Alright.
Furst of all, so sorry for leaving you hanging for a good month since the last chapter release. I got a carp load of excuses but I'm not interested in making a list.
I'd like to say thank you for being patient and I'm trying to get better at the updating but that's a point I will touch upon after the chapter at the end here.
For now, read, review, fav, follow, enjoy, and grab that strange snack. Mine today is blueberry muffins injected with frosting flavored like watermelons. Mmmm.
"Ow!" a cry rang out. "What was that for?"
"We're here to supervise the acquisition of the goods that Nichols and Judith reserved for us… NOT to eat the merchandise and increase our debt to the merchant," an irate badger chastised her accompanying raccoon, of whom was trying to reach into a crate to pick up a piece of fresh fruit.
Honey had smacked his paw and pointed a digit barely an inch from Meeko's nose, with him going cross-eyed to properly focus on the extended claw obscuring his vision.
"Look… don't touch," she warned. The raccoon nodded fervently, paws up in surrender and subsequently stuffing them into his cloak.
Waiting for the badger to turn away and gesture for the larger mammals with them to pick up certain prepared crates that were labeled for them, Meeko eyed her, mumbling, "Does that logic apply to you too?"
Honey whirled faster than he thought the somewhat stout mammal could, giving him a look.
"You say something?"
The raccoon shook his head rapidly in the negative, smiling nervously.
"Nope. I said nothing. Just clearing my throat."
Whether or not Honey believed the excuse was a detail left infuriatingly unclear to Meeko. She turned slowly, a light twinkle in her eye that made him wonder if he was imagining things.
I'm doomed, the mammal thought to himself with a deadpan look to the badger. She's messing with me.
"Now help me secure some maps and charts," Honey rather briskly, though still with a tinge of politeness, demanded. "The shop we passed earlier should be open now."
"Wait," Meeko started, "why do I need to come with? I'm no map mammal."
A paw gently patted his head in an almost childish way. Though gentle, it did not make the raccoon feel better in any form. Especially since Honey had a coy smile lining her muzzle that had no intent towards comfort or relief to him.
"Why… I need you to help me carry anything and everything I might purchase for our journey," was her overly sweet reply, tone full of a falsehood worthy of her namesake.
"Of course," came the male's reply, his eyes rolling with the sigh that escaped him. "Well, let's get going."
With the entourage of larger mammals lugging the plethora of goods and supplies back to the manor, Meeko and Honey began to walk away, with the raccoon having snuck an apple from one of the crates that belonged to them. The female badger gave him a look and sighed after he bit into the apple with a soft, crisp crunch.
The two walked from the general store, along the street and in near total silence, of which was only interrupted by the occasional crunch of the red fruit being devoured greedily. Luckily, the rain had stopped none too soon before, making the trek easier for the pair as well as the mammals going back to the manor.
"What is a mammal like you playing at?" Honey spoke, shattering the silence. Meeko paused in mid bite, utterly thrown off by the oddity and generality of the question.
"I… what?" he stuttered. "Do clarify for me."
"I mean you play the fool. You pretend to be this dullard with no real goal in mind, but when others aren't looking, you display this odd sense of... competency." The last word was spoken as if it were foreign in its concept to her. "I saw you spar with my son on occasion. You are quite ferocious with your daggers."
"Why thank you," Meeko mentioned with a raised brow, still waiting for the 'but' that he felt had to be coming.
"At furst," the badger began, "I thought you a childish, rude, and somewhat selfish idiot, but now I've seen enough to know you do that for some twisted sense of entertaining others or distracting them from more morbid moods."
"Sounds like you answered your own question," he retorted, resuming his eating of the apple, which was mostly gone at this point.
"Au contraire, my dear Meeko," Honey burst with a raised paw. "I have merely stated the cause and effect of what you do, but not the why. Mind enlightening me?"
"And if I refuse?" the raccoon bluntly stated, turning to toss the core of his apple in a thicket nearby. He turned back to stare at the female badger, who appeared to be looking a bit stunned.
"I would say you have some claws on you, kit."
"Why?" Meeko asked with a cheery smile. "No one says no to Honey?"
"Oh, plenty have," she clarified. "But none that do have lived to tell otherwise." The badger winked at the raccoon.
Meeko gulped, unsure whether this was a jest or a warning. Honey burst into laughter upon seeing his face contorted oddly.
