Chapter 1

Champion

The crowd of the arena cheers loudly as the two mammals clash blades. Today is a glorious day for another battle of champions. The rhino, Brutus Tiirkar, from the Grassland Empire is a worthy opponent for the undefeated champion of Zootopia. Judy Hopps is the kingdom's greatest hero and the queen's most powerful knight. The bunny has never lost a battle in the arena or in the field of war.

The crowd roars as Judy dodges another swing from the large mammal. She takes the opportunity to charge at him with her trusted blade held tightly in one paw and sturdy shield in the other. She swings with as much strength as she could conjure but the rhino counters with a heavy slash against her shield. Brutus is slow but his attacks are powerful beyond belief. The impact sent the now dented shield in the air and Judy flying a few feet away from her opponent. She hits the ground hard, knocking the oxygen out of her lungs and the glistening sword bouncing out of her paw. The grey bunny doesn't attempt to get up, instead she lays in the dirt staring up at the blue sky as the rhinoceros approaches.

'What am I doing with myself?' She thought. It's times like this when Judy would actually stop to think about everything that has happened in her years of living. 'Am I going to fight until I die? I mean sure it's fun and all but...now I wish I had more. I want something adventurous, something exciting, something-' Her violet eyes widen as the blade above her head came down towards her face. She barely rolls out of its path and Brutus' sword gets jammed between the earth.

"Come on Brutus." Judy says with a small smile as she wipes sweat from her fuzzy face. "I was deep in thought." The rhino tries to pull his weapon out of the ground but it won't budge. He gives up on the blade and makes his way over to the grey bunny.

"Again? What were you thinking about this time?"

"Oh you know." He swings at her with his right and Judy dodged with ease. "Same thing as last time." A swing with the left. "The whole what am I doing with my life thought." Another swing.

"Really? You thinking about dropping out of knighthood?" He asked, slamming his fist into the dust as Judy jumped out of the way, snatching her weapon off the ground.

"No way. If I did that then you'd win arena battles with no effort." Judy grins as she holds her sword in a back right position. "But I am sorry about your leg."

"What about my le-" With remarkable swiftness and speed Judy dashes over to the rhinoceros and cuts a thin line a few inches above his ankle. The crowd goes wild and Judy sheaths her beautiful sword. "You beat me again."

"Same time next spring?"

"We'll see. With all the battles I lost against you I don't think my emperor will select me to fight again." Brutus pushes himself off the ground and the two leave the arena. They travel down the tunnel hallway and up a small flight of stairs. "So Judy."

"Hm?" She tilts her head up at him.

"Are you going to celebrate another victory?" The bunny looks down at the concrete floor, her face twisting into uncertainty.

"How does one celebrate victory by themselves?" The rhino raises a brow and Judy continues. "My victories as champion aren't celebrated with parties or by the company of friends. Only the battles in war are celebrated."

"Geez, then I'd hate to know what happens when you lose." The two stop at the infirmary and Brutus waves a goodbye. "Well, see you next time Ms. Hopps."

"Later." Judy watches as the large mammal disappears behind the single door. She turns around and makes her way to the queen's castle. "I'm so tired."

It's not long before the brave rabbit makes it back to the large castle that sits in the middle of their beloved kingdom. She travels through the wide hallways of the corridor, her violet-eyes watching the marble floor beneath her. But the journey to her headquarters seemed to be delayed by the mammals that stopped to congratulate and praise her. Judy would always put on a smile and return their kindness. But the bunny couldn't help but be annoyed at her status. Everywhere she went it was always "There's the warrior of Zootopia!" or "It's the queen's undefeated knight!"

Judy didn't feel like the great hero she was two years ago. Everything was the same and her heart felt empty. She wanted something new, something exciting and dangerous. But how would she find it? The rabbit doesn't want to give up her knighthood and wander around aimlessly looking for it. 'Why can't the adventure I'm searching for just come through that window?!'

