Where am I? what is this place? AHHHH!
Oh... it's my mind. I was pretty sure I lost it.
Well I shouldn't get too comfortable... I doubt it'll stick around for long. Especially when I unveil my new plans to create a trebuchet for marshmallows. I can fire off disgustingly sweet fluff at anyone I want at great distances. Woohoo!
Anywho, enjoy, fav, follow, review, and grab that strange snack. Today's for me is a bar made like a rice crispies bar but with crushed chips instead. It's BBQ flavored.
A resounding 'thunk' echoed through the area, rains having stopped their cascading flow over the land and leaving the sun to peek through the clouds and warm the land with its wondrous glow.
Not a few seconds later, an arrow cut the air and sank into the same tree that a knife had been thrown into.
A larger paw gently patted Judith's shoulders, the bunny looking up to see the toothy smile of Penny beaming down to her. The snow leopard let out a congratulatory laugh.
"I told you that would work!" she nearly bellowed with a grin. "With the unfortunate truth being that a bunny's eyesight is fairly poor in general, using your exceptional hearing can help you pinpoint an enemy."
The grey doe returned the vibrant smile in kind, relishing the praise in humble silence.
"I've trained a few mammals in such things but you have by far learned the fastest out of any I have taught," revealed the feline. "You're no expert, mind you, but it has only been a fortnight and you can follow my knives with decent accuracy. It's quite impressive."
"Thanks, Penny," voiced Judy in kind. "You think Nicholas will notice my improvement?" Penny belted out another warm laugh.
"An annoying fox he might be, but he is no dullard," the feline chided. "He will surely notice, given the chance to see. Though, do not take your progression in archery as a measure precluding you from practicing. As skilled and driven as you may be, I would rate you at a three out of ten in my book." Judith frowned upon hearing such a low account pertaining to her ability. "Oh, don't scowl at me. From humble beginnings with no experience in archery, you have made significant progress. Make no mistake."
In a grin worthy of her mate, the doe's muzzle curved in a lopsided smirk at hearing all of that.
"Where is he, by the way?" the grey rabbit asked cautiously, looking around for her vibrantly red companion. Nicholas did not appear to be nearby, watching and waiting like he sometimes did when she learned from the skilled feline.
"Not completely sure," Penny responded, giving the area her own survey for the fox. "I imagine maybe he's scouting the path ahead or foraging for food."
"Actually," began the smooth and charming voice of an equally infuriating mammal, "Meeko and I happened to be sparring for fun. That glutton of a mammal is quite the demon with his daggers."
Both Judith and Penny looked up to see Nicholas hanging by the legs from a branch in the tree above them both, arms crossed and roguish smirk plastered on his muzzle. He rolled back and released his hold on the branch, falling in an arc and landing gracefully with his haunches raised.
"Show off…" both females murmured with deadpan expressions. The previously prideful tod grimaced with a look denoting sarcasm.
"Har har," he sassed at the pair. "I actually came to return the sword you so generously provided me, seeing as I only had the one to wield against a dual wielder." The red fox began to unlash a scabbard with a short sword in it, until the snow leopard waved him down.
"Keep it," she said, surprising the doe and tod. "I have plenty of swords I brought with and that one was a gift that never really suited me. If it is comfortable to wield, you may keep it."
Nicholas stopped in his ministrations, looking down to the sword then back to Penny, shrugging as he backtracked to tighten the cords that lashed the scabbard to his belt. It was a fairly decent sword with a small guard and a double edged blade, as opposed to his primary sword, which had only one. The hilt had a knobbly grip, allowing for easy manipulation of the blade in various situations. With his fighting style, the tod used the shorter blade for parries and deflections, while using his primary blade for strikes and stabs, upon having deflected his opponent's guarding motions.