"Relax! I'm clearly not serious," she bellowed in the midst of her continuous laughter. The two were luckily between districts of the town, with it being divided by three small groupings that had a residential district in the center as the conjoining hub. They now walked along a heavily worn but well traveled path laid with flat stones. "Though, I am still asking."
Meeko sighed, shoulders rolling as he pulled together the comprehensive vocabulary to properly respond to her strangely worded and explained inquiry.
"Let's just say family life was full of strife and lots of depressive moods," started the raccoon. "I took up the so-called persona of the 'fool' to brighten the atmosphere as best I could and distract from our problems, ignoring my own in the process."
"That bad?" the badger further pushed.
"Nah, none so much as others, actually. My family was just a pessimistic lot. Accidentally found out that made things more bearable and even good at times, so I kept it up whenever possible."
"A deeper mammal than you pretend to be, huh?" Honey giggled. Meeko eyed her suspiciously.
"Tell anyone and you won't be the only one can instill fear," the raccoon warned with a devious smile.
"Noted."
0000000
There was a crack that sounded through the stale and chilled air, a fresh draft having cut across the frayed curtains and causing them to lightly sway. A groan of mixed pain and pleasure accompanied the noise, the creak of a bed frame echoing within the dusty room.
A grey bunny was straddled on top a red fox, digging her paws into his fur as she felt every lean muscle and enjoyed the feeling of the fluff to his coarser, longer fur.
"Wow, you weren't kitting about the built up tension," came Judith's breathy observation, her paws finding another knotted bundle of wiry flesh in the fox's back. Pressing and kneading it, there was another series of small cracks and Nicholas let out a whine followed by a long sigh of relief.
"I stretch plenty but that doesn't mean I don't end up with a few… ah… spots of… stress," the tod stated, the end of his sentence punctuated with a couple sighs as his mate worked through a couple more less strenuous knots.
With his body faced downward, head hanging from the edge of the bed, the grey doe straddled his back, putting all her weight into her paws to elicit an effect on the much larger fox. She had lifted the back of his shirt up, revealing the russet fur for her manipulating paws to work through.
"By the way," Nicholas resumed, "why the sudden offer to 'relieve' my stress?"
The smaller doe ran her paws up her mate's spine, pushing her digits deep into the fur just under his shoulder blades.
"You were so… wonderful with your cleansing of my paws that I wanted to return that feeling," Judith explained slowly, grinning slightly as she felt the tod melt into a puddle of flesh beneath her. Pushing her paws together, the bunny started making little circles with her thumbs on the back of the fox's neck, watching his hackles rise a bit. "Did I hit a bad spot," she asked, knowing little about hackles raising but at least as much to know it's usually a bad thing.
"Huh?" he murmured, groggy from the feeling he was enjoying immensely. "Oh. No, you're fine. It happens sometimes, like a 'goosebumps' feeling. To be honest though, I didn't know a bunny's feet was such a sweet spot."
The grey doe's paws slowed a bit as she contemplated her careful answer.
"It's… a rather intimate thing I suppose. Bunny's have sensitive ears and feet…" Judith trailed off as she realized she might have made a mistake. Beneath her, Nicholas shifted, the rabbit knowing he was most definitely grinning maliciously with devious intent.
Her trepidations were made reality when the tod reached behind himself and gripped her waist with a larger paw, flipping over to pin her near expertly under him. Her mate's breath tickled the fur of her neck, giving her a tingling feeling that cascaded down to her toes.
"Ears, huh?" he asked rhetorically. "Can't believe I haven't really given them attention yet. Think I should make up for lost time?" The tod let the last words vent from him in a raspy whisper, tickling her ears as they were splayed on upon the bedding.
"N.. No?" came her tentative reply. Nicholas began chuckling in short, shaking his head.
"You do know you just nodded, right?"
"I… just do whatever it is you plan on doing," Judith demanded near silently, closing her eyes and waiting for her fox.
Using a free paw, he lifted a limp ear from the bed, rubbing his paw pads along the surface and underside, drawing forth a slow gasp from his mate. Upon reaching the tip, the doe arched her back slowly.
Nicholas started at the base again, repeating the process with a little more pressure than before. The response was quite entertaining.
