Runaways: Pt. 5
#5 of Runaways.
~Stupid disclaimer thingy~ Ya adult content blah blah blah. If you read this and your not old enough. Try not to get caught. If you aren't held back by any of those silly laws then your good too. Enjoy!
***
"So. What do you think of the new one?"
"He doesn't even have a clue... does he?"
"Don't think so..."
"Boy is he in for a big surprise."
"SHHH GUYS. Here he comes now."
A dusty wolf bounded relentlessly down the ditch that fed directly into the forest. His hatchet was clutched firmly in his paw as he tried his hardest to catch himself, but he only ended up worsening his tumble. He landed with a thud and lay, sore, in the crater of mud his impact had created.
"Well," Digger the badger said as he chuckled. "I guess that's one way of gettin' down,
eh?"
"You can say that again," One of the other sweaty furs chuckled as he hacked at a
fresh tree.
Hatchet awkwardly got to his feet and walked into the pretty good sized clearing the
furs had already made. The grunt of each fur rang out as the split second of silence
in-between was shattered as their blade cut into the bark of the tree they were
assigned. The air stunk of sweat and urine as the wolf's growing confusion of where to
go became more and more apparent.
"You look lost, kid," Tank laughed as he picked him up and dusted his fur out just like
he was a carpet.
"Tank?" Hatchet's dazed vision cleared as the sudden elevation rushed some of his
blood back down towards his feet.
"Hey there little guy!" He said as he placed his down again with no visible effort.
"Umm..." The wolf was almost embarrassed to ask the question. "What exactly am I
supposed to be doing...?"
"You see that thing you have in your paw?" The rhino pointed with his gigantic hand
towards the hatchet he was clutching. "You use that to chop down a tree."
"That's a little hard..." Hatchet said as he looked at his pitiful excuse for a cutting tool.
"I mean... don't you need saws and axes for that type of work?"
"Bud," Tank said as he hoisted 3 tree trunks under both of his arms. "Nobody ever said
anything about this work being easy. You just have to find yourself a buddy and work at
it together." He looked around and saw Buster working alone at a trunk. "Hey! Buster!"
The horse wiped his brow and put his axe down to lean on it. "Tank, what's up?"
"As you know, this is Hatchet," He put his arm towards the wolf and smiled. "He needs
a chopping-buddy and I was wondering if you'd like to oblige?"
"Ah yes," The horse neighed in laughter. "The cum-covered K-9 who asked R.L. to use
his fabled shower."
'How the hell did he already hear about that?' Hatchet thought to himself as his face
twisted in confusion.
"Sure," Buster finally said as he snapped Hatchet's train of thought. "I'll work with the
little guy. Wolves are supposed to be good team-players, right? That'll make it easier for
the both of us!" He followed with a clap from his hooves.
"Sounds great," Tank said in relief as he dropped off the little wolf with the horse.
"You two have fun now. And get some work done!"
"Yes sir!" They both said, Buster with more enthusiasm. And with that, the wolf had a
chopping-partner.
***
"So..." Buster was the first one to speak as both of them chopped away the tree trunk that they were assigned to. "How do you like the gig so far?"
"I..." Hatchet said as he took another swing at the base, making woodchips fly with his
dull tool. "...Think it's pretty great." He felt the awkward twinge in the conversation prick
at him as he debated to ask the horse a question of his own, but Buster beet him to it.
"I think it's pretty kool too, myself." He adjusted his hooves back into the slots of his
personalized axe. "They gave me my own axe and everything!"
"What made you join...?" Hatchet just had to ask. He was feeling self-conscious about
his own story and wanted to see if this guy's was any more pathetic.
"Well," The horse started, looking towards the sky in thought, but was interrupted by
the booming call of "TIMBER!". The tree crackled as gravity brought it in the direction of
the 2 choppers.
"Huh?" Hatchet said as he looked around, alarmed. He tried to pinpoint the direction
the tree was coming from but felt something dig hard into his left side. He closed his
eyes as the force blinded his vision and threw him 3 feet to the ground. There was a
thud, followed by shouting.
