You aren’t going with them and you’ll fight to the death here. You will die on this hill, literally, but you will keep your dignity as prey - if there is such a thing. “Come and get it, vulpix. I’m not your meat-puppet you can march around. You’ll have to rip it from me here, after a fight.” Your bravery in the face of certain death even surprises you.
“As you wish, pikachu. I can respect that.” Says Maz. “So you’ll hold her, Roxy?”
“Fine, I’ll do it. But only because I like the neck.”
“Then, let's eat.”
They all crouch low and start growling. Smoke billows from their jowls making the area smell like a forest fire. They all snarl, snap, and yip. They are trying to startle you so you come out of your defensive stance. Your heart beats fast but you remain calm; if there is any hope, it’s in one of them making an attack, you counter-attacking, and you zipping out from under them, and that will require you to stay calm.
The circle closes in tighter and tighter until your entire world is hungry red predators looming over you. You keep in your defensive position, tail perked straight up and you low to the ground. You pivot randomly to keep them from attacking from behind. Finally, from your left peripheral, a vulpix makes its move. Everything goes into slow-motion; it’s the young female that makes the first attack. She lunges forward, maw wide open and dripping with drool. You plant your paws, rotate your head, and thrust the top of your skull to Zoya’s snout. It connects and sends her recoiling in pain.
“YELP!” Her eyes are closed tight and leaves an opening between her legs. You waste no time and rush between her paws.
“Shit!” Maz yells. You run out from under a now sneezing Zoya. Nothing but the green forest is in front. Despite the odds, you are free!
You take a few more steps when, *SNAP* “CHAAAAA!” A searing pain explodes from your tail and all forward momentum is stopped. You look back to see the young male vulpix has reached under Zoya and sunk his sharp teeth deep into your leathery tail. No, it can’t end like this, can it?
“Good fucking job, Dex!” Maz shouts.
Dex drags you back into the circle. Zoya is still sneezing off your hit while the older vulpix lick their chops, prepping themself for the food that is being dragged to them. You look up at the cream-colored bellies that will have the pleasure of digesting you. Under the paws of the relative giants that will kill and feast on you, you feel so tiny. Emotions start to build in your chest and tears come to your eyes. Maz quickly bends over and bites your ear. Between the two reynards, they pull you taunt, like they are in a tug of war.
“PIKA-PIKA!” you shout into the forest for help. You are only seconds from being turned into vulpix chow. Roxy looks down with satisfaction. Her chops drip with drool, and she licks her jowls, preparing herself for a lunch courtesy of you.
You beg for your life, tears streaming down your face, “No! Please don’t.” She does not dignify you with a response; you might have well said nothing at all. She casually opens her maw and brings it to your neck. You punch at it but Roxy takes her time, dodging your punches with ease. She waits for an opening and finds one. She leans in and clamps down on your exposed neck. Blood gushes from your neck and horrific gargling comes from your mouth. It doesn’t hurt as much as you think it would but it is still not pleasant. Roxy’s tongue laps the blood pooling on your neck. The blow is fatal; no denying it now; you are fox food.
Happy tails swish around you. Maz and Dex let go of your tail and ear respectively. Roxy stays looming over you, pinning you to the ground by your neck. Her job is to bleed you to death while the others feast on you alive; the rest of your life is going to be hell. You still have energy and you writhe and kick but Roxy is much stronger and keeps you pinned without trouble.
Zoya sneezes a few more times then sniffles, “alright, I’m good. Let’s dig in.”
Maz, Zoya, and Dex crowd in around your stomach and lick their chops. Maz tells them, “Dex, you cornered her and caught her, so you get the first bite.”
You would plead for mercy, for them to kill you first before ripping you to shreds but all that comes out is curdles of blood. It wouldn't matter anyway. They don't care for your suffering; in fact, they seem to enjoy it.
