FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Reunion

Salvia, for all of her questionable morals and shrewd business acumen, immediately sprang up and had her numerous servants dress me and remove any bindings and erotic accessories.

Most likely though, she simply saw the value in my offer of keeping her informed of my campaign plans and having me appear to Vito and my soldiers dressed like a love-slave would diminish my ability to command them. I was given a simple gray tunic, brown trousers, and boots; nothing fancy but it afforded the absolute basics of dignity and my robes from Africa were shredded beyond any repair after the endeavor I went through.

Still, I was kept hidden in the tent while Salvia made the business arrangements with the jackal guard keeping me company while he sharpened a curved, steel dagger.

I tried to flex my ear and listen carefully to the conversation outside the tent, but the scrape of the jackal's whetstone kept me from overhearing anything more than a word.

"Do you mind cutting that out for second?" I asked the jackal as politely as possible.

"Slave, keep quiet!" the jackal sneered and waved his dagger at me. "Gold not traded yet!"

Grimacing, I kept quiet. There was nothing I could do to help speed things along or make things go better. Anything I say could just encourage the jackal to recommend waiting for a better offer from the wolves.

Just in case, I had my eye peering around for a possible way of escape. Taking down the jackal and stealing his dagger, then slicing a hole to freedom in the tent might have been possible as a last ditch effort and I gave it more than a little thought.

The flap flew open and Salvia peered her snout in.

"You've been released, go on now!"

Sighing with relief, I got up and bid farewell to the jackal who replied with a, "Goodbye, slave!"

"I'm not a slave anymore," I replied.

"Once slave, always slave," he shot back and ran a finger along the razor-sharp blade.

Ignoring the jackal, I stepped towards Salvia, took her paws and nuzzled her cheek.

"In a strange way, this was fun," I whispered.

"Don't forget what you promised," she whispered back, "if you so much as plunder a wolven village, I want to receive a letter."

Slapping me on the ass, she waved me out.

The sunlight burned my eye, blinding me temporarily as I exited the tent. A cool breeze wafted by and I shivered, still quite acclimated to the hot African weather.

"It has been some time, General."

My vision slowly restored and the silhouette standing before me cleared. A brown fox stood there, clad in a breastplate and steel greaves; ornamental pauldrons in the shape of snarling fox heads were resting on his shoulders. A round half-helmet was atop his head with a maneof red feathers sticking out from atop it. It was more extravagant than what I would have worn as a commander, opting for a more austere look, but I had no right to criticize. I was so happy to see that my good friend had taken on his own identity as a General.

"Vito!" I exclaimed and we hugged, nuzzling at each other's cheeks. He smelled like campfire smoke and horse sweat, like any good soldier. "Or should I say, General Vito?"

Vito pulled back and stared at me with his yellow eyes, "Canis, General, you look like shit! Philippe did a number on you!"

I reached into my socket and pulled out my false eye, holding it up in front of the sun, "You think I'm 'Clear-sighted in all regards,' still?"

"We'll discuss that later," Vito nodded towards a group of foxen soldiers and their horses, "but first, we should get you caught up on the situation. Shall we go for a ride?"

I nodded and began walking over to the horses, "Yeah, lets go. I want to see your camp, General."

Vito paused and rubbed at his chin, "It sounds strange hearing that word from your lips. I only obtained that rank thanks to Philippe, after all."

"Don't be so meek, Vito!" I laughed and slapped my friend on the pauldron. "You earned that damn title regardless of who gave it to you! I'm not going to diminish that, you're a General now."

I saluted some of the soldiers, who returned the greeting while Vito continued, "Still, I feel I have a lot more to learn."

"I'm not going to demote you, if that's what you're asking," I put my boot in the stirrup of a chestnut stallion and swung myself up into the saddle. "Canis, Vito, get a grip! This self-defacing nonsense does not become you!"

"No, not a demotion," Vito climbed atop his horse, the very same one that matched his brown fur that he rode in my last campaign, "a promotion, for you, Marshal Marco."

"Field Marshal," I looked around Salvia's camp, at the slaves cutting firewood and cooking food, at my soldiers mounting their horses. Another cool breeze blew through the woods, brushing my fur gently, and I smiled, "guess Beaumont didn't join our little resistance?"