Judith clutched her paws to her chest loosely, biting her bottom lip and closing her eyes, savoring the feeling. As the red fox allowed his other paw to join the fray, applying force to her other ear, the grey rabbit couldn't help herself and began thumping a foot in the bed. Her nose twitched as she pulled in her mate's comforting scent surrounding her, his body brooding over her with a curious glint in his emerald gems.
"You are quite the cute and wonderful individual," the tod sighed, resting a paw on her cheek and brushing a thumb through her fur. A gentle kiss occupied her lips, delaying her from responding to his conflicting complement to her.
At furst, the doe wanted to chastise the use of the word 'cute' but quickly forgot and cast her care to that effect away as their kiss deepened.
Several seconds passed, with a breathy sigh escaping both mammals upon parting.
The heavy press of paws on creaking flooring pervaded the air around them, signalling the return of the others from picking up the supplies they reserved from the merchant only hours before.
Nicholas got up and rolled his shoulders, enjoying the newfound elasticity in his muscles and smooth movement with his joints.
"Sounds like the others are back," he spoke in slight regret at having their moment interrupted. The bunny under him nodded slowly, still enjoying to afterglow of her ear massage, said appendages flicking a bit.
The red tod hopped off the bed, adjusting his shirt back to a more presentable method of display. Judith dragged herself to a sitting position, turning her head heavily to glare at her mate. He shrugged, knowing she felt a bit cut off from further affection.
"Next time… next time for sure," she mumbled to herself, eliciting a laugh from the fox. The two stumbled lazily down the stairs, still a bit slack from the relaxed feeling that permeated the two from their various methods of stimulating the other.
Bogo was at the door, welcoming in and helping the mammals bringing in the supplies.
"Leave the food just outside the kitchen area," the bull softly demanded. "I'll be needing that for dinner preparations. Then you guys rest up." One of the tigers carrying in something nearly tripped, to which the larger mammal helped to steady him, taking the crate full of baking supplies and giving him a pat on the back. "I got it."
"He's like a gentle giant," the doe commented evenly. The fox only nodded, looking around for Honey and the worrisome raccoon. "Why do you look so unnerved?"
"Huh?" Nicholas vented, more occupied with watching the doorway. "What do you mean? I'm fine."
Judith shot him a knowing look, crossing her arms while saying, "You know if anything happens between those two, you can't really do anything about it."
He began to chuckle nervously, pulling at the collar of his shirt.
"Right… right."
0000000
"Why do we need all these charts again?" Meeko groaned, hefting a deceptively heavy sack full of charts, maps, and a few journals, both full of scribings and empty for writing. "I thought we already knew where we were heading. Isn't this just some sense of overdoing it?"
Honey sauntered along happily, humming a happy tune that the raccoon knew neither its origin nor how to follow along. Several seconds of walking in pause and the badger finally decided to speak up.
"I may have a map of the region denoting a general direction," she started to explain, "but maps of the immediate region always gives one a more intimate understanding of how to proceed further. With a vast array of travelers and such that I've heard this town has passing through, I was right in assuming many would trade their knowledge of the region for such things as food, shelter, and maybe even arms."
"Fine, fine," relented the raccoon with a sigh. "I'm too old for this."
Honey let out a very sarcastic laugh, following up by eyeing him and saying, "You? Old? Prey tell how that applies to you."
"I'm thirty-eight," Meeko bluntly stated, hefting the bag at his back once more. "Old enough." At this revelation, the female badger stuttered her steps and stopped rather abruptly, whirling with a lack of grace to face the now surprised raccoon.
"You're what?" she vented, keeping her expression as void of tells as she could muster the will for.
"What?" he asked with an exaggerated shrug. "Don't look so surprised. I figured you would have already asked around and knew exactly how old I was by now."
"I… honestly thought you were barely the same age as my son…" Honey murmured, looking rather ashamed with herself. Her paw went up to brush against her chin in thought. "This makes your flirtatious advances seem less childish… or more? Either way, I feel like a fool now."
"Flirtatious what now?" Meeko questioned flatly. He got a small glare from the badger.
"Oh, you know very well what I mean, Ringtail," chided Honey, ambling up to him and giving him a soulful smile. "Don't think I haven't noticed your eyes wandering over me like a teenage kit seeing females for the furst time."
"Right… about that. I wasn't trying to…"
Meeko was cut off as a paw clapped to his maw, closing it as the badger dragged him to an alley and poked her head around the corner.