"My gratitude," voiced the fox. "I actually did enjoy the ease by which I could use this. It is deceptively lighter than one might assume from its looks." He looked around, surveying the markmammalship of Judith's multiple arrows having struck several trees. Near and far, she had pinpointed and followed the feline's knife throws with relatively stunning accuracy. It was somewhat more baffling to consider the skill that Penny had in order to sink several knives into trees ranging from 10 to 50 yards away with such accuracy as she demonstrated.
"Then, as I said, it is yours," the snow leopard made clear once more, padding around to the trees to retrieve her throwing knives. She then turned her eyes to the rabbit doe, remarking, "We're done for today. Go have fun with your mate. He seems a bit impatient to spend time with you presently." A devilish smile curled her muzzle, making Judith blush slightly at the implications.
"I'm not sure if I like how insightful she is," Nicholas commented, the two of them walking away slowly, paws held together. The doe situated her bow over a shoulder, the string remaining over her chest.
The grey bunny laughed, replying in kind, "You just don't like being exposed." The red fox gently nodded, scratching at his neck. "But, I'm glad to know she was right. I like knowing that you are in a hurry to spend time with me."
"I'm always eager to spend time with you, my dear Judith," stated the red fox simply, his snout closing in to kiss the bunny right on her head, at the base of her ear closest to him. Whether by accident or design, the reverberative 'smeck' sound that came from the press of his lips upon her echoed in her ear. It sent pleasant shivers up her spine and made her amethyst eyes go glassy with the errant thoughts now gaining form in the doe's mind.
She willed away the thoughts for now, wanting to return the favor in kind, and Judith knew exactly how to do so. Turning to her mate, the grey rabbit reached up to scratch under her fox's chin, inadvertently making him raise his head. The bunny doe then stood on her toes, stretching her legs to reach up with her muzzle, ears slicked back….
...and kissed Nicholas underneath his muzzle, where the nook beneath his chin flows down to meet his neck. It was like a hollow point that no mammal dared ventured, and while she couldn't very well discover as many weaknesses for him as he did with her, this was one that she took great pleasure in using for herself. To say it was a form of exploitation would be oversimplifying it. Nicholas greatly enjoyed the short and sweet action, the kiss upon that region usually causing him to purr indiscriminately, and this time was no exception.
The fox tod began to purr low and evenly, the pervading rumble in his chest allowing a warmth that the air lacked to settle in his flesh.
"Careful," the red fox gently chastised her. "I might think you're starting to abuse that privilege." His own eyes became as glassy as she perceived hers must have looked before, calm emerald locking onto her own violet orbs.
"You know you love it," Judith snarked back at him, letting her ears perk back up again. Her confident smile faltered ever so slightly under his intense gaze, drinking in her form and features.
"Do I know that?" he asked in rhetoric, pausing as if mulling the question over in his own head. The doe rolled her eyes. His fingers snapped dramatically, as if he had an 'Aha!' moment, saying, "Yes!... yes I do."
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A few hours later, the duo, along with Meeko and Honey for support, were padding the cobblestone streets of the market in a nearby town. Having spent the last two weeks on the move and outrunning the mercenaries set upon them by Judith's and Heather's vindictive father, the party was finally out of the forest region and outside the borders of Savanna Shire.
Those two weeks prior, Bogo and company found another few scouts nearby, apparently having had orders to spy but not engage. The lone ram that attacked was simply starving for vengeance and ruined their entire surveillance mission. While the fox and bunny were unsure what Bogo did with the captured scouts, it was implied to both that they may have been 'silenced' to keep their numbers and specific path a secret.
Since then, clues were left for a good week, dragging them further away from Upendi. According to latest reports from runners and rumors, the mercenaries had curbed their forces away from the city, having never cared to search for it nor attempt to breach its defenses. Nicholas, as well as others, surmised that since they were paid for a certain goal, getting distracted did their coin purses no favors.
Their true numbers were still a mystery, with Judith knowing that her family had fairly deep coffers to spare towards a mercenary force. If other rumors were to be believed, other lords had pooled their resources as well, as retaliation for having had their homesteads sacked and 'property' stolen. If that were true, then many of their group agreed that they might also sway their government to intervene using military force.
