Seeking Sherwood Prologue (Veronicas) (Patreon)

Our athlete Veronicas has awakened to find that all is not as it was. She's quick to exercise, but it seems the Vice Regent has other plans...

Written by the wonderful Rabidbadger writing, illustrated by me!  

Characters/Owners:

Garth - Nackvixen 

Veronicas - Veronacus 

Temperance - Paris  

- - - 

Veronica had been awake for hours; sleep had not been an easy thing to achieve for her of late. The last week or so had been a series of nightmares, waking and otherwise. It wasn’t an unforeseen one, she and her brother hadn’t been blind to the fact that their parents’ business was suffering for a good long time now. She recalled seeing signs of it when she was just eight or nine, and that was going on a decade ago now. Less enthusiasm from their wealthy associates, more awkward communications about loans, more marital strife. It hadn’t been easy on her nor on her brother, but they had both underestimated just how bad things were.

Crucially, they had missed the details when the debts started catching up with their parents right around when they asked her and her brother to update the family paperwork. That was the root of the worst memory, the one where men in suits with stun batons and guns showed up at their estate’s door and the sheer depth of her parents’ problems finally became clear – along with the fine details of what her and her brother had signed.

The whole time since she arrived Veronica had been looking at the mirror in her room. It was a comfortable space, an obvious guest room and yet it was as comfortable as the one she had – formerly had – back at her family’s home, but circumstances prevented her from appreciating it entirely. Specifically, the circumstances that had resulted in her being here at all – being seized by financial security and rudely informed she’d had her citizenship rights sold off by her parents to cover their debts. Technically she could buy them back, eventually, after a couple of years, but in the meantime?

In the meantime, it meant she was sitting on the end of the bed, rubbing at the collar on her neck, trying not to break down crying. Again. That was harder than it would ordinarily be, on account of her first instinct when needing to comfort herself involving curling her wings around her body – but they weren’t there. They were somewhere, she still felt them moving, but the image in the mirror wasn’t sporting the leathery ebony expanses it should be. Just a vest of sorts attached to her collar, locked onto her body, the underside of which was housing two inexplicable ‘patches’ which her wings had just vanished into. Something to do with keeping her ‘inconspicuous’ apparently, or so the message that had been waiting for her when she woke up declared.

As if it wanted to add insult to injury, the communications device reflected her face just fine when she glanced at it again and its lingering message. The ebon fur and red, irritated eyes, the curved scarlet horns with her short, athlete’s haircut, and no wings. Just the track outfit she’d been picked up in and the vest and collar, and that note.

VR-A: Greetings, my dear! I understand you’ve had a rather rough time of things of late, so I’ll try to be gentle with how our relationship begins. You don’t have to come put in an appearance at the soiree upstairs, despite how much I’d love to show you off. I understand you like running, yes? I left you the track suit, cleaned of course. Though I’d be a little careful if you decide to go out jogging. Don’t try leaving the compound’s perimeter for one, and for the other – well, if you start getting cramps, I’d consider taking things easy. You know what they say about exercising too soon after you eat.

That last bit was a trifle confusing for Veronica. It left her shuffling her hooved feet on the floor awkwardly, wondering what it meant, but finding out would require her to communicate with this person. This woman that now ‘owned’ her until her parents’ debt was seen to. Veronica didn’t think she could handle talking to her, even if that message wasn’t the worst thing ever. The only person she might have the heart to talk to was her brother, but Veronacus hadn’t been sold to the same people – although she’d been told she’d be given his contact information. Soon. She hoped.

Thinking about it didn’t help. All dwelling on the issue did for Veronica was leave her confirming that as things stood right now, she was going in circles, and if she was going to do that she might as well be running in the process.

*** 

It didn’t take Veronica too long to find her way out onto the grounds. Manicured lawns the size of entire track courses as far as she could hope for, trees for shade, all one hundred percent shipped in from elsewhere as this locale was not a particularly hospitable one to plant life otherwise. The Amourres estate was an extravagance in itself, but it gave her someplace to run, which did manage to feel at least a little free. She missed the sensation of the air catching her wings at she did it, but there was a definite sense that she might be just a bit faster without them, which was… something.

Veronica wasn’t wholly happy with it, but it was a huge step in the right direction at any rate. The feel of her feet hitting the ground and sinking into soil and grass was delicious, the flex of muscle under dark fur and the steady heat of working up a sweat. It was a simple pleasure, and simple made it somewhat resistant to the ugly nature of the rest of her life right now. Though it was not without problems, she was a little worried the ground might be too soft here and there, it caused a near miss or two with a fall, and then there was the strange sensation in her stomach.

There wasn’t anything in her experience similar to it, that odd fluttering. As if her stomach had experienced a muscle spasm before it suddenly just felt heavier than it had before, and then promptly ceased that was well in a strange kind of internal fizzing. It left her coming to a stop the first time it happened, but it wasn’t a prolonged experience. The whole thing was over in a couple seconds – until it happened again. And again. Shivering, Veronica put a hand to her belly, rubbing it absently in her confusion – until the communication device in her pocket pinged.

