Refuge - Chapter 3: Bandits!
Imported from SF2 with no description.
The pair continue their journey. But the forest isn't as empty as it appears. They've been spotted by unfriendly eyes…
Refuge
by TypicalFloof
Chapter 3: Bandits!
Chapter Theme: Judge Bitch - Vice
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgImyzHCfso
Casey jolted awake with a start at York's screams echoing in his ears. Panting, he stared wildly around him. He was lying on his bedroll in the early morning light. Casey closed his eyes in relief as his breathing settled. That dream again.
The foxgirl knelt at his side. “I was just about to wake you up. You were making noises in your sleep," she said, a concerned look on her face.
Casey sat up and shook his head. He wiped his brow with his sleeve, embarrassed. “It's nothing."
The girl looked like she was going to say something else, so Casey quickly rose to his feet and turned to his pack.
“Breakfast," he grunted.
The vixen sat against the rock, propping the rifle on its buttstock. The two ate in uncomfortable silence and were soon ready to move out.
“How much farther to your village?" Casey asked.
The girl considered a moment. “Our pace is slow, so I'd say a few days' walk from here."
Casey suppressed his impatience and rubbed his left arm. No sense in rushing, especially in their condition.
“You take point, Fox," he said, motioning to the rifle.
Eyes wide in surprise, the vixen picked it up and slung the rifle across her front. Casey waved her on, and the two began their onward trek.
***
“Mmm-mmm! That is a nice piece of ass!" The wolf pressed the binoculars closer to his face. He focused on the swaying hips of the female fox captured in his binos.
“What about the guy in back?" his companion asked at his side. The wolf huffed grumpily at having to look away as he swiveled his gaze.
“Funny lookin' clothes," the wolf said. “But he's definitely military or something." He shrugged. “What you think, Travis?"
“Rodney'll like it, Jerome," he said. “Not a lot of people come through here. But we get first dibs on the bitch!"
Jerome chuckled. “You mean I get first dibs! She'll be eatin' goooood tonight!"
The bobcat hooked a paw over his eyes as he surveyed the horizon. “Sun's startin' ta dip. Let's move!"
Jerome cackled as the two scuttled down from their vantage point.
***
Casey noted the angle of the setting sun. Maybe an hour or two of light left, he thought.
“We need to start looking for a campsite," he said. He saw the girl nod in front of him.
The pair continued for awhile. Spotting a shallow depression underneath several pine trees, Casey decided it would have to do.
Casey set his pack down as the girl unslung the rifle. He felt for his canteen. Since they only had the one between them, it was almost empty.
“How's your side," he asked.
“It feels a lot better!" the girl said. Prodding carefully at the injury, her ears flicked. “I think it's finally closed up."
“Good," Casey said. Even though the river had cut away from them a few miles ago, he could hear the faint sounds of rushing water in the distance. “I'm going to refill the canteen; I won't be too far." Casey motioned to the rucksack. “By the way, your knife and baton are at the bottom of my pack. They're starting to weigh me down." He turned and trudged away leaving the girl shaking her head in amusement.
After a brief detour, Casey knelt at the river's edge. The fast-moving current filled his ears with a pleasant cacophony as he unscrewed the cap on the canteen. Casey lowered the neck under the cool water and let his mind wander.
Up to this point, he hadn't allowed himself to dwell on what would happen once he reached the anthro village. Now that he was nearing his objective, he needed to think through a plan.
He didn't anticipate trouble with convincing the villagers that he wasn't a Liao invader. But they would likely still be suspicious of him, especially since the girl said no human had been allowed there before.
Not reaching a conclusion, Casey screwed the cap closed. Be thankful for the small things, he mused, grateful to have a source of drinkable water. He stretched and yawned before plodding back the way he came.
Reaching the camp, Casey frowned, not seeing the fox.
“Hm," he said. He sat down and rested his back against a tree, too tired to begin prepping dinner at the moment. Casey started as he caught sight of his rifle laying in the dirt. Where did she go? he wondered. She didn't take the rifle? Did she run away?
Casey got up and his heart began to pound as he saw a smear of blood on the rifle's pistol grip. Bending down, he saw the blood was still slightly wet. His gaze followed a few drops of blood leading away from the rifle. Pine needles were scattered about, but Casey could clearly see two drag marks that followed the trail of blood. His stomach knotted as he picked up the rifle. The girl hadn't gone anywhere. She had been captured!
Casey turned, thinking quickly. No telling how much of a head start her captors already had.
The hair on the back of Casey's neck stood up. Something heavy and solid smashed against the base of his skull. Casey's vision lit up, and the ground rushed to meet him. Down, down, down he went.
***
“Why'd you do that, Travis?" Jerome hissed at the bobcat.
“What was I supposed to do, idiot," Travis fired back.
