Warning! This chapter contains: non-consent, impregnation, anthro (rabbit men), gangbang, kidnap, cunnilingus, titjob, handjob, blowjob, creampie, analingus, anal, and like a ten-way with a single woman. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
*****
Far too early in the morning, Renard was forced to wake up. Considering that he spent the majority of the previous night flirting with pigwomen and eating fruit, he had less than an hour of sleep. He was summoned to Colonel Lionheart's tent. The fox-man instantly knew this couldn't be good, especially considering every meeting he had with the leader of this army was an unpleasant experience. Captain Fenner, for her part, didn't seem bothered by her late night. Sleepless nights were a common experience for soldiers. Renard however, seemed to be greatly affected.
As Renard entered the tent, he yawned mightily and rubbed his eyes. Talia followed after him, a wary look in her eyes. The fox-man didn't appear to have his wits, and the colonel's face was red with anger. This could be a very bad situation. He only other person in the tent was Catarina Steinem, who appeared to be writing in the army's daily log in a book. Renard marched in front of Lionheart, sighed, and stared at the colonel's furious face.
"What?" Renard said. His tone was sarcastic, and it sounded as if he expected the colonel to bother him over something trifling. Lionheart practically snarled at him.
"One of my majors went missing last night." the colonel said through his teeth.
Renard paused for a moment, then shrugged and shook his head. "And?"
"Where were you?" Lionheart demanded.
"In my tent." Renard snapped.
The colonel turned towards Talia, who flinched before answering.
"He's telling the truth sir." she lied. "I watched him all night. He never left." If she told the truth, Lionheart might cut Renard down where he stood. The fox-man had only visited the monster women for some fruit, but Talia had no doubt that the colonel would think otherwise.
"So you were sleeping away when another monster came and took some of my soldiers?" Lionheart demanded.
"Why do you expect me to do everything?" Renard demanded irritably. "You want me to guide your army, have the gift of prophecy to know what's going to happen, stay awake all night on watch, and defend all of your troops? You're not paying me nearly enough to do all that."
The colonel's hand gripped on his sword tightly. Catarina had stopped writing and stood up. She was now nervously glancing between the colonel and their guide.
"I hired you to take us through this desert, unharmed!" Lionheart shouted.
"You hired me to take you to the Demon King's palace," Renard bit back. "which is what I'm doing. So far, I've been doing my job. Perhaps you should be doing yours." Both Talia and Catarina tensed up. Lionheart was clearly a proud man, hitting his ego like that was a bad idea. With his face growing even redder, the colonel stepped forward until he was in Renard's face.
"Don't tell me how to run my army!" the commander barked. "I have lost two of my commanders and a private! You haven't protected us from anything! First Private Helena Burks! Now it's Major Oren Ackler! If you honestly think...!"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Renard said. He took a step back and raised his paws. "Ackler, the food guy?"
"Yes. The food guy." the colonel replied with venom in his voice.
"The guy who chased after that desert witch for garlic?"
"Yes!"
"How do you know he didn't wander off on his own?"
The colonel flinched and his jaw dropped. "Are you trying to say a soldier of mine would abandon his post!?"
"He didn't want to be here anyway, anyone with eyes could see that. The moment he smelled garlic he chased after a dangerous witch. He probably went after her in the night. He's either a captive or dead now."
"You don't know that!"
"And you don't know either Commander Stick-Up-His-Ass!"
The colonel partially drew his sword and stepped back up to Renard.
"I will not take this kind of disrespect from...!"
Catarina had seen enough. She jumped forward and got in between them. She actually pushed the colonel back a few paces.
"Okay! Okay! Stop! Stop!" she cried. "Renard hasn't had much sleep! That's why he's being disrespectful! You remember what sleepless night were like at first, right colonel?" Lionheart didn't take his eyes off Renard, and his face was beet red. For several moments, a tense silence hung in the air, as neither no one dared to move.
"I suppose." the colonel said through grit teeth. "I'll give the monster-man a break, for now."
"That'd be a pleasant change." Renard muttered. Now it was Talia that came between them. She began to push him out of the tent.
"That's enough!" she declared. "Out! Out!" Renard allowed her to shove him out of the tent, ending the argument. Catarina breathed a sigh of relief, and backed away from the colonel. His eyes had a lethal glare in them, and his hand still had a death-grip on his sword.
"Sir," Catarina began. "I know that Renard is a monster, but he has guided us to the oases so far. We can't get rid of him or we won't know where to go. He's lived as a monster all of his life. He doesn't know anything about the ways of humans. We just need him to guide us to the palace, then we can get rid of him."
The colonel paused a moment. "I suppose you're right." He finally sheathed his sword all the way. "Tell him we better get to the next oasis very quickly. Our water level is low."
"Yes sir. Please sir, you have to lead us. Try not to become too angry."
"I will try." That was all he was willing to promise.
Talia pushed Renard a good ways out of the tent before she finally stopped. Once she did, she gave him a hard glare.
"What the hell was that?" she demanded. "Are you trying to get killed?"
"I'm not doing anything wrong!" Renard retorted. "I'm doing what I'm supposed to do! Have I not led you guys to every oasis so far?"
"Yes, but that's not the point!"
"No! That's is the point! That guy," The fox-man pointed to the colonel's tent. "is a giant blowhard. He's going to blame every mistake you guys make on me!"
"You're a monster! You have the Demon King's blood in you! Of course he blames you-" Talia stopped dead. She hadn't meant to blurt that out. She had been building a relationship with Renard, and she had a feeling she just sunk it. For his part, the fox-man's expression fell. He took a few steps away from Talia, his face completely sour. "Renard...I didn't mean..."
"No, you did mean it." he snapped. "I'm just a monster from the Demon King, is that it?"
"No! It's not like that!"
"But that was in your head, or you wouldn't have said it."
Talia flinched, her voice catching in her throat.
"That's what I thought." Renard said. He pointed at the colonel's tent. "Mark my words. There's something really wrong with that guy, and he'll be the death of all of you, and it WON'T be this monster's fault." The fox-man then turned and stomped away. Talia felt something drop in her guts. Just when she was getting somewhere with Renard, she had to open her big mouth. He was just grumpy from lack of sleep, that was all. With a good night's rest he would be back to normal, but even so, he would remember what she said. She cast her eyes toward the ground and sighed. Perhaps she wasn't meant to have friends.
*
Much to everyone's pleasure, the trip to the next oasis was uneventful. It took them half of the day, and once they arrived, they were pleasantly surprised. It was huge, with a rather large forest around it. Most of the troops cried out in joy upon seeing it. After a quick scouting by Renard revealed that there were no alarunes and no pigmen, the army happily pitched it's tents. Colonel Lionheart could see that his troops were both exhausted, and their morale was incredibly low. Although he was loathed to do so, he ordered a respite for the rest of the day. Fighting the Demon King with bottomed-out morale was a terrible idea anyway. For the rest of the day, all of his troops drank, ate fruit, and even bathed in small groups. Lionheart didn't want a certain someone to get off easy, however.
Renard once again entered Lionheart's tent, this time not accompanied by Captain Fenner. Catarina stood at attention over to the side, tense that another argument would break out. The fox-man didn't say anything, he merely stood in front of the colonel's makeshift desk. Lionheart ignored him for several moments, writing his own notes. When he was finished, he gazed up at Renard. His face, at least was calm.
"I have realized you are right about certain aspects of your job." Lionheart said.
"That's refreshing." Renard muttered.
"It has occurred to me that I haven't been letting you do your job properly."