A Simple Wager

Story by The Zebras on SoFurry

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#4 of Archived Zebraverse - Old

Aden places a wager on a test of skill with a rival.


Aden took aim. He released. The arrow sunk into the target with a loud, echoing "thunk". A little to the left. Aden cursed aloud. "Fuck."

The other zebra at his side appeared confused. "Why? That was a good shot."

Aden shook his head in the negative, pointing down the clearing he was using for target practice. A dummy stood at the end of the clearing, a bag of grass and leaves in roughly the shape of a man, with makeshift targets attached to its head and torso. This particular volley had sunk into its chest, albeit not in the dead center. "It's to the left and down a little. It's the wind messing with my shots, I need to get it right."

His friend, Reti, a larger figure than the naturally slim, boyish Aden, raised a brow. "No offense, but it's no use trying to consistently get it in the center. It's not possible from this distance."

"I was able to do it from forty paces out, I can do it from here."

Reti sighed. "We're at eighty paces in wind. No one's able to do that."

Aden pulled another arrow from his quiver, knocking it into his bowstring. "But I can. I know it."

Their commotion had apparently attracted some attention. Another, taller zebra man, accompanied by a woman, had approached. The man crossed his arms and silently watched, along with the smaller, feminine figure beside him. Aden cocked his head back to study the newcomers. He recognized both. The man, Urlen, had never particularly been a big fan of Aden- It might've been from the way that Aden tended to stare at Urlen's mate, Sanyi. Urlen was a tall, broad-shouldered warrior, strong and fit; Aden would likely call him handsome. Sanyi, who was standing beside her mate, was shorter, somewhat curvaceous, and with a body to die for. He found himself staring at her while she brushed hair from her eyes. Urlen's gaze intensified, and he made a gesture with one hand, as if to say "get on with it."

Aden turned back to gaze down the field, the blurry outline of his target in sight. He stood upright, drew the drawstring back, and took a second to aim. He inhaled, and mid-exhale, he released. The shot flung through the air and sunk into the dummy.

The dummy's crotch, rather. Aden winced. "Ouch."

There was a huff from behind him. Urlen let out a chuckle. "Am I distracting you, Aden?"

Aden turned to properly regard his rival and his mate. Sanyi seemed unimpressed with Urlen and regarded Aden with a soft gaze that gave him the impression she was apologizing for something. Aden shook his head. "Not as much as any other time. What can I do for you?"

Urlen shrugged, "I just wanted to see what you were up to, kid."

Aden had undergone his rite of passage. By all accounts, he was a man, able to hunt and raid for his tribe. All of which, he would happily remind anyone, he has done, having taken down a deer and four wolven patrols in one hunting outing. Or so he claimed. Aden narrowed his eyes, but Sanyi interjected. "He's trying to hit the target dead-center."

Urlen scoffed, staring down the clearing, through the waves of heat radiating off the jungle grass. "Impossible. Can't be done, not with the wind and heat."

"So you say."

Reti chuffed, as if he knew exactly where this was going. He took a step backwards, even while the other zebras stared daggers at each other. Or rather, Aden was staring daggers up at Urlen. He wasn't the tallest out there. Reti continued backpedaling. Urlen raised a brow. "I do, as a matter of fact, because I know it's impossible."

"Of course you'd say that, you're the worst marksman out of us. Maybe YOU can't do it, but I can."

Sanyi's eyebrows shot up, but Urlan was none too happy about this response. "More lies, like how you felled four wolves from shooting in the trees?"

Aden jut out a finger. "I speak the truth. You find it hard to believe because you can't do it, but I can, just like now."

Urlen stared at Aden, not even bothering to hide the sheer amount of contempt between the two. He looked off to the side, but then laughed. "Even your friend seems to think otherwise."

Aden cocked his head to see, but there was no one there. Reti, ever the skittish one, had backed out. Couldn't stand fighting, that one. "Some help you are, Reti!" He yelled out, but then let it go with a wave of his hand in a dismissive gesture. "In any circumstance, it's possible. I'm willing to wager on it."

