Here it is,,, the chapter I've been really excited to share with you guys. :) I hope you love the new character as much as I do. XD There'll be more of him in the next chapter don't worry. :)

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The sun was setting now. Brilliant red, orange, and pink streaks snaked across the sky, reminding Weezie of the ribbons she liked tying into Layra’s dark fur. The pines bordering the camp were dark and foreboding, their shadows reaching out towards the empty shanties like greedy hands. Weezie shuddered and looked away. She wasn't sure where she should go next but she certainly wasn't going anywhere near the woods. Some of the larger sheds had lamps lit inside, slivers of light striping the ground outside while forms moving within cut shadows through their irregular pattern.

Weezie frowned. Based on her previous experiences, if the slaves were back from the mines they would probably get another briefing before being sent to bed. Which hut was it they were given the last briefing in?

Hugging her arms close to herself against the evening chill, she stepped out of the medhut's doorway to reorient herself. As she rounded the corner of the shack she realized she should have been a little more cautious.

"You! What are you doing?" The buck's voice said. In the grey light of dusk she could tell he was uniformed and that she was in trouble. Should she lie? But it was too late, she was already speaking.

"I'm going back to the rest of my group."

She tried to make herself sound believable, but she wasn't exactly sure what 'believable' should sound like.

"What group? What were you doing at Medhut?" He was walking closer now, hand on his sword hilt. Weezie considered running, but she knew she was too tired, too hungry to last long if it turned into a chase.

"I- I got hurt, at the mine."

She felt a sickening jolt in her stomach as the words came out of her mouth. That was a lie. She had just lied to the guard. She swallowed the guilt and hoped he would believe her.

"Hurt? Hurt how. Where's your release slip?"

"I… left it inside," she said faintly.

"Right," the buck scowled. "Captain! Something over here for you!"

Weezie felt a jolt of panic. They had caught her. What were they going to do? Would they beat her? Kill her? She reminded herself she didn't care. All she had left to care about was Percy, and he was probably going to die any minute now like Delia said, so she held firm as a second buck strode up.

"What is it?"

Weezie recognized Captain Ripp's sneering tone and swallowed heavily. He reminded her too much of the cruel Captain Daggler and his men.

"I think it might be one of the new ones, Sir." He replied. "Says she got hurt at the mine?"

"Oh did she?" Ripp turned to look at the doe fiddling nervously with the skirt of her dress. "I don't recall any injuries," he said with a smile in his voice. He took a step towards her.

"Sneaking off are we? Don't you remember the rules?"

Weezie remained silent, watching him approach like a predator towards its prey.

"Do you remember what I said, about leaving without permission?"

He stepped quite close, almost breathing down into her ear.

"I hope you do."

In all honesty Weezie hadn't heard what he said about leaving without permission, she just hadn't been listening, but she certainly was not going to tell Captain Ripp that.

She kept her eyes fixed straight ahead of her, trying to keep herself from shuddering away from him.

A troop of bucks walked past them through the gathering night with pickaxes over their shoulders and coal on their faces and hands. Their conversations and laughter grew silent as they drew near to where Weezie and the officers stood, continuing their march silently as they passed them and headed to the dining hall.

Ripp watched, a judgmental squint over his face as he surveyed the group. He was so close Weezie could smell the sweat in his fur and the dirt on his clothes. Her stomach churned and she tried not to gag.

He watched the miners troop past for a moment, then sniffed and looked back down to Weezie.

"Do you have any excuses for me?" He smiled.

"None that I want to give," Weezie replied, looking straight ahead. She wasn't about to tell this cruel rabbit about her ill friend. He laughed and roughly grabbed her by the arm.

"Alright then. Gryce, you got a rope on you?"

"I do, Sir." The guard replied, reaching down to his belt for the loop of rope that hung there. Weezie's heart hammered in her chest as she tried to keep her expression composed. She wasn't going to show them her fear like she had done when Daggler took her away.

It is what it is. I can't change what they're going to do to me. All I can do is be brave. She had survived longer than she thought she would have- down in Daggler's dungeon, and even if they killed her now, at least Percy had escaped. At least they spared Daggler the pleasure of killing them both.

Ripp kept a firm grip on Weezie's arm as Gryce moved to hand him the rope.

"Tie her up, come on faster," Ripp said. Weezie wondered why he would be in such a hurry.

"Officers," a third voice spoke, an edge of jest to the reprimanding tone.