For now, the mercenaries were no issue, seeing as their ground covered has been great since neglecting to leave any more trails for them to follow. They currently had to resupply and find either suitable lodgings or information leading to regions safe to camp for a few nights.
Wearing thick cloaks with raised hoods to shield themselves against the renewed fall of rain, all four mammals split into their respective pairs, coin in paw and with a scribbled list of necessities they needed to acquire.
Judith and Nicholas approached a shop that appeared to have what they needed, if the display on the front was anything to go by.
Since few mammals of the common folk could properly read, signs for businesses were instead denoted by simple illustrative displays. In this region, an inn would use a sign displaying a bed, fork, and plate, since most inns doubled as eating and drinking establishments. A blacksmith would use the sign of a hammer and anvil, or, in some cases, hang a representation of their work outside.
The establishment they entered now had a wagon wheel hanging outside, which was one of the several different signs used to denote a general store. As the heavy door was pushed inward by the fox, a bell chimed and tinkled with a ringing series of dings, surprising the doe.
To further surprise her, a large wildebeest popped his head from a doorway in the back of the well lit establishment, large candles giving off a pervading glow.
"Welcome! Welcome!" he bellowed. "How might I help you this fine morrow?" With a big smile and leaning heavily upon the counter at the rear of the store, the wildebeest gestured widely to his wares.
Crates of various bulk shipments lined the walls and shelves, jars and bottles glinting in the candlelight, with sacks also organized in groupings around the store.
"We're looking to buy a large order of food and supplies," Judith voiced, pulling out a parchment with a small list. Nicholas was to remain silent, per the usual, though the pair's communication skills through such silence had greatly improved in the past fortnight.
"Of course," he responded in a loud and cheery voice, holding out a hoof to the bunny. "The name is Roderick. Roderick Huffstead. I shall do my best to tailor to your needs."
Judith took his hoof, to which he displayed a gentle demeanor in shaking it. The gnu turned to her mate, offering him the same courtesy, to which Nicholas drew back his hood and took the hoof.
"A fox and a bunny," Roderick mused aloud. "An odd pair to be traveling together…" Both mammals looked a bit trepidatious of his unreadable expression.
A smile broke out over his features.
"No matter," he vented happily. "All manner of folk are welcome in this town. Pleased to meet you…."
"His name is Silence, and unfortunately he is mute," explained the grey bunny doe, to which the fox bowed low and offered a quiet smile. "I am… Valiance." Judith was tentative about referring to herself by a name that feels self serving when coming from her own muzzle, but her fox felt it was about time they used their monikers, if they are to throw the pursuers off their scents.
"An odd name, that," came the somewhat expected reaction of the wildebeest.
"A title given to me by my comrades," the doe replied in kind. "I protested, but was pleaded to accept." A gentle smile upturned her lips, making the gnu laugh lightly.
"Fair enough," came his chuckled response. "Let's get you sorted, shall we?"
0000000
Nearly an hour later, the two were carrying small parcels with them and a signed letter of credit. They paid in part for the goods of which they requested, awaiting for the merchant to properly measure the quantities, as per their demands. They deigned to return later in the day, letting Bogo know so larger mammals could effectively transport the goods to their lodgings.
It turned out that Honey and Meeko found no inns capable of accommodating such a diversely sized group of mammals. However, they were redirected to a landowner with an old manor on the edge of his property. He agreed on a rental arrangement for a week. They did not believe they'd be spending as much time there, but such arrangements were rarely so short as to reflect compensation for so few nights stay.
"What was this place called again?" Judith inquired curiously. With their hoods up once more, walking side by side towards the supposed manor of their future stay, Nicholas turned to his mate.
With voice low and in a near whisper, so as to avoid being overheard by passer-bys, the tod said, "Its name is Hirstreach. Basically, a small trader's town. It's outside the borders of Savanna Shire, but make no mistake… We are still within prey controlled territories."
