Fox Hunt by anonymous

Anthro fox hunting

Kind of fucked up but also an interesting concept

Ywn live in 13th century anthro Britain
Humans, canines, and the odd feline all comingle together under the rule of your local nobility
Foxes, however, have never submit to this way of life, and continue to live in tribes in the forest on the fringes of civilized lands
They commonly raid your village under the cover of night, stealing tools, gold, and food
They particularly enjoy stealing and killing chickens (or as your local canines joke, "they enjoy devouring cocks", followed by raucous laughter)
When this happens enough times, the local human and canine men will band together and go on a fox hunt to put a stop to it
In order to send a message to the nearby fox tribes to stop their raiding immediately, these tend to be particularly brutal affairs, with the captured foxes either killed outright or captured as slaves and humiliated publicly
Canines in particular have a particular racial hatred towards foxes, despite being so closely related, and given that you live in an area where they are the simple majority, their fox hunts are the most brutal of all
As a farmer yourself with a not insignificant number of chickens lost to their lot, you hate the fox raids as much as anybody else, but even so, to treat them like that?
You just couldn't abide by it
As a result you'd made excuses every time another fox hunt had been called, not wanting to take part in such a barbaric activity
The people of your village would lightly jeer at you for it but would generally be content to leave it at that
Now, however, you are faced with a conundrum
Not 30 minutes ago, you heard the horn signal that a fox had been found, and all of the men in the village, sans yourself, had grabbed their arming swords and pitchforks
This time they managed to close the village's gates before the vulpine villain could escape, and they were now tearing the village apart searching for their quarry
You, for your part, had no interest in taking part, and had turned your lanterns out early to signify that you had no intent in joining in on the pogrom, preparing instead for an early day’s rest
Except your plans were dashed when, upon going out to your spring cellar, you saw something decidedly foreign within
Two green eyes, their pupils dilated and trembling in abject horror, stared back at you, revealed by the moonlight pouring in
So this is where the fox had been hiding, right under your nose…
As you opened the cellar door just a bit more, drawing your rondel for self-defense just in case, the moonlight revealed the thief
In typical fox fashion, he wore relatively little clothing, allowing you to see that he was young and athletic looking with a striking auburn pelt but also rail thin
He remained crouched on the cellar floor, his hackles raised and his tail bristled with panic and terror
There was a large, deep gash on his left hindpaw, likely the reason he hadn’t already escaped or tried to attack you
And sitting beside him in a sack that had been cut open in his escape, were multiple pieces of gold and three dead chickens
Angered at the sight of the dead chickens, you were just about to call the guardsmen to your location when the fox finally spoke in a desperate, pleading voice:
”P-please… don’t call the demons! J-just kill me yourself if you want to! Anything but… but…”, before curling up into a shivering, fulvous ball in a show of surrender

