A/N:Judy learns about the cult.

Chapter 10: Excommunication: To kill Immortals


I'm blindfolded we have been travelling for a long time. The animals that saved then captured us won't say much. They don't even answer my questions of who they are or where they're taking us. I have heard them say that they're surprised there's a savage about to join them. I heard someone talk to them, "Bringing a savage here? A savage has formed a bond?"

"Believe it or not, we believe they have potential."

I am carried further into this place.

The blindfold is removed. I see Quickpaw beside me. I see in front of me a shirtless tiger with blue markings and a black collar. The tiger is wearing blue pants. The ceiling and most of the room is made up of blue crystals. The floor is made of stone. I take a quick look around the room I see nineteen animals, ten predators, nine prey. Everyone has blue markings. They're all wearing a crystal necklace of varying colors. The predators all have black collars around their necks. All the predators are shirtless while the prey are wearing normal clothing. Predators have various armaments sheathed on their belt. The tiger speaks, "Greetings, neophytes. I have long given up hope that the savages might ever evolve it seems I have been proven wrong today.

We would like you to join our order. We have seen both of you in combat how you tried to survive against insurmountable odds. I have never seen savages having an interest in prey before. Thus, we have decided to rescue the both of you. What are both of your names?"

I say, "I am Judy Hopps."

Quickpaw says, "I am Quickpaw. Why do you keep referring to me as a savage?"

The tiger says, "Because it's what most of you are. You take prey from the homes of the civilized and then devour them raw. No attempt at advancement. No emotional attachments. Regardless, you are both free to leave after you undergo the rite to become one of us."

I say, "Why does it matter if we become one of you? Why can't you just let us go? I am grateful for you saving us. I'm not sure if I want to join you."

The tiger says, "Only then will you understand us. Only then will you be worthy. Only members of the order may leave this place."

I ask, "What exactly does the rite involve?"

"A drink of desire's embrace then surviving. Only mates have survived the rite together and—"

I say, "But we are —"

Just then a very worried looking sheep burst into the room. A brown male wolf follows her from behind. They both have blue markings. The sheep says, "We haven't been able to find her anywhere. We have searched the entire chasm."

The tiger says, "I've had enough of this. Not only have you sired an abomination, you've lost track of it as well. You are also the only pair to have done so. It was your own choice for bringing her outside of the coven."

I see the sheep and the tiger arguing, it's as if we are forgotten completely. Quickpaw and I just stay here listening. I wonder what the problem is or what happened.

The wolf says, "Aren't you going to help us find her?"

The tiger replies, "I've long tolerated your transgressions against our order. This ends tomorrow. Everyone involved will be executed."

The sheep's face is full of fear. She points to a white vixen next to a rabbit. "But they care for one of them too."

The tiger says, "Unlike yours, it wasn't their spawn. They have not done anything wrong and they haven't lost it yet." The wolf looks at the tiger defiantly. "You are just as bad for allowing it to happen!"

The sheep says, "But what about the one that left us?"

The tiger replies, "Yes, what about her? Her other half committed a crime in the past. I executed him personally for it. She lived with us for a few openings still. After that she felt like there was nothing left for her here. We escorted her beyond the light and left her in peace. Bring forth the other one involved." A lion leaves and returns with a male sheep. He doesn't have any markings at all. The tiger looks at the sheep. "You know that fornicating with the ascended is forbidden. It is as much your fault as hers." The sheep look at each other knowingly but say nothing. "Comet, we will make preparations to commandeer the savage's plateau. We have an execution to plan."

The lion says, "It will be done." He then leaves the room.

The tiger then turns his gaze towards us. "I am sorry about this interruption. We will have to continue our conversation later. Cataclysm, bring the enforcers here and tell them to bring the equipment for initiates."

A wolf with red eyes wearing red pants depicting images of flame is seen leaving the room.

I ask, "What's all this about?"

The tiger points to the two sheep and wolf in the room. They're all together on the floor. "They have committed a grievous crime against us. One that I have turned a blind eye to but no longer. You don't need to worry though, you aren't one of us yet. You won't be harmed at all." He points to Quickpaw. "Your fate on the other hand, will rest in her paws."

Quickpaw says, "How is this fair?"

The tiger replies, "You should be more than fine with it. She is your mate after all."

I don't think contradicting the tiger would be a good idea at this moment. I mean, they've just openly discussed killing one of their own.

