Friend, Foe, or Slave

Chapter Two: Hope is Restored

Written by Omegawolf

Copyright © 2007 by Omegawolf, all rights reserved. Reproduction and distribution of this work by any means without the expressed written permission of the author, or hotlinking from another website without the expressed written permission of the author and BondoFox, is expressly forbidden. Similarity to any person, living or dead, is coincidental.

Author's Note: This story contains M/F rape! If this offends you, do not read further!

Shane stood silently among a mumbling crowd. News of the king's death was already being circulated among the population of the capital. The raccoons were in shock. The rumors spread like a plague through the capital, and to outlying cities within days. The capital and all neighboring cities were only waiting. Cities emptied into the capital, thousands of raccoons flooding the capital to hear the official word.

Finally, someone emerged from the castle gates. Silence swept through the crowd as he approached the waiting crowd. The silence in the city was like nothing ever witnessed before, even with the new arrivals.

"I come before you today with news, both terrible and grand! The rumors of King Alex's death are indeed true! He was killed by an angry fox, who apparently was trained well as an assassin!"

The crowd erupted in a loud murmur. Shane remained silent, wondering if the sudden sense of justice he received from this news was something to embrace or fear. The announcer raised his paws, waiting for the crowd to fall silent again.

"However, the news isn't completely grim, friends! While no living heirs to King Alex were found, we do, now, have a new king! Under these stressful circumstances, Advisor Ian was accepted unanimously and immediately to the throne! He vows to continue the work Alex started, and crush these slaving monsters as quickly as they can be found! City patrols will be doubled to ensure your safety, and caravan routes will be fiercely protected! We will unite against this crisis like never before to ensure that future generations never see a day like this again! Long live King Ian!"

The crowd erupted once again, repeating "Long live King Ian!" before cheering loudly around a still-silent Shane. Shane's attention, however, was quickly drawn to a nearby raccoon who was obviously upset, openly mocking the words of this announcer. Shane quickly moved to him, holding up a finger to try and silence him.

"Wait, wait! Shhh… don't go getting yourself imprisoned."

"With the stepped-up patrols, we'll already be imprisoned!"

"Will you stop it! If you want to spread this, you can't do it from a cell!"

"It's all true, you know. Ian talks about putting down the slavers when just yesterday he brought in a slave for himself!"

"He… what?"

"Yes! One of those foxes he keeps going on about!"

"You know… not too long ago I would have turned you in for saying something like that. You had better be more careful what you say in public. Trust me on this. I know what awaits someone like you in the dungeon."

The stranger paused for a moment and nodded slowly, walking back through the crowd to disappear. Shane sighed, wondering if peace and compassion had been flushed from the kingdom for good.

Todd had finally arrived at the Badger Kingdom. This was the farthest he had ever traveled before and he was quite tired. He considered stopping to rest here, even though it was early, but his energy returned to him as he spotted the tavern mentioned in Hans's directions, a tavern King Victor himself stayed at during his state visits to the Badger Kingdom. The door was guarded by two foxes. This had to be the place! He rushed towards the building without thinking, quickly stopped by a threatening spear.

"How did you find us, raccoon?!"

Todd raised his arms in surrender immediately.

"Wait! Hold on! I come alone! I need to speak to your queen!"

"Denied. You're not leaving here either."

"I've come to help you! I brought these!"

Todd showed the ring and the arrow to the guards, who didn't recognize the arrow, but the ring was something that could not be mistaken.

"I hope, for your sake, you didn't kill to get that ring!"

"Not even if I wanted to! It belongs to the assassin, Hans!"

"Hans?!"

The two guards turn to each other, occasionally glancing back at the small raccoon to make sure he doesn't try anything.

"There's no way this little guy could have killed a trained assassin."

"It's unlikely, but we can't rule it out. What if he was trained as well? Maybe he got incredibly lucky?"

"I doubt it. I mean he came right up to us."

"Trying to get to the queen, of course."

Todd interrupts the two guards and offers the arrow to them.

"He said I should show this arrow to Samuel."

"Samuel?"

The guards turned to each other and nodded. There was little chance the raccoon could have discovered secrets of the royal court on his own. One guard took the arrow inside while the other watched the raccoon, still not ruling out a potential spying mission. After some mumbling and then a surprised voice inside, the door flew open, nearly knocking the remaining guard over, an older-looking fox stepping out with the arrow.

"You! What on earth happened that got Hans to trust you?!"

Todd began to answer, but was quickly interrupted.