And so, you did the only thing you could think of in the moment
You closed the cellar door and placed two locks on it, for good measure
With the deed done, you let the reality sink in that you now had a fox trapped in your cellar
He was wounded, unarmed and clearly malnourished, so you didn’t really think he would pose much physical threat to you
No, the problem would be what would happen if the town hounds found him
And found that you had protected him
you paced back and forth running a hand through your hair trying to rack your brain for a safe plan that would get rid of this fox, while also avoiding the attention of the locals.
with no other option than to wait for his hind paw to heal, you groan and grab some cloth and alcohol.
looks like no early nights rest after all.
you reopen the door to the cellar, after checking your surroundings first, only to see the same curled up ball of fluff shaking on the ground.
you felt a bit of pity for the trembling being until you saw the three chickens that were tightly clutched in his hands.
while rushing over to him, his emerald eyes locked on to yours.
they were filled with terror.
you slowed your pace down, taking in the vulnerable state of the cowering fox.
He pulls himself into a sitting position and scrambles backwards until his back hits the wall.
”N-no, p-please, don’t take me to those demons!”
you halt to that word…demons.
jeez, you knew what the other villagers did to the foxes was pretty cruel, but to call them demons? What has this fox been through?
you take a knee a comfortable distance away from the terrified fox and sigh.
”I’m not gonna take you away. I’m… I’m here to help you.” You say extending out a hand.
the fox continued to stare at your hand and then your face.
still sensing distrust in the vulpine, you fetch out the cloth and small bottle of alcohol.
”your gonna get nowhere with that injured foot. It needs to heal up otherwise you’ll be too easy to catch.”
there was still hesitancy in the fox.
”Look, I want you out of here as much as you do, but if you don’t want my help I’m more than willing to call the canine-“
”wait!”
the fox extends its left hind paw towards you with his face and eyes cast down.
”Please. Just don’t call them.”
you move up closer to grab his foot to which he retracts just a bit before extending it back.
mending the wound caused the fox to hiss and wriggle his leg, no doubt to the sting of alcohol, but eventually the wound was clean and tightly wrapped.
”anywhere else?” You asked only to receive a shake of the head.
”I see that you’ve killed three of my chickens. You must be hungry, yes?”
a nod
”how about a trade then. You give me those chickens and I’ll get you something to eat and drink?”
the fox hesitated at first but dropped them In your hand.
Alright, you stay here and I’ll be right back. We’ll discuss how to get you back where ever you came from while we eat.”
Now alone, the fox was left to sulk and mope.
”The human was just delaying your inevitable, using you to find the rest of your dying tribe”, he thought.
”I shouldn’t have been so greedy”

Than he looked back to the tightly wrapped, makeshift bandage on his left hind paw and caressed with his paw-hands.
The gash definitely hurt a lot less now thanks to the human.
Every time he twinged at the pain the human would stop and look up at him with concern.
It was nice that he cared… maybe, just maybe he could trust the human.
The thought quickly dissipated from the smallest scent of roasted chicken.
————————
The auburn fox was practically drooling by the time you opened the door. You presumed that his specialized nose gave him a heightened sense of smell.
Your dinner was certainly interesting, with the fox swiping his much larger bowl from your hands and quickly scarfing it down, not even opting to use the provided utensils.
There was another bowl for you but you decided to set it down and leave it for the skinny fox to finish up in case he was still hungry.
That’s when he finally looked up from his bowl.
”sorry” he said with a face full of sorrow
An apology? Why?
”that was rude of me to eat without letting the provider have the first bite”
Ah, tribal customs. You didn’t care, the famished fox was obviously hungry so it made sense for him to dig in, but it seems like he wouldn’t continue until you at least took a bite.
With the fox eating at a slower pace it seems like a perfect time for questioning.
his name was “Vash” and he was from the Jinka tribe just Northwest from the city.
He was trying to bring back food for his family since his tribe was suffering from a famine caused by the Westward expansion of your colony.
There was a pause after that. Then he asked something that stunned you.
Why were you helping him? He killed your chickens, tried to steal them, and broke into your spring cellar. So, why?
because when you said you were about to call the other towns folk, that was just an empty threat. You were never gonna call them because you knew what they would have done to him. The torture and humiliation isn’t right, and to put a defenseless starving fox through that… It just didn’t sit well.
”thank you” Vash said with a small but meaningful smile.
The talk lasted till midnight to which you yawned and got up to head to your quarters. Looking back, you felt bad leaving the recovering fox to lie on the cold, hard ground.
You didn’t have any extra bedding or sheets since it was just you, so you checked outside to see if the coast was clear and when it was, you offered to take him into your abode.
Vash had perked his ears to that suggestion and, without hesitation, nodded.
after seeing him try to limp himself over to you, you lifted his lithe stature up into your arms like a bride and quickly rushed into your home and planted him on the bed.
a little flushed, the fox squeaked out a “thank you”.
you took the other side of the bed and blew out the candles.

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Pub: 04 Oct 2022 18:48 UTC
Views: 1215