Justin's ears twitched on either side of his head. There had been reports of a fox prowling the area. He would have to be careful.
  The Rats of NIMH had been relatively safe after their move from the old farm at which they had found held up after the experiments had given them their intelligence. Mr.Ages was working on a slew of new inventions, and the home of the Rats was doing well now, a year down the line. But the soldier rat was far too well versed in the ways of the world to think that that would be all they would have to worry about, whether their inventions would work, or if the new living quarters were nice. No. The world was a lot less safe than that. There would always be predators, and he would always be needed. Warriors are always needed.
  Still he kept his levity, joking with himself as he exited their hideaway to the world at large. "Time to get a new fur coat I suppose, winter is coming, so it ought to be useful." He smirked, his sword a heavy weight at his belt.
  He was right, and the winter was coming. With that came the need to gather more food. The parties who had been sent to acquire the needed supplies had sighted the fox two nights previously. It had been hiding in a bush, but when the clouds shifted and the moon showed through the light had glinted off its eyes, revealing it's hiding place.
  A bit too late for an older mouse, Seymour had been his name. He'd been lost to the fox's hunger. He'd been far too slow, and the fox was quick and keen.
  Reports of what had happened afterwards were sparse for the the next day afterwards. Every other rat with sense had run quickly for home, but a younger mouse, who went by the name of Howard, came back far later than the others, shivering and totally incoherent.
  They didn't get him to talk until the sun rose the next day over. He'd been a shivering mess, jumping at every shadow until they finally calmed him.
  Apparently he'd been one of the braver of the gathering party. He'd tried to save Seymore from his fate. The fox had caught the older rat by the collar of his shirt on one of his teeth. The old rat was far too frail to break free, so Howard had tried to break the garment before the fox could finish his meal. His efforts failed in spectacular fashion.
  The fox's great paw had come down and pinned the young rat, against the cold earth. Justin wasn't sure if it was just the embellishment of fear, but the story of what happened next had shaken him.
  The fox had smiled, plucking Seymore from his teeth with his free paw and teasing the pair of them about what their fate would be, about how their new home would be his stomach. He seemed more intelligent than the average fox. It reveled in their fear, it's paw holding Howard down powerfully as Seymour struggled in his grip.
  According to Howard's report, the fox had placed Seymore's tail in his mouth, and made the him watch as he slowly slurped the rat down whole and wriggling.
  Mr.Ages had tried to calm him down, saying no Fox ate in such a way, but Howard was adamant. He'd raved with descriptions of how he'd seen Seymour sinking, a wriggling bulge in the Fox's throat as those great yellow eyes smirked at him. He even thought he could hear Seymore struggling within the fox's belly, between gentle gurgles and groans of that great gastric prison.
  Mr.Ages asked that if all that was true, then how could Howard have possibly escaped. The color in Howard's face truly drained then. He'd gotten a thousand yard stare, and simply explained that the Fox had...let him go, with instructions to tell the other rats what he had seen there that night. To spread the word.
  It had been agreed between Mr.Ages and Justin himself that the story was best left untold to the masses, but whispers were spreading even though they'd kept Howard quarantined until such time he could calm himself. If the fox weren't' dealt with then finding rats to help gather supplies for the coming winter would be next to impossible. They needed those supplies to make sure that everyone was well fed. If everyone was too scared to pitch in the winter would be hard.
  This had to be taken care of, and it had to be taken care of now. The cold air ruffled Justin’s fur as he progressed forwards through the tall grass. He was well away from NIMH territory now. According to what little sense they could make of Howard’s report, this was about where the fox had been seen.
  Justin’s fur stood on end a little. Something wasn’t quite right here, and he could feel it. He kept a paw near his sword. He hadn’t been a soldier for as long as he had been without being cautious. He didn’t plan on being a fox’s lunch this evening. His round ears swiveled and twitched, looking for any sign of the fox that might give him some advantage. He’d tackled foxes before, they seldom left their territory for long, and if Howard’s frightening report about the Fox’s nature had been accurate, then there was little chance this one would be far.
