Yep, I've done it. I've cracked. So I had the idea for this story swiming in my head for a long time now but I had decided that I would only start it after I had finished my current story. But after some reconsideration I changed my mind and opted for doing both story at the same time. I'll obviously affect the posting rate of both stories but it was getting boring to only write one thing at all time when I had so many other ideas. Thr focus will still be on Bunny and Wilde (my other story) until it's finished but I'll also update this one from time to time.

I also want to warn you that although this is a roman era AU it is NOT a documentary. I only inspire myself of the civilisations of that time but don't expect it to be perfectly accurate. I'll try though to include some less known facts about those civilisations and when I do, I'll let you know in the comments.

Anyway, go ahead and check this one out you WildeHopps fiend...

"So…" Judy's mother drawled out. "Anything new…?"

"Mom… Please don-"

"Or anyone new maybe?"

"Urgh!"

Judy grabbed both her ears with her paws and stretched them out in frustration before slamming her head down on the wooden table. The smacking sound only earned her a couple seconds of attention from her siblings before they turned back to what they were doing, already aware of how the now familiar conversation was going to go down.

The Hopps family ate lunch like most rabbit family. While one half of the family was eating, the other half tended to the fields. The groups would then switch place until everyone was fed, and then the field work would go back to full capacity.

The dining room was by far the biggest room in all of the burrow. Each group were divided into three table. The first table was reserved for the adults which meant either the oldest of the children, or the aunts and uncles who didn't own a borrow of their own. The second table was for the children and the parents who watched over them, incidentally, it was also the table Judy was seated at since she, despite her age, wouldn't be considered an adult until she had kits of her own. Finally, the third and smallest table was reserved for the youngest of children and grandchildren, who were too young to eat on their own, and were being fed by either their respective parents or by older siblings who were tasked to help.

"No mom, I'm not seeing anyone okay. Can we talk about something else now?"

"But why not honey? Surely a young and pretty doe such as yourself must be lining up suitors."

"I haven't found anyone I like yet." She said, while turning back to her salad. She hoped that by focusing on her food she would get the message across to her parents that she didn't want to talk about it.

"What about that Savage guy?" Interjected her father. "He seems like a nice enough buck."

"Jack is just a friend, nothing more. Just drop it… Please."

"We're just worried for you bun-bun. At your age you should already have started a family."

"Your mother is right. It's long overdue that you make a burrow of your own."

Judy groaned. This was far from the first time her parents had tried to convince her to find a buck, have kits and settle down. Being 24 and still be unmarried or in a relationship made Judy the oldest bachelor of her family by a large margin. Her oldest single sister was 19 and that was because the buck she was seeing died in the war. The thing her family simply didn't seem to understand though was that she had no interest in starting a family of her own. She had her own dream and it already took most of her time.

"What if I don't want to do that? What if I had other ambitions?"

"Not that again." Muttered her father.

"Sweety, we've already been over this, females can't serve in the army."

"Not like there's an army left to serve in the first place." Whispered her father angrily.

"What about the resistance? Surely they would accept anyone who offers help."

"Judith Lavern Hopps, don't you speak like that! " Answered her father sternly. "Being part of the resistance is way too dangerous for a doe. I will not let my eldest daughter be tortured and killed by the empire's savage beasts!"

Stu was stopped in his rant by the comforting paw of his wife, signaling him to calm down.

"What your father means to say honey is that making yourself an enemy of the empire is not the safest decision you could make. Why do you even want so much to put yourself in danger like this?"

"I just want to make a difference mom." Judy huffed out.

"Well, there's no way to make a difference like becoming the mother of your own burrow."

"Heck you could even start your own one if you wanted to!" Added her father. "There is still good land farther south that haven't been cultivated yet. Now, you would need to clear the earth and all but you like hard work right? And in the end, there's no better way to make a difference than holding land of your own and cultivating it with the help of your kits."

"But I don't want to get married dad!"

Judy had said the last part louder than she had meant to. Now all of her hundreds of sibling at the long table looked silently at her. Her parents always had their suspicions but this was the first time she had said out loud that she didn't want to marry anyone at all.