"Not a chance, thank Canis!" Vito exclaimed with a smirk as he flicked the reins. "The idiot retired and the position has been vacant ever since, not much need of one since we're at peace."

"Tell that to the people of Carpathia. Are all the things I've heard true? The Free Kingdom? Emir Pesht-Kutlar? Wolven nomads running wild in the plains?"

"Far too true," Vito scowled, "Philippe's hare-brained compromise has thrown away everything we fought to earn. Neither Philippe nor the Alphate can move into the area for fear of breaking the truce, but there's nothing stopping us once we cast aside the Republican banner."

"Liberate Carpathia and use it as a springboard for an invasion of the Republic?"

"I like the way you're thinking, Marshal."

"Marshal..." I smiled once again, "...I really do like the way that sounds."

It was a long ride back to Vito's headquarters, located in the hills overlooking the border with Alphate Dalmatia.It was a thoroughly unexciting voyage and it was almost surreal to think that I had been, in the past week, almost subject to slavery or death in this very region.

It was a fairly new fort, created quickly in the wake of the treaty's borders, not much more than a palisade and some spiked barricades lining the road just in case the Alphate decided to engage in a surprise invasion. The palisade had a rampart from which numerous archers were patrolling, peering down at us carefully as we approached.

"Watch this," Vito whispered to me.

Cupping his gauntlet-claw paw around his muzzle, Vito let out a shrill cry before shouting, "Marshal Marco has returned!"

Even from the distance we were, I could see the archer's ears twitch and the look of surprise on their faces. A few of them abandoned their post, which was a little concerning, but I rightfully assumed it was because they wanted to spread the good word.

"Go on!" Vito urged me on. "Meet your adoring crowd!"

I spurred my horse on and rode past the sentries into the fort. The inside had only a few permanent structures, the rest being dotted with a vast city of tents. All around me, soldiers clad in ramshackle armor were cheering my return. I recognized a lot of them, including ones who were set to retire once the war was over. Philippe refusing to pay the veteran's pension must have put a stop to those plans.

_Are they loyal to me or the promise of gold?_I pondered as I dismounted, shaking paws with a swarm of soldiers, too overjoyed to stick to a formal salute. More than at least one dared to nuzzle me and I did not object.

A familiar face peered through the crowd and I recognized his mangy, bald-spots immediately. Livio pushed through the crowd and I hugged him before he could grab me, slapping him on the back. His hygiene was as poor as ever, smelling much like the slum he grew up in.

"Livio, how the hell are you?" I asked.

"Lieutenant Livio now!" he slapped his steel half-plate. "General Vito gave me a promotion!"

"I should have been the one to give you it!"

I looked over his shoulder and Sister was there, the human's black hair still tied back in a ponytail. Leather armor was fastened around her chest and a crossbow was resting in her arms.

"Ah!" Livio noticed me staring at the human he had rescued. "We're mated now, got married a month ago!"

"Marrying a human, you're crazy!" I laughed.

Approaching Sister, she smiled. I spoke to her in Wolven, "You're dressed like a scout, can a human keep up with the nose and ears of a fox?"

"Anyone have any problem with my performance?" she announced loudly in fluent Foxen, Livio must have taught her. Not a single soldier objected.

"Noted, soldier!" I nodded at the human. I couldn't give a shit if she was a human or not, so long as she could keep up and I knew Vito wouldn't slacken his standards for Livio's mate.

Among all this joyousness came a feeling of disappointment. I had not seen a single tall-eared fennec at the camp. I knew I couldn't expect every single shipwrecked soldier to just show up at the same spot, but it felt like my time in Africa, all those deals I had to make, might have been a waste if the fennecs weren't here to help.

And Taj...where are you?

She had to be alive, she had to be! I couldn't imagine anything killing her, not even the damned ocean!

"Marshal," I jumped as Vito tapped me on the shoulder, "we have something to discuss with the rest of command."

Nodding, I let Vito lead me and Livio towards a two-storied building in the center of the camp with four foxes on guard outside the door. The guards pulled open the door as we approached and the smell of dried herbs caught my nose; I rushed inside before I saw who they belonged to.