  “Here, foxy foxy foxy…” He breathed gently, turning in gentle circles, making sure not to look directly at the moon so as not to alter his night vision. The dark was filled with little sounds, the key was telling which ones were important, and which ones were just the general goings on of harmless creatures.
  The night remained still, and he advanced further through the brush.
  There was a noise at his back. Justin whirled, his sword coming out of its sheath with practiced ease as he slowly stepped backwards, taking care to keep his feet at the ready in case the Fox jumped out of the grass at him. Whatever was in the grass, the noise it had made had been very large, easily fox sized. That would be the vulpine downfall.
  “Show yourself! You don’t scar-” His back hit something large, densely furred, and apparently vibrating with pleasure. “Me.” He finished, his blood running cold.
  “I don’t?...” Purred a deep voice above him. He felt the mass of fur bend down, warm, humid breath washing over his body as it spoke. He could hear the slick sound of its mouth near his ears. “Well I’ll just have to change that a bit then, won’t I?”
  Justin got his wits about him. His strong legs braced against the ground, propelling him forwards. He used the shift in weight to turn his body, bringing his sword to bare. He knew the fox had knelt down, if he’d judged it right, he might hit an eye. Vision was important in a fight. If he could take that out he’d have a much better chance at victory.
  As he turned fully, his heart very nearly stopped. He saw the fox’s wide open jaws, the deep cavern of its mouth, and the slick, clenching passage of its throat, glinting in the moonlight.
  It snapped shut on his sword. The force of that great maw closing sent tremors of motion through his arm. The force of it made his bones rattle, and despite his strength it was too much.
  Justin let go of the sword.
  The brave rat was thrown off balance falling onto his back. The fox smiled, holding his sword between his teeth like a toothpick. With a turn of its neck the sword was tossed into the grass far farther away than Justin could ever hope to reach.
  He got his first good look at the fox then. Every time they’d asked for a description from Howard they’d mostly gotten unintelligible gibberish. But now its visage was quite plain. It was a black fox, it’s fur smattered with white throughout its coat, which almost made it look grey, expects in the spot where no white fur grew, along the tip of its muzzle, along the massive paws that framed either side of the hero’s body, and along it’s pointed ears, which swiveled in an amused manner atop its head.
  Justin was struck by fear for a moment, but he quickly chased it down, trying to shift onto his front and gain purchase to run, before he so much as flipped over a single, massive black paw pressed itself against his belly, forcing him back down into the dirt with a hefty encompassing weight.
  “Nah, ah, ah. Can’t have you running off before the fun has started. Mr.Hero.”
  Justin grunted, trying to gain purchase, his paws scrabbling against the paw that held him down. He tried to find somewhere where he might sink his teeth in order to free himself. But the fox was smart, far smarter than it should have been. It’s claws kept Justin’s sharp rodent teeth away from any flesh he might try to bite. Justin stopped his struggling, he knew it was a waste of strength. He’d bide his time, the fox would slip up somewhere, just because he didn’t have his sword, that didn’t mean he was helpless.
  “You need to leave this place. This land belongs to the Rats of NIMH.”
  The fox tilted his head, his voice as a deep, amused tone. “The Rats of NIMH?” Justin gave a groan as the predator applied a bit more pressure to his body. “Well what about a Fox of NIMH? Am I not entitled to the same space as you?” He chuckled darkly.
  Justin blinked in shock, looking up at the dark fox. “A...a fox of NIMH? There’s no such thing. We were the only test animals at that laboratory!”
  The fox shook his head, tisking. “Nononono, you are only right in one respect, you were the only test subjects. Apparently they found rats too…” He grimaced. “Unruly...for their tastes. So those...lovely.” He groused, accentuating that last word with a little growl, and a hair more pressure on the captured rat. “Scientists, decided to head to an auction. You know what an auction is don’t you little rat? Humans like to think it's where expensive, sought after things are sold, but of course, like most things, they have that wrong. The true auctions are where humans hawk things that no one wants to people who want to get stuff on the cheap. It just so happens that I was a lucky little fox who’d been at a fur trading farm that had been closed for its cruelty…” He smirked, showing extremely sharp looking canines. “Can you imagine? Such monsters.” He shook his head. “In anycase, me and a few of my brothers were purchased, and that’s when the experiments began…”
  Justin felt his ribs straining as he let out a wheeze, the pressure on his body growing still as the fox continued to idly talk.