Jerome rolled his eyes and knelt behind a low bush. Grunting, the wolf heaved the trussed vixen onto his back in a fireman's carry. Feeling her wiggle, Jerome shot Travis a look.
“Will you help me out here?" he whined, turning to move the fox's head closer to the bobcat.
Sighing dramatically, Travis padded over and cuffed the girl behind her ears. She fell still.
“See what happens when you bite, bitch?" The bobcat grimaced at the weeping teeth marks in his palm. Travis stalked over to the felled soldier and beamed as he freed the man's pistol from its holster. Shoving it into his waistband, he grabbed the rifle from beside the still form.
Padding up to Jerome, Travis none-too-gently nudged his companion at the fallen soldier's groan. “Let's git out of here," he said, falling into step beside the wolf.
“Maybe you didn't hit him hard enough," Jerome piped up.
Travis glared at him while he massaged his sore knuckles. “His head's plenty hard enough, that's fer damn sure!"
“Why didn't you jus' kill 'im? Some-mhm wrong with your knife?" Jerome asked innocently.
The bobcat glared again at the wolf. “It's dull," he said through clenched teeth. “Besides, we'll be long gone by the time he wakes up. If he has any sense, he'll escape with his hide. If not…" Travis patted the rifle.
Jerome bobbed his head as the two continued walking. He couldn't resist needling Travis. “Yaknow, there are these square rock things. They work real good fer sharpenin' up a blade." The wolf temporarily freed his paws from the burden on his shoulders and pantomimed buttering a piece of toast. He waggled his eyebrows at Travis. The bobcat's laziness was well-known.
Travis yanked his knife out of its sheath and poked the tip into Jerome's arm hard enough to prick his skin. A dot of blood winked from the tiny cut as Travis sheathed his knife.
“Point taken," Jerome mumbled. Travis's short fuse was also well-known. The two journeyed on as the sun continued to set.
***
Casey tasted dirt. Groaning at his throbbing headache, he rolled over and forced himself to sit up. He put a hand to the back of his head as the throbbing worsened. Luckily, it came away clean, so he wasn't bleeding. Casey jerked open his rucksack and yanked out the medkit.
The MechWarrior dry-swallowed a few painkillers. Fighting the urge to vomit, Casey forced himself to his knees, then his feet. He swayed and braced against a tree for support.
Where the hell is my rifle? Angrily, Casey realized his attackers had stolen it. His blood began to boil at the empty holster on his belt.
Feeling the dizziness abate, Casey slung his pack. His eyes roamed the ground for signs of the girl's captors. The drops of blood stopped after a few feet, and Casey frantically searched for a clue. There! A pawprint! Moving forward, Casey saw a trail of prints leading out of the camp.
The sky was quickly darkening to a deep shade of blue. He would have to hurry. Casey stared at the ground and noticed that there were now two sets of pawprints, side-by-side. Ignoring the pain in his head, Casey doggedly followed the trail.
***
Nora's senses returned slowly, like waking from a deep sleep. She was laying on her side on a smooth, hard-packed surface, arms held behind her back. Her shoulders ached from the awkward position. Tight straps bit into her wrists and her ankles. After a brief struggle, the bonds remained taut. Worst of all, a gag was tied around her head.
Groggily opening her eyes, Nora saw she was lying on a dirt floor of some kind of tent. The fabric swayed in the breeze as her eyes trailed up the thick supporting post. With effort, Nora rolled over to her other side. Wincing, she squeezed her eyes shut as pain lanced through her head.
Opening her eyes again, Nora saw indigo sky through the tent flaps. Her heart hammered and she struggled to remain calm as she heard low voices. The fox tried to spit out the gag, but it was tied too tightly. Her eyes darted around the tent.
“...and then I decked that sumbitch real good!" Nora heard a voice say. “He fell like a ton o' bricks!"
Nora inhaled sharply. Her tail curled under her as she heard a second voice reply.
“You'd think he'd have the sense to not be wanderin' in our territory. Don't they teach nothin' in the military?" he laughed.
Casey! Nora squirmed. Was he alive? Her eyes widened in fear as a furry paw separated the tent flaps. A wolf stepped through, a wide grin on his face, and a bobcat ducked in behind him. The two parted to make way for a massive bull. He sauntered in and leered at the captive fox, towering over her. The bull knelt in front of her, and Nora couldn't keep herself from trembling as he reached out and caressed her face with the back of his meaty hand. His stout pair of horns curved forward, pointed tips uncomfortably close.
“It's okay, honey," he crooned. “Rodney's here." His gravelly voice vibrated the air between them. He stood and turned his head to look behind him.
“Jerome; Travis. Be gentle with her!" he commanded. A ray of hope blossomed in Nora's chest. Rodney smirked. “Because she's all mine after you boys have your fun!"
