Crusade Gone Awry Ch. 05

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(WARNING: This one is WEIRD. This chapter contains: mind control, dolls, creampies, impregnation, latex, toys, a detachable penis, body modification, piercings, gender-bender, transformation, anal, M/F/F, and uh...ejaculating with someone else's sperm. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.)

*****

Just like Renard had fallen when he slept, he abruptly sat up awake. It was so sudden that Talia practically jumped out of her skin. For a few moments, the fox-man made a series of high-pitch chirping and whining noises. Then he opened his mouth and gave out a huge yawn. As he rubbed his eyes he turned to look at Talia.

"Oh? You still here?" he asked.

"What was that?" Talia asked, half-laughing.

"Fennec noises." Renard replied flatly. "Sometimes my tribe makes them when we first wake up. Apparently real fennec foxes make ear-splitting noises like that too, though I've never seen one. Is it morning?"

"Yeah, just daybreak."

Renard cocked his eyebrow. "You sat there all night?"

"It's fine. I can sleep sitting up."

"Wha...? You can!?"

"It's a soldier thing. You get so busy for days and nights at a time that you learn to fall asleep in all kinds of positions. I got a few hours, I'll be fine."

"You continue to amaze Talia." The fox-man stood up and began dusting off his clothes. Then to Talia's amusement, he began to seemingly preen himself. He began to carefully pluck each hair of his fur, trying to get the sand out of them. It must be how he groomed himself.

"Hey, listen." Talia began. Renard turned to look at her. "I'm sorry for what I said yesterday."

"Hm?" the fox-man asked, his eyebrow back up. "Oh. The monster thing. It's fine, don't worry about it. Hamid called me way worse and he's basically like my brother."

"All the same, I shouldn't have said it. I apologize."

"Well if you insist, you're forgiven. My people don't handle lack of sleep very well. I've heard stories of members of my tribe that have lost their mind after only four days of no sleep. I got plenty now, so I'll be fine."

At that moment, the flap of the tent fluttered open. Talia instantly went stiff as a soldier marched inside. The captain was dressed in little clothing and she was with Renard first thing in the morning. It didn't take a genius to draw the wrong conclusion. As if to illustrate that fact, the soldier froze, staring at her with wide eyes. There was an uncomfortable silence.

"Got a problem?" Renard snapped.

The soldier flinched and turned to the fox-man. "Oh...uh...no sir."

"Captain Talia was ordered to keep track of me." Renard continued. "That's what she's doing here. Do not go spreading any unnecessary rumors, or you might have to explain to Colonel Lionheart why you're slandering a soldier following orders, got it?"

"Yes sir, sorry sir." the soldier replied. "Colonel Lionheart wants to see you immediately."

"Let me guess," Renard began. "someone else is missing."

"Yes sir."

The fox-man closed his eyes and sighed. "Of course. Alright, I'll be there shortly. Go about your business." The soldier bowed and then left. Renard turned back to Talia. "You better get going before more soldiers get the wrong idea."

"That's probably wise." she replied, standing up. "Thanks Renard. I'm glad we're still friends."

"Me too Talia. Now I've got to go meet Colonel Grumpy."

A short time late Renard entered Colonel Lionheart's tent. The only two people inside were the colonel himself and a very nervous Catarina. Fortunately, Renard was in much better control of himself this time.

"You called for me colonel?" Renard asked, putting on a smile.

"First Lieutenant Eliza Bevens did not return from her search mission." Lionheart growled. "I have lost another officer."

"That one did seem a tad unstable." the fox-man replied. "Colonel, you might not like this idea, but I think we need to keep moving. Your troops have this habit of wandering off by themselves and getting picked off. I'm not saying it's their fault, but it's probably going to keep happening if we stay in one place."

Lionheart narrowed his eyes. He had prepared for a fight, but Renard was calm and collected. What he said mostly made sense as well. He didn't trust the fox-man, but it wasn't as if he had a choice otherwise.

"I don't like losing my officers." the colonel finally said.

"I don't suspect you would, all the same, your army is still intact, and we have somewhat of a long journey to the next oasis. I know you hate abandoning them, but sending out more search parties will lose you more troops."

"On that, at least, we agree. You said the path to the next oasis is clear?"

"I walked there without a single trouble."