Bonnie looked to her husband for confirmation. When it came under the form of a nod, she turned back to Judy.

"Honey we need to talk. Your father and I have been thinking recently and have come to a decision."

"First we want you to know that we love you, very much…"

"Yes, and we have always respected your life choices until now…"

"But we decided that… We decided that if you don't find a buck soon... we'll find one for you."

"W-what do you mean?"

"Your father is saying that if you can't decide who to marry then we'll arrange your marriage for you."

"WHAT! YOU CAN'T DO THAT!"

"You know very well we can Jude." Said her father calmly. "We have decided to not force any of our children into marriage before, but this is getting ridiculous."

"We're doing this for you bun-bun. We simply want you to be happy."

"If you really want me to be happy then please, don't do this, please, I'm begging you!"

Stu slowly shook his head from side to side.

"You're the eldest daughter of the most prestigious family in all of Bunnyburrow, you need to marry a suitable buck."

"It's best this way honey. You don't know how unhappy you'll be without kits until you have some."

"This is unfair!"

She stood up and ran towards the exit.

"Judy wait!"

"Let her Bonnie. She'll come to her sense eventually."

Judy rushed out of her family's burrow. The hot summer sun hung high in the sky above the farm.

Ever since she was just a child, Judy had always wanted to be a fighter. She wanted to protect others from harm and to make sure everyone was safe. She had dreamt of serving in the tri-burrow army or becoming a city guard for a long time now but it had never pulled through.

A year and a half ago the Zootopian empire had declared war upon the tri-burrow. Judy had thought that her chance to prove herself had come, that she would finally be able to prove that females could fight. But still she had been refused entry into the military, and while she was stuck on her family's farm, her brothers and neighbors were being slaughtered on the battlefield by the armies of the empire.

The Zootopian empire was born in the city of the same name somewhere in the north of Bunnyburrow. It had started by one species of predators annexing another and then another one and so on. Before them, every species used to stick with their own but in the face of such a massive alliance of meat eating creatures, coalitions of prey mammals had banded together to stop the growing empire. However, instead of halting the expanding sovereignty, those coalitions only managed to get annexed into it. Now the Zootopian empire hegemony could overpower any one species they wanted. A new wave of conquest had begun, pushing rabbits and hares to form the tri-burrow alliance. But the now massive strength of the empire could not be stopped.

It had only taken a few months for the Zootopian empire to fully conquer the tri-burrow and force it's capitulation. The army had been dismantled, and the city's guard replaced by the invading soldiers who made sure the occupation went as desired. And now bunnies were a part of the empire.

Judy's steps had taken her to the city without her realizing it. She often liked to run from her family's farm to the city when she trained, and she guessed that while her mind was filled with what her parents had just told her, she must have run here out of habit. Most of Bunnyburrow's population lived in the countryside but the city was where bunnies from everywhere came to trade. It's position on the coast and its border to the large river that ran south made it a natural center of trade. Its surrounding lands were very fertile, which meant that they were owned by only the most important families, like the Hopps.

Judy walked into the walled city, and was welcomed by the shouting of merchants trying to advertise their products louder than their competition. At every street corner stood an enormous mammal clad in imperial armor watching over the come and goes of the population.

A month after the start of the occupation, things had mostly gone back to normal in the city. Tensions were still high, and whenever a soldier would pass in front of a stand, the merchant would stop speaking until the soldier had past. But the idea of resisting the occupation had been abandoned by most bunnies… Most, but not all. Those in the resistance were the last to oppose the tyranny and warmongering of the empire.

"Listen rabbit. Do you think these sandals are free?"

Judy's ears perked at the commotion from a near by alley.

"I've got to pay for these you know, the empire doesn't just hand them out."

Seeing that no one else seemed to have noticed or paid attention, Judy decided to investigate the voice. She carefully entered the alley, making sure that her approach would not be heard.

The source of the gruff voice was a rhino clad in imperial chest plate and skirt. He held a bunny off the ground by his ears, a thing Judy knew must have been very painful. Beside them stood another soldier, a wolf, who watched the scene passively.

