Beast of Prey

Years ago, a male rabbit went savage along with the swathe of predators setting a new precedent. Now, born predators aren't the only ones that are required to wear tame-collars by mandate. A story told in vignettes.

Disclaimer: Anything you recognize belongs to Disney.

Special thanks to UmbraTsuki, my lovely beta-reader for this chapter. Without their help I would be lost in a sea of commas.

AN: I try not to start chapters with an author's note, but I figured it was a necessary evil this time. For those of you reading my Star Wars story (WAOM), I made the mistake of watching Zootopia for the first (three) time(s) (in rapid succession) while I was in the middle of writing the next chapter for that fic. I immediately fell in love with the film, but didn't feel any need to write anything since it was already really good as it was. Then I found out about the original idea for Zootopia. I was immediately consumed by a plot bunny with purple eyes and an obsession with Doing The Right Thing.

Add a dose of life-trying-to-screw-me-over to that, and here we are. Fear not, I haven't given up on writing WAOM, I just got a wee bit side-tracked. The good news is I'm already done writing this aside from editing, so I won't be staying side-tracked.

As a story based on a children's movie I had an interesting time keeping this a least mildly juvenile-friendly (even so this dances very closely on the line between Teen and Mature). It is because this is based on a children's movie that I feel a need to add warnings that I wouldn't normally bother with for an adult movie.

Proceed With Caution! This is not a fluffy story (despite the misleading number of fluffy animals). This is a story that takes place in a dystopian society in which systematic electrocution is an acceptable method for subduing a significant number of the populace. Make no mistake, this is under the angst genre for a reason.

WARNING!

This story will contain character death, extreme violence and torture (though descriptions will be deliberately vague when either does not occur off-screen), mentions of and off-screen suicide, bullying, and very mild cursing (the more offensive terms have been replaced, sometimes quite creatively or comically).

If any of this might bother you, then as much as I'd love your readership, turn around now!

Without further ado (for those of you who bothered to read all of that), let us begin.

"If I speak of myself in different ways, that is because I look at myself in different ways."

― Michel de Montaigne, The Complete Essays

Part I

"You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll join us. And the world will live as one." ― John Lennon, Imagine

The air rippled with heat as Judy stood, her rapidly thumping foot telegraphing her impatience as she distractedly created a growing cloud of dust. "Where in the devil is that fox?" she muttered to herself irritably, "If he's late again…" Her eyes darted around the area yet again, but there was no sign of anyone. Through force of will, she stilled her foot with a sigh, and as the dust began to dissipate in the silence, her sensitive hearing picked up the slightest of noises. Her ears darted to attention above her head and swiveled as the noise increased. "Finally," she grinned slightly, her enlarged front teeth poking out as she uncrossed her arms and put her paws on her hips, fully prepared to chastise the mammal. As the noise continued to approach, her ears twitched and then began to droop as she heard frantic gasps, a scrambling lope, and a frantically beating heart. "Oh no," she shook her head in denial even as a red-furred blur darted around the corner, nearly slamming into a nearby wall, "Not again."

Her nose wriggled in distress as her eyes zeroed in on the ominously flashing yellow light on the charge-box of his tame collar, "Gideon you've got to slow down!"

"Can't!" he managed to gasp out.

She forcefully looked away from the light to focus on the fox's eyes and immediately recognized the look in them, "Gideon? Is it them?" she asked, her voice rushed.

He nodded once as he stood gasping for breath.

That was all Judy needed. Her nose twitched as her jaw tensed in determination before she snatched up his paw in her own and began to yank him behind her, knowing that the longer they took the more likely it was that his collar would go off. "Come on! I know a place that isn't far from here!"

The two stumbled forward as Judy lead them through Bunnyburrow's small town streets, weaving through various backyards until they reached a basement window under an old low-hanging awning. "Duck!" she shouted as she dragged them down to skid under the rickety frame and through the empty window.

They flew through the gap and fell several feet to land on the cement floor with a painful thump.

"Owwww," Judy groaned as she pulled himself free from the tangle of limbs and held her head, "You okay Gideon?"