"Let's pray that remains true. As soon as we complete the muster call, you will lead us there. Now prepare to move out."

*

Eliza Bevens had followed the hellhound for the entire day and into the night. For his part, the hound didn't seem to regard her with any suspicion or aggression. He merely kept plodding along, as if she was nothing to worry about. When they came to a collection of cliffs and rocks however, he rounded a corner, and then he was gone.

The lieutenant stopped for a moment and her jaw dropped. She whipped her head around, but didn't find a single clue of the legendary monster. All of those hours of following the hellhound, hoping to get a chance for him to stay still so she could sketch him, seemingly came to nothing. Despite the fact that it was night, she decided to search around the large rocks, some as big as a castles. The more she searched, the more aggravated she became. There was now sign of him, no hair, no tracks, nothing. He had completely vanished. Could hellhounds use magic? She had never heard of anything like it.

Finally defeated after hours of searching in the blackness of the night, Eliza sighed and sat on a nearby rock. She had gone very far out of her way, ignored her search mission, and basically disobeyed orders to get a look at this hellhound, for nothing. She could return to the army, but she would need a good explanation for running off. Maybe she was captured? But by what? How did she get away. She sighed again, then heard a slight sound off to her left. She turned her head.

Pigmen, four of them, heavily armed, were attempting to sneak up on her. One of them had briefly tapped his foot against a rock by mistake. Everyone froze. Eliza could feel something cold run through her. These creatures were big and bulky, larger than most men back home. On top of that, each of them were armed with axes and swords. She couldn't possibly fight all four of them at once. Ever so slowly, she began to shuffle off of the rock, and onto her feet. Each of the pigmen turned and looked at each other. Then one turned towards her and let out a squeal.

They all charged at her at once. Eliza turned and began bolting as fast as she could through the desert. After running for some distance, she turned her head to see how close they were. They were gaining on her, fast. Despite their huge size, their pace was inhuman. Their feet kicked up huge plumes of sand behind them as their claws dug into the ground with every step. They were built for this, she was not. Eliza's desperate eyes scanned the rocks as she fled through them. She needed to place to hide, a place to defend herself from. As she rounded a bend, she spotted a hole at the bottom of a cliff. Knowing this was either the right decision or the worst decision, Eliza dove for it.

It was just big enough for her to fit through, and once she got her head inside, she saw the tiny cave beyond it was barely enough for her. She shimmied and scuttled until she popped inside. It was so small, she had to stay on all fours. She managed to turn herself around, hoping that the pigmen didn't see her.

They either had seen her or they smelled her, as the first thing she saw was a pig-like nose snorting at the entrance. Feeling panicked, Eliza took her sword and jabbed it forward. It struck the pigman in the nose, causing it to squeal. Much to her shock, the pigman didn't fight back. Instead, she saw fingers. They were clawing at the entrance of the tiny cave. They were trying to make the opening bigger! Eliza stabbed at the digits, earning more squeals. They pulled away, and then there was silence. The lieutenant tried to catch her breath as she waited for their next attack. They could easily stab at her through the hole, why didn't they try? It would probably kill her eventually...

She felt her gust tighten as she came to a realization: they didn't want to kill her. They wanted to take her...as a captive. If they stabbed into the cave they could gravely injure her. They didn't want that. They wanted her whole...and ready to go. Eliza could feel fear seize her gut as she heard loud banging noises on the rock all around her. They were trying to chisel into the cliff, so they could get to her. For many tense minutes, Eliza expected the tiny cave to crumble and for their grubby paws to seize her. Instead she heard the sound of something metal snapping. One of their weapons must have broke. There were then many grunts, growls, and squeals. The pigmen were talking, probably forming a plan. Eliza gazed out of her tiny opening, expecting some sort of attack. Instead, she heard the sound of heavy creatures hitting the sand. She could see from their shadows that they were sitting, trading things around that could be water skins or food.

They were waiting her out. Eliza groaned and put her face to the ground. How was she supposed to get out of this? All they had to do was wait until she was too exhausted to fight back, then they would just pull her out. That would only take a few days in the blazing heat. She would be nothing but their plaything. Eliza turned and put her cheek against the floor, lamenting her fate. All that effort to find a hellhound, and now no one would ever know that they still exist. It was all she ever wanted, to discover new and interesting creatures, and now she was trapped.