A cold, wet nose pokes your right side and a small whine comes from Dex. From this angle, there is nothing you can do to stop him; you brace yourself. Long fangs sink deep in your right side. Dex sends a flame down his gullet.
You can feel fire come down his throat. Flames, like waves, wash over your belly. The smell of singed fur and cooking flesh fills the air, accompanied by the sounds of popping roasting fat and hissing blood turning into steam. The pain is excruciating, forcing your eyes wide and raspy yelping to come from your throat, but all you can do is flail pointlessly. The heat cauterizes the wound, lessening the blood loss and extending your life needlessly; this is going to be a long brutal process. Once the meat is cooked to his liking, he rips the chunk out.
*smk-smk-smk-smk-slrp-glrk*
"Oh yeah, that hits the spot," says Dex. His back leg thumps the ground as though someone just scratched behind his ear. He licks his chops clean of your blood. He makes eye contact with you and smiles smugly. His tongue hangs out the side and drips with blood and drool. He is enjoying watching you die a little too much. While Dex is gloating over his prey and informing you on just how good you taste, two more cold snouts poke their lunch; one on your left side and one between your legs. To which vulpix the snouts belong is unknown for Roxy’s head obscures most of your grisly fate, but they do not waste much time and sink their teeth deep; one set of jaws dig into your left side and the other directly into your sex. They use ember to char broil your belly fat and vagina. You squirm and gargle once more, but just like before, it only proves a minor inconvenience to your predators.
Seeing you in such great pain excites Dex’s prey drive and he bends back down to continue eating. He reaches deep into the gaping wound he created and bites down on something squishy. He yanks his head back and brings with it at least two feet of your intestine. You feel everything. He snips off chunks, fries them, and quickly gobbles them down. Meanwhile, Zoya and Maz make quick work eviscerating you, only stopping to gulp, lick their chops, or make a brief comment about how good this tastes. The only constant is the wagging of tails. Dex finishes and rejoins the group while Roxy waits patiently for you to stop moving so she can have her turn.
As more chunks of guts leave your body over the next long painful two minutes, your fighting becomes weaker and weaker until finally, you go completely limp. Horrifically, you can feel a gaping hole where your guts were. They have eaten about two-thirds of your gut in less than three minutes. Only weak hoarse breathing comes from your windpipe and the occasional cough of blood spews out from your blood-filled lungs. Why does it have to end like this? You feel so weak and useless.
Roxy, seeing you weakened to the point of not resisting, begins to heat her maw. She cooks your throat to her liking, must be well-done, and rips it from you. The pain is almost too much but you cannot protest. She stands over you, and you get to see, up close and personal, her mash the meat with her teeth and gulp. She wastes little time and goes for the right side of your neck and begins cooking that.
From below, your uninvited dinner guests have finished their meal and are now pulling your legs apart. A sickening crack comes from your hips as your legs are dislocated from their socket. Dex and then Zoya pass by with a pika-leg in their maw. They toss the legs casually to the side in a pile; they are harvesting their bounty for their young.
Roxy is done cooking your right side of the neck and rips that out too. She eats and moves on to the left side. You are finally passing from this world; your ears ring and vision starts to tunnel, but not quick enough. A strong tug on your ear from an unknown vulpix cracks your exposed spine. Another tug frees your head from your body. You are lifted to witness the massacre that is your gory scene; blood coats the formerly green grass, bits of cooked and raw meat are scattered everywhere, your lower section is completely missing save for your tail which will be a nice gnawing toy, your upper torso is there but is being saved for hungry kits, Roxy is gnawing on your stubby neck, Zoya and Dex are picking through the gore for extra bits, and Maz must be the one who is caring your head. Just three minutes ago, you were an intact pikachu. Now, most of you rest inside happy full stomachs.