Sanyi grimaced, but Urlen grinned, showing teeth. "Very well! If you're so ready to wager on it, perhaps you should make terms."

Aden let out a grunt, thinking over it in his head. For some reason, not once did he decide this was a bad idea, even though it was. Very much so. "RETI!"

A few seconds later, Reti came running, huffing a little from the jog. "What?"

Sanyi moved to stand by Reti's side. "Aden and Urlen want a witness to their wager."

"Uh... Okay. What're the terms?"

Urlen scoffed before his mate could respond. "Aden claims he can consistently aim for the target's center at eighty paces."

Reti glared at Aden, then rolled his eyes before gesturing for Aden to respond to Urlen's assertion in kind. "Urlen claims that such a thing cannot be done."

The mediator nodded his head, a hand running through his hair with a sigh. "Fine. And the object of desire?"

Urlen went first. "Aden's bow."

Aden let out a breath through his nostrils. He had made it himself. It was a fine thing, sturdy and strong, yet agile and flexible. Not to mention that it was a matter of immense pride. He scowled. "Fine."

Reti turned to the smaller zebra. "And your intended prize?"

Aden seemed to take in Urlen's form. He was clothed in painted leathers, a knife at his thigh, all of the essentials covered well. Then his eyes went to Sanyi, who cocked her head in confusion. Sanyi was a supple, gorgeous thing, with soft eyes and a lovely body. It was obvious that Aden had the hots for her, as mated as she was. Aden stared at Sanyi, and she returned the gaze. He had suspected that she felt the same way for him, given the looks they had exchanged every time they had met, or passed each other. Urlen snapped his fingers to re-focus the lad. "Aden. Terms. Answer."

Aden let out a breath, grinned, and remarked, "one hour with Sanyi."

It was possible that, as striped as Urlen's face was, he might've gone a little whiter. Sanyi's hand went to her mouth, but it was impossible to tell what she was thinking. Urlen's brief shock had turned into anger, and his face contorted into a scowl. "No, absolutely not. No wager."

Aden was prepared for this, and he grinned, intentionally attempting to look as smug as possible. "I thought you said you thought it was impossible. What's it to you?"

Urlen grit his teeth together, fists clenched. "That- No. You little shit, I-"

"Let him."

Both Aden and Urlen turned to Sanyi, who was holding up a hand. "Like you said, if it's impossible, it's a winning bet. What risk do you have?"

Urlen let out a breath, releasing some of his pent-up tension. "...Fine."

Reti gave a worried look to Aden, but nodded his head at both parties. "Settled. Aden, if you will..."

Aden glanced to all three bystanders, then gazed downrange, at the target, the wind, and the heat rising off the jungle floor. He turned back to the three of them. "Mind if I have a few to warm up?"

Urlen shook his head. "You had plenty already. Go."

Aden sighed, and once more planted himself at the marker for 80 paces from the target. He stared at the dummy, a few arrows already poking out of the thing. He began working it out in his head, calling forth his experience from muscle memory. He drew an arrow from his quiver, knocking it into the drawstring. He glanced at the grass, how it swayed, at the gleaming waves the wind created in it. He studied the waves of heat rising from the ground, how quickly it arose, and if it could carry an arrow. He widened his stance, pulled the string taut, and lined up the wooden, bronze-tipped shaft with the target. He aimed higher, and to the right. He breathed in, then out. Release.

It whistled through the air, a seeming eternity suspended in mid-flight. Eventually, however, the bronze arrowhead dug into the target's torso. A little to the right, but otherwise, it was a good shot. It wasn't dead-center, the shaft slightly off, but Urlen felt a pang of worry. He stared into the distance at the offending fletching. "Lucky shot."

Aden was already fishing another arrow from his leather quiver. Once more, like clockwork, he knocked, pulled the string taut, and once more took aim. The wind picked up for just a split second, an unexpected gust, but that's all it took. Aden released, the arrow flew home, but landed in the dummy's neck. Ker-thunk. "Fuck."

