~Casey~

The vixen had lost track of the days. She forgot if this was the third or second day they've been kidnapped. Things just happened so fast. Too fast for her to remember. Everything just seemed like a blur. Usually, if she was alone with a guy she would've freaked out and just took the quest alone. She couldn't trust someone she just met that easily. But for some reason, this time turned out to be different. There was something inside her that kept her from not trusting Jack.

Even if someone shared the same exact incidents of her life, she wouldn't trust them. But Jack. He only shared similar experiences and yet Casey trusted him. She had no idea why but she just did. The last time she trusted someone, they betrayed her. But something told the vixen that the betrayal won't repeat. That Jack might be trustworthy. She just hoped it wasn't another trap from her demon to slowly kill her. Piece by piece, it took the life from her. The words constantly repeating. No one knew this side of her. She was an expert at keeping secrets. No one ever found out.

But then how did he find out? The voice whispered. How come you were so idiotically foolish to let him know what you thought about yourself? The vixen ignored the question. Why are you trusting someone again only to be betrayed? I don't know. I honestly don't know. Don't trust him. He'll only betray you. Just like everyone else.

Trust him. Trust him. He's not like the rest. Just trust him. Something told her. Something told her to do it. To just hope he would be different. Instead of following what told her to rely on herself and herself only, the voice she'd been listening to since the start, she decided to listen to the voice that told her to take the chance.

The night began to set in as the cold winds slashed through the vixen's fur. The clothes she was last wearing the night they got kidnapped were warm enough to keep her from freezing but she could still feel the cold weather. She wasn't an arctic fox but her fur could still keep her warm. One of the places she would feel get cold first would always be her neck so she was smart enough that night to sleep with a scarf just to make sure she wouldn't die in the cold. Casey had no idea that she'd be captured that same night.

"Hey, look we reached the lake!" She heard the bunny say.

They were in front of an opening from the thousands of trees surrounding them revealing a pale, blue, frozen lake.

"This is the halfway mark of the forest! We're almost home!" he announced.

"Really!? Oh my gosh, I can't wait to see Nick and Judy again!" Casey exclaimed, "We're actually gonna make it!"

Casey was thrilled at the thought of seeing her brother again. At first, the journey made her doubt they'd make it out alive from this mess but one thing she had learned is that if she was going to die, she's going to die trying. If she wasn't going to make it, she would still try. In the end, it'd always be worth it.

"We should rest here," Jack suggested, "It's getting pretty dark." The vixen nodded not being able to get the thought of getting home out of her mind.

Casey and Jack woke up to the sound of gunshots.

"They caught up!" Casey yelled. She didn't know how they found out where they were since Jack's been leading her through twists and turns and many other places. How'd they find them this fast?

No time to think. In a matter of seconds, gunshots were filling the once quiet night, from both the kidnappers and the victims. Casey realized this would be a good time to use her savage skills to attack. She closed her eyes and opened them, causing the ice blue eyes to be replaced with bright yellow ones.

She got on all fours and pounced on one of the shooters and slit their throat. She cracked another's neck and bit the side of another. She pounced on another one and clawed their throat, blood was covering what once was her pearly white teeth and claws.

"Casey, look out!" Jack called to her as she felt something push her out of the way followed by a gunshot.

She opened her eyes after falling hard on the ground and realized what had just happened. While she was killing that shooter, another had snuck up on her and was about to shoot her. If Jack hadn't pushed her out of the way, she would've been dead.

He...he just...Jack just saved my life. It shocked her that it had happened. All the guys she'd met had only stabbed her. Jack...he saved her from being stabbed.

She got back into senses after hearing the rabbit shoot the mammal attacking them. They were all dead but others could be heard coming from a distance.

"We have to go!" Jack yelled "Now!"

"B-but your leg..." The red fox looked at the rabbit's leg.

While trying to prevent her from being shot earlier, the bullet landed on his leg. A little higher and it would've gone to the side of his stomach.

