A/N: Rewrote this chapter a few times. I hope I made the history not too outlandish or unrealistic.

Chapter 18: The Prime's Past


I see Judy gliding gracefully in the air. The Prime remarks, "The first instance of prey with wings."

Lasan says, "Why couldn't I have wings?"

"If I had to guess, it's because they had intercourse during the rite. That's the only abnormality between hers and everyone else."

"Say, Kindleheart can we drink desire's embrace and have sexright now? I want wings myself."

Kindleheart replies, "How could you even ASK that question? Do you have no shame? I also don't think it works exactly like that."

The moment she lands she emits a startling cry and acts completely shaken. I ask her, "Carrots, are you alright?"

She tries to act normal as if nothing was wrong. She replies, "Yes, everything is fine, everything is fine, nothing is wrong at all." I don't think I could have heard a more unconvincing answer. Through bond with her I could sense she wasn't telling the truth.

The Prime remarks, "Ah, your problem with telling the truth continues still. Do you need another lesson?"

Judy hastily replies, "No, that won't be necessary."

"Tell us, tell us what was on your mind."

"I thought of myself enjoying killing the children of the savages. The thoughts were so foreign but I recognized them clearly as my own."

"That, is one of your deepest desires. We predators have never lost the desire to hunt. That's why we are granted wings when we take to the air. The power of desire removes the need to eat prey, that doesn't mean we won't feel enjoyment from hunting them. It is simply something you have to live with. Each time you jump, you will learn your deepest desire.

Nick, I believe it's your turn. You should jump and tell us your deepest desire."

I jump into the air and just like her, I'm able to jump twice. I enjoy the wind in my face as I glide down with bat like wings. My thoughts were filled with her. I wanted her but consciously this time. Upon landing I was blushing. The Prime asks, "What was on your mind?"

"Nothing. I don't have a desire at the moment." Judy doesn't believe that either.

"Impossible. Admit your desire or face the consequences. You've been through the rite with her. You can vaguely sense if your half is telling the truth and vaguely sense where they are at all times. It is not good to keep secrets between the two of you."

"Let me try again." I jump twice into the air. When I landed, my desire did not change.

"Well? Do you need your own harsh lesson?"

I finally admit in a whisper, "I want her but consciously this time."

"Louder, so everyone can hear."

"Carrots, I want you but consciously this time."

Judy runs and embraces me as if she wants to take me here and now. The Prime stops us, "If you must mate. Do it later. You are both still naked and have stuff to learn." We both blush and halt our advances towards each other. "Everyone, their initiation is over. Return to marking the settlements you want to spare. Dismissed. I will tell them our secrets. We still have an exodus to plan." Everyone leaves just the Prime remains. Some of them go into the village, others are headed back into the cavern. "Come, it's time you learned about the coven: the hidden home of the hybrids."

We walk with the Prime into the village. Everyone here is a hybrid of some sort. We go into a wooden store that has clothing. He picks out two collars and two remotes as well as two blue pants. I notice no money is exchanged. He says, "Put these on." He hands us pants and collars. We put them on. We walk outside the store. He says, "We predators choose to not wear any shirts both because of our wings and because of the markings. The markings serve as a constant reminder of what we could do and what we have done." I guess that explains a bit.

I ask, "Is it mandatory that we don't wear shirts? Seeing as we plan to return to Zootopia, that might be somewhat of a problem."

He responds, "It's by choice. The presence of wings makes wearing shirts somewhat of a hassle. Thus, we rarely do so." He continues. "Judy, since you have wings. I am giving you a collar as well. You will oversee each other's collars. The red button will shock. Yellow will form a sort of leash."

He continues on, "Your remotes will be a bit different since you both have wings. The blue button will continue to allow your half to use the power of desire more and more until you press it again to stop. You will both be responsible for each other's actions from now on." He leads us further into the village. There's plenty of hybrids about. I haven't seen a single regular animal aside from us. We stop in front of a cave deep in the village that's closed by a door. "Come, it's time for you to learn the history of our order and why we came to be."

We go into the cave. That must be the world's largest nighthowler plant that I've ever seen. It's extremely tall. The flower itself blocks out the sun. The flower is encircled by a glass container that's currently filed with blue liquid. There's red crystals everywhere in the room. He tells us, "The red crystals are the source of our immortality. When we die, we will be reborn as long as the crystal is red. Upon rebirth, the crystal turns grey for a time. We are not invincible despite what others think of us."

I ask, "How did you even discover this?" He tells us to sit down because it will be a long tale.

"It is time for you to learn the history of our order as well as the original purpose. Long time ago. I was called Malik. That was my original name. I desired peace and harmony between predators and prey as well as a desire to be free from the tyrant. Ever since the tyrant's decree no one dared to rebel against the tyrant. I had a pet deer since cubhood that I came to love. I lived in the chasm back then. I've heard tales of what other ones like me have tried. Some have eaten insects but they died in the process others have eaten vegetables and fruits until they became too tired to move.

I researched every legend, every failure. One day, me and my friend decided to explore beyond. My deer friend and I stumbled upon this magnificent flower back then. I knew what others have tried and failed. I decided to try drinking the liquid around the flower. I managed to come to my senses before she breathed for the last time. I was the one that killed her. Several of the green crystals have become red due to my blood. My wounds must have made contact with the fluid at some point because they became blue.

I was shaken from the experience. I tried to starve myself only to find out that I didn't need food to live anymore. I have discovered crystals around here. The ones that the savages used. I became rather proficient with their power. I was able to control the air with the help of the liquid. I decided to test my skill against the savages that raided us – I had nothing left to lose.