"Hirstreach?" she questioned in a mild tone, more to herself than her mate, but he still answered.
"It's synonymous in meaning to equate to something like 'Woods Edge'," the tod explained in short. As they left the veritable throng of the town and into the outskirts, following the directions of others, Nicholas's tone picked up in volume. Since there was none nearby to hear them, he felt it unnecessary to keep silent, knowing that doing so had no point or cause.
"If we are free of the realm of Savanna Shire," Judith began, "then pray tell, where are we?"
"Suffice it to say, we are in no realm of consequence," the red fox made clear. "After the war, of which I took part, many outlying regions were either assimilated into the whole of Savanna Shire, or left to fade away into the lands of which they resided. The northern regions were of those that resisted reformation the most. So, you could say, we are in a grey region as of now."
"You know, I never truly asked, or you never truly explained in full, but what was this war?"
"You don't know of it?" the tod asked in slight surprise. "I figured they would have proudly taught the history of their victory in that war."
"I know of it," Judith told her mate, "though all I remember being told was that it was a glorious acquisition of more territory and bountiful lands for the good of the Shire's sovereignty. We were never truly told of the details beyond those that favored the realm." the fox let out a languished chuckle.
"I should have presumed as much," he sighed. "In all truth, I fought on behalf of the smaller region of Animalia, which was under the protection by proxy of the Shire's forces, only asking for troops from the citizenry in return for their continued protection. I was conscripted and given a cause to fight for. So prideful a fox I was to be a part of a noble cause… or so I thought."
"What happened?"
"My country was promised its sovereignty and independence from Savanna Shire's influence, if we fought as a buffer against their enemies. I only learned later that the enemies we fought against sought our freedom and many such realms became proxy nations ruled by the Shire and their courts. We broke their offensive and the Shire held control over many such states, invoking their laws and influences slowly. My discharge from the military was the beginning of all of that. Predators in a position of physical or political power became a threat to the prey controlled states."
"That's terrible," voiced the rabbit, feeling a swirl of conflicting emotions.
"Ah, my dear mate," Nicholas said with mirth, "such is the state of our world. All we can do is attempt our changes for the better."
"You aren't… distraught over such travesties against you and your home?" the grey doe continued her line of inquiry. The tod stopped his forward treading upon the now muddy path, paws feeling the wet earth between his pads.
"I… was most definitely distraught for a long while," he revealed. "As my mother mentioned in passing, I wandered for a long while with no real purpose or direction. Spent the better part of two years in an emotional, and sometimes literal, squalor."
Judith turned to approach his front, looking up into the dark shadow of the cowl over his muzzle, rain beading off the oiled material. She slipped her own lips under his hood and connected with Nicholas's lips.
"You've no need of such sadness now," the bunny comforted her fox. "We may travel with little to our names, but it is together that we find our true values. If you had not tread the path by which was lain, your restless paws would never have found their way at my stead."
Nicholas leaned down and cupped a cheek with his paw, kissing her more feverently, their tongues intertwining and wrapping around one another. With a raspy breath, they separated, though only by the fur of their muzzles. Panted breaths fogged the air, with the fox and bunny nuzzling one another, hoods brushed aside and heads now subject to the sprinkling of dew that fell from the sky.
Neither cared as their fur became matted down by the rain, both of their ears either pinned or slicked back. The tod's ears flicked reflexively to rid themselves of excessive moisture. The grey doe giggled lightly, violet eyes penetrating the rain that obscured the fox's vision.
"Such beautiful words," Nicholas finally responded. "Are they yours?" Her paw wrapped around his neck, pulling him in for another short kiss.
"I should wish it, but no, they are not," Judith divulged slowly. "I read them in a book once. It taught me that for all the bad in the world, if one finds their destination upon the steps of a foundation of good, then the journey will have been worth the strife suffered."
