A/N: Double update. If you have not read 3rd chapter, you are missing the first part of this update.
The song for this chapter comes from a band many probably heard. Rammstein - Waidmanns Heil.
Henry Hindspaw lead another ten militia bunnies of his clan towards the place one of the does pointed out to them. Apparently, the girls have found a corpse of a clansman lying around somewhere along the path towards the pond acting as a landmark for border between their lands and the Hopps property. No one cared to name, though, which irritated Henry a lot, and referring to it as "the pond that bla bla bla" was way to long. No bunny cared though. Aside from him.
The bunnies moved in a jog, two rows of five bunnies behind a leader. This showed that the Hindspaw militia had much more understanding of what was involved in waging war than the uncoordinated and lacking any kind of discipline Hopps. Sure, the enemy had some great individuals amongst them, like the Head of the Hopps clan Stuart "The lost and returned", or the only wielder among the Bunny Borough Judith Hopps. Still, that was what Henry's uncle, the Head of Hindspaw clan, Nathaniel Hindspaw, hired the rams for. Doug and his underlings were well known amongst the prey provinces and the Boroughs as a skillful and merciless band of cutthroats. They were rumored to be employed by Empress Bellwether, before her untimely demise. Those guys could take on any wielder individually and most of the times come out the victor. If they knew they could not, then they went all together, still leaving the prideful fools no other way out but death. With them, and the undoubtful superiority of the Hindspaw militia, they were guaranteed to win this feud and take new lands and richies for themselves.
\m/
Oh, there they were, and even in the number he needed. Eleven bunnies. What a wonderful surprise. Armed with spears and short but broad battle knives, round shields behind their backs of hardened leather over wood.
Spear was the easiest weapon to wield, both psychologically and physically, so the mercenary was not surprised it was the most spread, if not the most suitable, weapon amongst the bunnies. The battle knives were slightly different though. They pointed to the fact these fluffballs were trained to go not just against wildebeasts, but against mammals. Close quarters combat required one to be prepared to take away life, which was a rather sparce trait among the prey he observed. These guys were either actual fighters, or they knew how to pretend to be ones. This just ought to be interesting.
The body was sprawled on the edge of a trodden dirt road, surrounded by rye fields. Technically, just the lower half of the body was on the road, while the upper half was hidden in the crops.
Henry and his men were approaching the body with care, their ears alert, shields held up and spears lowered in attacking positions. This could always be an ambush, though those stupid Hopps were supposed to have some kind of family reunion today, so it was highly improbable there would be a large force behind it. The clan would be vulnerable and require most if not all its militia to be present to maintain order and protect. Nor would they be able to get any sizable force hired due to being substantially poorer than the Hindspaw clan and the readily available proposition on the market in the face of the rams already booked. This was either an opportunist glory seeking retard, or their dead guy was just unlucky to have met some lizard, spider or runbird.
- Marcus, check out the corpse. Tight circle formation, stay alert. - Henry gave the orders in a confident low voice, hoping to avoid any unwanted ears if someone was listening in on them.
But before his men even started from their places, they all heard something putting them on alert and turning towards the opposite to the dead body side of the road.
Bells jingling.
\m/
Nicholas left behind his backpack, throwing knives and belt, remaining only in his lizardskin attire. Thoughts of what weapon to choose for the fight wandered his mind for awhile, until he settled on a pair of catar daggers. This would spice things up, providing more of a challenge than just charging in with a zweihander, the usual choice for dealing with spears and shields. A large grin was present on the mercenary's muzzle when he finally moved forward, the bells behind his back working as intended and alerting the bunnies of his presence. Nicholas emerged from the crops, towering over the present Hindspaw clansmen who pointed their spears at him.
- There was supposed to be a dead bunny of mine here, anyone seen it? This blind fox would rather not hunt for dinner again, so could you, little food rations, point it out for me before I decide to eat you instead? - The sweetness in his voice was so thick it could have probably given a stomachache to even a bear. The bunnies though showed nothing but disgust and anger at the strange fox that had his paws hidden behind his back. To their credit, none rushed to finish off the offending pelt, too afraid of the punishment for disobeying the leader.
- Skewer him, Charles. - The order was given quietly, so that pred would not hear, but loud enough for the buck it was directed at heard. It was carried out immediately and Henry marveled as one of his militia put his spear through the offending pelt of a worthless blind fox that dared soil their land with his presence. The wench would probably make a fine fertilizer for the soil of their fields.
One of the bunnies charged the blind fox with his spear still in one hand, tucked tight under the armpit, and shield in the other. The speed of oncoming little fluffball was impressive, but the tod remained still, paws behind the back and a sweet smile on the front.
Barely two seconds passed, ten strides taken placing the bunny just a leap away from impaling the fox with the iron tip of his spear. Predators were an offence to prey existence, mortal enemies to be hated and eradicated. The buck felt no remorse in what he was about to do, satisfied smirk on his flat muzzle, as he made the jump.
The creature must die.
\m/
The jump would be the best way to drive the spear deep into the larger adversary's body and then stay clear from it, a technique perfected by hunters for taking down wild beasts. But the buck forgot that he was not against a mindless beast. And Nicholas was not impressed neither with the way the spear was used nor with the speed of the bunny.
As the watching bucks got ready to congratulate their clansman on getting the kill, something unexpected happened. Bunnies were in general very proud of their ability to move fast. There was but a short list of mammal species capable of competing with them at that department, and foxes were not on the list. So watching the red blind pred sidestepping one of their kind at full speed was more than just a shocking experience.