"Whoa!" Shouted some fur's voice as they all came over to check the scene. "Did you
guys SEE THAT?!"
"Yeah, He kinda just stood there didn't he?"
Hatchet opened his eyes and saw all every fur standing around him, watching his every
move. One of which was Buster, panting and holding out a hoof to help him up. He
grabbed it, got to his feet, and buckled under the pain in his side, falling to the dust and
dirt again.
"Jeez, Buster!" Shouted another voice from the darkness of his eye-lids. "Hit him
harder next time! Maybe you'll break him in half!"
"Shut up," Buster said, still panting. He pulled the wolf back to his foot-paws again
and held him there until he had the balance to hold his own. "If I didn't do it, he would
have been dead meat..."
Hatchet, while being held by Buster, had never noticed how toned and powerful the
horse's arms were. On top of that, he never noticed how attracted he was to toned and
powerful muscles. He felt like melting, and probably would if he wasn't being supported,
the light-headed feeling his hormones where giving had jumpstarted his adrenaline,
which jumpstarted his shy nerve, which jumpstarted what ever part of his body that
made him blush, which made him leap out of the horses arms and back, once again, into
the dirt.
"Hold on there, little guy," Buster said as he went for a second attempt to bring
Hatchet to his feet, but was dodged by the wolf as he snaked right through his arms.
"Wow," Digger, the badger, said as he noticed the wolf's abnormal grace. "He moves
just like a fox, but looks like a wolf..."
Hatchet finally got to his feet again before the muscular hunk could get his hooves on
him and acted like his side didn't stinging anymore, but his expression and intense
blushing gave away pretty much everything that was going through his mind.
"Look guys! The wolf's blushing! Everyone knows what that means!" A fur screamed
before everyone broke out into song.
"Buster and Hatchet! Sitting in a tree!"
"SHUT UP!" The horse had had enough of this scene and wanted everyone to get back
to work. He knew, first-paw, how angry R.L would get if their work wasn't done in time.
"ENOUGH! EVERYONE!" He bared his square set of teeth and put up his hooves to show
he meant business. His biceps rippled as he fell into a fighter stance. "JUST GET BACK
TO WORK BEFORE R.L. HAS All OUR BALLS IN A VICE!"
Without a word, everyone just stood there, stupefied. It took them a second to
realize, yeah! We're out here to chop down this forest to we can set up the tent! Shit!
And without even a second glance to the two partners, everyone got their stuff and went
back to the tree marked for them.
"Hey," Buster said as he nudged Hatchet in the arm. "You ok? Seriously..."
"I'm fine..." Hatchet said in fear. He was a little less enthusiastic to work with the
horse now that he saw that display of utter rage that made him, more or less, make him
want to soil his trousers.
"I'm sorry you had to see that..." He defended himself in shame. "You just can't let
these guys toss you around like a ball all the time..."
"Really Buster," Hatchet said without making eye-contact. "It's ok..."
He was lying.
***
The hours drew on filled with chopping, groaning, and the occasional calling of
"TIMBER!!" which always put Hatchet on his toes. He didn't want to get side-checked
again, even though it did save his life.
Buster tried to keep up the conversation with him, which actually made him feel
better, mostly because he kept apologizing about the tackle. It didn't even hurt that
much anymore by the time R.L. and Jeffery slithered their way down the ditch that lead
to the clearing the crew had carved into the forest.
"My wonderful friends!" R.L. spoke in a cheery tone. Probably because he was
impressed with all the logs that had been collected and piled. "Everyone come here! I
have a treat for you!"
Everyone looked back, wiped their brow, and walked in his direction, always cautious
of the split-second fuse that was hooked up to the penguin's temper. Hatchet didn't
understand how quick the Ring Leader could get angry and he never wanted to see it.
Apparently it was worse then 40 lashes from the whip that was strapped to his belt.
"How many?" Jeffery asked as he wiped some of the dirt that was caked on Tank's
purple and white striped shirt.