Easing herself down against the compound wall in some shade, Veronica tugged the device out of her pocket. Initially it was just her own dark reflection, horns glistening from condensation as they channeled heat away from her. When it flared to life, though, her heart jumped with it. It was from the same source as last time, but instead of more strange comments it was just a link to another contact. With her brother’s name. Veronica wasted no time saving it to the device and having it broadcast. Some part of her wondered if there might be rules about that later, but as nobody had given her cause to wait yet she eagerly watched the connection progress.

It could perhaps have taken a bit less time. Veronica felt a creeping despair in those short seconds, though she couldn’t exactly justify it. Even if he didn’t pick up, he could just be busy, or it might not be on the same time schedule there, there were dozens of good reasons Veronacus might not answer – but none of them proved necessary. The screen flickered and she saw her brother’s smiling face, even if he looked a little odd. A bit sweaty himself, it seemed, and maybe a little too... happy? She knew Veronacus’ face, given that it was almost her own. A false smile she could spot, a look of misery she’d understand, the relief she knew she felt right now she kind of expected, but Veronacus’ grin was something else.

“Sssis! Hey there!”

A slight quiver to his lips, heavy eyelids, no deception to the expression at all. Her brother looked like she did after a really good run, and then some. Breathing heavily, a bit drunk on the adrenaline – or maybe just actually drunk? That seemed plausible. Veronica felt that fluttering in her belly again, which was causing a strange anxiety to build up in her neck and shoulders. One that she couldn’t wholly explain yet and didn’t want to waste too much time on either – not yet. 

“Veronacus! Are you okay? They just – I mean this happened so fast, and-”

Watching her brother shiver momentarily before he broke into a breathy, brief chuckle was disarming.

“M’fine, promise. I – I mean… considering?”

Veronacus blinked slowly there, turning around and looking about him at things Veronica couldn’t see. All it did give her a view of was a curious bend to the lighting over her brother’s head and some hazy reflections of people nearby, quite a few of them, though they were either quiet or the sound was being muffled significantly. He quickly came back around to looking at her, a little concerned now and a trifle more sober in attention, though still breathing kind of funny.

“Are you, sis?”

Sniffling, Veronica nodded. It wasn’t a lie – seeing him put her well within the realm of ‘okay under the circumstances.’ Smiling back was only marred by the strange sensation in her gut redoubling itself, leaving her blinking a bit more than she otherwise would and feeling curiously… greasy? But under her skin. It was making it a trifle harder to ignore the oddity.

“Y-yeah. I uh, I don’t think this is going to be ‘easy’ or anything, but the woman I was delivered to isn’t being unreasonable. Said I could just take my time, run a little, today anyway. Are they giving you any freedom?”

The question seemed to hit her brother sideways, leaving Veronacus glancing around again as the light continued to play in bizarre fashions across his face. 

“I mean… uh, very yes and-” 

Veronacus squinted, then shivered visibly as he inhaled. For a moment, Veronica could swear there was a faint pink haze or a filter over the video, but it was gone so quickly she questioned her eyes. What was less ambiguous was that the constant squirming around her middle was indeed constant and was getting worse. That, and her brother’s eyes rolled back as his grin widened after that moment. It left her wondering, worrying, if whoever owned him was some kind of drug-pushing sort. 

“-and no. B-but…”

Concern was building still, on two fronts. Her brother looked to have cleared his head a little in the following moments, but her problems were just growing worse. Veronica reached her hand to her belly once again, freezing up as soon as she did. Her body was the most familiar thing in the world to her, naturally. So, something being off about it was easy to notice, like the slightly pillowy layer over her stomach. It was indeed thin, it just wasn’t zero like it should be, and it definitely hadn’t been there when she woke up.

“…It’s complicated, isn’t it? I uh, I think that might be my answer too. I-”

Watching her brother shut his eyes and shudder, drooling just a little, left Veronica a tiny bit uncomfortable. Though, she had to admit, that might just be the realization of what was happening to her middle putting her on a fresh hell of an edge. 

“…I think I need to do something, and you uh – you seem a bit… busy. I’ll call you tonight though, alright Veronacus? Just… be careful, remember we can put in appeals if we need to. Love you.”

There was a bit of heavy breathing after that that preceded her brother startling, like he’d only just remembered he was on a call to begin with, at which point he visibly took a moment to gather himself before speaking with mostly clear eyes.

“Love you too, sis. Same thing, be careful.”

Veronica ended the call there, which left the previous screen with the messages waiting for her. She eased herself up off the ground at that, working some stiffness out of her joints in the process and starting to stretch while she typed with one hand. 

LS-2V: What’s going on? 

