A/N: I struggle to think of proper character names.

Chapter 20: Preparations


The next day, we spent it walking around the village seeing the sights. I was shocked five times total. Jumping around used to be fun now it's something I need to actively try to not do. Nick noticed me being miserable too but he didn't know what to do. The need to actively restrain yourself from a habit you've developed is extremely difficult. I don't know if I will survive this. Is it his plan for me to die? We are immortal now, aren't we? He did value honesty and truth above all else. I told Nick of my plan, "Tomorrow, I will go to the Prime and beg for an alternative."

Nick replies, "I don't like it, I can see how miserable you are though, would the alternative be better?"

"I don't think I can survive an entire week without jumping. Support me on this please."

"Fine, I have a bad feeling about this though."

Tomorrow, we set off to meet the Prime. I say, "Please, give me an alternative." I'm kneeling in front of him. "I don't think I can survive an entire week without jumping."

The Prime responds, "I want to talk to Judy alone. Nick, leave the room."

Nick's voice is filled with fear and panic, "You're not going to cut her legs off, are you?"

"No, I'm going to give her an alternative. It's for her to hear alone. It's her decision to make." Nick leaves the room. "You want an alternative? Fine. This is the deal: take it or leave it. All you have to do is say a single sentence then you are free to jump around once more. If you fail to say the sentence, Nick will be tortured instead for the duration. You'll retain your jumping privileges though."

I reply, "What is the sentence?"

"I won't tell you the sentence until you accept the deal. If you manage to say it, both of you are free to do whatever for the rest of the week. You only get once chance per day until you say it correctly. Nick will be tortured each day. Do you accept?"

I feel like I'm making a terrible deal but how hard can saying a single sentence be? "I accept."

"Splendid. The sentence is 'I want to be tortured.' You need to say this sentence while in the air. Now, get Nick back in here and don't tell him anything about this deal." This, was his challenge. He wants proof that I can control my desires to say something that completely contradicts them. I told Nick to come back into the room. "Are you ready? Nick, don't shock her during this."

"Yes." I jump into the air. "I want him" a sudden realization that I uttered an extra word. I land.

"Finish, the sentence or lose your legs."

"To be tortured. Nick —"

"You failed. Nick will be tortured. You are free to jump around however. Enjoy. If you say anything else, you lose your legs." A lion arrives in the cavern. "Comet, take him away."

Nick says, "Carrots why? What did you do?"

I can't even reply to Nick's question. I can feel that he feels betrayed by me. I could jump around now but he's not by my side. This isn't worth it. Nick is led deeper into the cavern. He doesn't resist. The Prime says, "You get to try again tomorrow. You have your freedom now. Enjoy."

I ask him, "What's going to happen to him?"

"He's going to be tortured just like I said. Now, leave. You get to try again tomorrow."

I decide to go after Nick. He stops me. I then decide to go to sanctum. I visit the Swiftpaws. They welcome me. Through my bond with Nick, I can feel his despair. I talk to the Swiftpaws. They ask where my mate was. "He got into trouble because of me." I don't feel it's right to shatter their image of what we are. I did manage to learn that none of them have heard of the exodus or anything relating to it. I didn't ask, but none of them had anything exciting planned for the coming weeks.

This is strange, is the order really going to leave the sanctum behind? I haven't even been informed of how we'll leave this place anyway. I can't tell what's happening to Nick exactly. I just know that he's terrified and exhausted. I resolve to practice.

I headed back to the coven to the house I was given. I tried jumping and saying those words. I wasn't successful at all for the remainder of the day. To sleep in a bed alone, without him, without his scent to comfort me. I could feel that he's terrified and asleep at the same time. What are they doing to him? I don't know.

At this point, I would rather be tortured and for him to be free. The next day came. I met the Prime again. He tells me, "Say the words."

I jumped into the air and failed to say the words again. I'm desperate. I offer, "Can you cut my legs off now but let him go?"

"I can sense your desperation. Go to the sanctum until I call for you. I will set everything up, then all you have to do is bring him home. "

I went to the sanctum. I can feel Nick being moved. He must be in the coven right now. I stay with the Swiftpaws until I'm called upon. Life is normal for them devoid of worries.

My crystal wiggles a bit. The Prime is calling for me now. The Prime says, "Go to him and bring him home."

I sense a trick. It can't be this easy. "Just like that? You're not even cutting my legs off? Do I need to cut them off myself?"

"You can cut your legs off then go to him if you want. I don't care. Simply, go to him. You can feel where he is right now. I do think you should hurry though, I don't know how long he will survive."