"No, no tell me later! Come inside! I'll get the queen!"

The arrow obviously did it. Todd was accepted into the tavern without any more question as if he were a fox, himself. There was some excited shuffling around the lobby, only a few badgers in sight, but mostly the foxes from the castle. A female, who he wouldn't have guessed would be the queen from the way she was dressed stepped in with a surprised look as she approached the young raccoon.

"Hans sent you here to speak with me? Is he alright?"

"He was fine when I met him. He was on his way to our capitol when we parted. I imagine he's been there and left by now."

"We can only hope his mission was successful. We might not get another chance."

"Whatever you're trying to do, I want to help!"

Tracy's eyes center on the boy in complete surprise.

"What is your name?"

"Todd, your majesty."

"Todd, I don't think it would be right to ask…"

"You don't have to ask. I'm offering."

"You… can stay here for as long as you like but I can't allow…"

"Technically speaking, your majesty, you have no hold over me. I'm a raccoon. Even if you order me not to help, I'm not bound by that, and I'll find a way to help you whether you allow me to or not. You can either let me blindly attempt to assist you, having no idea what I'm up to, or you can tell me what needs to be done. Don't tell me you can't let me help you."

There was a long silence, and a smile across the queen's muzzle.

"Very well, Todd. You win this one, but at least stay here for a few days. I'll consult with my court. We'll find a way for you to help us. Deal?"

Todd smiled and nodded as a guard directed him to a room. Two nights passed, the first a sleepless one, and the second nearly the same until the raccoon's body finally gave way to sleep. The sleep was desperately needed to reset his mind. He couldn't stop wondering if Hans was ok. This worry unfortunately invaded his dreams, but still, he had his sleep, and his mind was ready to be of better use to him.

In the morning, he was informed that the queen had a job for him. He was already willing to accept before knowing what that job was as he made his way out of his room, his eyes widening as he dashed into the lobby.

"Hans?!"

The large fox turned to Todd with a smile, some of the court seeing this smile for the first time ever as Todd rushed over to hug him.

"How did you get back here so fast?!"

"You took the path. I don't take those even when I don't have raccoons planning to kill me on sight. I prefer a more direct route."

"I'm glad you're safe! I had trouble sleeping!"

Hans pats Todd affectionately on the head and turns to the queen.

"The job is done. Alex is dead. Ian should have been made king by now. I do wish I could have killed him too. While he's king there will be…"

"Ian will die, but not yet. There are many reasons we must wait to deal with him, but the only one I can say now is that we must make sure he believes we've given up. That false sense of security will be enough to give us the edge when we make our move. However… it's going to be a longer wait than I'm comfortable with to say the least… All other reasons must be kept between myself and Advisor Samuel. We can't risk a leak… Todd?"

"Yes, majesty?"

"There is, indeed, something you could do… that would help us to accomplish our task with as little commotion and bloodshed as possible."

Todd's eyes lit up at this opportunity.

"Really?! Tell me!"

Tracy chuckled at the energy in the defecting raccoon's voice.

"Very well. How does one join the raccoon royal guard?"

"Well… you'd have to be in the infantry for a certain number of years and leave it on good terms… leaving for the purpose of joining the royal guard is a good start… there of course must be no signs of any disloyalty to the king… I can't remember much else, but I can find out more."

"It sounds good enough. I need you to find raccoons that are willing to help us. Try to get them into the royal guard, but you must be very careful. If you're discovered it could blow this plan apart."

"I understand. I'll be careful, and I'll try to come back with good news."

"Thank you, Todd. Your efforts will always be remembered, no matter the outcome. You may leave when you feel you're ready. Take your time."

"I'd like to get started now."

Tracy nodded, and Todd turned to the door. Hans watched him for a moment, and seconds after he closed the tavern door, Hans quickly moved out towards the departing raccoon.

"Hold on a second, Todd."

Todd stopped, turning to look at the large fox as he approached, placing a paw on the smaller raccoon's shoulder.

"I was thinking, Todd… this mission is very dangerous and could get you killed if you're not…"

"I'll be careful, but I am going to do it. Don't you try to stop me too."

"You misunderstand."

Todd blinks in curiosity as Hans scratches behind his ears lightly with that same, rare smile on his muzzle.

"I know I can't stop you, but I must stay here and help to plan out next move. After all, I know how to get into the castle should we need to, but there's no telling when you'll be back, if ever. I was wondering if… if you'd be willing to stay here one more night…"

"Oh um… well… I… I can do that."