"Sophia!" I cried out, hugging my beloved sister before she could get up from her seat. Burying my nose into her shoulder, for once I was overjoyed to smell those blasted divining herbs of hers.

Slowly, she reached around and returned my embrace, "You defied your fate. The herbs said you were dead..."

I laughed, I was too happy to be upset at her macabre rambling, "You see? I told you the herbs were nonsense!"

"Yes..." she nodded slowly, "...this time."

At this point I had noticed she was a bit larger than I remembered and was about to make a curt comment about how usually when in exile you tended to lose weight, as I certainly did, but when I pulled back to get a better look at her, I saw the truth. She was wearing a loose-fitting dress that covered up her eight rows of swollen breasts.

"Who the _fuck_touched you!?" I snarled, growling fiercely. "I'll kill them!"

Behind Sophia, I heard a small, sleepy cry from a kit and only just now noticed a hulking figure behind her. Goliath, the only fox in the world who could tower over a wolf, was there, holding two infant kits in his arms and gently rocking them to sleep.

"Goliath, you and her?" I asked, anger still reeking in my voice.

"Hush..." Goliath whispered, "Marco and Violetta are sleeping."

"Brother, don't you dare be cross with him!" Sophia growled in a whisper. "When you were captured, he got me out of the city and to safety. I was so alone and he was so strong and kind and..."

The inside of Sophia's ears blushed.

"I'm not mad," I sighed with relief. Goliath had earned his reward and truthfully, I was just glad Sophia had finally mated with a fox. Goliath was not a good political ally, but I cared more for my sister's happiness right now. I smiled at Goliath as he cooed, "I'd be proud to have you as my brother-in-law, Goliath."

I slowly tip-toed my way over to the large fox and the two bundles of joy he carried. They were both fast asleep and covered in dull-colored, kit fuzz and both were normal sized for their age, not taking after their father at all.

I poked one on the nose and it whined in its sleep. I wasn't sure if it was the tod or the vixen, it did not matter. I was now an Uncle. Uncle Marco.

"Marshal," Livio interrupted and nodded towards a rickety, wooden staircase, "if you'll follow me."

"Of course!" I exclaimed and slowly backed away from the sleeping kits before creeping up behind Livio. I couldn't hide my smile, looking down at my nephew and niece from the staircase.

The day was to be one of many strange reunions, it would seem. Sitting alone at a table with a massive map spread across it was Guy, fur still as gold as a wheat-field and still wearing his immaculately polished steel plate atop his splendid pink gambeson. I truly did not expect Beaumont's biggest sycophant to be here and did not react to his presence very gracefully.

"Guy, what are you doing here? Grow tired of the taste of Beaumont's boot leather?" I laughed and slapped the surface of the table while I sat down.

Disconcertingly, Guy did not rise to the occasion and fire back at me. Instead he stared off into the distance and pondered before slowly veering his muzzle towards me. Even when he looked at me, his eyes didn't quite take me into consideration, "The Grand Marshal has retired at Philippe's urging and..."

Guy swallowed, eyes still devoid of life.

"...I didn't know where else to go."

"Ah, so Philippe didn't pay well enough?" I prodded. "I've heard about his little bungle with the pension! I don't blame you for-"

"Marco!" Livio interrupted. "Don't be a damned prick!"

"Marshal!" Vito suddenly boomed as he ascended the staircase. He was still wearing that fancy suit of armor like it was silk pajamas. "Lieutenant Guy was offered a pension and the choice to serve as Beaumont's scribe and turned it down. Guy was loyal to his commanding officer until he stopped being his commanding officer and now he's loyal to us, there is no doubt in my mind about him."

I was not quite so sure. Guy looked like a fox on the end of his rope. If I had been enough of a prick, I felt I could reach over and pinch his nose and the wretch would just sit there and take it. This really wasn't the kind of attitude I liked in my officers but I didn't want to undermine Vito's decision, nor Livio's opinion of the matter, as he had despised Guy the most during my previous campaign. Plus, I had always assumed Guy aspired to be Beaumont's lover and him turning down an intimate position with him in favor of more military matters showed a side of the fox I hadn't seen before; perhaps there was more to him than I first assumed.