I was struck down. When I died, I met with her again. She gave me the title of the Prime because I was the first to found a solution to the problem of how could predators survive without eating prey. I used the title in memory of her. I was reborn. I came to prefer it over my actual name. I noticed a crystal became grey.

I chose a few candidates to see if they would end up just as I have – A predator that didn't need to consume prey anymore. They were willing and aware of the risks. They did not regain their senses and I put them down.

I did not give up. I searched for ones similar to me. It took a while but I've found a pair that was just like me a predator that was a close friend of prey. He too was willing to undergo what I had gone. He ended up killing his predator friend, he regained his sanity. He was willing to help me fight against the savages. Unfortunately, he was not immortal.

I decided to search out more that are similar to me. I've found another. This time, I had them both drink out of curiosity of what would happen. They both survived. They told me what it felt like. I called the liquid – desire's embrace because ended up fulfilling my deepest desire – A potential source of peace between predators and prey and they acted out their deepest desires towards each other. I noted that given the last one. Maybe, green crystals were the source of immortality as soon as it was confirmed. I called the green crystals, life crystals. They could fight beside me in my goal to overthrow the tyrant. We became the Savage Hunters because we would frequently clash with the savages.

I have improved upon this rite of becoming one of us with every participant until it became the one you took part in recently.

Blindfolds became required for the first part to minimize the chances of death. What happens if you had some lingering resentments and decided to act it out upon each other? The blindfolds allow participants to lose track of each other during the rite so they may stand a better chance at surviving.

The second part of the ritual came about because both due to the need of blood to contact the green crystal to become immortal and because not all of the immortal pairs knew what power they possessed. This became a requirement to demonstrate control.

The third part was to create a bond between you and the power of desire. After a prolonged period of exposure, you could use it for your own ends. The collars became mandatory after it was discovered that in certain instances we could act out our deepest desires. It became the norm for the predator to have his collar in control by their prey half. We trust them to keep us in check. I wear a collar as well, more for a symbol of unity rather than an actual purpose.

The order of the Savage Hunters was born because of my ambition. I desired both the need to not consume prey as well as overthrowing the tyrant. As our numbers grew, a few of our own decided to have offspring. We ended up establishing the coven because they didn't exactly integrate well with the inhabitants of the chasm.

Initially, the sanctum and the coven were one and the same. We ended up separating the two because it was decided that it was better for the coven to remain separate there would be less conflicts between the ones that lived there. Now, we protect the coven above all else. The coven is a result of our desire of harmony between predators and prey. The hybrids do not need to eat meat.

So, our order grew more and more. I have learned of our weakness during these times too. The life crystal takes some time to recharge it is unknown how long. Only a single one can be yours, if you die when it is grey, you will not come back.

We desired peace. We searched beyond the light when we were able. We've never found anything. Now, that I've met you. I think that peace might be finally in my grasp. Zootopia. I'm also eager to reconnect with Dawn Bellwether. We've escorted her beyond the light after she was overwhelmed with grief because her other half was executed for eating prey. Her partner's act changed her. She simply wanted to live in peace. The act of eating prey was against the very idea the order was founded on. The idea of peace between prey and predators. A hope for a better life beyond the status quo."

I ask, "Now, that we know your original name. What do you prefer to be called?"

"Call me by The Prime within public. Within private it depends on your own preference."

He's reluctant to use his own name. This might have potential. "Very well, Malik." I've heard the name Dawn Bellwether too. I decided to ask a follow up question, "What would you do, if let's say hypothetically. She used the knowledge she has because of you, for all the wrong reasons?"

"If, that happened. Depending on the severity of the crime and how long it has been and if I'm able to witness it, the sentence would be death. It would be hazardous to us if she died and was reborn here. That's "if" that happened. No traitors are allowed within the order.

Speaking of rules, there's only two right now: Do not betray our cause of bringing harmony between predators and prey. The other one is do not fornicate outside of your chosen partner. The last pair to do so proved highly ineffective of the tasks expected of them.

I do get the sense, you're not talking hypotheticals with Dawn Bellwether, are you?"

Judy says, "We had to stop her. She was planning to turn all the predators against prey with what you call desire's embrace. So, that prey ruled over predators."

"Then, I will execute her the next time I see her unless if she gives me a very good reason not to."

"That doesn't really work with Zootopia's laws."

"They do not matter. Only my judgement does. I will render my judgement."

"I don't want you to destroy what Zootopia represents when I lead you there."

"We might disagree on her verdict right now. I promise you, I will not destroy the utopia Zootopia is. If it is as you describe. But enough of history. Now, that you know what it means to be one of us. I'll show you how we control the elements. Both of you, use your power, force essence of desire into the air." We both try to do that. It feels rather easy, we can manipulate desire's embrace into a form of mist. "Peer into the mist and hear the voices from beyond." I can feel the voices of water. They desire different things. "Now, force one of the voices into existence. Give it the power of desire. Let it act as it will." I heard the voice that wants to run away. I granted it life. An elemental formed that travelled in a direction then dissipated. Judy formed a fire elemental that's warming her up. "Now, you know the basics of elemental control. To get rid of your creation, simply withdraw the power of desire from it." The fire elemental vanishes.

The Prime dismisses us. We're given a place to live while he prepares for our return to Zootopia. He points us to a house. This house actually has a bathroom for once and a bed as well as a table.

I accidentally jumped. My desire hasn't changed. Now that were alone. I decided to tell Judy of my desire. We undressed. She satisfies my desire in bed.


A/N: Probably took too many liberties with Dawn Belltwether's backstory but it was never revealed in Zootopia. So, why not? It sets up a potential conflict when both sides finally meet. Now, I wonder what their plan to arrive in Zootopia would be. How would they do it? What will happen when the sides meet?