Everyone slept much easier, that night, except for Tracy. She stood outside her room, pacing slowly. She sighed impatiently, the coming wait already getting to her. A yawning Samuel tiredly walked towards her.

"Your majesty…"

"I'm never going to get used to being called that, you know."

"You'll never get used to a lot of things if you don't get some sleep every now and then."

"I can't help it. The months and months we're going to have to wait, I… I don't know where my sister is, and I have no idea what has happened to the rest of our people that couldn't get out... And with Ian as King-"

"Listen to me. If we try anything too soon, we could lose everything. What good will it do if we can't stop this madness for all time? You're not the only one worried about our people, but these long months are nothing compared to the peace that will reign if we do this right. Try to think about what we're waiting for, instead of the wait itself, and get some sleep, please."

Tracy sighed slowly and nodded. With a comforting pat on the shoulder, Samuel returned to his room. He was right. Walking back and forth, staring at the floor, would do no good at all. She stepped back into her room and collapsed on her bed. She took Samuel's advice to heart, closing her eyes and thinking about the foxes and the raccoons as a unified people.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a thump against the other side of the wall. Her ears perked up and she opened her eyes, hearing two male voices in the room beside her. One of them was easily identifiable, and the other was moaning quite loudly. With a snort, she sat up and banged her palm against the wall.

"Hans, keep it down in there! These walls aren't as thick as the castle's!"

A long, awkward silence followed, and then Hans's voice came through the wall once more.

"Apologies, your majesty!"

Tracy shook her head and sank back into the bed, and within minutes, the lack of sleep caught up with her, and she finally drifted off.

That night at the raccoon capitol, Ian was taking care of last-minute affairs, but the royal court did notice his being slightly distracted through most of the meeting. Although distracted, Ian was perfectly intent on setting in motion a plan to introduce a few foxes into the black market of slavery, and plans to make the penalties for slavery less and less severe, and eventually eliminate these penalties altogether and then even promote the idea of free slave trade. The capture of whole towns of foxes would make this much easier as he could introduce them under the idea that they deserved their life in servitude, both in labor and in sex. Discussing this with the court was quite easy. After all, Alex was the one who hired all of them. There wouldn't need to be much change in the courts for Ian to execute his plans. Along with the personal appeal, even a small tax on this would be incredible.

Ian was happy to conclude the meeting early, and left it quickly. He had some personal business to take care of in his room. With a fast pace, he made his way down the hall to his room where two guards stood at attention and then opened the double-doors into the king's bedroom.

As he walked inside, he eyed his new toy, the small and frightened vixen, Kristen, who gasped and pulled at her chains the moment she saw the large raccoon enter. This was the first night she had been chained up in the room and the first time she saw the tall raccoon enter. She couldn't move. The only thing not restrained was her tail, which she fearfully used to cover up her otherwise-exposed sex. Her ankles were bound to two ends of a spreader-bar, which was chained to a hook in the wall behind her, and the ends had two short lengths of chain running to the braces on her paws, which were tightly chained to the bars of the bed behind her. She was on her back, legs spread and extended into the air, unable to move around except for a slight squirm.

Her ears folded back as a soft whimper escaped her, seeing the large raccoon slowly approach her, removing his new crown and gold bracelets and setting them next to the bed as he moved into it next to Kristen, who's eyes followed him as she tried to squirm to the side away from him, her body shuddering more the closer he got to her. This only brought a sick smile to the new King's muzzle as he inched towards her.

"Tell me… what do you think I'm going to do that's making you so afraid of me?"

Kristen didn't answer as Ian moved next to her, his body coming inches from touching hers, placing a paw against her cheek, which caused her to move her head quickly, trying to get as far away from him as she can manage with these tight restraints.

"You're a shy one, aren't you?"

Again, she didn't respond, but the fear grew in her eyes and she finally responded with a gasp as that paw on her cheek suddenly reached down and groped her breast firmly, making her jerk her body trying to get away from that lustful touch which confirmed her fears, making her whimper loudly, even as the paw left her breast. That paw slid slowly down her abdomen, fingers running through the soft white fur down her front. As the paw reached her pubis, her squirming became more energetic.

"Don't!"

Ian smiled at this, removing his paw from her pubis, much to her relief.

"Ah, you do speak, then. Good. Then you can tell me what you don't want. Do you not want me to use my paw to play with your sexy bits?"