Sanyi grimaced, Reti frowned, and Urlen chuffed. "Told you it's impossible."

Sanyi shushed him, earning a stare from Urlen, one along the lines of "whose side are you on". Aden drowned it out, staring at the dummy. At the grass. The trees, the clouds, the air itself. He shut off his active brain, as if accessing some primal part of his mind that held dominion over such things like archery. He gathered an arrow, knocked, pulled, and released, all in the same fluid motion. He didn't think, he just did. The arrow flew.

Thwack. Dead-center.

Urlen blanched, Sanyi and Reti going silent. Aden didn't think. He didn't study any more. As soon as he heard the distant, echoing impact, he reached for another arrow. He pulled, and released. Whack. He repeated, another arrow, pulling and releasing. Another hit. Aden let out slow breaths through his mouth as he worked the quiver and his bow. All instinct and reflexes, guiding his hands to tug back on the bow and let fly, time and time again. Until he reached around his back into his quiver, but grasping at air. He returned to reality, blinking a few times.

He stared at the target.

He had fired seven times in total.

Fine arrows were huddled at the dead-center of the target, as if they were gathered by an invisible string and bundled together. He let out a relieved sigh, and turned back to the other three.

Urlen was in shock, a little wide eyed, mouth agape. Reti had one hand to his own chest, open-mouthed at his rather sudden display. Sanyi looked... Different. She was staring at him, but she bit her lower lip. A small smile crawled across her face. Aden nodded, and then settled his bow across his back, the bowstring crossing his chest across one shoulder. "So, Ulren." He looked at the other, taller male, who just stared over his head at the target. Aden snapped his fingers, "Ulren." He glanced down at the archer.

"My place, or yours?"

  • In the interest of time... -

Aden let out a long, breathy grunt through his nose, nostrils flaring. He moved a bit of hair from his eyes, a few drops of sweat clinging to the fur. Below him, Sanyi's grinning face was pressed flush up against his mottled, leathery balls, the two of which twitched and tensed at her attention. Her lips pressed to each tender teste, a little bit of her tongue included in her ministrations. Aden's manhood was draped over her face, the woman's visage split in two via a length of semi-flaccid zebra meat, which was swollen and dripping with excitement, down her back and that plush ass of hers. He bit his lip, content to watch for the time being. There was a sigh from the corner of the hut that the two of them were in. "Gotta admit, you're... Sizable, kid."

Ulren watched, sitting on a pile of furs, legs crossed, fingers entwined on his lap, looking on as his mate lavished over his rival. His eyes were intense, but not hostile. For better or worse, he had made a bargain, and to renege on a bargain was an intolerable blow to one's standing. Although, he didn't appear fully angry, just... Frustrated. He was the only clothed zebra of the three of them, despite a very prominent bulge that had formed in his lower leathers. "Don't manhandle her too much. Let her do the work, it'll feel better."

Aden let out a small groan, the sound emanating from his lower stomach as he gave a small thumbs-up in Ulren's direction. The younger zebra, however, didn't look up, his eyes trained on Sanyi's. The woman pulled away from his manhood, grinning up at the stallion. He was a younger thing than the either of them, almost by half a decade, if not a tad more. Something about that excited Sanyi, but aggravated Ulren. It was annoying being shown up by a young buck, even though his mate's lips pressed to his young rival's blunted, thickening cocktip, the smaller stallion's preseed dribbling past her lips and down her throat. Sanyi let out a groan of pleasure, her naked form clearly enjoying the attention, as well as how Aden tasted on her tongue, which ventured out to press and grind up over the zebra's leaking thing.

Ulren rolled his eyes, but he found himself fishing out his own manhood from the leathers down under, before his own tool was released from its confined. It pulsed and leaked, a breeder's member left unappreciated, much to his annoyance. But before long, one of his hands gripped the base of his prick and stroked up, then down, and continued the cycle until he was inevitably beating it, more out of an idle want to be doing something than anything else. He got a sideways glance and a wink from his mate before she turned back to Aden, opening her mouth wider to take a few tentative inches of that equine-shaped meat into her gullet, tongue circling the flared end in wide, wet, sloppy circles.