The message sent instantaneously and was almost as quickly noticed as she spotted the tell-tale sign of the other party inputting a reply. Veronica did, briefly, wonder just what the designation meant, but she had little to go on for it apart from the V probably referencing her name.

VR-A: There’s a party going on, dear. I made that fairly clear I thought. I’m enjoying myself – you’re welcome to join in if you shower and put on something nice first.

A fresh shudder ran through Veronica’s belly, and her blood. There was a heat to it that left her feeling a trifle light-headed.

LS-2V: I mean with me, my body, what did they do to me before sending me here?

It took a tiny bit longer this time for a reply to come, as this time around it contained an attached file and a cheery, cartoonish looking raven icon winking at her next to it. Somehow this failed to reassure Veronica as she opened the file. In the glass of the device she could see her face growing tighter, her eyes wider, the further down the list she read.

Augmentation Catalogue

Subject: LS-2V

Species: Exotic

Subject LS-2V administered L-Class gastrointestinal accelerants

Subject LS-2V administered scale-P tracking and tagging nodes

Subject LS-2V administered remote nervous arrest control suite

Subject LS-2V administered internal metabolic suppressant kit

Veronica’s blood chilled steadily the further along she read. These things made enough sense for her to know what was up, but the motivations behind them seemed insane, and none of them explained the collar or the sensations either. 

LS-V2: What the hell!? I can almost understand having me low-jacked, I know that’s not something I have a ‘right’ to complain about now, but what in Chrome’s tits is this other nonsense? It’s like you want me to get fat or something…?

An instant later Veronica’s communication device twitched, rhythmically, while it played a slow clapping sound effect and that grinning icon showed itself again. 

VR-A: Well it’s no fun looking at the same lard slaves for months or years on end, is it now? So, buckle up and enjoy yourself while you can, dear. You’re eating for two now, and no I don’t mean you’re pregnant. 

Raising her paw to her neck, Veronica felt a warmth from the collar as the fluttering in her belly was joined by a gurgling and her body insisting to her that she was ravenous. She started to type something, though she wasn’t sure what it was going to be yet, only to find another message interrupting her.

VR-A: I’ll answer any questions you want, pet, but if they’re something you should’ve been able to figure out on your own, I’m downing a glass of wine and a small cheese cake for each one.

Veronica suddenly understood the light-headedness from earlier. Deleting her message slowly, she tried to clear her mind. Tried to find some sort of focus.

LS-2V: I’m going to run this off.

A statement wasn’t a question, and was therefore safe, Veronica reasoned. She then promptly felt something profoundly dense with a miasma of dairy and a faint hint of blueberry syrup hit the back of her throat, with a sweet red wine chasing it. 

VR-A: You just go ahead and do that, dear. I was serious about being careful though, running around while eating and tipsy? Good way to end up with a sprained ankle, and if you do, you’re going to heal it the old-fashioned way. By sitting on your ass for weeks.

Swallowing hard, Veronica knew full well her captor meant that. She would have to be careful indeed, take it steady instead of fast, marathon instead of sprint. Tipsy or not, though, she had the resolve. The determination. It was the first time she’d felt it since she’d been abducted from her own home. She had survived that, and this wasn’t nearly so bad. This was just a challenge for her to rise to – and that she could handle.

*** 

Veronacus felt a little bad about the video call, but it was hard to focus on it. The comms device was, currently, somewhere to his left-ish in a heap of cushions and discarded clothing that he’d worry about later. Right now, other things were on his mind, like all those eyes. 

Surrounding him, Veronacus saw the curious – lewd – or just casual glances of a room full of socialites dining and schmoozing with one another. They were all a tiny bit distorted, but that was the fault of the glass. It was everywhere, a dome of it covering his little pillowy nest with no way out – it had been lowered down while he was still unable to move and the thing was phenomenally heavy. It wouldn’t be removed by anything other than heavy lifting machinery. He was stuck, naked, inside this thing with only the food and air they provided through the grating and delivery slots in the floor, which were far too small for him to even think about taking advantage of. Even with a welter boxer’s physique. 

There was a faint hiss behind Veronacus, one he’d grown familiar with rather quickly. A trace of pink to the air around him, the smell of fruits and flowers, and an instant rush of heat in his blood that left it profoundly difficult to think. Particularly given how tight and intense everything felt between his legs. Veronacus couldn’t help having his hand wrapped around his member, feeling the thing twitch and jerk all on its own. He couldn’t seem to quite reach a climax, regardless of his repeated attempts, but every breath he took just flooded his blood with more encouragement to try again.

Grunting, Veronacus sat up a bit amid the nest of cushions and started to use the steadily drizzling tip of his own dick to get things lubricated. All around he felt the eyes on him, heard them murmuring and laughing, even heard a bit of applause. He wondered, maybe, in his deeply fogged thoughts, if they’d let him out if he managed to finish himself off. 

It was, as far as he could tell, the only thing there was to try.