My senses led me in the coven in front of a burning house. He is inside there, I can feel it. I use my powers to control the fire so it parts in my presence. I found him inside unharmed, unconscious. As soon as I reached him. The fire began spreading around the house once more. Forget leaving with him. I need to concentrate on my powers just so we stay alive. Using my powers to hold back the flames but unable to move in the process.

I can hear his voice, "Judy is that you?"

I can't really have a conversation with him. It takes an extraordinary amount of effort to hold back the flames. I feel I need more power. He senses what I want, I'm given a sudden boost of energy. My markings also begin to glow.

A singular purpose, to push back the flames trying to burn us. A singular thought is all that remains. Unaware of everything else. The flames slowly give way and are pushed back. I can sense no more fire. Now, all I wanted is him and I will have him.


After trying to survive in the arena. The same arena me and Judy drank desire's embrace in. I find myself trapped in a burning building with Judy. I can sense Judy wanted more power. I used the remote to grant her power. Her wings manifest even though she hasn't jumped. The flames vanish. I noticed her amethyst eyes were gone. Her eyes became pure fiery red. Judy turns upon me savagely. She wants to mate with me then and there. She's completely out of control. I use the remote to shock her and leash her. She falls unconscious first. I carry her out of the building. The Prime is waiting outside, "You know your time in the arena?"

I remember being scared of dying every single moment. "Yes, I thought I could die at any moment."

"You will do that again soon but this time, you will know it is training. We will be trying to return to Zootopia in three weeks. You will need practice with your powers. She will need control over her powers as well. Take her home. She has earned some rest. I expect her to tell you everything about why you were 'tortured.' You in turn will tell her everything that you went through. She is free to jump around again for now."

I took her home. She wakes up. "Nick, where are we?"

"We're safe now and you're free to jump around once more."

She tells me of the deal she made with the Prime. I understand why she took it. I told her what I went through. Apparently, I will need to go through the arena again except this time I will know it's training.

We're able to enjoy each other's presence again. This time when she jumps. Her deepest desire is no longer vengeance. It is me instead. We spent the rest of the day making up for lost time.

The next two weeks were brutal. They reminded me of my days back at the police academy. Each day pushed me to the limit. Every day, I would go to the arena and try to perfect my powers over ice. Sometimes with the aid of a bucket of desire's embrace, sometimes without. Sometimes, they wanted to see how big of an offensive move I can create other times it's holding up barrier and being scared of death. I would probably die if my barrier failed. I mean, we are immortal, right? Sometimes it's summoning the largest elemental possible.

She tells what she did each day and I told her what I did in turn. She practiced holding the will of elementals of fire captive. She combining two elementals into one. She also practiced guiding elementals of fire to another location. She also practiced working together with predators that used the element of fire. There was no semblance of combat in her training.

We're able to enjoy each other's company during the night even though we're completely separated during the day.

My training in the arena became more and more intense. I noticed my performance improving slowly. I'm able to wield the power of ice and water more and more effectively with each passing day. We are going to be part of something big. I can feel it. The exercises became more and more complex for her. They started involving predators that used air as well and the mates of the ones that used fire.

At the end of yet another exhausting day she says, "Yesterday, Kindleheart was guiding an elemental of fire. Lasan was being carried by a wolf that used air. The air user simply made them able to move very fast. All the fire users have their mates with them although they were carried by someone else. I wish you were there with me. "

"I want to be there too but that's not what I was assigned. There's only one more week, they should tell us something, right?"

Tomorrow, the Prime wanted to see us. Everyone from the order is here. He speaks to the crowd, "We will perform the shattering after a week. We will smash the boundary that keeps us from the light assuming the savages permit us to go deep in their territory. We will expect them to honor the peace I've proposed. They haven't violated the terms yet from our observations. If they violate the terms at all by either attacking us or inhabitants of the chasm, we will cut them down. If everything goes according to plan, we will see Zootopia. You know your parts, be ready."

Everyone leaves except for Judy and me. He tells us of our parts specifically. Judy will assist in maintaining a fire elemental of massive proportions. I will be there to give her power and to protect her if anything goes wrong. He tells us prey aren't that in tune with manipulating elements. Judy is an exception. Prey counterparts though trained for combat still, mainly serve to keep their predator halves in check. We also learn that we have a week off.

I guess I'm happy that Judy is on the same level as me. I don't know how I would feel if either of us primarily served to keep the other in check.

We have an entire week off before we try to return to Zootopia. We cross paths with Shadowslight and her guardians today. She's living with a white vixen and brown rabbit. Shadowslight is the only non-hybrid that isn't part of the order within the coven that we have seen. She's adapting rather well to life here. We learned that the white vixen is called Frostfang and the rabbit is called Tom.