She looked over at him and her rapidly beating heart nearly stopped when she saw the soft orange glow that was lighting the dark room intermittently, seemingly innocent in contrast to his frantic breathing. Despite being slightly out of breath herself she darted back toward him to grasp both sides of his face and force him to face her, "Gideon, Gideon, don't do this to yourself. Look at me. You're alright." She gently smoothed some of his wild fur out of his eyes that were staring blankly through her, "Gideon Grey, you are stronger than this!" His ears finally twitched, and she saw he was trying to focus on her. "Good, Gideon, good," she crooned, "Deep breaths. Nice and slow. Come on, breathe with me," she began breathing in and out deeply, much too slowly for a rabbit, but he didn't need a rabbit's speed right now.

Right as she was starting to get dizzy from the breathing exercise not meant for her species, she heard a soft beep, and the light began flashing a sunny yellow, "Good, Gideon, you're almost there. Just a bit more."

And so they sat there breathing.

And his tame-collar finally flashed a solid green.

In the midst of the near silence, Gideon's soft twang drifted across the empty basement, so different from his cruel tones in their childhood, "Thanks, Judes, I don't know what I'd do without you sometimes." Judy looked over at him as he shook his head, and he deliberately changed the subject, "I'm sorry I was late meetin' ya."

She studied his face for a moment and saw the subtly pleading look in his eyes. She sighed and nodded, she wouldn't ask for details. Normally she would, but today? No. Not today. "Late to your own birthday activities, Gideon?" She saw him perk up noticeably as she hauled herself off the floor then held out her paw towards him, bracing herself for his weight, "What am I supposed to do with you, huh?"

Gideon looked at her proffered paw and snorted, "Well not that definitely," he shook his head in amusement, "I'm t-twice yer height, ain't no way that'll work out well." He shoved himself off the floor as her eyebrows twitched in irritation.

"Is that right huh?" she tilted her head and brushed off her plaid shirt, "Guess you don't need my help getting out the window either then." She wiggled her fingers at him with a teasing grin and hopped back out the window with ease.

"Oh gosh darn it, Judes, that's not fair," he grumbled before he stubbornly jumped and grabbed the windowsill in order to scramble up the wall behind her.

As he hauled himself out of gap she giggled, watching playfully while he unfolded himself to his full height that towered over her, "Oh come on, big guy, you're fine." He muttered good-naturedly as she clapped him on the shoulder. "By the way, happy eighteenth, Gideon," she sang out cheerfully.

"Aww thanks, Judes," he said, a quiet happiness exuding from him.

"Now come on, we need to get going for your surprise!" She grabbed his paw abruptly and began tugging him along behind her, her usual vibrant energy bubbling up. As he stumbled after her she noticed the time on her watch and started tugging harder on his arm, "Oh cheese and crackers! We need to hurry or we're gonna miss out on the good seats!"

"Good seats?" he asked curiously as he picked up his pace to keep up with her nimble steps, "Are we going to the m-movies then?"

"Aw shoot. Outed by my own dumb mouth," Judy griped as she berated herself.

"Nah Judes, your m-mouth ain't dumb, it's jus' fast," Gideon snorted in mild amusement.

Judy rolled her eyes and lightly punched his arm, "Yeah yeah." She reached into her pocket and pulled out two wrinkled tickets and offered them to Gideon, "I knew you had wanted to see that new movie, so I went ahead and got you a ticket for your birthday." She shrugged offhandedly, sidestepping his family's welfare status with practiced ease.

Gideon's eyes grew wide and he smiled so widely he practically beamed, "Oh gosh, thanks Judes, you really are the b-best!" He scooped her petite body up and spun her in a hug before putting her gently on the ground.

She griped good naturedly as she tried to brush the wrinkles out of her shirt, more pleased that she had managed to draw out one of his rare smiles than anything else, "Well come on then, let's get going before we end up sitting in the back corner."

This time it was Gideon who took her paw and started to drag her forward almost prancing in his excitement, though to her amusement she had a much easier time keeping up with his long strides than he ever did with her nimble steps.

"The lives of all people flow through time, and, regardless of how brutal one moment may be, how filled with grief or pain or fear, time flows through all lives equally."

― Orson Scott Card, Children of the Mind

Judy wasn't there when some well-intentioned parent heard about what had happened between her and Gideon at the fair. She wasn't there when they brought up the matter at a town meeting, and she wasn't there when the decision was reached that Zootopia's far more capable investigations division should look into the situation.