  “You know that bit I’d imagine. Lovely times all around, but useful in the end! Made me quite the...’Smart Cookie’, as they might have called me…” He looked down at Justin, regarding him like someone might regard a new plaything. “Though you can call me Fel, if it makes you feel any better.” He chuckled, before appearing a bit surprised. “Oh. Oh that’s right you can’t breathe currently.”
  Justin thrashed, trying to alleviate the pressure, he could see spots at the corners of his vision.
  “Let me help you with that.” The weight on his body eased back slightly. “You will forgive me won’t you my dear? I do get so into these things sometimes.” Fel looked up at nothing in particular. “Where was I?...Oh yes. To not extend this game of ours much farther, let me state it plainly. I’m going to eat you.”
  The rat gasped, filling his lungs as much as he could with the fox’s paw resting on top of him. “Like...you did...Seymore?” He growled.
  The fox’s ears perked. “Seymore? I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking abou-” He suddenly laughed. “Ooooooh! Oh, oh, oh, you mean that boney old mouse? Yes! You’re here about that then. Just as I thought.”
  “You thought?” Justin glowered at the fox.
  “Why yes little mouse…”
  “Rat…”
  “Whatever. Yes...quite so, you see, I knew that you lot weren’t quite the average rats by the way you scurried about, collecting good stuff instead of trash, those strange devices you tend to carry. So I figured that if you had a concept of technology, you might have a concept of revenge...Therefore, if I picked off one of you, another would come to avenge him. It’s a bit like ordering pizza when you think about it.”
  Justin’s furious gaze grew hotter. “You ate him to lure me here?...”
  “Well, not you specifically. That would be a bit self centered of you to think. What makes you so important Mr.Clever clogs?” Fel leaned down, the pressure on Justin increased again, his breath being forced out in a gasp. The fox’s mouth was close now, the slick sound of his wide tongue moving with every word now loud in Justin’s ear. “But yes...basically, and when I eat you...there will be another, and another...and another. There are other rats too you know...settlements. Perhaps when the rest of you are too scared to try I’ll move on...or just roam through and pick off the stragglers. I’m not sure.”
That tongue slipped out, and Justin could feel the sweltering heat washing off of it.
The fox continued. “But I do know, that I’m going to eat you…” Justin heard a low gurgle from the Fox’ stomach. “Oh, that’ll be Seymore. He’s still in there you know, I’m not sure what they did to me at NIHM, but morsels seem to just stay in there for days. It was a bit of an annoyance at first, but you know, it’s kinda nice. Keeping him inside me. He’s old though, he doesn’t wiggle as much as I like. Though he was so nice going down that first time...Being as small as you are I’d imagine you’ve never felt the pleasure of having prey wiggling down your throat hmm? It’s really something...Occasionally I just keep them there for a while, resisting the urge to swallow…” Fel’s claws curled slightly, pressing against Justin’s shoulders. “Mmm...Think you’ll wiggle for me?”
  Justin clenched his teeth. “You’re sick.”
  “Was that ever in question?” Fel tilted his head. “I should think we’re all a little sick after our time in NIMH, hmm? I just accept that I am. Perhaps you’re the cure for that sickness. In which case, let’s find out...it’s time to take my medicine…”
  Justin’s struggles increased ten fold, trying desperately to free himself from the Fox’s grip. “Let...me...go! I’m going t-” He was interrupted by Fel’s tongue, it lapped thickly over his front, forcing his chin up as it lathered itself along the underside of his neck and chin, saliva matting his fur as the fox tasted him, cooing in pleasure at his flavor. Justin could feel every bump and feature of that hot, wet tongue as it slowly licked over him with a rather lecherous slurp.