The reason they abandoned Shadowslight was because they were struck down while defending that town. Shadowslight kind of misses WhItebreeze but wants to be with them more. I decide to ask them, "What does the Prime mean that prey aren't that in tune with manipulating the elements?"

They decide to show me. We go to the arena. Shadowslight comes along with us as well. Tom says, "Create an ice barrier." Frostfang does so. A wall of ice appears in the arena. Tom draws two swords and slashes. A wave of wind creates a dent in the wall. "This is all I can do. Now, have Judy try."

Judy summons fire elementals to do her bidding. They don't even melt the wall. I sense her frustration. She wants more power. I use the remote to give her more and more power until the wall is completely evaporated. I leash her. Her wings vanish this time. I'm thankful she doesn't go berserk this time and I didn't need to shock her unconscious like I did before.

Tom says, "This is why we mainly support our predator counterparts. The power of desire allows them to do incredible things. The pinnacle of her power already surpasses my potential after training a lot. Only ones with wings can truly manipulate the elements."

That's a lesson we learned today. We go back to the coven, to where they live. We tell them on Zootopia. They tell us of their past. They joined the order but decided to roam from settlement to settlement as soon as they got their powers. One day they met Shadowslight and decided to settle in a town for a while. We end up asking them what they know about the exodus. Frostfang says, "Frost users like me and you will protect everyone. I'm counting on you." As Frostfang says this, she walks in front of me. Her tail sways back and forth captivating my eyes.

Judy shocks me, "Eyes over here."

Frostfang remarks, "Don't be jealous, there's enough of me for you too."

"Isn't that against the rules?"

"Oh no, he doesn't care if we don't have any offspring. How about it?"

Judy is completely flustered. I decide to speak for her, "I don't think she wants to do something like that right now."

"Such a shame. Maybe later?"

"I think we'll be going now."

We prepare to leave the house. Tom walks with us to the door. "She's rather hard to satisfy, that's what I like about her. Why don't you join us later?"

Frostfang remarks indignantly, "I heard that!"

That was different. Frostfang openly flirted in front of us all. Tom didn't seem to mind. They did all this right in front of Shadowslight which just silently watched it all.

We arrive back at our house. Judy says, "I want you right now. I'm upset you even dared to look at Frostfang."

Well, that's one way to spend a day.

The following days we decided to practice our powers just the same. We also talked to both the inhabitants of the coven and the sanctum. All of them are kept in the dark of what's going on. None of them know but I feel like it's not our place to tell them.

The Prime wants to speak to us. We go to the cavern again, this time we're alone. He tells us, "Be ready to leave tomorrow when I call for you. We will try leaving this place."

We decide to leave the cavern and look at the chasm. I feel like I'm being kept in the dark still but nothing seems amiss. We decide to walk around both the coven and sanctum again. No one seems to have anything exciting planned for tomorrow.

Are we really going to just leave all of them here? The Prime never told us not to talk to anyone about the exodus but we willingly don't tell them. It's like being part of a conspiracy that you could reveal but choose not to. We're not even that informed on his plans anyway.

We decide to visit Frostfang and Tom again. I decide to ask, "What's going to happen to Shadowslight tomorrow?"

Tom replies, "She's staying here."

Frostfang continues, "We've made arrangements. Shadowslight will be staying with a friend while we're gone."

Judy inquires, "Why aren't you taking Shadowslight with you?"

Frostfang says, "It's not the Prime's will. Thus, Shadowslight will remain here. We trust in his judgement."

"Don't you want to take her with you?"

"Of course, we do but we trust in his judgement above all else. We also trust Shadowslight not to tell anyone of this."

I observe, "Wait, so you mean none of the coven and the sanctum know that we're all leaving?"

"That is correct. That is the Prime's will."

Shadowslight decides to ask, "Mommy and Daddy, you won't be gone too long this time, will you?" I think it's cute. She thinks of them as her parents. They reassure her that they won't be gone too long. I can't tell if they're being sincere or lying.

I decide to ask Shadowslight, "What do you think of them leaving?"

Shadowslight replies, "It's something they have to do. I just hope they won't leave me alone again for too long. It will take another white vixen to save me if something happens. I know enough not to tell anyone what's happening."

We left their house and went back to our own. I know we're going deep into Everlight tomorrow. Does the Prime expects a disaster? Is that why he hasn't told anyone what's going on? Even, the settlements know that they need to be ready to leave within three weeks. We personally went there to deliver that message.

Judy and I enjoyed the night together. We leave for Zootopia tomorrow.

Tomorrow came, the Prime called for us. I noticed about half of the order was missing. There are twenty buckets of desire's embrace in the room.


A/N: Should I make the next chapter an epilogue then continue on with a sequel? Or should I just keep it as one giant story? Speculation welcome.