"I-I-I a-already gave y-you all t-t-the money I had…"

"Let me ask you one last question rabbit." Spat the rhino. "Do these sandals look cheap to you?"

Judy looked at the soldier's footwear. The sandals consisted of nothing more than a rotting wooden plate, attached to the underside of the rhino's hoof by worn out ropes, one of which had been severed. To Judy's eyes the sandals looked worst than just cheap.

"Who even wears sandals?" She thought.

"I mean have you seen the size of my hooves? They're so big, they could crush you in one go." Said the rhino barely hiding the threat. "Big hooves like that requires big sandals which means a lot of materials, which in turn means…"

He gave a tug on the rabbit's ears to make him understand he was expecting an answer.

"I-It means l-lots of money."

"Look at that Wolford! There's a brain in that cute little fuzzy head."

It took all of Judy's will to not scream at them to not call a bunny cute. On a good day, she might be able to handle the Rhino, especially if he underestimated her. But with a wolf by his side, it was simply too risky for her to attempt alone.

"So when you said that you didn't have anymore money, what you really meant was…"

"I-I uh… I don't have more money o-on me b-but I can get more from my shop…"

"Good… Now show us where your shop is before I lose my patience."

Judy took one last good look at the two soldiers before heading back from where she came from. Intimidation like this had become a standard thing since the beginning of the occupation but it would still make her blood boil every time she witnessed it. She started running through the streets, towards a particular house, now that she had a target.

She stopped in front of a beat up wooden door, similar to all those surrounding it. Making sure there was no one around, she knocked twice, waited, then knocked a third. Two knocks came back from the other side of the door to which she responded with five knocks.

The door swung open to reveal a buck about her age. His fur was slightly lighter and his ears and cheeks were crossed with black stripes. Seeing her, the buck took a pose by leaning on the door frame while making sure to show his muscles.

"Oh, hey there Judy." He said, while flashing her his best smile. "It's nice to see you…"

"Jack…" She answered without any real interest.

While she might admit that Jack looked good by rabbit standards, she really wasn't interested in him. It seemed however, that while any other doe would throw themselves at his feet, Jack had eyes only for her. She had thought it flattering at first, but now it really only served to get on her nerves.

Jack didn't move, instead eyeing her up and down.

"So… Are you going to move, or are we going to stand here all day?"

At this, Jack seemed to realize he had been openly ogling her and moved out of the way with a quick apology.

"Sorry about that. Jumpton and Thumper are here by the way."

Judy entered the darkly lit house as Jack closed the door behind her.

As he had said, two other bunnies were casually chatting around a wooden table, when they saw her the two bucks stood up and acknowledged her.

"Hopps…" they both said.

"Jumpton, Thumper…"

"So…" Said Jack, his stupid smile still plastered on his face. "What's up?"

"I saw another two guards shaking a merchant up on my way in."

"You're thinking we teach 'em a lesson?" asked Thumper.

"Exactly."

"What species?"

"A rhino and a wolf."

The three bucks looked to each other in silence, not willing to say out loud what they were all thinking.

"You guys are afraid, aren't you?" Judy finally said.

"A rhino AND a wolf! Hopps, we'll be dead in no time."

"Yeah, we can barely out number a wolf when we're 10 and you want us to take on a rhino too?"

"Personally, I'm with you Judy." Said Jack while striking another pose. "I think we can do it."

"Great! Well if they won't help us..." She said while pointing at Jumpton and Thumper. "Then we'll do it ourselves. I'll take the rhino you take the wolf."

Jack's face turned from self confident to worried in less than a second.

"W-what, alone?"

"Yep."

"Right now?"

"When else?"

"It's just that… I was thinking we should inform high command before we carry out that operation, you know…"

"Jack, we both know that they won't approve."

"Maybe we should respect that… You know, if high command says it…"

Judy sighed.

"Guys, what's the point of being part of the resistance if we don't resist?"