"Shh!" she told him, watching him nod before unclasping her paw from his muzzle. "I see two mammals with similar garb to those mercenaries we captured."
The raccoon peeked around the corner, to see that, sure enough, there was two mammals with similar armor motifs to the mercenaries that had been captured those two weeks prior. A deer buck and goat ram were talking up a merchant very vigorously.
"...in your best interests to tell us," voiced the goat angrily. "It is by the Shire's will that you remain as you do with free trade. We could end that with a single mention to our Lord."
"We are under no influence of the Shire," the boar shopkeep started with a dismissive wave to the two. "And even if we were, you are no militants of their government. I would have no obligations to you either way. So,... get lost."
"Why you…" growled the deer buck, grasping the boar by the throat and pushing him back. The buck then reached down to pull out his sword, aiming it threateningly at the merchant. "Listen here you unhelpful swine... We are looking for fugitives from the Shire and you will provide us with the information we seek. We know from other merchants that you directed those we seek to a means of board. Tell us where it is and we will provide you with fair compensation…. Your life."
"I've heard enough," Honey huffed, pulling out her knobbly metal stun stick. A paw grasped her own, stopping her. She turned with a venomous look to be met with the stern expression of Meeko. A sight by which she had little to no experience viewing. It was disarming.
"No… they don't even know who you are yet," the raccoon told her. "Let me. If they see you come out of nowhere and assault them, they will make assumptions. Considering it was Lord Hopps who sent them, they will have likely been told a great detail about me. I did kind of kick the guy in the side of the head."
Nodding, Honey took the satchel of maps and charts that Meeko offered her, gripping the hilts of his two daggers as he walked off in the direction of the two offending mammals.
The badger watched from around the corner, knowing she did not like being sidelined but couldn't argue with Meeko's rare moment of actual logic. Exposing herself meant one less mammal who could go out publically without drawing the attention of those searching for them. It was likely Nicholas, Judith, Meeko, Bogo, and any company seen during the attack on the Hopps estate would be in the scribings of wanted posters that the Lord himself probably provided details to when hiring the mercenaries.
The raccoon closed in and unsheathed his daggers, cutting into their cloth belts and weapon holsters.
"Looking for something?" he sassed, just as the two mammals clutched in reaction to their clothing, trying to keep it from falling. "You know… that's probably a much better look for you two."
"Is that…?" the buck began.
"Our payday? You bet," confirmed the goat ram. Quickly adjusting their clothing and tying off their cut belts, they pulled out their weapons and advanced on the smaller mammal. He was smiling, making the two a bit tentative to close in completely. Bravado was one thing but the raccoon hadn't even flinched at their advance, which was what gave them pause. He willingly picked a fight, by himself, without support.
The goat charged furst, a short sword and buckler at the ready. Meeko used the bulbous end of a dagger to bump the buckler and the other dagger parried the sword, to which he then twisted around and let the stunned goat stumble into a patch of mud.
"You buffoons need to give the merchant some space," the raccoon chastised them sarcastically. "They may suck in the money from our coin purses, but that doesn't mean they don't breath the same air."
The buck huffed angrily, slashing and slicing wildly with his longer sword. Meeko did a rather skillful back shuffle and ducked under a haphazard thrust, giving his own dagger an upward strike to knock the sword from the hoof of the deer. He yelled out at having his digits pulled and strained at an odd angle.
Continuing his offensive, the raccoon spun around and slashed with his blades in a spiral, cutting a few shallow cuts into the armor and flesh of the buck. He wailed in pain and collapsed, his legs bleeding liberally.
"You filth!" he yelled. "When the rest of our troops get here…"
"They'll what?" Meeko cut in asking. "Hmm? Do as poor a job as you have trying to kill a mammal half your size?"
Before the buck could retort, the goat had recovered and launched himself at the raccoon once more, having not adapted or learned anything from his previous embarrassing display. Meeko parried once more and tripped up the ram, letting him roll into his injured companion.
"Anything the two of you like to add?" he spoke again. "I've got all day here. I'm waiting for you to apologize to the merchant for your rude behavior.
A whooshing sound cut through the air, followed loudly by a clanging thunk. Meeko spun around almost violently, a crossbow bolt piercing his shoulder armor and embedding itself within his shoulder blade. Honey could see the origin of the bolt shooter, being a crossbow wielding beaver mercenary with the same garb as the others.