  It curled forth as the slurp ended with a wetly dexterous curl. Strings of saliva connected the pinned rat to Fel’s lips as the fox shot him a predatory smile. “Going to what? Stop me? Kill me? You know that’s not the first time I’ve heard that…” Fel tisked. “But in fact. All you’re going to do is make a nice, squirming lump in my belly. Say hi to that other rat for me will you? You’re quite lucky. Most of my meals don’t get a buddy.”
  Justen squirmed and trashed, severing those strands of saliva, flinging the viscous fluid onto the grass around them. He screamed in impudent rage, unable to do much more than make the fox’s toes wiggle a little bit.
  “Good bye…” Fel purred, giving a deep belly laugh, his jaws yawning wide, yet more strands of saliva stringing between his teeth as that hot, moist tunnel bared down on Justin. He was treated to a view of that clenching gullet, the undulating passage already moving almost needily, as though every facet of the fox’s body yearned to hold him inside.
  Just as that pointed muzzle came within a hair’s breadth of Justin’s face, it suddenly snapped shut, the slight click of teeth enough to make Justin gasp with surprise. Fel smirked at he response he’d managed to get out of the stoic warrior.
  “You know what? No...I don’t think head first is the thing for such a brave rat as yourself….nonono….I think you’d squirm more if you had to watch yourself sink into my gullet…” A little roll of pleasure washed over the Fox’s body at the thought, his shoulders visibly shifting as he gave a little murmur. “Ooooh yes...your hands reaching through my lips as I slurp you up like a piece of spaghetti...wiggling for that last bit of freedom, trying in vain to grab at the muscles of my throat. Which you shouldn’t bother to by the way. It’s way too slick.” He leaned in and whispered into Justin’s ear, those massive lips criminally gentle against the side of the rat’s head. “To be honest though. I only tell you that because I know you’ll try anyway. Please do. I love that part.”
  Before Justin could object, the paws pressing him down applied more force, winding him totally, he felt his ribs give a little creak at the sudden application of pressure. Stunned, he wasn’t prepared to move as they lifted away. By the time he’d regained his senses, he felt his hind paws encased in something hit, warm, and gently moving.
  Justin’s blood ran cold. He looked down to see both of his paws between Fel’s smirking lips. the fox’s eyes observing him like some kind of toy. Justin tried to struggle, but he felt a sudden suction around his legs. His stomach dropped as he was slurped in up to his knees in a single moment. The horribly invasive feeling of the fox’s tongue lathering over his lower legs making him squirm. He wished desperately for his sword, but he knew it was far beyond his reach.
  He scrabbled at the dirt, trying to gain purchase and pull himself free, but that light suction was too much. Fel didn’t even appear to be trying. His eyes and that smile communicated all the thoughts the fox had been expounding on. His every movement oozed with the sheer dominance he had over the smaller creature. He gave a low murmur, his lips vibrating around Justin’s legs, before, with sickening casualness, he gave another slurp.
  Justin came close enough to brace his paws against Fel’s snout, attempting to beat on it with his tiny first, but he might as well have been trying to take down a bear with a sling shot for how little effect he had. His struggles grew more clumsy as he sank up to his thighs between the fox’s lips, that wide, agile tongue. Those lips tightened around his middle as they stretched into a wider grin around the trapped rodent. Another slow murmur of pleasure vibrated around him as he tried to kick out at the tongue. It’s surface, wet with saliva, was too slippery for him to gain purchase and do any damage.
  That tongue waited, biding its time until he kicked in just the right way, then it stuck, sliding wetly between those legs and pressing its hot, wet, spongy surface right between Justin’s legs.
  The rat’s eyes went wide as a wave of fear passed over him. The fear was born from the unwanted wave of pleasure washed over his his body. A sound somewhere between a scream of surprise and a moan broke through his lips.
  The vibrations washing through him began to break and undulate. The fox was laughing at him, laughing at his useless struggling. That tongue didn’t let up, their difference in size was obvious as the thickness of that oral appendage forced his thighs wide. It found his sheath, the tip of that wide tongue teasing against the fur covered pouch mercilessly.