With a growl, Ripp turned to the speaker. One buck stood apart from the rest of the passing miners, tall and erect, silver grey with black around his eyes and ears, his muzzle and hands white. He struck a rather imposing figure in the gathering dusk, one eyebrow cocked with his hands resting on the pickaxe in front of him.

"I see you're having a bit of trouble?"

It sounded far less like a question then it did a challenge- or even a taunt- Weezie thought as the buck tossed his pickaxe up and caught it by the handle. He walked towards them, a condescending quirk to his smile.

"Mind your business, Joden," Ripp snarled. Weezie felt his grip on her arm tighten.

"Has this doe done something wrong?" Joden addressed Ripp, but entirely ignored what he had commanded him.

"I said mind your business, Joden!"

Joden's eyes flashed to Weezie. He looked at her for a moment, then looked over her head at the black buck holding her arm.

"If she's done nothing wrong, what is it you are doing, Officer?" He allowed his pickaxe to slide to the ground so he could rest his hands on its head once more. Weezie gulped and looked down.

"You know the rules, Joden." Gryce glowered.

"Mm, yes I do." Joden shifted his weight to one leg. "I'm just wondering are you bucks following them right now."

Weezie felt a shiver go through her body. She wasn't sure if she was afraid or awed right now, there was just something about the way the silver buck commanded himself that just felt… powerful.

"Mind, your business, Joden." Ripp's grip on her arm increased, and Weezie had to stop herself from crying out.

"You're not answering me," Joden replied. "What rule did she break?"

The glower on Ripp's face darkened but he said nothing. Joden looked down to Weezie. She had her face turned away from the bucks, biting down on her bottom lip while trying to withstand the pain in her arm. Joden tilted his head to the side and caught her gaze.

"What did you do?" He asked gently. His eyes flicked up to Ripp, warning him not to silence her.

Weezie hesitated a moment before answering in a strained voice. "I left the mine before I was dismissed." She was not ashamed of what she had done. Not in the slightest. If given the choice she would have done it again. She had nothing to lose, since all she felt like she had was Percy, and he was sleeping safely in the medhut behind her.

"Are you one of the rabbits who arrived here this morning?"

Weezie nodded. Ripp's grip had tightened further. She could feel tears starting in the corners of her eyes. She wouldn't give him the pleasure of hearing her cry. She wouldn't. She wanted to reach up and pry him off, twist herself so the grip would lessen, do something to make it more bearable, but instead she stood still.

"Perhaps then," Joden said, shifting to stand on his other leg and looking Ripp full in the eyes. "There has been a misunderstanding here. Having all those rules dropped on you at once," he shook his head. "It can be quite easy to forget one or two within the first few hours of arrival. I think, Captain, this has been enough of a punishment to stick this rule into her mind, don't you think?"

"Shut. Your trap, Joden." Ripp growled, spitting his name like some kind of insult. He pulled sharply up on Weezie's arm, causing shooting pain all the way into her shoulder. She couldn't stifle the gasp as she stumbled forward a step.

"Please, let go of her arm. Hand her over to me and I'll teach her the rules. You won't need to beat her tonight. And if you catch her breaking something again, you get to punish me instead, eh? Sound like a deal?"

Joden held one hand out in Weezie's direction, not as a request for a handshake but a demand for what he asked to be handed over.

Gryce smiled and looked to his officer hopefully. Ripp stared at Joden for a moment that felt like an agonized lifetime to Weezie as she gasped, trying to relieve the awkward twist of her arm.

"Alright then, you've got you a deal." Ripp finally replied with a twisted smile. He shoved Weezie forward and off her feet, her head nearly colliding with the pickaxe Joden held in front of him. Joden caught her under the arm and helped her to her feet.

"Thank you," he said with a nod. "Have a good night, gentlemen."

Weezie couldn't tell if the last comment was meant as mockery or not, but for the moment she was just consumed by the relief she felt in her arm.

"We'll be watching," Gryce said with a grin as he returned to his post.

"Good," Joden replied with a smile. "That is your job, after all."

Ripp stood glaring at the silver buck, the scarred sneer on his muzzle standing out ugly in the red light of the setting sun. Joden met his gaze and the two bucks stared at each other for a few moments. Finally Ripp broke the silence.

"Watch yourself, Joden. One of these days, you'll go a little too far." He drew the other side of his mouth into a smirk to match his scar that gave the impression of a sickly smile. He then turned abruptly, walking briskly with his hand on his sword hilt into the quickly spreading darkness.