Crusade Gone Awry Ch. 04

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."

Renard paused, blinking. "Okay..."

"So, as a guide, you seem to be lacking proper knowledge of what's to come. You should scout ahead to the next oasis, and make sure you are up to date with all we will be facing."

The fox-man's face fell. "That's a whole day's travel! I won't be back until tomorrow morning!"

"Then might I suggest you get going now. And I wouldn't think about ditching, if you still expect to get paid."

Renard narrowed his eyes. The money wasn't worth all this trouble. In truth, he was more worried about what Adrum had told him before he left. If he didn't help the crusaders to the best of his abilities, it would be the old man he had to answer to. If they didn't have a guide, their only choice was to march back to the city...where Adrum would be waiting. Renard felt a shiver down his spine at the prospect.

"Fine." the fox-man said. "I will scout ahead and see what obstacles we face. Do me a large favor so you don't yell at me when we come back? Tell your troops to, literally, touch nothing. Not an odd-looking plant, not another creature, not a single thing that isn't something normal. Can you do that?"

"I will make sure they all know."

"Good. When I get back, I don't want you questioning my methods or arguing with me. I will know everything in our way, and I will know how to deal with it. Can you at least do me that courtesy?"

"If you truly know what will happen, there will be no questioning or arguing." Lionheart said tersely. "Now get going. Catarina, go and tell all the commanders. Touch nothing."

*

A few hours later, a group of ten women were bathing in the oasis. They didn't really have anything to worry about. Most of the other troops were guarding against attacks. Among the group bathing was First Lieutenant Eliza Bevens, the woman obsessed with new and interesting creatures. In truth, she had been somewhat disappointed so far. She had been expecting to see a menagerie of odd and unusual monsters to whet her excited appetite. Instead, all she had seen were some pigmen and a giant flower. While she found that fun, it wore off quickly.

As Eliza came up from washing her hair, she saw that most of the other women had finished and were laying about in the cool water. They couldn't hog all the time at the oasis. There were eight hundred other soldiers waiting for their turn.

"Okay!" the first lieutenant shouted. "Out of the water!" The group of women groaned a little and waded their way out. They began to pick up their clothes and put them back on.

Then a bush rustled. All of the women threw each other worried glances. There was always the possibility of a man peeping, or even monster. Then again, the rest of their forces were supposed to be guarding the oasis. What could it be? Eliza motioned for the women to grab their weapons, which they did. She walked over to the bush, her sword at the ready. She, ever-so-gently, poked at the bush. Instantly, three small creatures dashed out of the leaves, gazing around, confused. Eliza yipped for a second in surprise, then her eyes widened excitedly.

"Desert lagomorphs!" she shouted excitedly. They were basically small rabbit people, usually between two and three feet tall. They still had bunny-like faces and legs, but their upper body was more like a human. Their eyes were incredibly expressive and they had human-like hands. On top of that, they were known to be adorable. Unlike what Eliza had heard, the three of them were white, not brown. It must have been a new colorization. The lagomorphs glanced around nervously. One of them was carrying a piece of fruit in his small hands. They must have been searching for food. Eliza excitedly bounded over to her things and began digging through them, trying to find her notebook she wrote in.

"Um..." one of the other female soldiers asked. "Are those things...dangerous?"

"Oh! Not at all!" Eliza declared, pulling out her booklet. "Desert lagomorphs are harmless. They're one of the few creatures that are." She turned toward them and quickly began sketching. "We even found some white ones! I wonder if they're an albino of some sort? I think they're all male. Male's have smaller ears."

The three lagomorphs gathered together in a group, oddly staring at the humans. They seemed to be communicating quietly. All of the women put their weapons down, staring at them.

"The first lieutenant said they were harmless."

"Yeah, but she's obsessed with dangerous monsters."

"They are awful cute...and they're only a few feet tall. What harm could they do?"

The lagomorphs turned toward the women. With tiny rabbit hops, they began to stray closer. Eliza was too busy sketching to give any orders or anything. One of the women glanced around at the others, and then she knelt down and stuck out her hand.

"It's okay." she said. "We're not going to hurt you." A single rabbit-man hopped forward a few more paces. He then began sniffing her hands, inquisitively. Getting a little bolder, it hopped closer and began sniffing her body. The woman cooed and pet the lagomorph on the head, which it didn't seem bothered by at all. "Awww! They're adorable!" The other women also knelt down, holding out their own hands. The other two lagomorphs, including the one holding the piece of fruit, began hopping over. They began sniffing all of the women, allowing the crusaders to pet them.

"What are they doing?" one of the women asked.

"I guess they're just checking us out!" another cried.

"Hey! Watch it!" one said. The lagomorph with the fruit and hopped between her legs, and was sniffing. The woman took a step backwards, but the small rabbit-man stepped after her, still smelling. Eliza walked over and kept drawing.