The bull met Nora's eyes and lewdly adjusted his pants. Horrified, Nora gaped at the size of his bulge. It was as thick as her wrist! She tore her eyes away and looked up at the bull, silently imploring. He thundered with laughter.
“Fvvese!" Nora begged around the gag, but that only made the bull laugh harder. The wolf and bobcat licked their lips. Nora trembled as her nose detected the unmistakable scent of arousal in the air. Please, no!
Reaching the front of the tent, Rodney turned back toward Travis and Jerome. Beaming, he raised an eyebrow.
“Think you can handle the bitch all by yourself? Or do you need help?" he rumbled.
“We got this, boss," Travis purred. Rodney left with a smirk as Jerome and Travis advanced toward the shuddering fox. “Since yer so good with the ladies, whatcha think, Jerome? Paws or feet first?"
Jerome bent over and picked up a hammer and tent stake. “I'm thinkin' feet first," he said, straightening.
Nora's ears plastered to her head as she tried to scoot away. Were they going to break her legs?
The answer proved equally terrifying. Travis leaned on her back, knee grinding painfully into Nora's spine. Her eyes watered as a heavy weight settled onto the back of her calves. Rough metal was forced in between her ankles. The object vibrated in time with the metallic ring of hammer blows. The bobcat got off her back and the weight was removed from her legs. Nora tried to yank them in front of her, but they wouldn't budge!
A whimper escaped her as she turned her head past the tent pole and tried to look behind her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the tent spike sticking up in front of her heels. The clever wolf had staked the straps on her ankles to the ground!
“You're not goin' anywhere, sweetheart," Jerome gloated. He knelt at Nora's right while Travis crouched at her left. “Ready?" he asked.
A knee on the back of Nora's neck was all the warning she received. The weight ground her face into the dirt, further muffling her whimpers. She heard the snick of a knife as her wrists were clamped firmly.
“Don't move, honey," Travis said. “We don't have to have all of your pretty fingers." Nora's heart leapt into her throat.
Cold steel pressed between her wrists. She felt a gentle pressure and then rough fingers pawed at the binding. With a shock, Nora realized they had cut her wrist straps! But as the vixen's paws were forced apart and up to her sides, she understood what that meant. They were going to retie her wrists around the tent pole. Nora's tail whipped in a frenzy as she struggled with renewed vigor. She wouldn't get another chance!
Nora jerked and twisted. She felt her right paw come free of Jerome's grasp.
“Hey!" he shouted.
Nora whipped her elbow back and bared her teeth savagely as it smashed into Jerome's face.
“Argh!" he yelled. The wolf clutched his nose as blood began leaking from his nostrils.
Travis reacted quickly. He backhanded Nora so hard she saw stars. “You bitch!" he growled. The bobcat pounced on Nora's wrists and squeezed them so tightly Nora thought bones would break. Travis yanked them around the pole and leaned harder on Nora's back. Tears leaked from her eyes as she gasped in pain.
“Jerome! Get over here!" he hissed. Jerome leapt around and viciously bound Nora's paws together.
“Ow!" she cried as the wolf yanked the knot tight.
Travis got off Nora's neck, and she twisted, trying to get as far away from them as she could. She only succeeded in partially wrapping herself around the tent pole. Staring toward the entrance with wide eyes, Nora froze, paralyzed.
Travis beamed at his companion's pained expression. “Looks like I get to go first!" he said, pointing to Jerome's bleeding nose.
“I saw 'er first!" he protested. The wolf released his grip on his muzzle and tilted his head back.
Ignoring him, Travis slowly unzipped his pants as his tail swished salaciously. He undid the button and let his pants hang at his waist. His musk permeated the air. Terror gripped her at the bobcat's leering expression.
He began to pull his pants down, but all three of them jumped at a deafening clang that rang out across the camp. Travis's fur puffed out at odd angles. He shakily smoothed down the fluffs as the sound of clanging metal continued in a steady rhythm. He closed his eyes and huffed.
“Not now!" he grumbled, pulling his pants back up.
“Oh booooooooys," Nora heard a singsong voice. “Time for diiiiiiiinner!" It was Rodney! The clanging went on incessantly. The bobcat spat a curse and fastened his pants.
“We can't miss dinner," Jerome whined. “You know how he gets!" His ears flattened at the racket.
“I know, I know," Travis growled, turning on his heel.
Jerome poked his head outside the tent. “We're coming, we're coming!" he yelled. Mercifully, the clanging stopped.
Travis followed behind Jerome as the wolf shuffled out of the tent. He cast a glance back at the quivering fox.
“Don't go anywhere, bitch! We got a long night ahead of us!" Cackling, Travis left, letting the tent flap fall back into place.
Nora couldn't help the sobs that escaped her. Tears and snot ran down her muzzle as she cried into the dirt. No one could save her now.