Hey guys Price here and welcome to Chapter 9 of Wonder Bunny: Lance's Story! Finally, am I right? So, apologies for the delay, but it really just depends on when Jude can get her stuff out. Don't think I'm bashing her or anything, since I know things have been difficult for her lately. The pauses allow me to do other writing stuff, which is nice. Also, I've started a new, more professional writing style, though it won't be seen in this story. My rewritten stories will likely be the first time you guys see it, or maybe my ZA2 Prologue, if I decide to post that in order to hype you guys up for it. Who knows. We'll see, I guess. Now, I am going to have a lot of fun with this Chapter, because it will largely be Lance reacting to a lot of stuff that happen in Jude's latest Chapter, but with some content that wasn't shown in there. Anyway, that's enough if that, I think it's time to get...onto the story!
Lance shook his head as he came back to the real word, a paw clenching as he cast the memories back down into the depths of his mind. He didn't want to recall them. Especially not now, when it was possible they were going to fight so soon.
Or perhaps he just didn't want to be reminded of his feelings when he already had somebody.
The Tod was distracted from his own thoughts when he heard Judith order Nick into the sparring mat, and he grit his teeth to stifle the protective growl from becoming audible. He really didn't like hearing others order Nick to do something, especially not somebody with no real authority to do so.
Nick just scoffed, arguing that if he got into the ring then Judith would regret it. Lance flinched at the 'sweetheart' that was thrown in.
Judith, amusingly enough, challenged Nick to prove his words.
'This should be good.' Lance stepped from his hiding spot, moving more into an open area as he watched intently. 'No way a cute little Bunny like Judith will be able to take down a trained soldier.'
And yet, to Lance's shock, that's exactly what happened.
Judith quickly and easily sent Nick to the floor while he was distracted; gloating, as usual. Lance rolled his eyes affectionately, finding Nick's overconfidence in his own abilities to be more endearing than annoying. There were some mammals that disagreed, of course, but Lance would pay them no mind unless they said something he couldn't let slide.
"Nicholas, are you oka-" Lance froze, his eyes wide in shock, as Nick suddenly raised his head and kissed Judith. His crossed arms went numb, falling to hang limply at his sides as his legs shook ever so slightly. He lowered his gaze to the floor, turning without a sound and beginning to walk out. He froze when a yelp sounded behind him, the Tod turning quickly to see Nick laying a few feet from where he'd been pinned, groaning in pain as Judith hovered over him.
"Don't you ever take advantage of me like that again. Do you understand?"
Nick nodded, holding a paw to his stomach. There was a pregnant pause before Judith suddenly pulled Nick to a stand.
Lance clenched his paws as anger took hold of him, feeling that familiar urge to intervene tugging at him. He almost gave in, but stopped himself.
No, there was no way he could intervene. If he let his emotions get the better of him, all that would result of it would be a brutal beatdown and losing whatever trust Nick might have had for him. He couldn't have that.
With a quiet snarl Lance turned away and walked out of the room. He paced the main entrance with Ramic watching nervously, slowly working his anger out. His paws were twitching, begging him to let them tear into the source of his anger.
It was a tempting thought, but not one he could entertain. If he did that, he'd end up killing the Doe. Then whatever friendship he had with Nick would be over, and, in all likelihood, his secret would be out. In the kind of world that they lived in, such a secret would not go over kindly with anybody.
Rek and Liliac walked in, the Foxes stopping at the sight of him pacing with clenched paws. Ramic sent them a nervous look, unsure what he should do, while the pair of Foxes looke dgenuinely frightened. They didn't see him angry often, but they knew what he could do.
If he was lucky, he had nightmares about the mammals he'd killed in the war instead of his family. The quick nap he'd had at the bar with Laura had been one of the few times he'd not had any kind of dream since that day, all those years ago.
Lance stopped pacing suddenly, moving over to stand by the three mammals. He turned to face the entrance to the sparring room, crossing his arms and body language becoming his usual casual appearance. Rek and Liliac each took a single step away from him, finding the action disturbing.
Nick and Judith walked out, Nick still looking slightly pained from the hit to his stomach. Lance's eyes sparked with anger, though it disappeared quickly.
"Where did you guys go? And Nicholas, what happened to you?" Ramic asked. He was clearly glad to have something else to focus on.
"I don't want to talk about it." Nick grunted, earning arched eyebrows from everyone – Lance pretended to be surprised – and an eye roll from Judith.
Well, I believe I've done enough training, now where is the war at again?" Lance felt a spark of annoyance at her desire to fight in something as hellish as what the war was, but suppressed it. He wanted to make himself appear at least somewhat supportive of her. If Nick liked her, the least he could do was act like he was happy for him.
An explosion, most likely from a bomb, kept any of the group from responding. Judith's ears twitched as she faced the general direction the sound had come from. A detemrined expression formed as she picked up her sword and shield.
"What are we waiting for then? Let's go." The Doe marched forward, the group following her nervously. She stopped as a paw grabbed her arm.
"No! You're not ready!" Nick argued, a cold, half-lidded glare his only response. He quickly let go of Judith, Lance letting out a small snort of amusement. At least his friend was capable of learning his lesson. "Nevermind." He said with a gulp, Judith smirking to herself.
The group moved quickly, gunfire and explosions continuing to sound off in the distance. Violent shakes hit the earth every time an explosion reached them.
Lance felt a small twinge of excitement pull his muzzle into a small grin as they walked, though it fell when a pair of pawsteps suddenly stopped. He turned to see Judith looking around. She sheathed her sword and handed her shield to Rek, who nearly jumped.
Lance watched as Judith approached a building, the Doe looking around the corner. She walked from view and Lance grimaced as the hope that it was a trick by a German soldier invaded his mind. It wasn't like him to wish something like that upon somebody he barely knew, outside of when he was fighting. It was especially bad when he wished something like that upon somebody as naive as Judith was.
With a quiet grunt, Lance crossed his arms and began to wait for the Doe to reappear so they could continue on her fantastical quest to kill a God. Lance snorted.
'As if.'
And that does it for Chapter 9 of Wonder Bunny: Lance's Story! This Chapter is a lot shorter than normal, and a bit shorter than I would have liked, but it felt like good pacing so I just decided to leave it alone and not try to make it longer. Tell me what you think, because I love seeing your Reviews. They feed me. Also, you did see part of my new writing style, but not the complete version of it. My new one includes indentations when I start a new line. But enough about that. Tell me what you guys thought about this Chapter. I am excited to write for this again, though it, of course, may be a while since it all depends on when Judith uploads, outside of when I do flashbacks. Those are basically free reign. Anyway, this is getting long enough, I will see you guys...next update. Word Count: 1,459