Greeting Zootopia lovers!

This story is a complete AU, set in around 18th century. It's a tale of what happened when a fox of noble birth meets a rebellious bunny slave.

For those of you, who follow my other story - Wilde Heart, don't worry. I don't intend to abandon it. Sorry for delaying the update, but this thing here kept nudging me to write it down.

I hope you'll find this story interesting and enjoyable.

Rated M mostly for graphic descriptions of violence.

Chapter 1

Judy Hopps never accepted the class system.

She hated it.

It was a deep rooted hatred that embedded itself in her very bones since she was a child. It didn't abruptly start from any particular traumatic experience; it was piling up for years. The way the upper classes wore themselves, the way they treated anyone of lower status, than their own and thought that they are allowed to do anything they want, as if the world belonged to them. She disagreed with this from the start and not just because she was born into a simple farming family. She loved her parents, her siblings and didn't mind working in the fields. What Judy couldn't stand was an occasional brush with aristocrats who traveled through the Hopps' farms and made jokes about the rabbits doing manual labor. All this made her insides boil from anger. But it never reached a breaking point. Until one day, shortly after her tenth birthday, when a couple of very young, aristocratic foxes that arrived at Bunny Burrow, decided to have a 'little hunting game' and plainly kidnapped several of her brothers and sisters to chase them down through the nearby forest and riddle them with arrows. Even after ten years she still had the scene before her eyes: two foxes on horses, riding through Bunny Burrow with rabbit carcasses strapped to their saddles. The entire village was shocked at the view of such a morbid procession. The heart-breaking sight of the deceased cousins, friends or loved ones. Bonnie Hopps fainted after limp bodies of her children paraded before her eyes. But none of the rabbits dared to do anything. Any act against aristocracy would be punished with great severity. It was suffocating, the feeling of helplessness in front of the power and influence of aristocracy. For Judy, that was the moment when the dam finally broke. On that day, she vowed to herself, that she will never bow down to any aristocrat or do their bidding.

And she didn't stop on that.

In secrecy, not mentioning it even to her parents or siblings, Judy began training in the woods to be able to exact some punishment on the arrogant aristocrats. Knowing full well, that her tiny frame crossed out any form of close combat, not to mention she'd never have a chance to get her paws on a musket or a pistol, the bunny did the only thing she could: she trained her throwing skills. Every day she would find an excuse to go to the forest that surrounded Bunny Burrow and throw various rocks or even a knife she borrowed from her mother's kitchen. Day after day, week after week and month after month, Judy Hopps kept training, regardless of weather conditions or even if her paws felt stinging pain from overusing them. Through diligent training, Judy polished her accuracy and strength of her throws. At one point she was finally able to hit any target she wanted, even during rain or while running. Only then she deemed herself ready.

It was the beginning of winter when she finally found an opportunity – a lone aristocrat traveled through the woods on his horse, without a care in the world. In fact, the slightly obese wolf hardly paid attention to his surroundings, as he was drinking wine from a bottle, evidently already being a little wobbly. He only paused to sing a horrible voice that made the bunny's ears hurt.

This was it. The moment she prayed for on so many nights. The moment she'd been training for until her fingers were getting numb.

Judy Hopps emerged from the bushes on the edge of the road and stood right on the horse's path. The animal stopped seeing an obstacle, which made its owner slightly soberer and also irritated.

„Whaz iss thiss? A rabbwit?" He belched and tried to focus his malfunctioning vision.

The bunny just stood there without saying a word, a small kitchen knife in her paw.

"Out of mye weyy, pheasant!" By some miracle the wolf managed to say this sentence.

Judy clenched her fingers on the handle of the blade. "No." She said firmly, disgust seeping into her voice.

The wolf blinked, even in his state surprised by the answer.

"Whadya say to me?"

"No." The bunny said it louder this time.

This answer angered the drunken wolf as he reached for a pistol holstered on the saddle.

"Youu lowlife! Scum! How dher yoou inshult mee?!" He screamed and lifted his weapon.

Brought by the overflowing rage, Judy's hand shot forward, sending the knife for a meeting with the wolf's throat. The blade did its job, cutting through the air swiftly and embedding itself in the aristocrat's flesh.

The predator gurgled, dropped the gun on the ground and reached for the wound with his paw, blood freely flowing between his fingers. But it was already too late. He lost his balance and fell off the horse, scaring the animal which used the opportunity to run a way. Judy approached the wounded wolf on wobbly legs, adrenaline running through her body and her mind trying to process the act she just committed. The aristocrat choked on his own blood, but seeing the bunny closing in, his eyes regained their focus. He stared at her accusingly.

"Dirty… peasant…" He wheezed with his last breath and the predator's eyes lost their light forever.

Judy flinched at the, now dead, mammals words. The thought of what she just did finally sunk in and to her own surprise she didn't feel any guilt or remorse. It was a slight shock, as her parents brought her up to be a proper and good animal. She was prepared to bear the burden of a killer but nothing like that appeared in her mind. It felt… right, like this was meant to happen. She didn't murder him, she exacted justice in the name of the downtrodden lower classes. Yes. That had to be it.

.

.

She repeated that to herself on other four occasions, when a solitary aristocrat had made the wrong decision of travelling through that forest on his own. She made the effort of dragging the corpses deeper into the forest and leaving them to rot in a hidden spot only she knew. The pistol she pillaged from the dead wolf was the only one she managed to get from the aristocrats. But it didn't do her much good as she had no idea how to reload it and that meant only one shot, before it would be useless. Still, she used it as a threat, hoping that she wouldn't be forced to use it unless it became absolutely necessary. She was careful not to show herself whenever there was more than one mammal, always targeting lone riders.