*

The crusader army moved on without Eliza. They crossed the desert, guided by Renard to the next oasis. Just as he promised, there were no problems, just dunes of sand and the occasional rock outcroppings. Once they arrived, the crusaders were a little disappointed with what they found. It was small, with only a few palm trees and some grass. It would do for refilling their water supplies, but little else. Shortly after they arrived, the sun set and the crusaders made camp. That was when Renard gave them an exhaustive list of instructions: Don't leave camp. Don't touch anything. Don't pet the rabbits. Don't take off your armor. Finally, don't eat anything you can't identify. With that, the camp fell into sleep, most of them anyway.

Talia entered Renard's tent, this time wearing her armor. She made sure no one would see her, so those rumors wouldn't spread. When she crossed the tent flap, she found the fox-man sitting on the floor, studying a map. The captain paused for a few moments, a little confused.

"Is that a map?" she asked. Renard lowered half of the parchment and gave her a cocked eyebrow.

"Yeah? And?"

"You had a map this whole time!?"

Renard narrowed his eyes and turned the piece of paper around. Talia could see that it was a rough sketch, and it wasn't complete.

"I'm making a map." Renard stated. "The fennec tribe never drew maps because we didn't want people horning in on our business. I've decided to change that."

"Oh." Talia said. "Sorry."

Renard flipped the map back around. "There are some problems with it though..."

Talia walked over and sat beside him. "Like what?"

"Well, believe it or not the oases change every few decades."

"Wha...for real?"

"Yep. They dry up in one place and pop back up some where else. This one here is about dry. Pretty soon, it won't be a pit stop anymore. On top of that, the dangers constantly change. Fifty years ago, pigmen weren't even a problem. Now they are everywhere. A map might not be so useful after all."

"Huh." was all Talia said.

Renard sighed and lowered the map to his lap. "You didn't come here to talk about maps though, did you?"

"No. I didn't." she admitted. "While we were marching I was thinking...about stuff."

"Stuff?"

"Yeah, the demon king in particular. Renard, do you think we stand a chance against him?"

There was a pause before Renard answered. "I have no idea, I've never met him."

"You have to have some idea of how powerful he is."

"Powerful enough to make everything in the desert yield to him I guess. Honestly, I've only heard the legends."

"What do the legends say?"

There was another pause. "They're not important."

"Renard...!"

"Listen, Talia, they make up all kinds of stories. Some say he's ten feet tall, others say he can fly, and some others even say that he's a myth we made up. In all honesty I don't know what to believe."

"You're leading an army to him. Won't he be mad at you?"

"...He might be."

"You're not worried he'll kill you?" There was yet another pause. This one made Talia's guts twist in a knot. She remembered what Renard had told her before. His lot in life had been chosen for him. Everyone viewed him as a philandering fox, and even if he went back to his tribe that wouldn't change. He was stuck in his life...unable to escape. "Renard...do you want him to...?"

"Don't be ridiculous." Renard scoffed. "I just wanted to brush up on my desert skills!"

"What for? You live in the city."

"Hey, do I question you about why you're here in the desert?"

"Actually you have."

"Well I shouldn't have." Renard lifted his map back up, trying to end the conversation. He desperately tried to ignore the fact that Talia was staring at him with her sapphire-blue eyes. He licked his lips nervously and his eyes raced all over the map. Talia continued to stare. Finally, she leaned over and put her head on his shoulder. Renard jumped, but didn't do anything.

"You're my only friend Renard." Talia said. "Friends don't leave each other, right?"

Renard gulped. "I guess."

"If you die, I'll never forgive you."

The fox-man's eyes glanced upwards for a moment. "The desert makes no promises."

Much to Renard's shock, Talia raised her hands, grabbed his face, and turned him towards her. His brown eyes stared into her blue ones.

"Renard. Why did you come out here?"

The fox-man's mouth twitched for a few moments, words escaping him. "You were cute so..."

"You don't follow a cute girl to certain death. Why did you come out here?"

"My people came from the desert, why can't I just go back to it? What? I need some deep, emotional reason I want to come back here? I just went! What difference does it make?"

"It makes a difference to me." Talia inched her face closer to his. Much to her surprise, Renard scooted away, putting enough distance between them that she couldn't reach him anymore.

"There's...there's this other tribe!" Renard spat.

