodbye."
I reply, "What is it?"
"The bed time story I was going to tell you earlier but got interrupted by that mean fox."
"I will be glad to listen to your tale."
"This is how the story goes: Legends tell of a battle between two animals with wings. They fought each other in the sky leaping back and forth between the valley. The struggle continued for several hours until one of them disarmed the other. That animal's curved weapon fell from the sky. It has been moved and kept as a sacred site ever since. They have never bothered to reclaim the blade.
"I have seen winged animals leaping to the other side of the valley but never back. I'm pretty sure I've seen the same animal more than once. You should go see the blade yourself sometime mister fox. It doesn't seem like I'll be able to take you there myself. "
It's an interesting and strange tale. "Do you believe there's any truth to the tale?"
"The blade is real mister fox, it must be true."
Our conversation was interrupted when I heard sounds of a fox walking towards the cell. The black fox opens the door and says, "I see, you still haven't eaten. Let's see how long it takes before you do. Watch closely, very closely." The monitor flickers to life. I can see Judy up against the wall of that room. A red fox and a white vixen are with her there. The red fox is holding a sword at the top of her head seemingly wanting to cut Judy in two. "Any last words before I tell them to begin."
The room shakes violently.
The black fox says, "We are under attack. Help us fight them off." This is highly puzzling. They trust us enough to help them? I look at the screen, Judy led out of the room as well.
I ask, "Does that mean I can finally be with the rabbit?"
"Of course, help us survive this."
I am led out of the cell. I hug Judy, glad to see her alive. The kit follows us out. I am led outside of the building. I note, there's no sun, there's a giant orange stalactite where I thought the sun would be. We are underground. I see fire given form, fire itself was trying to kill animals. Predators of all kinds can be seen trying to fight against this. In the distance, I see a winged wolf with blue markings on his body. The wolf wore brown leather pants and had solid red eyes that seem to pierce your soul. The black fox says, "The cultists have chosen to make their move again. Help us survive this."
Judy says, "With what?"
The vixen says, "Of course, we'll give you something." The vixen leads us to another building, the other two split off to try to fight against the invaders. The vixen leads us to a room with a ton of weapons. She picks out two and gives them to me and Judy. I am given a staff with a blue crystal in the middle. "How this works is that you press this button and point it at what you want to shoot, ice will appear. Now, help us."
We walk out of the building with staves in hand. We use it to attack the many sentient flames. Shards of ice spew forth from the staff. The fire seems to simply melt the ice, it feels ineffective. I see a bunch of animals trying to shoot the wolf in the distance who's dodging with ease. The wolf jumps from one animal to another killing them with bites to the throat. The wolf's wings appear when he's in the air and disappear when he lands. I decide to try my luck. I point the staff at the wolf and shoot, it strikes true. The ice pierces the animal in the chest. The wolf falls to the ground. The flames vanish. It's the first time I have killed someone. I can't believe that actually worked... first time I've taken a life. What have I done?
The vixen from earlier and the red fox from earlier meet us again. "Well done!" The vixen's voice is filled with relief. "That proves beyond a doubt that you aren't a cultist, they would never strike one of their own." I notice there's only predators here, no prey at all. "Come, with me. It's time to learn about Everlight."
The black fox is missing. I decide to ask, "Where is the black fox?"
The red fox casually replies, "He died defending us." He speaks of it casually, as if it's completely normal for it to happen.
They led us up a hill to a massive building made of gold crystals. There's also five small buildings made from green crystals right beside it. The view here is magnificent, you can see pretty much everything. Multiple animals going about their business. Multiple buildings made of crystal are visible here. A gaping chasm separates this side and the other side has a building that's made from blue crystals. We go inside the building into a throne room and see a lion clad in gold armor. Tendrils of white light emanates from the shoulders giving the lion the appearance that he has wings. A golden sword is seen at his side. The lion speaks, "Whitebreeze, why have you brought the cultists here?"