There was only so much that Sanyi could fit into her mouth, however. That obscenely thick stallion tool was immense, and beyond her skill to lavish with her mouth. After several long moments of head-bobbing, sucking on his meat, she pulled away with a panting sigh and a wet, sloppy "pop", leaving her mouth coated in heady, virile pre-seed, connected to his tool still via a bridge of spit and seed. She licked her lips and stared up at Aden, smiling. The young, striped stallion made a circling motion with his index finger, and Sanyi obliged. She was already on her knees before the standing zebra, but now she was circling around, planting her upper half on her hands, the digits sinking into the furs that were strewn all across the ground.

Aden pounced on her. Within moments, his turgid member was grinding against Sanyi's womanhood, both of his feet straddling beside her waist, hunched over her ass in a primal sort of position. His hands wrapped around her torso, and eventually felt her chest, swaying beneath her, which he took into his hands and caressed with a long groan. He worked solely with his hips to align that now fully-hard meat with her delightfully plush folds, the tip pressed flush to her entrance before the pressure built, bumping into her with an insistent desire. There was little pretense before Aden entered her body, her hot, tight walls confining him. She let out a delighted squeal, her knees shaking as the needy, pent-up stallion immediately got to work pumping the rest of his meat inside with mewls and hot moans of ecstasy. He wasn't romantic, instead a beast whose sole desire was to breed the woman beneath him, dropping himself down, further and further.

Ulren had a hard time believing that Aden had given him a perfect view of Sanyi getting railed from behind on accident. More than likely the turd had done it on purpose to make him jealous. And it worked. Ulren's digits teased his own medial ring, his fingers becoming sticky from his own thick precum, running down his meat in large, opaque globes. He bit his lip at seeing his mate's form shaking and quivering from the efforts of the younger man on top. He caught himself thinking that Aden had a nice ass. He shook his head to rid his mind of such thoughts, having discarded his leathers entirely, letting those balls of his droop down, heavy and free. He and his mate had, of course, copulated many times, but none had taken root in her belly. The shamans were of little help as well, and couldn't accurately tell why she was not heavy with child yet. As a result, their relationship had grown... Strained. Somewhere in his mind, Ulren was jealous that Aden was able to do what he was not- Properly arouse Sanyi into mindless breeding. Maybe it was himself, he speculated, that was the problem. Of course, such things were hard to think on when he was jerking it to the sight of his mate getting railed by his rival.

Speaking of which, Aden had worked himself into the hilt at last, feeling his rod tug at her folds, pumping ropes worth of preseed directly into her womb. The slightly painful bliss Sanyi felt must've done nothing to quell her desire, and she pressed back into the younger stallion's waist, hissing through her gritted teeth for more. He had none left to give, his crotch pressed flush to hers, but he pulled out, her netherlips gripping his shaft, almost as if she were sad to see him go. But he came right back with a spine-shaking push, once again sending himself in balls-deep, those babymakers colliding with Sanyi's thighs with the sound of meat hitting meat. And thus began his rhythm, pumping back and forth, in and out with squelches of wet, tender impacts, his sheath bumping her labia, his prick soaked from her twitching, tender honeypot. He was ruthless in his assault, having worked himself up into a grunting, flexing frenzy atop her. The pressure built constantly, Sanyi's body shaking and rocking with each movement of the younger male. It didn't take long for her to reach her own climax, shuddering and mewling aloud as she gushed on Aden's manhood, the entire log of meat having made its home inside her, battering at her womb.