Despite her parents' multiple plea to stay away from the resistance, Judy had joined them at the first opportunity she got. When she had heard that a group of rabbits were mounting up a resistance force after the start of the occupation, she had gone out looking for them. She had thought that, seeing how overwhelmed they were, the resistance would look past her gender. She was almost proven wrong when they first refused her based on that very reason. It's only after high command, the head of the resistance, had heard that she was the eldest daughter of one of Bunnyborrow's most powerful family that she had been accepted. The only reason for that was because high command wanted her to convince her father to support the resistance. It was actually her main and only objective.

"Listen, if none of you guys will help me then I'll do it alone."

"You're crazy!"

"Hopps, that's suicide!"

Judy didn't bother listening to them, instead turning her back and walking off, determined to take matters in her own paws.

"Judy wait!"

She felt Jack's paw rest on her shoulder and she turned to face him.

"What is it?"

"I would go with you, I really would, but I hurt my shoulder the other day and…"

Judy didn't let him finish before she turned around and continued to head for the exit.

"Wait! I was also wondering if you'd like to hang out tomorrow?"

She didn't bother to answer, and simply exited the old wooden building.

"Is that a yes? Can I take that for a yes?"

Judy walked down the streets once again but this time, even more mad than before. She was tired of being some token bunny, a doe to marry off, or daddy's little princess. She was more than just defined by her father's status and she was certainly more than a baby making machine. If it took beating two imperial soldiers on her own to prove that, then she was more than happy to do it.

Of course the soldiers had moved since she last saw them, so she started roaming the city's streets in an attempt to find them. She kept searching for a while with no results.

By now, they could have gone back to the military camp that had been erected on the city's outskirts. If that was the case then there was nothing she could do. The camp was too heavily guarded to sneak in. It was the resistance's main target but it remained unscathed due to how protected it was.

Just when Judy was about to give up for the day, she heard sounds of struggle coming from an alley, just like she had heard earlier in the day.

She crouched down low and began sneaking towards the source of the sound. One of her paws went to the hidden blade under her dress as the sound grew louder. She preferred to simply beat the soldiers with her paws to teach them a lesson but if the need to use more aggressive force was felt, she wanted to be ready.

At the beginning of the occupation, the empire had outlawed the possession of weapons for any of the tri-burrows' residents in the goal to prevent an uprising. Most resistance members had managed to get their paws on small blades, but most were of poor quality.

Judy was now able to make out four distinct voices, but none seemed to belong to the soldiers she had seen earlier.

"Listen guys, I promise I'm not going to do you any harm. I'm just here to -humpf!"

As she turned the corner, Judy saw three bucks she recognized to be other members of the resistance. Two of them were on ether side of a fox, holding his arms behind his back, and forcing him to kneel in front of the third one. She recognized the brown furred bunny at the center as Theodore Leapswald, an egocentric buck whom she had made eat the dirt after he had told her to: "go back home and make babies".

"Shut up fox! You think we don't know your kind? We're not going to fall for your tricks."

"I don't really have a trick to fall for so -humpf!"

Leapswald punched the fox in his undefended gut. It was clear from his accent that said fox was from the empire; however, Judy couldn't help but remark that he didn't wear any of the imperial insignia, or anything that would make her believe he was part of the army.

"You speak when you're asked fox!"

"That's a shame, my mom always told me I had a lovely voice."

Leapswald cranked his arm back to give another blow, but was stopped by Judy's voice.

"What's going on here?"

The brown buck turned around to face her. His eyes widened when he recognized her, the beating she had given him still fresh in his mind. He composed himself and tried to appear as confident as he could.

"We're welcoming this imperial scum to Bunnyburrow. What is it to you?"

"He's clearly not a soldier Theo."

"Yeah I'm just a trad- humpf!"

"Shut up fox!"

"Get out Leapswald and leave him alone before I give you another bloody nose."

"He's a fox! Why do you care?"

"What did he do?"

"What?"

"What did he do? There's got to be a reason why you're doing this to him."

"Well… he's a fox."

Saying that most people that lived in Bunnyborrow didn't like foxes was a bit of an understatement. Some years ago, a rogue fox mercenary gang led by the now infamous Gideon Grey had come and pillaged the surrounding lands. Many had died and multiple farms had been burned to the ground. That was a long time ago though, Judy's parents had only been kits when it happened but the population was still scarred. Most villain in children's stories were foxes ever since that day even though there were no other incidents since.