Before she could come out to assist the raccoon, she heard him gasp in pain and yell out, "Sourbelle! Get the Blazes out of here and warn the others!"
Honey knew she might be able to help, but her skills in combat were limited with a fellow warrior needing help and the degree of close and long range combatants around. She wouldn't last as long as she would wish.
With trepidatious paws and a reluctant spirit, she turned tail and ran down the alleyway, smiling a little at the misdirecting nickname she was given by the raccoon, so as not to reveal her name. The smile quickly faded as she worried over Meeko. They would likely make life difficult for him until they found what they wanted.
That thinking led her to hope that he would be kept alive and well enough for the time being.
After a ways, she turned a street corner and stopped running, trying to match the pace of the crowd. A couple of the mercenaries, standing out due to their matching garb, poked their heads from respective alleys' trying to ascertain where the raccoon's supposed partner went.
Honey blended in, playing to role of a commoner with her nose out of trouble. It appeared to work as none of the mammals appeared to be able to pick her out from the others. Maybe they would take his shout to seem like a distraction tactic and give up looking for an unknown accomplice.
The only thing she knew she had to do now was get to the manor undetected and find a way to track and rescue Meeko.
Steadying her pace and mapping out the route back in her head, Honey set off to warn the others.
0000000
It was getting late, with the sun lowering over the treeline and edges of the sky turning darker shades of orange or red.
Nicholas was sitting on the lip of the worn stoop, awaiting the return of the last two mammals that had yet to arrive from town. His paws were laced together, with Judith standing behind him and patting his head in comfort.
"Why are you so wound up about this?" the doe asked with a gentle grin. "Worried Meeko will take your mother from you?"
"No… of course not," he pouted. "Besides, I feel like I should be more worried over the potential future of having Meeko as an adoptive father…" The tod feigned a shiver for comical effect. His ears then perked up in realization. "Wait… at least Mother won't be bothering me anymore about clearing my plate. Meeko could take the rest." The grey bunny couldn't help but to giggle at the strange results of the wheels turning in her mate's head.
"Are you trying to see the bright side or escape into some delusion?" Judith scoffed jokingly at the red fox.
"Let's pretend both," he sassed in return. "Anyways, I prefer to…"
Nicholas trailed off, standing slowly upon seeing something through the fading sun beams of the early evening.
Honey ambled towards the manor with unsteady paws, heaving a few breaths.
"I'm getting too old for this," the badger lamented out loud, sighing heavily. The younger fox and rabbit leapt to her aid, helping her up to the stoop. The doe bolted inside to grab a cup and fill it with fresh water, returning with haste. The red fox helped his mother shed the satchel she was carrying and set it aside.
"Is everything alright?" came the concerned voice of the badger's son. Taking the cup from the bunny, Honey sipped at it for a good minute before replying.
"Afraid not," she sighed heavily. "Go get Bogo. We need to go rescue Meeko."
Woohoo!
I finally got this chapter out. XD
Again, I'm sorry for the late release and I have some news for you all. Nothing terrible mind you but you may not like it for the time being.
I am dealing with a few personal issues that aren't really something I like advertising so I'll keep the nature of them to myself and my trusted friends.
ALTHOUGH, the main point I'm getting to is that I am going on a short hiatus to deal with these issues and give myself some mental breathing room. I need to clear my head. I don't plan on it lasting too long but to give you a clear ish time frame... Maybe two weeks, give or take a few days.
The reasons why are many but the two biggest things are sleep deprivation and a bit or burning out due to that. I've been writing darn near 400k words over the last seven months since releasing my first chapter on FFN. That is nearly 2000 words PER day typing. I know some other authors are probably more productive than I but I write as my schedule allows and all my projects have been wonderful, but mentally straining as of late.
I'll be back as soon as I can and raring to go with a fresh perspective and hopefully some recovered mental energies.
Now...
REVIEWS!:
I want to offer a most heartfelt thanks to my reviewers.
I would usually try and respond to all of you, but my responses may lack the mirth I am usually trying to hold myself to.
Thank you all so much for your positive and/or honest reviews concerning my story.
I'll be back as soon as I can to resolve this cliffhanger. I know it seems a bit... cruel of me, but I actually planned for this chapter to end this way. It just happens to coincide with the Hiatus that I so desperately need.
You guys and gals are all wonderful.
Until next time, It's been a hustle, Sweethearts.