"27, sir," Tank said in his low bellowing voice, still somewhat out of breathe. "2 Extra.
Just in case we have problems... like last time..."
"Oh Tank," R.L. said as he took out a tiny nail file. He touched the rhino's hand and
began to futilely file his massive nails. More of a show of thanks then to actually do
something. "You have no IDEA what I would do without you!"
"Thank you, sir..." Tank said bashfully. He didn't seem like the type who was pampered
or given anything fancy, if anything at all. "I just don't want to see anymore lives taken
in this family, sir." He glanced over the Hatchet, then back to the penguin.
"Ah..." R.L. clued in. "The elephant... I see..." He put his head down for about 3
seconds, then remembered about the bag slung over his small shoulder. "Oh Yes! The
Treat for Everyone!" He put his wing in and pulled out 4 full chocolate bars. He smiled as
much as his beak would let him, and then threw them into the air.
Everyone jumped to the ground in a massive scramble, even Hatchet. He was starving
and hadn't had chocolate since... since he couldn't even remember. All he could feel we
squirming bodies around him as he felt with his right paw. Then something solid hit it,
causing his reflexes to spasm and grab it.
After the scrap only Coke the polar bear, Barry the grizzly, and Rottie the Rot Wilier
had gotten their taste of chocolate. Everyone else was left digging in the dirt for the
fourth bar that mysteriously went missing. Little did they know it was stuffed in
Hatchet's left trouser pocket. He wanted to save it for when he could eat it slowly. He
wanted to savor the flavor. After all, who knows when the next time he'll have the
chance to eat chocolate.
When the last of them finally gave up, they headed for the climb up the ditch, each
pair dragging a log with them. They all went back for seconds and thirds until all of the
logs were up. While Buster and Hatchet were at the top, alone, Hatchet broke the bar in
half and tapped the horse on the shoulder.
"Thanks, Buster," Hatchet said as he offered the chocolate to him. He followed with a
goofy smile.
"Hatchet..." Buster said as he took the chocolate and looked at it. It obviously meant
something. "That's so kind..."
"Don't worry about it," The wolf winked and giggled. "And DON'T show anyone. I hear
this stuff's like gold around here."
"Well... Thanks..." Buster put it quickly in his pocket and smiled.
"Good work today, Hatchet," Called Digger from afar as he and the Dragon named Heat
put down their last log.
"Thanks Digger," Hatchet turned and grinned as the badger walked over. "So what
now?"
"You go and rest!" He cackled as he slapped his knee. "You're work is done! You get to
go spend the rest of the time doing whatever you want." He patted him on the back and
watched the dust fly off of him. "You might want to take a bath in a nearby river,
though..."
"Heh," Hatchet said as he patted his belly, watching the dust fly as well. He liked this
feeling of accomplishment, even though he felt really gross and dirty as well. "Well what
are you gonna do?"
"I have to go set up the tent," Digger sighed as he scratched his furry scalp in anger.
"I thought you said we were done?" Hatchet said as he straightened one leg to
support his entire body, while the other bent lazily.
"YOU are, my boy!" The badger said. "I'm part of the set-up crew, but I was sent to
keep an eye on you. Make sure you wouldn't get into trouble, ya know?" He then turned and saw R.L. lining up the set-up crew from the cabins. "But I gotta scoot, Hatchet. Have fun and don't get into to much trouble, ya hear?"
"I won't..." Hatchet said, trying to hide his expression of excitement. He wanted to snoop around. He wanted to find out about things here in this new life of his. Heh... maybe he had a little fox in him after all. "I'll be good."
"That's my boy," Digger said as he rubbed Hatchet's scruffy hair. "I'll see ya at supper." He said before taking off in a full sprint to the line-up. He left a cloud of dust behind him and made it there in, what had to be, record land speed time.
Hatchet turned back to Buster, and found him missing from every view. He had gone without making a noise, and now was nowhere to be found.