"Oh really! Wow I hadn't noticed thanks for pointing it out. Now leave!"

Judy, for her part, had never really bought into the whole "all foxes are bad" thing. Sure, they were big and had sharp claws but she of all bunnies knew better than to judge by those thing. She really didn't see a reason to be scared of them.

Theodore hesitated for a moment before Judy gave him a hard glare. He knew she wasn't messing around, so he quickly scampered off with his friend. Once they were gone, Judy turned her attention to the fox who was still on his knees, rubbing his stomach.

"Are you alright?"

"I've had worse." He said while standing up.

Judy was now able to get a better look at him. He was about two heads taller than her, and of rather skinny build, at least by bunny standards. His bright orange fur covered his whole body with the exception of a cream spot that ran from under his muzzle and down his chest. His fur was longer and shinier than a bunny's. The thing however that caught her attention were his eyes, deep emerald green eyes. She had never seen eyes like those before in all of Bunnyburrow. Those same eyes looked back at her and through them she could see something more, something… calculating.

"Hi, Nicholas Wilde, handsome rogue fox and merchant extraordinaire." Said the fox while extending his paw out to her. "But you can call me Nick."

Nick gave her a toothy smile and for the first time, Judy could see those teeth that had been made to tear the flesh of her kind. Seeing the sharp white teeth, her mind instinctively gave her a warning to stay away from him, but reason told her he wouldn't be able to harm her even if he tried.

"You know, this is the part where you shake my paw and tell me your name."

Judy crossed her arms, looked down at the extended paw and back up at him while she cocked an eyebrow. She might not fear him for being a fox but that didn't mean she trusted him.

"This really isn't a place for a fox. It would be best for you if you went back to the empire's land."

With that, Judy turned around and headed back through the streets, not giving the stranger another thought. It seemed however that this stranger wasn't quite finished with her yet. The fox, Nick, as he was called, followed her down the street.

"But this is empire land now sweetheart. And while the folks around here might not hold foxes dear in their hearts, this is merchant heaven."

She tried not to answer him. She should have remained silent and just gone on with her day… But Judy always had been the curious one.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean that none of the empire's big companies have arrived here yet. That makes it a perfect place for a little merchant like me to settle down and corner this market before anyone else can."

"There is just one problem with that slick…" She said not bothering to look at him. "You're not a merchant, you're a thief."

"What?"

Judy finally stopped, and spun around to face the now baffled and slightly worried fox. She smirked at him and put all her weight on one leg while she eyed him up and down.

"It's obvious from your eyes. The way you look at everything and put a price tag on it, always looking for a way to make profit. You're not a merchant, you're a thief and if you don't stop annoying me I might just go get one of the imperial guards and see how the empire deals with thieves.."

Judy turned back and continued walking, convinced that she had managed to convince the fox to stop following her.

She was so wrong…

"That's where you're wrong fluff."

"Urgh! Why are you still following me?"

"Because I still don't know the name of the pretty doe who saved me. And besides, the guards are good clients of mine, I can trust them."

Judy stopped and faced him once more.

"The name's Judy Hopps. Are we done now?" She said while extending her paw.

Nick gently took it and brought it to his lips where he placed a gentle kiss on it, Judy's ears suddenly stood up as a blush reddened her cheeks. Nick smirked at the effect a simple kiss had on her.

"Not quite beautiful. Because, you see, I'm not just a regular merchant. I'm a merchant of…"

"Stolen goods." She cut him off while quickly pulling her paw away, and rubbing the spot he had kissed.

Nick's face momentarily turned to one of annoyance before he regained his cocky attitude.

"I was going to say of rare items actually, and I cannot be held accountable for the methods my providers have of acquiring these items."

"Good for you." She said before quickly turning back and attempting to continue on her way. This time however, Nick rapidly passed her and planted himself in front of her, blocking her way.

"The thing is, I believe you might be interested by some of those items."

"I really am not. Now if you could jus-"

"Because two can play the deduction game sweetheart, and I'm much better at it than you are."