To her surprise the window actually opens and a red fox climbs through it. He doesn't seem to notice her presence as he looks the opposite way as if hoping no one saw him. He turns his head in Judy's direction and jumps back a little.

"Umm...The side door was locked and this window is usually open so I just-"

"That side door isn't locked." Judy interrupted. "I just came through there myself not too long ago."

He turns around and began walking away from the small knight. "Well it was locked when I tried to open it, Carrots."

"C-Carrots?!" Judy runs up next to him and gives him a glare. The fox seemed to have notice and sighed.

"Sorry I just assumed that you came from a carrot farm before coming here." She seemed to twitch at his response. He stops and holds out his paw with a smile. "The name's Nick, you probably won't remember me."

The grey bunny hesitated before taking the other mammal's paw and giving it a firm squeeze. "Judy Hopps, and I will remember you."

"Why? So you can report me?"

"No." They let go and Judy gives Nick a confident smile. "Because you are..." She thought for a moment but couldn't find the exact word she was looking for. "...interesting."

"Geez and here I thought you were going to say I was gorgeous." The predator smirks and continues to walk down the corridor, Judy following him in silence for a few minutes. "Okay Carrots, why are you following me?"

"How do you know I'm not heading the same way? And don't call me Carrots, I'm Judy the-"

"The undefeated knight of Zootopia? Yeah, I know who you are." He aid bluntly.

"Y-You do?" She raises a brow. If he already knew then why didn't he praise and glorify her like everyone else?

"First off, everyone knows who you are miss popular. Second, I know everybody. And third, I'm also the one that cleans your messy room." His green-eyes glance down at her shocked face and he grins. "Seriously, you're room is always a mess and you leave your panties on the floor like no one is going to walk in and see them." Her face heats up in embarrassment and Judy can feel her heart pounding beneath the armor chest plate. She always assumed a girl was cleaning her room, not a boy!!

"Y-You clean my room?"

"Did I not just say I do? I thought bunny's had excellent hearing." He stops in front of large white door and opens it. The room has a more modern look with main colors of white, baby blue, and a few hints of pink here and there. The contents on the bookshelf was organized alphabetically and her framed family photos were polished. The bed she left a mess of this morning was made neatly, not a wrinkle on the bright blue sheets to be seen. It seemed like she was just now noticing all the hard work put into picking up her mess. She honestly felt a little embarrassed.

"You do all of this?"

"Yes I do. Anyways, here's your now clean room so this is goodbye for now. I'm sure you'll be searching for me later since you...How did you put it? Because you are interesting? I believe those were your exact words." Nick places his paw on her back and pushes the bunny into her bedroom, Judy being too stunned to actually move herself. "But just so you know, if you do decide to look for me, I won't be easy to find."

"Ah-...I..." She was lost for words. How did this fox get her so tongue tied?

"Well it was nice meeting you. And nice job in the arena today!" Nick gives her a bright smile and a thumbs up. "My favorite part was when you got slammed across the field."

He slams the door in her face and Judy stares at it, trying to comprehend what happened. The rabbit turns around and is greeted with a neat, organized room again; looking . She picks up the remote from the small coffee table the debates on whether to turn the TV on or not. She decides against it and places it back down.

"What is wrong with me?" Judy peels off the armor and lets it drop to the floor along with her blue cape and everything else besides her underwear. "My heart is still pounding and I can't stop thinking about him." She opens the drawer to her dresser and takes out a white tank top and throws it over her head. Judy flops down on the bed and stares at the white ceiling. Nick was definitely different and was more than mysterious. Judy's brain was frantically peicing together everything the fox had said to her.

He already knows who she is. He cleans her room and does a pretty damn good job on it. He clearly likes to snoop around since he tried to play off sneaking in through the window. Judy couldn't stop thinking about what Nick said.

"But just so you know, if you do decide to look for me, I won't be easy to find."

She grins at his words, blood pumping with excitement. "I love a good challenge."