  Justin’s kicks lost any kind of coordination. He tried desperately to push himself away from those lips and that invasive tongue, but his efforts were useless as Fel kept that continuous suction on his lower body, he may as well have been trying to pull himself out of cement for all those clenching lips let him escape.
  He bit his lip, trying to deny the fox the satisfaction of gaining another moan from him, but as his maleness began to poke from its sheath, and that enormous tongue began to focus in on that bare pink flesh with no protection, he let out another low sound, his heart racing.
  “Y-You’re...nmmf...sick! You perverted...monst-” His words descended into gibberish as the tip of that tongue flicked again and again against that exposed flesh, curling and swirling around it with surprising dexterity as the fox’s gaze grew slightly crueler, denying him even speech as he sank deeper.
  Justin’s member throbbed fully out of its sheath, completely at the mercy of Fel’s tongue. The pleasure was undeniable, even if it was unwanted. He tried desperately to cramp down on the sensations flowing through him as he was teased. His focus drifted and his hands slipped, another burst of suction pulled him deeper, his arms were pinned to his sides, denying him even that option as he felt himself grow closer and closer to forced orgasm.
  Another undulation of the fox’s lips, an advancement of suction, and Justin was up to his shoulders in Fel’s mouth. Any attempt to create a concentrated effort to escape, or to even beg for his life were lost as Fel’s tongue continued its assault, the tip of that massive organ managing to curl around Justin’s sizable erection, dancing about it constantly.
  Despite his best efforts, the usually brave, courageous rat felt his orgasm approaching, he squirmed impudently against those smirking lips.
  Fel took his time, slow, lathering laps of that tongue forcing Justin to intimately know every facet and bump of the insidious thing. Fel’s earlier speech made it quite clear that he was not the first rat to be subject to its ministrations. He imagined Seymore, the rat who had been lost to the fox’s belly, and wondered if he’d suffered this indignity in his final moments.
  As that thought passed across his mind, all others were suddenly chased away by a wave of pleasure that arced through him like a shockwave. Every ounce of thought he’d managed to cling onto was blown from his mind like a match against a hurricane under the power of his orgasm, that tongue’s constant stroking, the wet, warm saliva coating the fur of his thighs and even the terrible wrongness of it all. Everything combined into one explosive moment, his member twitched and bobbed against that tongue before he loosed his seed, wet, sticky fluid splattering against the inside of Fel’s maw, his tongue gleefully lapping it up, leaving none of the stringy substance to be found as it ran against every inch of Justin’s lower body.
  As it subsided, Justin managed to open his eyes, to find Fel’s eyes looking down at his own. He could barely see them over the crest of the vulpine pointed muzzle, he was almost too far gone into the fox’s maw, but he could see them now. They spoke more words than the vocal predator could in an hour.
  Fel owned him, utterly and completely. He’d dominated Justin to his core without moving a paw, his tongue alone was enough to bring the mightiest of rat warriors low and defiled by the fox’s perversions. And even after that, after all of that, Fel would own him more completely soon.
  The last thing Justin saw of the outside world was a smirk, and a mocking wink.
  Then the last of his body was slurped inside like a noodle, those lips undulating up and over his head, his final cry cut off and muffled within those lips.
  Justin was closed within the warm, wet cavern. Rats were granted with a fantastic night vision by nature. This was normally a blessing while skulking around in the dark and trying to find food beyond the light, but here it turned into a curse.
  He could see that massive tongue as it batted him around, the strands of saliva hanging from that large pallet, moments before he was forced against it with a wet, slick sound. Those noises were everywhere now, through the saliva coating his ears, mixed with the low rumbling background of the fox’s murmuring pleasure.
  But the most frightening thing he could see within that humid, living enclosure, was the yawning, clenching passage of Fell’s throat. It was a tight ring of muscle that would occasionally stretch outwards, before closing once again with a tight squetch, an almost needy sort of motion that he knew would be welcoming him soon.