Looking at the sight, you think you should be upset, but past the terror and pain of being eaten alive, you can’t help but feel sanguine about your fate. The vulpix won your body; it is only fair they killed you; it’s what they have to do to survive. They outsmarted you in the hunt and will rest easy tonight knowing they won’t have to hunt again till tomorrow. You like to imagine those wagging tails are thanking you. And they are using every part of you; you won’t go to waste. Somehow that thought makes you happy. You will never have children but some of you will be used to feed their kits. And what is a more motherly act than feeding children?
Maz trots off with your head and tosses it into a pile where your detached legs now rest. Your head rolls to a stop looking out over the scenic view. You’ll never get to explore the forest further but that’s okay. The struggle is over; no more pain or suffering, just your body being turned into food. Your vision tunnels to a point. As you fade you feel at peace.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Zoya watches Maz toss the head into the growing pile of meat. He comes back to join the pika-picnic. The group spends the next few minutes picking over the food they will not be able to carry; lungs, heart, spine, bits of gore they missed during the initial evisceration. The grass around the kill is burned away and turned to ash as they cook the meat.
Now with all the vulpix satisfied and guts gurgling away, they take a few moments to lounge around and bask in the warm sun and the post-high thrill of the kill. Maz sits at the edge of the cliff and looks out over the scenic view and cleans his paws and snout of blood. Zoya comes over and sits next to her mate. He’s going to be mad about today, no doubt. But she might as well get this over with.
Maz stops cleaning but does not look directly at Zoya and says, “did I make a mistake in choosing you?”
Zoya is taken aback, “w-what?”
“You heard me… Did I make a mistake choosing you as my mate?”
“N-no, of course not.”
“I hope not. See, I don’t just choose mates if I think they are cute; some tods do that, but if you want at least one of your kits to survive to next spring, then looks and tightness of a cunt are just a bonus. I picked you because I thought you were hot AND you were willing and capable of doing what is necessary to raise young. But today really made me doubt that. First, you failed to scout anything…
Zoya tries to cut in, “but-” but Maz rolls over her.
“then I come back to find you bending over for Dex…"
"It wasn't like tha-"
"THEN you botched the pikachu kill. You attacked too early out of turn. She would have gotten away if it wasn't for Dex saving the hunt."
Zoya doesn't respond to that one. Maz lets those facts stew by remaining silent. The tension is too much for Zoya and her eyes begin to well up with tears. She knows he's right.
Maz looks right in her eyes, "but I don't think I was wrong. We all have bad days, and you vixens are all whores, so I don't hold it against you any more than any other bitch. But do that again, and I'll leave you to raise the kits by yourself. Understood?"
Tears drip off Zoya's face and sniffles come from her nose. She gives a faint nod.
"Good," says Maz. He turns his head back to the scenic view. "There is one more thing, Zoya. Stop coddling our kits. Especially Fraz." Fraz is the weaker of their two kits and probably won't survive the winter. "I think you're being kind to him because you think he won't live till next year, so might as well make his short life as comfortable as possible. Your right, he probably won't make it, but if you coddle him, he definitely won't. Over half of us don't survive our first year; you know that." Zoya thinks of her egg brother who did not make it back to the rut. "So don't get attached to them. You'll do no favors to you or them if you do. Losing the first is always hard but it will happen to you eventually and probably this season."
The thought of Fraz being picked off by a pidgeotto or an ekans is too much, and Zoya begins to sob. "I-I don't want to lose Fraz or Zoey, Maz. I love them."
"Hey-hey-hey, it’s okay… here," Maz lifts his head to expose his neck. Zoya nestles her head against his shoulder blade and cries into his fur. "I love them too. It may not seem like it, how I treat them, but I do. And that's why I'm a dick. I found out years ago that the way you give them the best chance to survive is to be harsh. It prepares them for what it is really like out there. The world will tear you to shreds just as quickly as we did that pikachu. No bitch is harsher than Mother Nature. That's why I need you to stop coddling them now. We will leave the breeding grounds here in a week and start really training them. And if you turn your back and then turn around to see a pidgeotto flying off with Fraz, then you still need to be strong for Zoey. And when their tails split, you gotta leave them. It will be hard as hell, but that's how this works. There will be plenty of time to cry after they both are gone. Okay?"