"Other tribe?" Talia asked.

"Yes, another fox-man tribe. We are the fennecs. They were the dark-eyed tribe. They were darker in color, with black fur around their eyes nose. They...they don't have castes. They were known to accept runaways from the fennec tribe. I wanted to look for them, okay? Happy now?" Renard turned back to his map, trying to ignore her staring at him again.

"And if...you couldn't find them...?"

"Talia, I don't nag you, don't nag me." Renard said firmly. The captain could see that the fox-man was actually becoming angry. His face had turned a little red. It didn't matter how many times she poked at the spot, Renard wasn't going to give her anymore information. Talia cast her eyes to the ground for a moment. Then she scooted a little closer to him, tilted over and put her head in his lap. Renard lifted his hands and gazed down at her with a confounded expression.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"If you die Renard, I'll be sad." she said. "You don't want to make a cute girl sad, do you?"

The fox-man blinked a few times dumbly. "Are you using your looks to try and get something out of me?"

"I want you to promise me that you won't die."

"Talia..."

"Promise me Renard, or we're not friends."

The fox-man's jaw snapped shut. He seemed to debate it for a few moments.

"Fine Talia. I promise I won't die."

"Good." she said. She then turned over, so that she wasn't looking at Renard anymore, but still laid in his lap. It almost looked as if she were mad at him. Renard scoffed and returned to his map. Talia didn't move for a long time.

*

The next day, the army was on the move yet again. This time, at least, they didn't lose anyone in the night. There was something Renard was hiding from them however. They were about at the point where the people of Tarbat stopped. Sure, the fennecs knew of some oases beyond, but that information was decades old. The oases may have disappeared. As the army marched by a rather large rock, Renard, quite nimbly, jumped up the side and climbed it. At the top he put his paw over the top of his eyes, trying to get a better view. He was hoping to see another oasis, but instead only found more desert. He really hoped he could have an answer for where to go next, rather than a guess. Colonel Lionheart was liable to try and slice him up.

"Renard!" a voice cried. The fox-man whipped his head around to see that further down the line, a group of soldiers had stopped moving. They had gathered around something. Equally as nimble, Renard jumped down the rock and dashed over. When he went through the crowd, he found they had congregated around a skeleton. It appeared to have a human upper body, but a horse-like lower body. The fox-man trotted over to it and gazed down at it, actually kind of somber.

"Is that...?" one of the soldiers asked.

"Yeah. It's the skeleton of a centaur." Renard admitted.

Abruptly, someone tore through the crowd. They ran over to Renard, an excited expression on his face.

"Centaurs? We finally found centaurs!?" It was Tay Rainground, the captain who was in charge of the pack animals. Much to Renard's horror, he had the same expression that Eliza had when she found a new creature.

"Uh...not exactly." Renard said.

"But these are their bones!" Tay cried. "They have to be around here, right!?"

"Look, clam down. I hate to tell you this, but the centaurs are gone."

Tay looked as if someone had just crushed his hopes and dreams. He slouched and his mouth gaped open. "What? What do you mean? Everyone knows there are centaurs here!"

"I hate to break this to you, but they went extinct a long time ago. In the last crusade, these evil snapping trees rampaged through the desert, and nearly wiped them out. The pigmen wiped out the rest."

"But...but you don't know for sure!" Tay cried a little petulantly. Renard sighed, marched over to Tay, and put his hand on the crusader's shoulder.

"Listen, I don't want to be the killer of dreams, I know you're the horse guy and everything, but trust me. My tribe was allied with literally the last twelve of them. They went down fighting, as centaurs loved to do. They're gone. It happens in the desert."

Tay gazed at the ground. Renard actually felt a little bad. It really did look like he crushed the poor guy's greatest desire. The crusader finally nodded, turned around, and walked away. When Tay was finally away Renard gazed up at the sky and gave a deep sigh.

"Good grief these people!" he shouted. He turned back around to the centaur's bones. In truth, the fennecs and the centaurs had an understanding between them. If they were to find the bodies of any fallen, it was their duty to bury them. Even though there were no longer any centaurs, that didn't mean the promise was broken. Renard sighed again, marched over to the bones, and began scooping sand onto the body. It wasn't proper, but the bones would at least be under the ground. Then his claws scraped against something hard.