"Wow! That one really likes you!" the first lieutenant cried. The lagomorph circled her for a moment, still sniffing. "What's your name? So I can record it!"

"What are you writing in that thing?" the one being sniffed asked.

"Oh, they're just observations! Come on! Where's your sense of discovery?"

The woman being sniffed sighed and shook her head, staring at the other girls with an exasperated look. They all giggled at her. "Corporal Dinah Miller sir. At your disposal."

"Dinah...Miller..." Eliza said, quickly writing the name. "This is all great information!" All of the girls rolled their eyes. There was a reason people called the First Lieutenant "Crazy Eliza."

Abruptly, the lagomorph stopped circling. Instead, he stood up on his hind legs and stretched out his hands. It appeared as if he was offering her the fruit.

"Wha...what is he doing?" Dinah asked, a little flabbergasted. Eliza licked her lips and her eyes were full of fire. She was sketching away, frantically.

"Desert lagomorphs are incredibly intelligent! He must like you!" she cried.

"Aww, that's so sweet!" Dinah said. She smiled, reached out, and took the fruit. "Thank you so much." She reached out to pet him. The rabbit-man took her hand and began rubbing his face on her palm. All of the women let out similar sounds of "aw." The lagomorph continued to rub his face against her, going up her bare arm and onto her shoulder and chest. Dinah giggled for a second before giving the lagomorph a little shove. "Whoa! Easy boy!" The rabbit-man leaned back on his feet. He stared at her for a moment, with his expressive blue eyes. Even Dinah could see there was something behind them, some kind of intelligence. It twitched it's nose for a few moments, then turned and began hopping away. The other two followed, and they disappeared back into the bushes. All of the women, save for Eliza, then stood up and began laughing among each other.

"That was adorable!" one of the women shouted.

"Yeah, it's nice not to have something attack us!"

"And I got some fruit!" Dinah declared, holding it up in the air. "What is it, anyway?"

"Pomegranate." Eliza said off-handedly. "I gotta finish drawing. You gals do whatever."

All of the women glanced at each other and laughed again. They then began wandering back to camp, glad they were finally able to have a pleasant experience for once.

*

Much later that as night fell, Dinah was preparing for bed in her tent. It was empty at the time, as the other girls who resided in it were taking their turn with bathing. It had taken the army most of the day, but almost all of them had taken a bath. Everyone was feeling a lot better, and morale was back up. Dinah was wearing her armor to sleep. They had learned that the hard way after the pigman attack. As she yawned and set her head on her pillow, she heard something. There was a scratching noise.

The corporal lifted her head and grabbed her sword. She craned her neck around, acutely aware. Considering that the camp was heavily guarded, she doubted that some monster could sneak in. She got to her feet, drawing her weapon. Then her tent flapped on one side. She spun around, her sword at the ready.

It was one of the lagomorphs. It stood in her tent, sniffing the air. It had dug through the bottom of the tent, so it could come inside. Dinah put her hand to her chest and sighed. It was probably the one from earlier, coming to give her a visit. She sheathed her sword and knelt down.

"What are you doing here?" she asked. "It's not safe!" The lagomorph hopped over to her. It sniffed her hand, as if confused. "Oh, you can't smell me with my armor on!" She quickly took off her gauntlet and held her bare hand out. The rabbit-man leaned over, sniffed it for a moment, and then began licking her fingers. "Hey! Stop that!" The lagomorph leaned back. He stood on his feet and let out a high-pitch squeak. "Aw, that's adorable. Did you miss me-"

Something hit the back of Dinah's head, hard. She could hear it crack against her skull, like she had been hit with a hammer. Stars exploded in her eyes, and then blackness enveloped her. The last thing she felt was herself hitting the ground. Then it was all blank.

*

As the sun rose, Renard shuffled his way back into camp. His feet were dragging in the sand. His eyes were notably glassy, and bags were forming under them. As he approached the nearest guard, they drew their sword and approached.

"Renard!" the guard shouted.

"What?" Renard growled harshly. It was so hateful that the solider actually flinched, afraid he was going to be attacked.

"The...the colonel wants to see you, immediately!"

"That's a shock." the fox-man bit. He growled and began shuffling toward the colonel's tent. The guard was supposed to follow him, but he suddenly felt apprehensive. Instead, he stayed at his post. There was something suddenly lethal about the previously jovial fox-man.

As Renard entered the tent, he saw that it was filled. All of the officers were in there, including Sam Ageril, Tay Rainground, Eliza Bevens, and Talia Fenner, the whole gang. It had apparently been called in a hurry, as Talia wasn't wearing her armor. They all turned and looked at Renard as he entered. The fox-man stopped, groaned, and slumped a little.

"Alright, what happened?" he asked. Colonel Lionheart stood up from his table, his face red again.