Kristen didn't know what to think of this, but a small trickle of hope was seen in her eyes as she shook her head, wondering if she would be able to talk her way out of this, but her hopes started to disappear and fear returned as she looked down, seeing him expose his thick shaft from his clothing.

"Of course you don't. You want me to use this."

Kristen shook her head quickly. As well as not wanting to be raped again, that cock was much thicker than the two she had taken when she was captured. Although she had only been fucked once, she knew that something that size would be too much for her.

"N.. No!"

By now, it was certainly clear that the large raccoon had no interest in what the young vixen wanted. She continued to beg as the new king removed his clothes, her body shuddering in horror as he moved over her helpless body, his shaft wagging in plain view as he eyed his captive, watching her squirm, her eyes widen, and the chains strain ever so slightly as she tried desperately to get free, all with no success. He continued to watch her like this, enjoying the entertainment her struggles were giving him.

Her struggles became more desperate still as she felt his body touch hers, the tip of his shaft pressing uncomfortably against her tight slit. She gasped as she felt this, trying to pull away from it, but her restraints didn't allow even this much of an evasive move. Ian chuckled, his shaft pulsing with anticipation. He pressed his thumbs against her cheeks. Her constant begging made it easy for him to press them between her teeth. Her eyes widened as he lowered his head, pressing his lips to hers and his tongue into her muzzle, tasting the inside of her mouth thoroughly. She yelped into the forced kiss, unable to bite down without biting into her own cheeks.

Then Ian shoved his hips forward, grunting and straining against the tightness of his new toy as she let out a muffled shriek into the kiss, feeling herself being stretched open and that large cock invade her helpless body. She flopped around under Ian helplessly, screaming as she felt it slide deeper as Ian moaned in pleasure, moaning into the kiss. He groaned louder as he went farther in. This one was very tight! He listened with pleasure to her muffled screams, feeling that vixen body squirming against his as he began rocking his hips, giving her no time to adjust to his size.

Tears fell freely from Kristen's eyes as the new king began to rape her. She wanted to get out of this, but no matter how much she struggled, those chains held her firmly in place. Her claws, her teeth, any defense she had was completely useless. She felt her vaginal walls being stretched and penetrated, screaming into the kiss she couldn't pull away from as she was used in this way, used as a sex toy by the evil king of the raccoons. Those thrusts quickly increased in speed and power, the bed shaking back and forth as the invading cock abused her insides.

Finally, Ian broke the kiss, moaning in pleasure as he continued to rape the helpless vixen, pressing his palm against her chin to keep her from lifting her head and thus prevented her from biting into him. With this, her screams were now unmuffled, but still enjoyed by her captor.

"AH! AAAH STOP!!"

"I'll stop… when… I'm done… with you… and.. mmm… not before…"

"STOP IT! PLEASE!!"

Her begging and screaming only served to further stimulate her rapist. His thrusts got harder and faster, breaking up her long screams with powerful slams into her tight and abused cunt, and soon exploding with a hard orgasm as he stops deep inside her, his sheath pressed back as the very base of his cock buried itself into her, throbbing so pleasurably into the tightness of the abused hole. Kristen sobbed, her body shuddering as Ian caught his breath and slowly pulled the dripping member from her. She was glad it was over, but this would leave her sore for days, and she knew she probably wouldn't have that time to recover.

Ian withdrew to his side of the bed, panting and moaning as his shaft slowly shrunk back into his sheath.

"I'm definitely going to have to reward the two that brought you to me."

Kristen whimpered and sobbed, shuddering from the abuse that was just dealt to her, and the thought of further abuse to come.

"I'm going to sleep now. You stay quiet. If you wake me, I'll fuck the other hole."

Kristen's eyes widened at that. Even without the added fear of having that monster cock plow into her tailhole, she couldn't possibly get any sleep this night.

A long, uneventful series of months passed. Both the raccoons and the foxes appeared to be at a calm above the surface. The only progress being made by both sides was slow. Ian was slowly and secretly introducing captive foxes into the black market, and Todd was recruiting a few more defects into the royal guard.

Todd was waiting patiently in a room at a cheap inn. Although he'd had meetings like this several times before, he was still nervous every single time. It would only take one wrong move to blow the entire plan. Finally, another raccoon, who appeared to be just as nervous as he was, knocked on the door and was invited in.

"Hi, I'm glad you came."

"Thank you. I've been loyal to the crown my whole life. So you can imagine how uncomfortable I am right now."

"Why are you uncomfortable?"