But one day she had a different type of encounter.

A carriage rode down the road where she usually laid her ambushes. A heavily guarded one. Four guards rode together with it, two in front and two at the back. Foxes, all four of them. Armed with swords, pistols strapped to their saddles and every one of them had a musket slung over their back. And these guards weren't the lazy type that patrolled the village. They were all cautious, alarmed. Constantly scanning the nearby area for possible threats.

When she saw this, Judy was very glad that she was upwind from their point of view. No telling how accurate their sense of smell was. And then she heard a cheerful voice cry out. "Look, look, wild strawberries!" The wooden door started opening and a second voice called out, a twinge of panic to it. "Stop the carriage!"

The coachman pulled at the reins, forcing the horses to stop. Barely they came to a halt when the door swung open and a small red fox jumped out and darted toward the place where Judy was hiding. It was a little girl in a long dress matching her size. She ran to the edge of the road with a joyful laughter. Judy's heart sunk. Her hand squeezed the knife she was holding. If this would be an adult aristocrat, she wouldn't hesitate even for a moment. But no part of her was able to raise the weapon in her paw against a child, even one from an aristocratic family. So she watched silently as the girl stop mere meters from her and reach for the ground to grab the fruits growing there. The bunny held her breath, hoping that the child won't pay attention to her smell. But fate had a different plan as a chestnut fell down from the tree under which she was hiding and hit her square on the head. She involuntarily let out a soft grunt. The girl's ears perked up and she stood up. Judy put both paws over her mouth but it was too late. The little fox circled the bush and spotted the hiding bunny. Her eyes widened a little.

In her panic, Judy considered running away and most likely would be able to lose the chase, but her feet froze, refusing to move. And to her great surprise, the child smiled.

"Hello!" She waved at the bunny. And, apparently guided by lessons on manners, she slightly lifted the edges of her dress and curtsied in front of Judy. "My name is Sylvia; may I know your name?" She recited in a trained but clearly joyful manner.

"J-judy…" The doe managed to say. Her mind was spinning, trying to find a possible escape from this situation. "That… is a nice dress." She blurted out without thinking.

The girl giggled. "Thank you!"

"Lady Sylvia! Lady Sylvia!" A nervous voice called from the road, followed by the sound of pawsteps. Many pawsteps. A second later a female arctic fox appeared from around the bush in the company of two guards. Then, in a blink of an eye, Judy found herself on the ground, one of the soldiers holding the tip of his sword at her throat and the other one aiming the musket at her face, half a meter from it. There was no trace of mercy in their eyes.

She reluctantly had to consider this the end of her life when a little voice cut in.

"Albert, Marcus, stop that at once!" Sylvia pushed them aside and walked up to the lying Judy. The guards obediently stepped back, but kept their weapons ready. The bunny had no doubt that if she would just twitch the wrong way they'd instantly relieve her of her life.

"Lady Sylvia! You shouldn't…" Said the white furred vixen with anxiety in her voice.

"Oh don't be like this Maggie!" The girl huffed and stomped her little paw. "I am never allowed to talk to any rabbits when papa is close by. I always wanted to meet one." With that said, she turned back to Judy and offered her paw and a smile. "I am so very sorry miss Judy, my guardians are always hasty in assuming the worst." The bunny accepted the help with some uncertainty and stood up. The male foxes eyed her with suspicion, their weapons withdrawn, but held in a way that clearly said 'just try it'.

"It is… not… not a problem, miss Sylvia…" Judy mumbled.

One of the guards growled. "That's 'Lady' Sylvia, rabbit." The bunny caught his piercing gaze.

"Albert!" The girl scolded the fox.

The guard called Albert reluctantly peeled his angry stare from Judy's face. "My apologies, Lady Sylvia."

"I have repeatedly reminded you to not to be rude to my friends!" The little vixen placed her balled paws on her hips, repeatedly thumping her little paw on the ground.

Albert gave off a blank stare. "Apologies, Lady Sylvia."

But Judy wasn't paying attention to him anymore. One word that Sylvia said struck her like a speeding carriage.

Friend.

Judy hated the aristocracy for most of her life and never before she would imagine herself forming any closer relation with any of the 'higher breed'. And yet, right in front of her stood a little vixen, bearing a title of a 'Lady', and boldly stating that the bunny was her friend. The mere thought was inconceivable.

At that moment the arctic vixen cut in, a pocket watch in her paw. "Lady Sylvia, we must be on our way. Your honorable brother will soon arrive at the Zootopia's central station."

The girl looked slightly disappointed about the necessity of leaving her new friend so soon, but then her face regained its light. "Yes, I should not keep my dear brother waiting. He was gone for so long." She turned to the second guard holding up her arms. "Marcus, carry me, please?" She asked sweetly. He immediately sheathed his sword. The fox's expression changed instantly, from a hostile one directed towards the bunny to a soft and caring when he leaned down to pick up the girl. He placed her on his shoulders and turned to return to the carriage. The two other foxes followed, Albert walking backwards for a moment, to keep his eyes on the bunny.

Right before entering the carriage Sylvia turned around to call out to Judy. "It was very nice meeting you, miss Judy! I hope we will have a chance to see each other again!"

The bunny had a blank expression and waved at her, not able to muster any fitting words.

And just like that, the carriage drove away.

Judy collapsed to her knees, not able to stand anymore. This meeting was so surreal that it exhausted her both physically and mentally. She sat like that for God knows how long before she gathered enough strength to stand up and return home.