"I-It's fine, just help me up."

Casey wrapped her arm under his to support him while running.

"Okay, you know this forest. Please tell me you know some sort of hiding spot!

"As a matter of fact, I do. It's not too far from here, just follow the directions I tell you." The fox nodded and they started running.

"Go left!" The bunny directed, "Keep going! Now right!"

Casey was running while supporting Jack. She could see how much he tried ignoring the pain from the bullet and the wound needed to be dressed before it bled too much.

I hope we're almost there!

There was another fork in the road and Casey was about to go the right route since the path on the left had a dead end with missing land in between some spots.

"Woah woah woah, stop! Go that way!" Jack was pointing in the direction of the left path.

"What!? Are you crazy!?" Casey confused at what he was telling her.

"Just go! It'll be fine!"

"If we go there we'll die!"

"No, I promise everything's gonna be okay!"

"But-"

"Casey, we don't have much time! Just trust me." Trust. That was the word that always betrayed her. That was what everyone said before they left. It was what warned her that she'd get back-stabbed. She learned her lesson long ago not to trust anyone.

But then why was it so tempting to trust Jack?

Don't do it. You'll only make things worse. At least try to stay alive. Even though it would be better if you weren't. Everyone would be happy. But your death will still hurt your brother. Don't even think about trusting him unless you want Nick to die.

Trust him. Just do it. Trust him. He saved your life...

The fox ran the way he told her to. Soon enough, they both fell. But it was into a tunnel. Casey was screaming for her dear life but Jack seemed normal. Usually, Casey loved thrill and adventure like this but she would have the situation under control. Over here nothing was in control. She didn't know what would come next. That was what scared her the most.

"Get ready to hold on!" He shouted.

"WHAT!?"

The tunnel shot them out as the landed on a hidden ledge on the separated land.

"Help me push this rock," Jack requested as Casey turned around to see him in front of a rock. He'd be able to do it on his own but since he can't stand properly due to the injury. He needed help.

The vixen and jackrabbit moved a huge boulder to reveal a tight hidden spot. They entered it. It was pretty squished but Casey preferred it than being outside since they were hopefully safe in here.

"Uh, s-sorry if it seems kinda cramped," the bunny apologized, "It's a lot roomier if you're the only one."

"It's fine," she responded, smiling. She then looked over to where the bullet was. "Uh, Jack your leg is starting to bleed really badly," she worriedly said.

"It's fine! It'll be fine," he lied as he started to remove the bullet.

"Sure it will," Casey sarcastically said and took off the scarf she was wearing.

Instantly, a gush of wind came howling to her neck. She felt as if her neck was starting to freeze up but she ignored the pain and tore a piece of her scarf off. The remaining part was too small to for her neck so she set it aside. Casey remembered that you should always clean the wound to reduce the chance of infection. Lucky they were in a cave. Caves always had water. She looked around and saw some cracks on the side, some had water flowing out. Casey checked if it was clean using her hands. Surprisingly, it was. She carried Jack over.

"Uh, what are you doing?" he asked.

"Do you want to get an infection?"

He shook his head and let her continue.

Casey put his leg under the water. Jack winced. When she took it out, she carried him back to where they were.

She then took the larger piece of the scarf and started to wrap the scarf around the bunny's leg.

"What are you doing now?"

"Dressing the wound, duh. If it bleeds too much there's a chance you can die.".

After she was finished, she looked up to see the bunny smiling at her but he suddenly looked away as if nothing happened.

"So how far do we have to go now?" Casey asked.

"Not far. We should be able to reach home by tomorrow.".

The two stayed quiet for a while until Jack finally spoke up.

"Casey? Do you mind if I ask you something?", he questioned as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Sure, what is it?".