"Well… I just don't want to get caught, that's all. I can't shake the feeling someone's listening to us right now. If I get caught…"

"If you get caught, all our lives are pretty much over. You don't have to worry about this place. It's quite safe to talk here. If you really want to help us, you have to be sure you're willing to take the risk. Freeing them is possible, but it will take time, and it's not going to be easy. No one will hold it against you if you decide to back out. All we ask is that you do not repeat absolutely anything you find out here, for obvious reasons."

"No, I promise I won't tell… and I think I'm willing to take the risk, but it's hard to be sure."

"I understand."

The nervous soldier took some deep breaths, trying to calm himself. Todd frowned at this, shaking his head.

"I don't think you can help us. I'm sorry."

"What? Why not?"

"I don't think you'll be able to handle what you'll be expected to do."

"….and what's that?"

"Well, first of all, Ian is very suspicious now, since we've raised questions of loyalty among the royal guard. You know, of course, that members are never allowed to be in the same room except while on duty. It'll be tricky to find ways for them to communicate. In any case, if you show any signs of nervousness, things could get bad for you."

"Well… if you'll just give me some time to make sure…"

"There's one other thing…"

Todd lowered his head, preparing himself for what he was about to say next.

"Because of the rumors of disloyalty, you might be expected to publicly execute a fox prisoner."

"Wh.. What?!"

"This is information we've uncovered about a month ago. Members of the royal guard are not supposed to know this until they get that order from Ian."

"We're supposed to be SAVING the foxes, not killing them!"

"We will be… I wish there were another way…"

"I can't kill someone who's obviously innocent!"

"Of course… I don't blame you, but please understand, we can't stop the executions. They're going to be executed anyway, whether we do it or not. Believe me, I've tried to find some way to save them, but every option we have would mean blowing our cover, and the consequences for that will result in even more death."

"There shouldn't be any death at all!"

"Of course there shouldn't! There shouldn't have been a war, there shouldn't have been slavery, and there damn sure shouldn't have been death! There's a monster on the throne, and that means there's going to be more slavery, more death, and in the future, possibly more war. We can stop this if we work carefully, and silently, but we can't save them all."

Todd's voice was shaking with that last statement. Tears flowed freely to the floor. It was obvious to the soldier that Todd didn't want this to happen any more than he did.

"I'm sorry… I know you're probably right… but I just can't do it… and I feel sorry for those of you who are going to have to. For what it's worth, if whatever you're planning frees the slaves, you'll know you've done the right thing."

"No… not the right thing… the necessary thing… No one should have to be forced to take an innocent life…"

"You said it yourself. These lives will be lost even if your allies don't take them. All you can do is shorten the amount of time the foxes have to endure all of this, and even save future generations."

"Yes… It's just hard… I never imagined how much more painful it would be to help them… than to do nothing…"

"I hope you succeed, and I look forward to when the worst part is over. I'm just sorry I'm such a coward."

"No one who refuses to take an innocent life is a coward."

Months continued to pass slowly. The safehouse for the foxes continued to remain a secret. As expected, the silence lulled Ian into a false sense of security. There was no resistance from the foxes, save a few escape attempts. The executions were announced and carried out by each new member of the royal guard, including Shane. Todd cried for several nights over this, wishing it didn't have to be done. He made two trips to inform the queen of the situation. During his first visit, the queen was nowhere to be found. The only one who seemed to know where she was, was the advisor, Samuel, and no reason was given as to why she had isolated herself. After several more months, Todd made his second visit…

Hans smiled warmly as Todd entered the inn, crushing him with a strong hug.

"Ah!... let go…"

"Ah, sorry there. I was just so worried you'd be caught."

"So was I, but everything's in place now. We're just waiting for your queen."

"Of course! We'll be ready soon, as well. Come with me."

Todd followed Hans up the stairs, where Hans knocked on a room door, followed soon by permission to enter. Todd was led into the room, the queen smiling warmly as he entered.

"Majesty, everything's in place on my end. The entire royal-"

He was interrupted by a squeak. He blinked several times, looking curiously around the room before noticing that the queen was holding back a giggle. She seemed happier than last time he'd seen her, for sure. She pointed to a crib sitting near the corner of the room, which Todd curiously padded over to, but as he looked into the crib, his eyes widened. He couldn't believe what he thought he was seeing. Tracy broke the silence.

"Todd, meet Ethan, my son."

"Your… son?! That's impossible! He looks like… but then he doesn't look like…"

"Correct. This child is also the son of Ian."