If there was, he certainly wasn't showing it now. He was being more of a downer than Laurent on his worst days.

Only then did I realize I had forgotten him, among the others.

"Vito!" I exclaimed suddenly and the General eyed me with a curious glance. "Have you encountered any other survivors? I came over here with a small army of fennecs, but I also had your agent, Laurent; Senatora Luce, and a hyena Prince with me!"

"Leave it to Marco to make the strangest fucking connections in exile!" Livio kicked his boots up on the table, accidentally knocking dirt onto the far reaches of what appeared to be North-East Carpathia. "What's next, did you get married to a tribal chieftain's daughter or something?"

"Not married, but I certainly took one as my paramour, or perhaps she took me as hers," my tail went limp at the thought of Taj. She could have been dead for all I knew. I loved her, that I did know. I had never felt feelings for any vixen greater than when I rode into battle with Taj and argued playfully over the spoils of war. "Though I think I'm engaged to marry Luce, if she's still alive..."

"She'd better be," Vito grumbled and placed a wooden rook from a cheap chess set onto where Vulpezzia was on the map, "taking over Carpathia is going to be the easy part. The foxes will welcome you as their savior, again; and since you refused to seize wolven landlords ranches in favor of foxes, they'll probably see you as a much lesser evil than the nomads running wild in the area."

"Gotta thank that little shit Emir for one thing," Livio paused to pick at a scab sticking out of one of his many bare patches of skin, "he picked the wrong kind of wolves for his army! Alphate wolves would rather have a fox reign over them than one of those horse-fuckers!"

At this point, I noticed Guy staring at me with a look that I couldn't quite translate. It was enough to make my pelt crawl.

"Something the matter, Lieutenant?" I demanded.

"You..." Guy tilted his head thoughtfully, "...didn't redistribute land to our vulpine brethren? Marshal Beaumont gave the order for that and we followed through with it in Dalmatia. All your ranting about wanting to reclaim the land that the wolves had stolen from us, I would have thought..."

Guy trailed off, giving me the chance to interject.

"Believe me, it would have given me immense pleasure to give those haughty wolven landlords a taste of humility! But it has been many generations since the local foxes have managed their own farms and herds; making a radical change like that during the middle of a campaign would be asking for a famine, which we couldn't afford in the biggest ranch-lands in Europe."

"It was against Beaumont's orders!" Guy rubbed at his chin, unable to fully reconcile going against orders from on-high. "What if one of your officers were to do the same thing and disobey a direct order?"

"If I gave an order as stupid as Beaumont's, I'd let that General depose me himself!"

Guy went silent again, rubbing at his chin in deep contemplation. I tried to ignore the sound of his fur bristling.

"To answer your question earlier, Marco," Vito cleared his throat, "no, we have not seen any other survivors from your ship, but there have been reports of fennecs showing up along the coast. Most of our spies and scouts report that its a slave revolt, but I have a hunch most were too afraid to get close to them and find out."

"Luce will be key in helping establish our political foothold once we make the inevitable march into Vulpezzia," Vito tapped the rook piece again loudly. "If anyone here has any other political connections, I suggest we use them. We've got couriers we can use to relay messages for now, though Philippe will no doubt revoke their Seal of Passage once we make too much noise. Relatives who might be friends with politicians, lovers, blackmail..."

"Beaumont has friends among the Senators in Francia. They all unanimously voted for Philippe but the masses of unemployed veterans without pensions could have changed their sympathies," Guy said with surprising confidence, considering how much of a wet blanket he had been earlier. "Beaumont is not exactly fond of Marco, mind you, but it could be worth a shot..."

"Good," Vito nodded, "myself, I've started a...dalliance...with SenatorBarioof Vasconia. He is old and likes young foxes from the military; we have been intimate in Vulpezzia and have been keeping in touch via letters. I think I can persuade him."

"Canis!" I was shocked. Aside from occasionally talking about typical after-battle sex, Vito often seemed as frigid as a monk. "Bario of all people!? You think he'll be alive long enough to give us support?"

"Mine's the best!" Livio exclaimed proudly with an ecstatic grin. He peered around the room, waiting for one of us to ask him for more details. Vito and Guy, however, looked visibly uncomfortable about the subject.