The wolf returns with a collar and a remote and a group of prey all without blue markings. I note there's sheep, rabbits and deer. The wolf gives me the remote and puts a black collar with three circles that are red, yellow and blue around Quickpaw. The tiger says, "Disarm the wolf. Bring them to the sanctum."

I note the remote has three buttons, red, yellow and blue. I ask, "What do the buttons do?"

The tiger says, "Feel free to experiment. The blue one does nothing yet. The other two should keep him under control."

Quickpaw removes his armor and swords. He's wearing clothing patterned with snowflakes. They lead us out of the blue crystal cavern and into a village of sorts. The only way out of the village seems to be back the way we came. We are still underground. There's only prey here but what's unique about this place is that uncommon markings seem to be a common occurrence instead of a rarity. They escort us to a wooden house. One of the prey says, "You are to live here until the Prime is ready to see you again." He points to the wolf. "Make sure he does not eat anyone. Kill him, if you must. Food will be provided for you. You are free to move about the village as you wish. You are not permitted to leave." After saying that, they leave us alone.

Well learning how to drive a sheet of Ice has gotten me involved with cultists. I don't know what their goals are. They apparently think I am mated to the wolf. They openly discussed executing one of their own as if I wasn't there. They seem to think animals of Everlight are savages. I ask Quickpaw, "What's your take on all this?"

"We just have to drink desire's embrace then we can return to Everlight and be heroes. We'll get all their awesome powers too."

"I am not going to drink that, I don't even know what it is. I don't feel any affection towards you. You are the reason I am here in the first place and in case you forgot. The tiger said, "Only mates have survived the rite together." Clearly, it's some sacred ritual to them."

"Yes, but all we have to do is drink it then we can be free."

"Do you even know what it is?"

"Nope, but how bad can it be?"

"Let's walk around the village and see what the locals have to say. Maybe, they can help us."

We walk around the village. The architecture is mostly made of wood. The vegetation is extremely lush. We walk to a farm. A lot of bunnies greet us. "So, you're going to be our new protectors." They're all wearing regular clothing and nothing peculiar.

One of the kits says, "What made a savage like you fall for her?" Why, does the entire village think we're together? Luckily before Quickpaw can answer the parents shoo the kits away.

The father says, "The marked protect us and provide for us. This place is paradise."

The mother says, "Why don't we tell them how we came to live here? They are new and about to become one of the protectors. Come in, sit down; we'll tell you our story."

We are led inside the house, it seems like a normal burrow. We are led to the living room and we sit down on the couch. There's a table nearby with carrots. I grab one to eat myself.

The father says, "Before we came here. We lived in another town. Our kits were prone to disappearing every day and there was nothing we could do about it. Do you know how difficult it is to send your kits to school every day and not knowing if they would come back? Savages come across sheets of ice and take them away." I hear this and immediately feel guilty. I was one of those that took kits away from school.

The mother says, "That all changed one day. One of our kits told us that a marked lion had approached him and asked us if we wanted to relocate to a safe place. Our kit had quite an unusual fur color. Brown and gold ears but a white body with patches of black as well as yellow eyes. We had heard tales of the marked and how they fought against the savages."

This interests me. I look at Quickpaw however, I detect an expression of boredom. He seems like he's just waiting for this to be over and trying to suffer through it all.

The father continues, "We weren't quite ready to accept it at face value. We told the kit to bring the lion home. The lion came to our house with a rabbit. We discussed the terms of what they wanted, we were quite disbelieving at first. They managed to talk us into it. A day to move was planned."

The mother comments, "That day, a lot more marked showed up. They guided us from our town all the way here. We have lived here ever since and no one has disappeared. It's been a few years I think."

The father finishes by saying, "We owe it all to them. They protect us. We are given this land and this house because of their generosity. It's safe but they won't let us leave this place. It's fine though, we have everything we need and I no longer fear of my kits going missing. It's comforting to know that you two are about to join their ranks."

I say, "Thank you for the story. Do you know how someone joins them?"

The mother says, "We do not, don't you? You are going to join them, right?"

Quickpaw says, "Why are we wasting time here?" This wolf irritates me. He doesn't seem to care about prey at all. I might as well see what the remote does. I press the yellow button a leash forms between his collar and this remote. He doesn't seem to be harmed though. I stop pressing it.

The father says, "Don't worry, that's somewhat normal. Couples don't get along all the time."

We leave the farm. I ask Quickpaw, "What do you want to do now?"

Quickpaw replies, "I'm rather hungry. Let's see what food they have for us. It should show up right at our house, right?"