"Why were you rude the first day we met? I mean, I know you told me it was because you didn't trust me since I was a guy but the other mammals love you. You're nice to everyone. Even the new recruits no matter what their gender. So, was that the only reason you were mean to me? Y-you don't have to answer, though. Only if you want to."

The vixen stayed silent for a moment.

"Well," she started, "you're right. I don't really care about gender that much. I don't trust girls or guys but I'm never rude to a stranger. I was just rude to you because I didn't want to seem weak.".

"Weak?" he repeated.

She nodded her head. "I didn't want a partner since I didn't want someone to take over. I didn't want you thinking you were the boss and telling me what to do even if you knew I was right. It happened to me way too many times. That's why I only agreed to be Nick and Judy's personal spy and didn't get a partner. I thought that if I seemed intimidating enough, you'd listen to me instead of me having to listen to your every word. But I do know that sometimes we all need to listen. That's why I followed everything you told me to do. You obviously have more knowledge than me in this situation.".

"And I'd listen to you when you'd know better." One of his ears twitched. "I don't know everything and there are things that you know better. In times like that, you're the boss. After all, we were assigned as partners. We work together. No one's the leader and no one's the follower. We work as a team. "

The fox didn't know how to react to that. In her life, she's only experienced mammals that would say things like that but take the lead or just flat out say they were the leader. Jack was different. Everything about him was different.

The vixen smiled.

"Ya know Jack if I had to go on another case with a partner and got to choose who it was, I'd choose to be with you."

Jack was silent for a second, as if he was in shock.

"Thanks," he finally responded.

A question came to her head. "Jack? How long have you been talking to the moon?".

"Probably for years. I don't know why but I was always attracted to the night. All the other prey were afraid of it. Especially bunnies. But I wasn't. I felt so different. Though that's how I always was. Prey were always scared. I acted like a predator. Bunnies read non-fiction books about plants. I read fictional mystery books. I especially loved the one with a black tiger. Detective Blackfang was the name. I kinda felt connected with him.".

"I was also a bookworm. And got teased for being a nerd in middle school. I'd also love mystery books and mostly loved reading the series with a girl named Serafina in it. She was a mountain lion that could turn savage since she's secretly a catamount. I could feel how it felt to not belong to either of the two worlds you're from. I know the author made it up but not many knew it can happen to some. I was one of the unfortunate ones that had the little incomplete development. I was seen as different, too. I was seen as scary. Especially since even now, I can turn full on savage mode in the night. It comes randomly and I start to act and think like a wild animal. If I don't recognize you, and that only happens if you're someone I love a lot, then you're dead. Because of that, everyone hated me. Before I was afraid of the night but after I realized I was like the monsters I was afraid of, I started to stay in the dark. I realized how beautiful the night really is and started talking to the moon. It gave me some sort of weird comfort."

Casey frowned, remembering everything that happened to her. All of it was the fault of this one development. This stupid power that she has. No one ever appreciated it. Ever.

And yet, he's here without a single look of fear.

"I don't think it's scary."

Casey's ears perked, her eyes widened. What did he say? This was the first time someone wasn't afraid of her. Someone other than Nick or Judy. This was the first time someone trusted her despite all this.

"You don't think I'm scary?" she asked to confirm if she heard right. The fox was puzzled. Jack knows that he could be in danger by being with her at night. And yet, he wasn't afraid.

He laughed as if she said something unusual. "Of course not!". His voice dropped. "If anything, I think you're actually pretty cute.".Jack timidly rubbed the back of his neck as he saw the vixen's red fur deepen.

"U-uh thanks," she timidly replied.

"Are you okay? You seem to be blushing a little." Jack smirked.

"Uh, y-yeah I'm fine. I guess...I guess I'm just not used to being complimented that much." She smiled and started to brush her tail with her paws. It was something she'd always do whenever she was nervous. She couldn't control it since it was always unconscious.

Since the two of them were sitting so close together in the tiny space, a little more than half of Casey's tail was resting near Jack.