Finally, I took the bait, "What is it?"

"The new Senator of Lombardy, goes by the name of Regio? Caught sight of him when I headed back to Vulpezzia to deal with some family matters. He raped my sister when she was a kit."

I clenched my fists, "Are you certain, Livio?"

"Positive! He was younger then, but I'd never forget his face and his smell. A lot of gutter foxes in my oldneighborhood know he did it too, so we can spread the word if he doesn't cooperate!"

"If someone had done that to my sister..." I slowly released my fists, "...I could see about taking care of him discretely, once I consolidate power."

"I'd rather he live forever with that sword dangling over his head! Make him feel like one of his victims for as long as he lives, better that than a quick death!" Livio laughed. "Course, if he fucks you over, do as you please!"

"You're a better fox than me, Livio," I muttered and motioned away from Italia, towards Carpathia on the map. "Well, this is all in the future, shall we discuss our immediate plans?"

Retrieving another rook piece, this one covered in chipped, white paint; Vita slapped it on a location just South of Carpathia.

"First things first, we should relocate to Fort Velika. The garrison commander there is a friend, don't worry." Vito carved a path through Bosnia with a claw. "We'll take this route through the hills of Bosnia, avoiding the main roads."

"Good," I muttered and brushed Vito's paw aside, "once we get to Velika, we should make our move as soon as possible. Secure the countryside around Sopianae before laying siege to it. We're going to have to minimize looting and raiding, keep our foxes under control..."

"If I may, Marshal," Guy raised his paw and I assented to him to speak, "I would like to volunteer to take charge of supply acquisition and protection. The wolves are going to try and starve us out by raiding any villages under our control, we need to protect any ranch that comes under our control and ration food supplies from them."

Not trusting Guy's sudden burst of energy, I turned to Vito, who nodded.

"Guy has a talent for organization," Vito waved his paw, "we're going to need a different pool of talent for this campaign, Marco. We spent most of the previous campaign starving the wolves out and chances are we're going to be on the other end of that tactic this time."

"Fair enough," I turned to Guy, "if you have no objections to our current plan, I'd like for you to draft up a more details proposal for your plan."

"May I excuse myself and do just that?"

I nodded and Guy got up, stopping at the head of the staircase deep in thought. His tail swished slowly.

"Thank you, Marco," Guy nodded and headed down the stairs, "it is a pleasure, truly."

Something about that fox still bothered me but I tried my best to let it slide.

"Livio, do you have any input?" Vito brushed the brown fur atop his head.

"Nah, I'm more of the type to think things up when we get there, you know that, General!" Livio kicked himself off his seat. "If there's nothin' else, I gotta go give my mate some loving and dispatch patrols. You two have some fun, huh?"

Before either of us could dismiss Livio, the patchy-furred fox was gone and I was alone with Vito for the first time.

"Marco, we need to have a frank discussion about your time in Africa," Vito leaned over on the desk and sighed, "there have been some reports floating around that concern me."

"Everything I did was for the good of the Republic and regaining our lost territory."

"Tunisia has been lost to the fennecs, I understand? How does that help us regain our lost territory?"

"Chief Izil, who leads the horde, has joint interests with us. We will assent to annexation, so long as we give the fennecs autonomy and negotiate control over certain colonies. We has greedy ambitions, but is willing to compromise with us."

Vito stared at me, eyes narrowing and his nose twitching as he took in my scent. With everything that had happened, I hadn't considered for a moment that my scent was naked and exposed to anyone who wished to inhale it.

"You're hiding something, Marco."

Sighing, I rolled my eyes, "Izil got a little bitchy towards me during the end of my time there. I think he might have lost a bit of his nerve, kept going on and on about how we need to put a halt to everything and sit in Tunis with our thumbs up our tail-holes. Disgusting talk like that."

Vito stared at me, silently telling me to go on.

"But he still gave me several of his tribe to bring back to Europe. Not nearly as much as I was originally promised, mind you; but it was enough for escorting us to the Shahdom safely."

"And what happened there?"