His climax arrived with little fanfare, save for a few last hasty, unrepentant bucks of his hips. He growled, even, while he pressed as deep as was physically possible, his meat situated right up against her womb. The cream flowed freely, soaring directly into Sanyi's awaiting insides, filling her core with his seed, ropes and ropes of the stuff being poured into her with little fanfare. His knees shook and he groaned with the effort, his testes twitching and flexing from the effort of keeping up with the demand the rest of his body put on his manhood and babymakers to fill Sanyi to the brim with that heady goodness. The pair shook and made intelligible groans, strands of his jizz leaking from Sanyi's thoroughly used and impaled womanhood. He didn't pull out until he was positive he pumped as much as he could inside, his thought process muddled and hazy in the afterglow. He raised his tool out of her insides with a wet, loud "schlorp", a rush of seed dripping onto the furs below, having been contained by the flared tip until then. The pair were panting aloud, with Sanyi still being felt up by the young male. That was, until Aden bit down on her neck, eliciting an excited mewl from the woman, her waist jittering from the lingering waves of pleasure.

And Ulren watched. It was, quite frankly, impressive that the young lad was able to put out as much as he did. Ulren still didn't like him, but he can see why his mate had the hots for the boy, his own manhood hard as rock from the show. But now he wasn't sure if he should blame Aden or himself for Sanyi's desire for other men, clearly. Or she was just thirsty for dick. He had a hard time telling for certain. It was stupid to blame himself for the boy seducing his mate... Right? Maybe? He couldn't tell. He rubbed his temple with one hand, the other still tugging at his manhood intently, working the tip to let the fat drops of pre dribble down the swollen underside.

Time passed for what seemed like an eternity for the older man, watching as his mate was used and pumped full over and over. There seemed to be no end to how much Aden was able to put out. Just when it seemed he was exhausted, he would adjust and pull Sanyi along for the next bit. Her riding his tool, pressing her back into the ground, hunched over her and plowing her insides, lavishing over her leaking folds with his mouth during breaks... Ulren was impressed at his stamina, and for just how long Aden kept going, despite how many times he had climaxed inside of Sanyi's core. Every single load, it seemed, was intentionally put into her womanhood, as if he intended to try and breed the woman. Ulren had likewise gotten off a few times to the show, another small puddle of hot cream forming in front of his half-limp, dark-colored manhood.

Unfortunately for Aden, Ulren was still keeping track of time. It was after a session where Aden worked himself in Sanyi, the two lying side-by-side, that Ulren finally stood, letting out a huff. The afterglow was heavy, and Aden barely registered that he was being hefted up. "You're the bane of my existence, kid." Ulren gently scowled. "An hour has passed, as per our agreement."

Aden's eyes were half-lidded, like they were struggling to register what Ulren was saying. A brief nod came from the young zebra, though, panting aloud. "Mm... M'kaaay..."

The larger stallion huffed through his nose, almost picking up Aden like an unruly child, taking him to the entrance to the hut, but not before placing Aden's leathers over the lad's shoulder. "Begone." He said, simply, before Aden was deposited outside.

Ulren turned to re-enter his home, but Aden whined, still hazy-eyed. "G'niiiiiiiiight."

In response, Ulren tossed Aden's bow and quiver at the lad, hitting him right in the face with it.

He was tired. Ulren wrapped his arms around his mate's form, as sweaty and soaked with cum as Sanyi was. He sighed. Sanyi let out a soft huff. "See... Why can't YOU treat me like that?"

Ulren grunted. "Because I'm old."

Sanyi chuffed aloud. "Nooo, you're not. You're just not as interested in me as you used to be."

"...Maybe."

"I know, me too."

Ulren nodded. "...Then what should we do?"

Sanyi sat upright, looking Ulren in the eyes. Her face was dotted with cumstains- Not a very flattering or serious visage, but Ulren did so anyway. "I think you know what the answer is."

"We duel to the death and whoever wins gets the house?"

She laughed. "See other people, dumbass."

He sighed, but smiled and nodded. "Aye. I think it's time."

"So where will you go?"

  • In the interest of time... -

Aden had been summoned forth in the morning. He had been bathing in the river when a younger girl, who hadn't yet taken her rite of passage, told him that the chieftain's son had ordered his presence. His heart immediately skipped a beat, and he knew the exact reason why one of the men in charge of the village demanded an audience. The trek to the center of the busy village was almost painful from the sidelong glances thrown his way by men and women alike. Mostly the men, who eyed him suspiciously, ushering mates and daughters along quicker at the sight of him. It would've been funny in any other circumstance.