"Uh, do you mind if I touch your tail?" He laughed. It was an awkward question and seemed pretty random but she didn't mind.

The vixen shrugged. "I don't see why not."

It took him a while but he finally stopped acting nervous and brushed the tail on his cheek.

"It's softer than I imagined! HOW DO YOU GET IT TO BE THIS SOFT!?" He started hugging the tail.

Casey couldn't help but laugh at how childish Jack was acting. He's always been the joking type, but she's never seen someone this carefree about touching someone else's tail. Especially a fox's.

"My tail's just always been soft. Almost no one knows that since I usually don't let others touch it. I can make an exception for you, though."

"Who do other vixens let touch their tail?"

"Well, I only let Nick, Judy, and now you. However, me being the oddball, you can guess it's not that way for the rest. For other girls, they see a cute guy, they seduce him with their tail. It's weird but they don't seem to care. After all, if you're a fox and are classified in the female gender, you have to have one trait only and that is beauty! Ya know logic!", Casey facepalmed at the sarcastic statement.

"I always thought it was weird, too. I mean it's kinda uncomfortable when you have a random fox's tail brushing on your chin and you never asked for it." The rabbit laughed. "Thanks but I'm good."

"It's kind of like the moon and sun when you think about it. Everyone loves the sun. Why? Because it's beautiful. Similarly, everyone loves all the pretty vixens. The ones that are thin, tall, and wear revealing clothes. On the other hand, we have the moon which isn't really as liked as the sun. Why? Because it's not shown at the time everyone's awake. They all ignore it. Just like the ones like me. I get ignored since I'm hard to break. Only a few mammals can actually figure out how to connect with me but the relationship stays. The sun may be beautiful, but when you get too close, it can burn you. It's like how a mammal can be pretty but they can betray you. But the moon lets others walk on it. The moon lets other get close and it's always there. Like me. I'd never leave someone behind. But unlike me, most mammals can't learn that if you're beautiful, you're untrustworthy."

"Well, not all the time." Jack said. "I mean, you're pretty trustworthy." A sly smirk appeared on his face.

It took Casey a while to finally get it. Her cheeks flushed as she realized that someone had just flirted with her. It wasn't the first time but she wasn't expecting it to be right now.

"Did you just...okay that was pretty clever," she giggled. The fox sighed as she recalled her brother always trying to use smooth tricks like that.

"Hey, are you okay?" he asked.

"Hm? O-oh yeah I'm...I'm fine. I just really miss Nick. He'd always use cheesy pick up lines on other girls but still fail. The only one that actually likes them are Judy. I think they're ridiculous but I'd always love to hear them. I wouldn't change anything about Nick. He's always been the best brother ever. Despite being younger, he still protects me."

"You two must have a pretty tight relationship."

"We do." She smiled at the thought of seeing him again. His emerald green eyes sparkling in the sun as he beamed at his sister's arrival.

"We'll get back soon enough, Casey. We're gonna make it."

The fox felt a new light of confidence in her. Something about Jack made her enjoy being around him. He seemed to always give her hope when she needed it.

Author: AYE AYE AYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEE HELLO PEEPZ I FINALLY FLUQING FINISHED 3,3000 FLUQING WORDZ FLUQ YEA! Oh also I had a little halp wit dis chapter. Ari ( @bookdragon- ) waz meh halper. Go follow her :D She edit da chapter to make sure I didn't sound so repetitive xddddd (I mean cmon I say vixen way too many timez. Wut ITS AN ADDICTING WORD XDD) and even wrote da part where Casey cleans Jack's wound. Oh also da book Casey talks about is called Serafina and the Black Cloak and I juz like kinda changed a little bit of it to make sure it fitz into da Zootopia world. Tho Jack's book iz juz made up by me xddddd hmm...should Detective Blackfang be a future book...ANYWHO yep daz all peeps I hope chu enjoyed dis and Author Out! *dabz*