Zoya has calmed a little. It's nice to have a mate with years of wisdom with him. "O-okay."
"That's it, sweetheart. Now I'm sure I picked the right mate." Maz is a real prick most of the time but sometimes he has flashes of sincere tenderness. It makes Zoya love him. She leans on him harder and reaches her tails over to his. Their tails intertwine like threads in a rug. Through the drum of Maz’s chest, Zoya hears his heartbeat calmly and his gut groan with glee. They look out on the beautiful forest for a few minutes without saying a word, just enjoying the sight, the peaceful moment, and each other.
Maz breaks the silence with a chuckle. "What's so funny?" Asks Zoya.
"Oh, it's just... even hell looks like paradise when viewed from a high enough altitude."
They both giggle at that.
After a few more minutes, they get up and stretch. Zoya looks back to Roxy and Dex. Dex is lying prone at Roxy’s paws, his tongue hanging out looking quite pleased with himself - the hero of this hunt - while Roxy lays behind Dex and grooms him tenderly. Like Maz, Roxy is a prick but she too can have moments of kindness.
“Good hunt guys.” Says Maz. “Let’s get back.” Roxy and Dex get up and stretch. They all head over to the meat pile. Resting in it is two legs, a pika-tail, a hollow rib cage, and pikachu’s head, eyes glazed over with an almost peaceful look to them. They discuss for a minute how best to divide up the bounty for their kits and come to a conclusion. Dex takes the rib cage, Maz grabs the head by the ear, Roxy takes the right leg, and Zoya grabs the tail, places it on the left leg, and bites the two. The tail has a strange metallic taste. They all trot off with their cut of meat.
It takes an hour and a half to return to the breeding ground and along the way, they stop at a cheri berry bush. They enter a large clearing where all the grass is burned and the ground is covered in grey ash. At the edge of the clearing is a steep, treeless hill, in which are at least a hundred burrows. The hill and the clearing are teeming with adult vulpix and vulpix kits. Vulpix in the area start to look at the colorful prey that the group has brought back. They look jealous and lick their chops. Pikachu is a rare treat. It's hard to sink your teeth into them as a vulpix and it requires experience, talent, and good pack coordination - something vulpix’s independent nature makes hard to do. But Maz and the group he selects usually bring highly desired prey home. And this is just more evidence for that.
“A pikachu?” A voice comes from the left. It's Tavein, an older silver furred vulpix. He is a wise seven-tailed with many different roles at the breeding grounds, including making sure vulpix uphold the treaty of the watering hole. He steps in front of the group.
Maz sets down the head. “She was hunted in accordance with the treaty, Tavein. She was well south of the Crooked Tree, at the waterfall.”
“Very well, it is my duty to check. I just wish I could have known her story. Returning her to the tribe could have eased tensions between our kinds. But there is no putting her back now. Enjoy…” Tavein steps to the side. As they walk by Tavein smiles and nods to Roxy, “Roxy… looking good as ever.” She blushes and looks shy - a rare look from her - but keeps trotting with her pika-leg in maw.
The two mates split up to go to their respective dens. Maz’s status has afforded him a den near the base of the hill. They walk to their den and two cute little vulpix kits run out. They’re getting so big so fast. They are just a month old but they are already half the size of an adult. Their one tail swishes happily.
“Yay!” Fraz prances around, “mom and dad are back!”
“Dinner!” Yips Zoey.
Both parents set the meat down for their kits. Both kits go for the leg, but Zoey is much bigger and assertive. She snaps at Fraz, and Fraz, being a wimp, recoils in fear. Zoey greedily bites the leg and drags it away to eat it all for herself. She bites, cooks, and gobbles the meat down.
Fraz immediately appeals to his mother, “Mom! Zoey is not sharing. I wanna try the leg.” He gives a cute, pouty face.