The chieftain's longhut was piled with furs on the floor, which was actually made of the same wood the walls were, and not mere dirt. It was cozy, with a fire roaring in the center, but now was not a time for comfort, since the chieftain's son -a large bull of a zebra, young, but strong, with clever and astute eyes- gazed at his form as it entered. "Aden, of South's Eye Ridge, yes?"

The young stallion trotted miserably into the center of the wide chamber. "Aye."

"I am Ngala, son of the Chieftain, acting in his stead while he off to war. You know this, yes?"

"Yes, sir."

Ngala nodded his head, crossing his arms over a large, toned chest. "Now, while it normally isn't any of my business what two, or three, people do in private, or what they wager, or how those wagers are followed up upon..." His eyes narrowed, "it becomes my business when half the men in the village come to me in the night and following morning, telling me that they're worried you'll take their mates and daughters to bed."

Aden gulped, but didn't respond. He felt like crawling up into a ball and hiding, but the area he stood in was bare, with nowhere to hide in front of where the chieftain would entertain an audience. Part of him suspected this was intentional. Ngala continued. "Word travels fast, especially here. A majority of these men and women who've come to me demand I flog you in the center of town as an example to any who might follow your example."

Aden winced, but the words in his head escaped his lips without thinking. "Sanyi was fine with it! She agreed!"

Ngala grit his teeth and scowled. "All the more reason my people seem to imagine you as this perverse scoundrel, capable of wiling them into bed with you. Whether or not she agreed, she already had a mate."

Aden blinked. "...Had?"

Ngala let out a breath through his nostrils. "From what I understand, Ulren had left in the middle of last night with traveling clothes, supplies, and a weapon, intent on wandering."

The boy's eyes widened. "That wasn't my fault! Their relationship already looked like it w-"

"I KNOW!" Ngala's arms flung themselves up into the air with his exclamation. "They had been having troubles for the past two seasons. They would have split on their own, with no issue, had you not decided to take Sanyi to bed. I do not blame her for her lack of interest in Ulren, I blame you for bedding a woman you knew was taken- And do not blame her by saying her relationship was failing, that is no excuse. The polite thing would be to politely decline her advances and find a young girl your age without a mate." Ngala frowned, clearly venting his own frustration. "They blame you because you're clearly not afraid to sleep with anyone who looks at you. We do not need, nor want men who will do nothing but cause trouble here."

Aden swallowed harder, his fingers fidgeting with themselves. He didn't want to look Ngala in the eyes, instead staring at the floor. There was a long sigh from the chieftain's son. "I was your age once, and yes, I, too, wanted to breed every woman I could get my hands around, taken or no, but a real man is able to control these urges, boy. You, clearly, cannot. And before you blame Sanyi, I assure you, she will likely not have another mate here, since she has proven herself to be willing to take a man to bed when she's spoken for. Both your reputations are sullied now. I'm willing to wager that Sanyi, too, will be gracing the place you stand sooner or later."

Aden winced at being called "boy". It was easily one of his least favorite things to be addressed as, for obvious reasons. He summoned the strength to look Ngala in the eyes. The much larger man's look softened. Aden spoke. "...So... What do you want from me, sir?"

"The people have already decided, Aden." He nodded. "For now, and the immediate future, you're not welcome. You're to gather your things and leave by noon."

He nodded, his fate resigned. "...I understand."

"Good. You may leave."

Aden turned to leave, face red, ears flattened from shame. He opened the heavy flaps to the outside. "One last thing."

Aden turned to Ngala, the large man's gaze much less harsh while he stood by the fire, staring into the flames rather than the boy he had scrutinized. "I've never seen anyone your age who was as talented with a bow as you."

Aden stood still, unsure what to make of the compliment. Ngala looked up at him. "If only you worked on your restraint as much as you did your skills at marksmanship."