The fox crouched behind the boulder carefully stalking his prey. He clutched his spear in his paw as he slipped into the high grass. He moved deftly upon the rabbit he had selected for his meal, watching as it nervously sniffed the air.
He was close now within a few short bounds and he tightened up his rear legs to pounce. The rabbit looked around as if it saw him, but he wasn't going to give it time to get away. He pounced, leaping out of the high grass and down towards the defenseless bunny. The bunny looked up and squeaked taking off through the grass and leaving the fox's spear dug in the ground. He chased after the rabbit, he was hungry and wasn't going to let it get away.
He ran after it as it ran to the base of a nearby tree. He saw it jump into a hole and he dove for it.
He was stopped in midair and quickly thrown back on the ground. In a panic, he looked behind him to see his feet caught on a vine, every time he tried to pull his leg free the vine tightened. He quickly began to tear at the vine when he heard footsteps behind him, he looked over his shoulder to see the rabbit holding a rather large rock.
There was pain and then blackness as he slumped to the ground, he was out for only a moment, but that seemed to be enough time for the bunny. It had tied his hands together with a vine and had given his snout the same treatment. He was effectively muzzled and disarmed, through his pounding head, he glared at the rabbit as it stood over him.
"Well, that didn't work out for you, did it," it said in a feminine voice. The fox snarled through his muzzle at it.
"I'm going to untie your leg, but if you try anything fox I'm awfully close to something you might not want to lose," the rabbit said, the fox gulped and watched as the rabbit walked to his legs. It pulled out a knife and cut his leg free, the fox quickly slid backward away from the rabbit until he bumped into the tree a slight hint of fear in his eyes.
The rabbit tilted its head at him and walked forward. "What are you called," the rabbit said, the fox merely blinked at it.
"I know you can speak; your muzzle does not constrict that" the rabbit again said. The fox could now see more clearly and gazed upon his captor in detail. It was a female he saw; she wore a grass skirt as opposed to his leather one with a sling around her shoulder connected to a wooden flask. She had bright purple eyes the peered at him inquisitively and an athletic body which made him a mixture of hungry and well something else.
"I am not called anything," he said through the muzzle. The rabbit looked confused.
"Did your family not call you anything, my family calls me Hops," she said, pointing to herself with the knife in her paws. The fox looked around for the family the rabbit spoke of but found none.
"I have no family," he said, and the bunny walked closer to get a look at him.
"So you are wild then, so that is what I will call you," she said, gathering rope, he was puzzled by her behavior and wished to know what she planned on doing with him.
"Why would you care what I am called," he asked, the bunny halted her task and looked at him.
"Well Wild, I am separated from my family. We were making our migration to the watering hole and I got lost," she pulled the roped over to him and putting the knife under his chin began to tie the rope around his neck. "So I need someone who has been there to lead me" she continued, "You have been there right," he nodded quickly careful not to stab himself with her knife. It was technically true, he had been there once and he knew roughly the path to get there, but he was mostly saying it because he knew it was the only reason he was alive.
The rabbit's face lit up as she hopped to her feet. She grabbed the rope and dragged him out from under the shade of the tree as she skipped her way through the field. She continued to drag him until the sun was low and they had to take shelter in the roots of a tree.
The fox sat there staring at the bunny, while his hunger was still present his urge to eat her had passed. In their day together, she had told him about herself for much of the time, of her family and her friends. She spoke fondly of the watering hole and how it was a place of peace where predators did not eat prey, where there was peace. Now that he had gotten to know her he couldn't eat her, kill her on the other paw, he could do that. And that was what he planned to do, as soon as she fell asleep.
He stared at her and she stared back at him, they had been locked in this competition of who would fall asleep first for quite a while neither wanted to give in first.
The fox knew he could outlast this bunny, but he decided on a better approach. He turned his back on the rabbit and walked in a short circle before lying down with his back turned to her. He waited, and laid there slowing his breathing, trying to appear asleep.
He stayed like this for a while waiting for his tormenter to give in to sleep. He finally heard her breathing softly and rolled so he was facing her. He brought his paws to his snout and tried the best he could to tear off the muzzle. He must have made too much noise, however as the rabbit's ears perked up and she rolled over.
He barely had time to roll over himself before she could see what he was up to. Oh well, he thought perhaps tomorrow bunny perhaps tomorrow.
The sun rose and he was awoken by a light tug on his leash. He opened his eyes to see the bunny watching the sunrise and scratching her ears. He grunted to let her know he was up, she looked at him quickly and stopped grooming. Getting to his feet, he stretched for a minute before she began to tug him along.
He eventually took the lead and she trailed behind with his spear in her paws.
"So why do you have no family, " she asked as they walked through the grass. He looked back at her as she skipped through the grass behind him, why the questions. Was it not enough that she had him by a leash that now she must torture him with her infernal yammering.
"They were eaten," he said simply and he felt a tug on the leash. He choked and glared back at the rabbit, who had just come to a stop.
"But you're a predator" she started and he laughed at her.
"Some still find us tasty," he said as he continued forward practically dragging the bunny behind him. They walked and walked his hunger growing with every passing moment, he began to think about eating the bunny again.
As they walked they came to a small creek, though small it was quite large for them and would require some effort to cross.
"We should stop to eat," the rabbit said as she reached into a small pouch in her skirt. From it, she pulled a small leaf bag full of berries.
He just stared at her as she did all this and his stomach audibly grumbled. She stared at him, obviously aware of his state of hunger, she nervously smiled.