***
Into the cabin went Hatchet, the cut in half chocolate bar was transferred from his pocket to his backpack that hung on the hook beside his bunk. He then reached in and pulled out something he had forgotten about all along. It was weird, because it was probably the one thing that he counted on to comforted him this whole adventure. His music box.
He pulled it out in excitement, held it close while cranking the hand crank, and then let the music sooth through him as he hummed along with the song. It only played one, or course, but that's all he needed. It was his favorite song in the world and he didn't even know what it was called. It had been so long since the sticker on the bottom rubbed off, and it almost drove him crazy every time he tried to remember.
"I hear music..." A voice came from under. It slithered up past the notes and into Hatchet's ear drums. "...music..." Beo, the husky contortionist, got up and looked at the box that was held in Hatchet's paws. "May I see this?"
"Sure..." Hatchet said, unsure. He didn't really like the fact that he was letting a fur he didn't even know hold his most prized possession. "Just... please be careful, will you?"
"I will..." He replied, taking the box from him and inspecting it with his paws. His nails ran along the stained brown wood ever so slightly as the music kept playing. His eyes stayed focused on the moving wheel inside and he seemed calmed and soothed by the unknown song as much as Hatchet was. "Here..." He said as he handed it back, his paw shaking.
"Thanks," Hatchet said as he grabbed the box and placed back into his lap. "Are you ok?" The husky didn't seem like he was. He kept his eyes focused on a single spot, as if entranced in deep memory. His paw was still outstretched like he was still holding the music box.
"It touches me..." He answered. "It reminds me of who I once was, before I got into this business. And it reminds me of..." He looked away.
"Of who...?" Hatchet was almost afraid to ask. He didn't know this fur or how he would act when asked questions. It seems like he was breaking a rule. Beo already looked like a fur that was on the brink of mental instability, and he really didn't want to be the knife that snipped the last thread. Nor did he want to meet the consequences of doing so.
"My love..." Beo looked him in the eye as he spoke. Suddenly he looked at him in a different light. "...Tagard." His lips quivered as he sulked back into his bunk. He whimpered a little and curled up into a ball.
"It's ok," Hatchet said as he leaned over to rub Beo's side. "What happened to him... if you don't mind me asking or anything?" He hoped his comforting wouldn't be taken the wrong way as the husky rolled over again.
"He used to be my co-star," He started. The music box kept playing its sweet, sweet song. "But then, one day, he got into a fight with R.L. about me and him kissing on stage and he was banished from the family..." There was that talk about family again... If this were a family, incest would probably have been the biggest issue on their episode of Jerry Springer.
"Just like that?" Hatchet said as the music box began to slow down, signaling its need from another few turns on the hand crank.
"I hate him..." Beo said with malice, now looking directly at the wall in front of him. An
ant crawled up and met its end as the husky crushed it with the thumb of his paw.
Just then, Digger came pounding through the door of the cabin in an immensely happy
mood.
"GUYS GOOD NEWS!" He shouted with his paws thrown into the air. "THE TENTS UP
AND WE'RE CELEBRATING! R.L.'S GETTING OUT THE BOOZE, SO COME ON!"
"Ok?" Hatchet said as he was almost yanked out of his bunk. He had never been drunk
and never really expressed a big longing to, but curiosity always kills the cat, and he
was never a big fan of cats anyway, so why not? Hatchet was getting smashed tonight,
while Beo sat inside his bunk, smashing ants as they crawled up.
Tonight was gonna be fun. Fun with the Family.
***
And that's the end of part 5.
I know i've been a stranger to you guys and i haven't posted anything in a while, but im back into the old routine of everything and i seem to have gotten some free time in for writing.
Again i apologize for the utter quality of crap part 4 was. I was thinking of revising it, but i just figured it got it's point across and lead into part 5 (which i hope is a million times better in comparison). Please tell me how im doing with oodles of scrumptious comments, will ya? =D
Anyhow, i gotta get back to everything so i hope you enjoyed it and keep your furry little eyes out for part 6, k?
-Pup