We go back towards our house. Indeed, the food system here seems similar to the one in Everlight. Tomatoes and lettuce apparently. Quickpaw says, "Where is the food?"

I say, "You can eat some of these you know."

Quickpaw says, "I prefer live prey. I'm going to hunt."

"No, you aren't. You're not allowed to eat anyone here or so I have heard."

"You can't stop me."

He's right, physically I can't stop him. I reach for the remote. He's moving out of the door. I press the red button. A shock is delivered to him. He turns around and nearly manages to scratch me. I dodge him as best as I can I keep pressing the red button. He finally faints.

I note there's only one bed within the house and a table and two chairs it's otherwise devoid of furniture. I bring the produce we were given inside. I eat my share. I bring the unconscious wolf next to the bed. The bed has woolen blankets. I'm determined not to fall asleep. I can't bring myself to kill the wolf. I'm almost certain he will try to kill me the next time he wakes.

I am not his mate. I am more like his jailer. What happens to me now if I don't try the rite? The tiger said only members can leave. The story of the rabbits from earlier just confirms it. What happens to him? I stand watch over an unconscious wolf. Too afraid to sleep.


I wake up the first thing I think of is Judy. I have to find her. I just realized I loved her. Today, Whitebreeze said she's going to provide a sheet of ice for me to navigate the chasm with. I see Whitebreeze awake, she says, "Finally up, are you? I've got bad news for you though. You won't be able to find Judy for quite some time."

"Why not?"

"Just go outside and look. Eat first though. You won't be able to afterwards."

I eat the sheep eager to get on with it. I eat it at a record pace without any hesitation at all. I finish the meal and I go outside. Utter madness, gigantic elementals of fire, water and lightning are visible here. They're forming a circle in the distance. The cultists have claimed the lower region of Everlight. The buildings within the lower region have been destroyed.

Whitebreeze says, "Now, do you see? There's no way Judy can be alive. If they attack, we might die today too."

I see tons of animals packed towards us. Lightbringer himself is in the sky soaring. He says, "Do not panic. Everlight will not fall today. We will wait for them to make the first move." I don't know what they're doing. We can see several of them jumping into the air with magnificent wings.

We just stand there waiting, none of them attack us. Fear is clearly seen on everyone around us, as if they're waiting for death to come. All we do is wait, wait for them to attack.

It's been several hours now. Suddenly, giant shards of ice are seen striking a spot from the sky followed by a gigantic ray of fire then a bolt of lightning. I see everyone leaving. The elementals have not moved. The part of the orange stalactite floating above comes crashing down. Fire erupts from the ground briefly. One of the cultists leaps into the air becomes a ball of ice and crashes down upon that spot. After that happens, the cultists simply pack up and leave the elementals dissipate. Everyone is clueless at what just happened. We wait a few hours, there's only silence. No sign of movement. I can now barely see the sky.

Lightbringer tells everyone, "This crisis is over return to your daily tasks." Lightbringer himself flies towards the point of impact. I see him soar in the sky with magnificent wings.

We go towards the point of impact as well. It's a long five hour walk. The kits are told to stay home. Lightbringer is at the point of impact waiting for everyone. What we find there is rather shocking. A giant crater. Within the center of the crater; there are three bodies. Two sheep and a wolf impaled by part of the giant orange stalactite that fell from above. The bodies have red markings all over, cut by something. They're quite intricate as if it wasn't drawn at random. The bodies are completely mutilated. Lightbringer says, "For the second time now. It seems like there's a schism within the cult. The cult has killed their own for some reason. Take the bodies, we will see if we can glean any weaknesses from the cult."

So, we walk back to our residence taking another five hours. Everlight really needs a faster way to travel. Whitebreeze says, "I'm sorry you can't search the chasm for quite some time. Everlight simply doesn't have the personnel to spare. You should be grateful for what you still have, you two kits for example. Live in the present, forget about the past. Life is fragile and filled with conflict here. It's not good to linger on false hope."

Seeing that display of power. Maybe, I should be grateful for what I have. Maybe, living in the present makes more sense than clinging to the past. I can't look for Judy right now anyway. I should simply try to enjoy the present and be grateful that I have Alim, Minty, and Ember. I refuse to give up just yet. I will search for Judy as soon as I am able. I hope she's okay.

We arrive home. Food has been delivered to us as usual. I eat my portion. I seek comfort by playing with the kits. Living in the present trying not to think about the past. Yes, focus on the kits, focus on what I can do right now. Treasure the moment.


A/N: Talk about overkill. What will happen to Judy?