"I will share my berries with you," she said and she moved closer "but if you try to eat anything else, I will kill you" she placed the berries down and reached towards his muzzle. She carefully untied his snout and pulled her paw back, pressing the spear into his chest. He stretched his jaw and opened wide to relax the muscles, giving the small rabbit a good look at his teeth in the process.
"Thank you," he said, sitting down cross-legged resting his still bound paws in his lap. The rabbit hopped back a little at his words before she also crouched down still very nervous.
"You sound different without the rope," she said as she placed the berries between them.
"I can breathe," he said smugly reaching for a berry, grabbing one he popped it in his mouth. The rabbit quickly grabbed one as well and ate hers never taking her eyes off the fox.
The fox then grabbed a powerful of berries and ate them all at once letting the juices slid down his throat. He laid back and watched the clouds drift along the sky. The berries were surprisingly filling and he started feeling satisfied almost immediately, he was content to watch the clouds and maybe even get to know his captor at this point. He rolled around so that he could see the bunny who was still nervously watching him.
"So bunny, what is your plan for me," he asked, "what happens to me when we reach the watering hole". The rabbit still stared at him but seemed to relax a tad.
"Well then I let you go," she said matter of factly "that is the deal". The fox grinned and tilted his head at her.
"I don't remember agreeing to this deal," he said as he watched her munch on another berry. It was a peculiar sight, she would nibble on it while glancing everywhere around her, her teeth cutting the berry quite efficiently as her tongue stuffed a little in her cheek. He found the fact he was watching his food eat amusing. Though he had to admit for a rabbit she was kind of cute. Perhaps it was her eyes, there was a fierceness in them that seemed to belong to a predator, not a mere rabbit. He wouldn't kill her he decided he would just make his escape.
"We have to cross now," she said and reached for the muzzle on the ground.
"We shouldn't bunny," he said, pointing at the sky "those are rain clouds, we need to get higher and find someplace that will stay dry," he said as he got up. The rabbit glanced up and nodded motioning to a hollow tree, he made a move towards it when she stopped him and held out the muzzle. He bent down and let her strap it on him.
They made their way up to the tree trunk with him leading the way, he entered the base to find it empty and he tugged on his leash to let her know they were safe. He went over to the far wall of the tree and nestled up against it as the rabbit entered behind him.
"Turn around," she said as she pulled a small brush from her skirt.
"Why," he said, muffled through the muzzle.
"Just do it," she said, he shrugged and rolled over so his back was to her. As he lay there he began to hear thunder but he also heard something he did not recognize. It sounded like wind blowing through the grass, but there was no grass around them.
He turned to look to see the source of the noise and his eyes locked onto the rabbit. Her back was turned to him and he saw her removing her skirt, he lowered his head and ears as she let it drop to the floor. She then took her brush and began to comb all across her body.
He felt his heart quicken as he watched the scene in front of him. He was sniffing the air quickly as if he was hunting, his brain firing every combination it could think of. He wasn't sure how he felt about this, she was food, but looking at her now eating was the last thing on his mind. He watched as she shifted her weight from one side to the other to groom each of her arms, her butt jiggled healthily as she moved. As she began to turn to get her legs he quickly turned his face and shut his eyes, trying not to think about what he had seen. Then the rain came, it came hard and loud as if voicing its displeasure of him, and he tried to sleep through it.
He woke up to the feeling of being wet, he looked around to see the entire tree was quickly filling with water. He shot up and tore at his muzzle and leash ripping them off, he threw them away, he then bit the rope tying his paws together and looked around. The water was climbing fast now, it was almost up to his knees, he glanced at the rabbit. She was frozen in fear, leaning against the far wall, he shrugged and turned around. He felt the tree and determined it would hold, he looked up to see a small opening in the top of the tree he would be able to fit through. He brought his arms up he began to climb up the tree, as he made it out of the water he heard a scurrying behind him. The rabbit had unfrozen and now he saw she was attempting to climb up after him, her lack of claws made such an act impossible, though.
"Sorry sweetheart looks like you're out of luck," he called down as he continued to climb. He glanced back and saw that the water was up to her neck now, and rising fast, he saw her frantically grasping at the side of the tree trying to get a hold where there were none. He looked into her eyes and saw the pure terror, the look he had seen so many times on his hunts, but now it struck him like an arrow. He stopped and beat his head against the tree for what he was about to do, he let go.
He fell into the water and scooped her up, tossing her behind him and wrapping her arms around his neck he began to climb again. He climbed as fast as he could though now weighed down by the weight of the rabbit. He made it to the hole and he pulled the rabbit off of him and shoved her through to the branch on the other side. He ducked through after her and grabbed her in a hug, pulling her close to cover her from the rain, he used his tail to cover all his arms and body could not.
He didn't know why he did this, but he knew he couldn't leave her to die. For some reason he now wanted to help her, he wanted her to find her family.
The storm battered against him, but he held firm, clutching to this rabbit as the wind tore against him and lightning struck the ground around them. The storm raged for another hour and at the end of it all, he was soaking wet.
As the moon came out to reveal the day had ended with the passing of the storm, he unwrapped his companion to find she had fared no better no better than he.
She was soaked to the skin and stared up at him with a peculiar expression. Nick shook off next to her as she stood there and looked at him.
"You saved me," she said, looking up at him, he smiled and looked back.
"Of course," he said "If I don't get you to the watering hole you won't let me go" he winked at her. She began to wring out her ears as she looked at him.
"Would you?" she said "would you help me get to the watering hole," she asked letting her eyes get big.
"Why of course me 'lady," he said, "But no muzzle this time," he said, pointing at her and raising an eyebrow. She nodded and smiled softly up at him before extending a paw, he took it and they shook on their agreement and their new friendship.