The red fox says, "Shadowsight, gave us the command to free them. He thought they could be of use to us in the battle that was happening. We set them free, the fox ended up striking down the cultist. The Prime would never allow one cultist to fight another. We have then decided to bring them here, they don't seem to be in league with the cultists."
The lion decrees, "Very well, Bloodstorm, I shall trust in your judgement. I am Lightbringer, ruler of Everlight. I've heard you've stopped the wolf that attacked us today. What is your name?"
I reply, "I am Nick Wilde."
Lightbringer says, "Sounds foreign, where are you from?"
"Zootopia."
"I have never heard of it. So, you're from beyond the passage then. It's unheard of for animals outside of the valley to have a pet, let alone two but it's your choice."
"That's nice and all. Can I simply leave? I'm eager to get home."
"You are free to try. However, the passage outside is closed. It appears randomly for an unknown amount of time. The Prime usually leads the cultists to attack in force when the passage is open. They fight and kill indiscriminately carving a path towards the light."
"Why don't you just let them leave?"
"It's not that simple, they thrive on combat. The attack today was unprovoked. They seek us out and thrive upon the pleasure of killing. Regardless, if you fail to return home, you can simply live here for the time being. I shall send out the gatherers, we will throw a feast in your honor today. Bloodstorm, show them to their quarters."
The red fox leads out of the throne room. We are led to a building right out of it made of out of green crystals with a wooden door. There's a wooden bed inside, a wooden table too, nothing else. There's only one room. Bloodstorm says, "You can stay here for now. You are free to move about as you wish. I don't recommend going into the valley or near it, the cultists live on the other side."
I ask, "Can you tell me how and why I was brought here?" Judy and the kit stay in the room, the fox leads me out of It and points to a path leading upwards to a wall.
Bloodstorm says, "The passage was open. We explore the surrounding areas usually finding nothing, returning home before the passage closes. This time, we've found you two. Predator and prey together not within the valley has a high chance to be a cultist. We've captured you and brought you to your cells. The passage to the outside is only open sometimes, it's currently closed. You're free to leave if you wish but I don't think you can. I'll leave you and your pets alone for now. The feast in your honor should be held shortly."
I return to the room. I find Judy on the bed with the kit. Judy says, "These blankets are made from fur!"
I don't really want to discuss that now. I tell Judy, "Today, is the first time I've killed someone. I feel guilt even though he was killing other animals."
Judy soothingly says, "it's okay, you've saved other animals. We're free now, let's try to return home."
Alim says, "Does that mean I will finally get to see Zootopia?"
Judy asks, "What's the story with this kit? Why is he with you?"
I reply, "The foxes earlier wanted me to eat him, so that you would be free. I tried to stall for time, I've heard you being stabbed over and over because my plan failed. I'm sorry."
Judy says, "So, that's what the performance was about, but why? Why would they do this? What importance does you eating a kit have? I'm glad that you didn't. The sounds you've heard earlier were just an act, I was never harmed."
I feel extreme relief that my hesitation did not cause Judy pain. I hug her and say, "I'm glad." We lay on the bed in each other's embrace.
Bloodstorm knocks on the door and says, "The time for the feast is now, come on." We are led inside the building with gold crystals again, this time to a room with a really long dining table. There's only two plates of carrots on the table. Judy sits to my right, Alim to my left. There's Lightbringer at the head of the table flying, tons of predators are seated here all with various types of armor and armaments.
Lightbringer speaks, "Today, Nick Wilde has struck down a cultist. He wasn't in league with them as we originally thought. We will celebrate his actions today. This is also the first time we've had contact from beyond. Bring forth the food." I see tons of prey animals herded by predators being escorted into the room. The prey step on the table. A rabbit kit steps in front of me. Lightbringer flies down from the air and sits down. "Let the feast begin!"
A/N: So, I finally decided to bring fantasy elements into this story. Had some trouble deciding on appropriate character names. Also, trying to balance exposition with story flow. I wonder if anyone has questions they'd like answered.