"We made a deal with the Shah that guaranteed us passage back to Europe on merchant vessels under the guise of traveling to the Alphate to show tribute," the back of my neck twitched irritably for a second and I quickly continued on. "I had to make some compromises there though."

"Like what?"

Screams echoed inside my head again. The damned things never stop...

"I had to kill a few lions and give the leopards control over the Suez."

Vito slapped his paws on the table and hunched his head over, growling, "This is going to be hard to spin when this gets out."

"The leopards won't be able to hold it!" I argued. "The lions will take it back and once they do, we'll just have to bribe one of the tribes to get exclusive rights again."

"No, Marco," Vito kept his head low, "I don't need to smell you to tell you're withholding something again."

"Vito, I'm starting to dislike this line of questioning."

"Did you let the Shah mount you as part of the deal?"

"WHO TOLD YOU THAT!?" I boomed, slamming my fists into the table. "I'LL KILL THE LIAR!"

"For the last month, diplomatic envoys from the Shah have been spreading the tale of Marco the Submissive, Marco the Slave, Marco the Bloody-Rear. They've even got a little song that goes something like, 'Marco, Marco, butt as red as his fur...'"

"I FUCKED THE SHAH, HE DIDN'T FUCK ME!" I tried to calm myself down but my vision was turning blinding white. "He wanted to fell what it was like to be a slave and I showed that wretched cat! He's not going to get his garrison now, that's for fucking sure!"

"Garrison? What garrison?"

My blood ran cold. I couldn't think of anything to say but the truth.

"I promised him a garrison of foxes to help support the leopard's claims."

"Why would you do that?"

"I told you, I fucked him and made a de-"

Vito sniffed, "Tell the truth, Marco. I can withdraw my support whenever I feel like it."

"Vito, how could you even-"

"I'm not a little kit anymore, Marco, and I still think you're the best fox to help us reclaim the Republic's glory," Vito's voice hushed, "but if you're going to lie to my face like this, I have to wonder just what you're hiding and whether you're truly better than Philippe."

I opened my mouth but before I could speak, Vito cut me off.

"We're friends, Marco, I've always thought so. Please, tell me the truth."

I scrunched up my snout and bit my lip, anxiety wracking my stomach before I finally confessed.

"The Shah has a handkerchief with my scent on it and his. It smells of fox musk, blood, and leopard. I don't know how he fabricated it. He threatened to show it around Europe if I didn't give him the garrison."

"Why is he letting his diplomats open their mouths about it then?"

"I don't know!" I shook my head. "He was attracted to me, wanted me to join him in his capital instead as his lover but I refused; perhaps he's upset? He seemed a little off to me!"

Vito stared at me, his yellow eyes expressionless and distant. The silence was deafening.

"You really think I'd lift my tail for him?"

"Even if you did, Marco, I wouldn't care. Dictator Giuseppe the Conquerer himself was a passive partner and with a wolven Alpha he had taken prisoner at that! The average fox cares little for such bedroom manners, so long as the person accused of it doesn't act all shaky and nervous, like you're doing right now."

"But I didn't let him fuck me!"

"I believe you," Vito patted me on the shoulder, "but not everyone will. You're going to have to learn to keep your cool when the rumors come up."

"Alright," I gulped, "you're right. Thank you, Vito. I'm sorry I raised my voice earlier."

"Don't worry about it," Vito whispered, "I'm sorry for threatening to pull my support as well. I just needed the truth."

"I understand."

"We should still send the Shah a garrison though, once this is all over. We can use them to infiltrate the local lion tribes and get some loyal ones to depose the leopards in the Suez. There's always a lion who wants to cuddle up to the foxes and collect our coin. You didn't notice anything there that might have changed that, hm?"

Just as Vito had taught me, I kept my body loose, my ears and tail still, and my expression as neutral as I could. My scent did not alter much, not even when I remembered the scene of the lion jumping through the flames to save the cub he carried.

They're dead. Probably ran into the desert and collapsed; can't be alive.

But what if they were?

Suppose they spread the tale of how foxes massacred a wedding and burned their cubs alive?

How would they react?

I kept my fears and uncertainties buried deep within my guy and I answered Vito.

"Nothing that I can think of."

Vito nodded, content, and we returned to discussing minor matters of strategy.