"Listen, just move aside or I'm going to…"

"Has your father decided who you were going to marry yet?"

This made Judy freeze.

"How did you…"

"Your bad mood is a hint, but really the dead give away is how pretty you are."

"Pardon me?"

"Your body. It's too pretty for your age. You're what, 25?"

"24."

"Same difference, and you don't have any trace of the hardship of childbirth or of raising a kit, a thing which, according to what I've seen so far, is extremely rare for someone your age. And since you're obviously not pregnant, it means you've not wedded yet. Now, let's talk about your dress…"

"What about it?"

"You're right, I do put price tags on things and from its quality I'd say it looks very pricey. Daddy is rich kind of pricey. But with the size of the families you have around here, even rich daddy can't afford to buy such nice dresses for all of his little princesses. Which mean you are either the favorite or the eldest…"

Judy stared at him dumbfounded. It took her some time to realize he was waiting for an answer.

"Eldest."

"Oooh! The unmarried eldest daughter of a rich bunny; you must have a pretty bunch of bucks chasing your tail. But if you're not married yet it's because you don't want to. But that can't stand now can it? Daddy didn't force you into marriage already because he loves you but as the eldest daughter of the family you represent an immense potential to create an alliance with another powerful family. If you're father didn't force you to marry a buck you barely know yet then he's going to do so shortly."

"I… I… I…"

"Save your breath sweetheart that's just the beginning. No, as interesting as your marital status is, what is really important is your fighting skills."

"My fighting skills?"

"Yes, you not being wedded isn't the only reason you're an outcast is it? Those kind bucks back there, they were scared of you. Why else would they be scared if not because they knew you could beat them in a fight? Well I assume that's why they're afraid, that and how muscular you are, also uncommon for a doe. So here, let me just draw a portrait…"

Nick cleared his throat and took a breath, before starting with renewed vigor.

"Miss independent spirit who don't need no buck refuses to settle down and start a family, instead she focuses on her dream to be a city guard or something like that but whoopsie, they won't let her in because there's something missing between her legs and whoopsie number two-sie, the empire conquered her homeland and dismantled its guard. But our little princess, her head filled with ideals, is not the kind to give up. She has trained all her life for this after all so when she can't turn to the guard the she turns to the resistance."

Judy's eyes widened and her mouth hung open. She realized only too late that she had just given him confirmation.

"She manages to convince the resistance to let her in but, and now this is just a guess, whoopsie number three-sie she realizes that the only reason she got in in the first place was because daddy dearest's wealth seems to be his only form of compensation. Sound familiar to you?"

The fox looked far too smug for Judy's liking.

"How… How did you…?"

"I told you I'm better at this than you. So if you still find me annoying you could always go to the imperial guard, but then we'd get to see how the empire deals with rebels."

Judy looked at the fox she had rescued and for the first time thought that maybe, just maybe, she should have let him get beaten to an orange pulp.

"What do you want?" She said, her annoyed scowl returning to her face.

"I already told you fluff-butt; I've got items that might interest you…"

"Like what?"

"Like weapons."

"But…"

"But weapons are outlawed during the occupation yes I know, that's what makes them rare items."

"So you're not a thief, you're a smuggler."

"Of a sort, but what is really important is that you're a resistance without quality weapons and could use my services. So I'm going to make you a deal fluff; you helped me out back there so you get a discount. I can sell you pretty much anything. Quality blades? Got a ton of them. Bows and arrows? Can do. A cheap replica of imperial armor? I got that. I even sell those to the soldiers themselves when they need to replace a piece, and they don't want to pay the full price of the empire. So here's what we're gonna do; you're going to think about my offer and tell all your little resistance friends about it. When your realize that I'm right and you need better equipment, you'll just have to come back and see me."

Nick spread his arms wide while he slowly backed away from her.

"See you later carrots." He said before finally disappearing around a corner.

Judy looked at the spot where he had been just moments before, her mind still trying to catch up on everything he said.

"What did he call me?"

And here goes the first chapter, I hope you liked it. I won't make any promises at all for when the next chapter will come out but it will come out eventually. Other than that let me know what you thought by leaving a comment. Until next time...