The following sight of Charlie flopping to the ground with his head detached and flying away was unbelievable.
The fox charging in with a delighted grin on his muzzle, like he just got a large serving of a tasty meal? Frightening.
Flying over their formation while cutting off several ears? And then seeing those damn sharp razors all preds sported instead of teeth and sickly green eyes with a promise of nothing but death right in their midst? Death nor Fear themselves would be able to induce more terror into the poor creatures who got in the mercenary's way.
The creature must die.
\m/
Nicholas was rather impressed at the strength these visibly fragile little creatures possessed. If these guys were fighting against Hopps, despite their numbers disadvantage, the Hindspaw clan had all the chances at overcoming quantity with quality. But against a warrior who have survived countless skirmishes, it was the other way around.
The fox waited for the last moment until the bunny committed to his suicidal jump in. A small step to the right to take his body away from the attack trajectory while rotating his whole body in the direction of the bunny's jump. The world around seemed to slow down, his right hand stretching out and bringing the catar dagger towards its intended goal - the neck. It would have been much easier to cut it from the front with his left hand dagger, the stupid bunny would simply fall on it. But Nicholas was curious at how their speed and reaction would compare to his. Not much, as his hand has caught up with the buck in the air, mid jump, the dagger slashing through the delicate muscles and hardened bone with relative ease and a satisfying "thwack", separating the head from the body. The mercenary memorised the former's trajectory to retrieve a bit later.
With this little appetiser finished, Nicholas turned his attention to the main course, muzzle stretched in a savage smile, baring his fangs. The fox wasted not a single moment and simply charged into the wall of spears ahead of him. They probably never expected him to be as fast as they, and definitely not the fact he only needed half the time to reach them. There were a couple of attempted thrusts from the spearwielders on his way, but those were predictable reactions. Nicholas jumped into the air, sailing over the line of bunnies head down and slashed at the ears he could reach.
It was a good thing he never allowed the bunnies to get into any kind of formation before showing up. Stuck as they were now, separated and caught in between their marching and deploying formations, the smaller creatures would be much more fun to deal with. He could feel the fear permeating the air as he sunk his catars deep into the flesh of his next victims.
There was a shout but Nicholas paid no attention. Another spear was being thrusted his way and the fox had no plans on being invited to a dinner as the meat course any time soon. The stakes were now only eight to one which was still eight too much for the red fox to consider relaxing.
Nicholas slid back out of range of the incoming thrust and immediately moved to flank the remaining bunnies. Considering they still had spears that slightly overcame his own reach, it was important to engage one on one for the result to be satisfying.
The flanked buck had his spear lowered and doing his best to trace movement of the mercenary, while another buck near him tried to provide cover with his own weapon. But Nicholas did not play by the book and once more charged in, as if inviting them to impale him. The covering buck tried doing just that, while the flanked bunny simply kept his spear as steady as he could with his whole body trembling.
Nicholas cared not for the one who thrust at him, at this moment at least, making a swift sidestep that should have been impossible for someone moving with his speed. The one spear the tried trace his every movement could not follow this and got swatted to the side, making its wielder lose his balance and then lose his head to a slash from fox's catar. Nicholas did not stop at that and swiftly moved forward, before the bunny that tried to cover the one just fallen could retrieve his battle knife. The buck got his gut cut open when the fox got the catar in his right hand in it to the handle and then unceremoniously pulled it out.
The remaining prey has switched to their battle knives and held their shields even closer to their bodies, as if they could protect them from the fox. Difference in raw strength and quality of their weapons was way too big, and Nicholas was not someone to do a half hearted job or restrain himself when killing had to be done. His adversaries thought they could surround him and beat him down with simultaneous attacks, but they were not fast enough. Once more, he selected a single target and ran at it. The poor guy was screaming something, but the mercenary had no wish to hinder his fun by listening in to what the others had to say. Besides, the bells behind his back were jingling merrily in a strange melody.
Some other bunny tried to match him in a contest of speed, but failed miserably as the mercenary partied the pathetic attempt at a slash with his left catar while his right was thrust into a throat. A simple and efficient way to off the enemy in front and quickly switch to the remaining five victims of his hunt.
The bunnies though understood the fact they lost any edge they had the moment their spears hit the ground. Nicholas's reach was way longer than theirs, and with the number advantage halved, their fate was sealed. So the bunnies did the only thing right - they ran. Unfortunately for them, their training made them stick together with thief leader. A marvelous show of loyalty but a poor choice when fleeing from a single hunter, making it easier for the said hunter to track them.
Nicholas was not one to shy away from hitting the running enemy in the back. Especially if it was inevitable anyways, since he would meet them later in the full on fighting between the Hopps and Hindspaw clans. With a grin, a cocktail of raging fury and giddy excitement of bloodlust boiling in his veins, the fox gave chase.
Only one thought running through the conscious part of his mind.
The creature must die!
A/N: I am back from a great two weeks of doing absolutely nothing work related. Sweet vacation.
The two chapters in this double update were supposed to be a single one at first, but I could not capture both scenes with a single song. Thus, two songs, two chapters, one update.
Btw, if you are not into metal and the songs I use for inspiration are not to your liking, I still suggest you read their lyrics. Songs are integral part of my perception of the story. Sometimes they represent a concentrated insight into Nick's character/inner houghts that I don't exactly put into letters. They also immensely influence the way this story goes.
You still want to miss an important part of the story? Don't care.
Enjoy or suffer, whatever is your choice, for the creature must die regardless.