"Then by that note, might I call you my foundation?" the red fox gently asked of his bunny. Returning her gesture, he wrapped his paws around her middle, pulling the doe close. A hearty laugh escaped her, like a sunbeam bursting forth from the grey skies, it brightened the otherwise seemingly dismal weather.
"Only if it is not solely to treat me as a pedestal," Judith joked at her mate.
"I would never treat you as such, Judith," the tod returned in kind to her jibe. He then looked down and smiled awkwardly. "I would, however, like to find a place to free myself of the increasingly difficult to tread terrain. At this rate, we'll both be swimming in the Earth to make it to our destination."
Looking at her own feet, the grey bunny snorted slightly in a stuttered laugh, saying, "Agreed."
The two then ran paw in paw, attempting to outrun Nature itself to keep their bodies free of more mud caking into their fur. With their cowls back over their head and feet splashing into the mud, both smiled wholeheartedly as they closed in on the manor a short distance away.
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"I see you two had fun," Bogo mentioned with a raised brow, eyeing the two mammals before him, soaked and caked in mud from the knees down. Jerking his head, he gestured ambiguously for them to come inside the dusty manor. "There's a well out back, covered by a gazebo. Get yourselves washed up, but try not to tarry. The rain isn't known for being warm his time of year."
"Aye aye, Captain," sassed the fox with a lazy salute, padding quickly through the door and making his way towards the back of the house.
"Uh… Nicholas?" called his mate. The tod turned back, ears perked in inquisitive curiosity.
"Yes, my lady?" came his questioning reply. Judith stood at the door, tentatively staring at her feet.
"I would prefer to leave the floor free of our filth, if we can… so will you…" She didn't get a chance to finish. Her fox had picked her up, carrying her across the threshold and through the manor to the backdoor. "Not what I had in mind."
"Well," Nicholas began, "this way there are only one set of dirty paws on the flooring." The doe sighed and shrugged in resignation.
Leading her outside and bolting through the rain once again, the red fox tod settled in under the protection of the old gazebo roof. With fresh rope and a bucket having been set in the pulley above the well, Nicholas set to work, pulling a pail up from the depths.
With a bit of effort, the fox lugged the large bucket over the well lip, setting it down as gently as he was able.
Judith sat down upon a stone bench, a fair amount of vines and growth over whelming the once ornate structure, now smoothly worn and cracked. She raised her feet to attempt to clean them, being stopped by her mate.
"Allow me," the tod softly told her, kneeling down to grab her legs. His eyes shined brightly in contrast to the grey skies, her head nodding slowly. Turning a bit, he picked up a ladle that was left beside the pail, using it to liberally pour water in a stream down her legs, clearing away some of the caked on mud.
Seeing that water alone wouldn't clean her fur, Nicholas pushed the pail in front of himself, dipping a foot of hers into the water and kneading her fur and flesh. The mud clouded the water over the course of several minutes, the cleansing feeling more like a massage to the grey doe, who was breathing slowly and surely in pleasure at the lovely feeling. A purr threatened to escape her throat, the bunny swallowing to stifle it, knowing her mate would hear.
Feelings of regret and lamentation filled her as a clean hind paw greeted her sight, with her fox moving onto the other one. The tod quickly realized that it was difficult to do his work with dirty water, dumping out the muddied fluid and taking a minute to shuttle another fresh bucket from the well. The process became repeated, with Judith wishing it would never end.
Though pure in his intent to help her clean herself, the grey rabbit enjoyed the feeling nonetheless, feeling such large paws compared to her work their way into her fur and jar loose any and all clumps of earth. He even made sure to get her stubby claws and in between her toes clean.
In her mind, she already decided that her fox was well deserving of similar treatment and would get something of fair trade from her later. A massage of the back, grooming his fur after a long day, or even cleaning his own paws here and now.
Bringing her mind back to the present, Judith clenched her paws as Nicholas stopped his ministrations and began to dry her legs off.