Judy wasn't there when the Bunnyburrow Council voted to adopt Zootopia's tame-collar laws, and she wasn't there when Zootopia's Special Collaring Division came to Bunnyburrow.

She wasn't there when Gideon had to be sedated in order to be collared.

(Such was his fear, she later learned)

She wasn't there when Gideon was sent off to a reformatory school, where he would remain for the remainder of his sixth grade year, and the rest of middle school.

=-.-=

Judy was hiding in her room, refusing to accept that she was scared even as she shut herself away from the world. She was being sheltered by her parents.

She was being interviewed by the intimidating figures of the investigators, too uncertain to do anything but seem like a helpless victim.

She didn't give up. Would not give up.

She just needed time to regain her full confidence.

And so time passed.

"All cruelty springs from weakness."

― Seneca, Seneca's Morals: Of a Happy Life, Benefits, Anger and Clemency

It was Judy's second week in high school when she heard the telltale sounds of a scuffle; several mammal's voices intertwined with familiar tones that had haunted her childhood echoed through the empty halls after most students had gone home.

She swivelled her ears in determination until she figured out which direction the warped noise had been coming from and darted off toward it. As she neared the area, she heard a door slam, and as she rounded the corner, her ears picked up on the soft sound of sobbing before it was overwhelmed by a ring of jingling keys and cruel laughter.

Several mammals turned to look at her, all prey.

The owner of the voice was absent. She must have been hearing things.

"What in tarnation is going on here?!" she demanded, her tone self-righteous.

"None of you business cotton-tail," the pig holding the keys sneered.

Judy's eyebrow twitched and she smiled widely, "Is that right? Well I just wanted to let you know that it sounded like someone is stuck in the closet." She gestured to the keys, "Since you conveniently have the janitor's keys it shouldn't take more than a second to let them out right?"

The pig snorted inelegantly, "I don't see why you of all people are bothering to defend him. Whatever, you let him out." He tossed the keys through the air and Judy snagged them before they flew out of reach.

"Thanks so much," she cocked her head to the side, smile unchanging, "You're a real nice guy aren't you?"

The pig looked at her like she was crazy, "Come on guys, let's get out of here. This bunny thinks she's some sorta hero or something. I'm not getting caught up in that."

Judy didn't bother watching them as they trailed away, she was too busy trying to figure out which key went to the closet door. After several tries she was rewarded when the key turned and the door unlocked with a soft click that resonated in the now quiet halls.

Prepared for just about anything she turned the knob and the first thing she saw was the soft blinking yellow glow from a tame-collar.

"Oh no," she gasped and the figure looked up, hands covering his mouth to stifle his frantic breathing. She opened the door further and light flooded the small room.

And she saw.

Blue eyes, pupils expanded in fear. Red fur. That stupid centre part in the fur on his head.

"Gideon Grey?!" she unconsciously took a step back, her nose twitching in instinctive fear.

"J-Judy H-Hopps?" he asked uncertainly, his distress giving him a stutter.

She stared at him and tried to see her childhood tormentor in his frightened face.

She couldn't.

With determination firming her jaw, she held out her paw to him, "Come on, let's get you out of here. Did they hurt you?"

"Wha-what?" he looked at her in true bewilderment, as the light flickered back to green.

She crossed her arms and huffed, "Did. They. Hurt. You?"

"Oh. N-no. They were jus' tryin' ta set off my collar," he rubbed his face then sighed as he tried to pick himself up off the ground, "It's no big deal."

Her ears twitched, but she didn't offer to help him up again since she didn't think he would accept the offer, "Somehow I doubt that. Now come on, let's get you home."

He looked up from where he was brushing off his overalls, the confusion back in his features, "Why are you helpin' me? I was awful to you when we were little."

Judy twirled the keyring around her finger as she shrugged, "No one deserves to be bullied Gideon Grey. Not even you." She turned and started walking, but paused when she didn't hear him following her. She turned and saw him staring after her as if he was trying to figure out some kind of difficult puzzle, "Well are ya comin' or not, big guy?"

He shook his head like he was trying to rattle his thoughts free, "Yeah, wait up."

Judy stood patiently as he caught up, and they set off side-by-side.