Just this morning, Zoya would have made Zoey share, but she recalls the conversation with Maz. As hard as it is, she stuffs her motherly instincts down, and says, “don’t be a bitch, Fraz. If you want the leg, then go get it yourself.” The devastated look on Fraz’s face almost breaks Zoya’s heart, but she doesn’t give. She walks over the pup and kicks him to the side. He makes an overly loud yelp, given the pain actually inflicted on him.
Zoya glances over to Maz. He gives a small nod in approval. She enters the den and lies down. She watches what Fraz does. He goes over to Zoey like he is going to challenge her but when he gets close enough, Zoey lets out a horrendous snarl and smoke bellows from her nostrils. Fraz retreats and sulks away, defeated before he even fought. Zoya makes peace with the fact that Fraz isn’t going to make it and loosens her attachment to him. Fraz mopes over to the head and starts gnawing on the red cheeks.
Maz comes in and lays behind Zoey. “You did good, sweetheart.” He starts grooming behind her ears. He stops after a minute, “tomorrow, we’ll go with Dex and Roxy to flush out that rattata nest. We are going to take the kits. They're big enough now and it’ll give them a headstart on the others. It will be scary taking them out into the wild but it is what needs to be done. You okay with that?”
“Yes, Maz. I’ll do whatever it takes.”
“That’s my mate.”
Zoya lays her head down to rest. Maz lays his head over Zoya’s neck to do the same.
They are just about to fall asleep when they hear shouting from outside. “Tavein! Lady! Tavein! LADY!”
The two mates get up quickly and head to the entrance of the den. Outside, four heavily panting vulpix are in the clearing. Tavein and Lady, the pseudo-legendary ninetales and keeper of all vulpix and native Pokemon in the forest, come into the clearing.
Lady project her voice with force, “what is the problem?”
A vulpix from the groups tells them, “Lady, over sixty male pikachu are coming through the forest. They're coming here!”
“What?! How soon?”
“Any second.”
Maz whispers, “shit, I hope it isn’t about that pikachu.” He turns to the kits, “pups, take your food inside.” They oblige their father and drag the meat into the den.
Just like the vulpix said, a line of sixty male pikachu enter the clearing in a V formation. They do not look like they are here to chat. Serious, angry looks are on all their faces. At the spear of the formation is older but powerful pikachu. It seems like they sent their best pikachu for this excursion. Whatever they are here for can’t be good.
Lady walks out into the clearing between the vulpix and pikachu, Tavein at her side. She shouts “what is the meaning of this! You can’t just come here like this unannounced.” She is hunched in a battle stance and her nine tails are straight out and dancing like hissing ekans. Her eyes glow red, and steam comes from her mouth with each breath.
Tavein stands beside her, “If this is about the female pikachu, I was informed she was killed well south of the Crooked Tree.”
The pikachu seemed confused by that information and mumble to each other. One male pikachu in the middle right of the formation seems utterly devastated by the news. “No,” says the pikachu at the head of the formation, “we are not here for that. If it is the pikachu I am thinking of, she left the tribe, so her fate is of no concern to us. We figured as much. We are here for a different reason.”
Lady growls, “then why are you here?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thus, ending your story. You were brutally ripped to shreds and devoured alive by greedy vulpix. After dividing your leftovers between the two pairs of mates, they carry the fresh pikachu meat bounty back to their kits. Their kits ate well that night; pikachu is a rare delicacy to vulpix. Your meat rested that night in eight different happy vulpix stomachs and was digested by the morning. Nothing but a clean pikachu skull was left. It was unceremoniously left in a large pile of bones near the edge of the vulpix breeding grounds until, years later, the elements withered it away into dust. You are forgotten by the tribe as just another member lost to the foreboding wilderness. As for the vulpix, they remember you but only vaguely, in the same way someone would remember a good meal; fuzzy on the details but fond of the experience. You leave no legacy, but hey, at least you fed some cute vulpix kits a good meal for one evening!