"Gotta say you are quite skilled in all that," mentioned the small doe. "Do you have an affinity for such things?" The tod raised a brow.
"For what?" he asked. "Massaging, washing, or a lady's feet?" He smirked roguishly at the last mention.
"I… that's not what I…" Judith stuttered, knowing full well he was joking with her and also that she pretty much meant exactly all of those things. The red fox cut her off with a laugh.
"The furst two, yes," revealed Nicholas. "The last… not so much. I'm more a fan of legs than feet, and yours are divine. However, if the faces I saw from you were any indication, I could be persuaded to massage your feet more often."
Judith blushed so much, in such a short span of time, that she worried her face might burn. She couldn't properly come up with a snarky retort, made worse by the lopsided smirk he wore, emerald eyes piercing into her own. The bunny wanted to look away in embarrassment, but those eyes… his eyes… her mate's eyes… they commanded her attention, and she had not the will to refuse them.
Rising to his feet, the fox stepped closer to her, making the grey doe lean back on her bench. He placed a paw on either side of her, pinning her braced paws to the stone bench, as Nicholas tilted his head and kissed her deeply.
Light smecks sounded in the midst of the cascading noise of the surrounding rain. Judith couldn't move from her strange position, but she didn't care to complain. It was nice being like this, exchanging small kisses in rapid succession.
On the last such instance, the bunny's mate lightly kissed her nose, making it shiver and twitch involuntarily, much to Judith's ire.
"Are you two done yet?" a voice bellowed from the manor's backdoor, making the two freeze and turn. Nicholas groaned but kept his cool. Judith, however, went beet red and hoped for goodness sake that Bogo hadn't seen them kissing.
"Oh shush you," a chiding, but still gentle tone chastised the bull from behind him. "It's not like we need them right now. Let them be." It appeared to be Lady Gazelle, from the fleeting glimpse of her horns from the open doorway.
"Ugh… fine," Bogo grumbled, closing the door and leaving the two frozen mammals to recover from their position. Nicholas turned back to his bunny.
"I think I like the idea of being left alone out here," he divulged with a wiggling brow. "What do you say?" Judith pulled a paw free and thumped his chest playfully.
"I'm not playing into that," the rabbit stated. "Let's get you cleaned up as well and get you in bed."
"Oh, boy… I support that idea wholeheartedly."
The grey doe stopped and blushed heavily once more, a rising frustration making her groan.
"Not what I meant… dumb fox!"
Might be viewed as only a fluff chapter... Don't care. I had fun.
XD
I figured it would be a good point to touch lightly upon Nick's military past and the war he thought he fought for.
REVIEWS!:
Venomheart the Dreamer: Glad i could get you to go all caps. That feels like a rarity to see from you. XD
Fox in the hen house: He shall be dealt with. hopefully... maybe... with extreme prejudice.
GusTheBear: goosebumps are always fun when they aren't from Stine. though his books are great. XD
ShadowRaven27: Thank you very much. BROWNIES!
akanomie1: Thank you. and good questions to hopefully be answered in time.
Renegade:... not really complaining... but why? you just used a review to make a summary. lol. it seems... pointless. but to each their own. XD
Cimar of Turalis WildeHopps: Thank you so very much. I would say it was simple to figure out how to have Judy react in such a manner... but honestly i had to have the conversation with myself out loud a few times before settling on something that flowed more naturally with just the right amount of irrational responses to sound real. XD
Leon Banz: That is... awesome. haha. Love that. And I shall accept the title with false humility, bragging and boasting at the earliest opportunity. lmbo. I'm terrible.
Merecor: Thanks so much. Glad you liked it.
Chef Four: Much appreciated! I love writing both those stories.
DONE!
Alrighty then, I have sleep calling my name. Might still be up for a bit due to restlessness and nervous trepidation about... (redacted personal life details) and the oozing green... Wait... wasn't that supposed to be redacted too? Oh who remembers...
Until next time, It's been a hustle, Sweethearts.