  Justin thrashed and shouted, but the fox’s teeth were like iron bars, and the interior of his mouth was too slick for him to gain any purchase to do real damage, even now, he was drawn inexorably forwards, the sound of that clenching throat growing louder and louder as Fel’s tongue arced upwards, like a horrible slide to the rat’s ultimate fate.
  He stiffened as that horrid embrace wrapped around his hind legs, clenching tightly. He tried to pull them free, but he could feel the true motion of Fel’s esophagus now. It wasn’t a closing and opening, it was a slow wave of muscular contraction. With his feet captured, another undulation of motion just pulled him deeper still, swallowing him up to his knees in an instant.
  He could hear, and worse yet, feel the fox’s laugh, his far smaller body at the mercy of the vulpine’s as he enjoyed what he had expressed as his favorite part of devouring prey.
  Justin wanted to grab on to something, to pull himself from that slow, sinking feeling that crept up his body, but there was no escape, he was in a fox’s mouth, and there was no one coming, and nothing he could do.
  Another clench washed up along his thighs as he vanished up to his waist into that tight ring of clinging muscle. Though it was tight, he found he could still move, but it was like being wrapped up in rubber almost, he could force his muscles to move a certain distance, but the moment he relaxed, he was pressed back into the easiest shape for the fox to swallow.
  In desperation, Justin reached down to try to push himself free. On some level, he might have known it wouldn’t help, but he had to try to do something. The only thing it served to do, however, was slip his hands into that ever hungry ring, slipping on the saliva coated, muscular surface, and into that seemingly endless hold.
  Fel swallowed again right then, seeming to sense when would be the perfect time to somehow render the rat even more helpless than before. Justin couldn’t see the Fox’s expression, but he knew what it was. He was smirking right now, giving a soundless gloat over the rat’s end.
  Justin wiggled, that was the only thing he could do now. His arms and legs strained against the throat’s embrace, but there was no denying it. With how small he was in comparison to Fel, he knew that one more swallow would end it, one more gulp and he would slide beyond where light had ever gone, and into the Fox’s belly for who knew how long.
  He gave a final yell of defiance, and that was the end of it.
  WIth a noisy gulp, that last swallow came, Justin felt his chest compressed by the tightness of Fel’s throat, and he sank, that slick caress, that awful embrace, climbed over his chest, to brace against his neck, his chin forced up by the closeness of it.
  With a muffled noise, it washed over Justin’s head, and sight of the rat was lost to any living creature outside the confine of Fel’s stomach.
  Outside of Justin’s view, the fox gave another gentle purr that vibrated his world. He lifted a forepaw, and pressed it against the wriggling lump within his throat, distending it with a vague bulge, obviously struggling within.
  Fel seemed to enjoy holding him there. He sank slowly for some time, clenched in tight muscle, his own body tested with every wiggle, every struggle simply forced back in line by the natural ministrations of Fel’s body. Wave after slow wave of motion slowly ferried Justin down and away.
  He could feel Fel was stretching things out, but as his stomach gave a low gurgle, he let nature take its course.
  Justin’s thrashing bulge grew more active as another loud swallow echoed through the night, and the Rat slid away utterly, that bulge merging beyond Fel’s neck and into his belly.
  “Ahhh….” The fox gave a slow sigh of pleasure. “There we go…” He stood up, the fox’s black furred belly hanging just a bit lower than it had before. He craned his neck back to look at it. The diligent observer might notice the occasional small lump of what might be a paw or a foot against his hide. There were two distinct patterns to this, one strong and urgent, and the other far slower and weaker.
  “See? Now you have company old timer. I do hope you both enjoy the accommodations….” Fel stiffened as a little burp escaped his lips. “Oooh, excused me. Seems my dinner’s not agreeing, though, I find it seldom does...but that’s what makes it fun, eh gents?” The fox took up a brisk walk, throwing the waving of his hanging belly into his stride for more than absolutely necessary, enjoying the wiggling lives within his gut. “Now, if you excuse me, I watched the old timer’s party leave last time, and with you so lovingly traipsing about, I have a feeling I know where your little ‘Village’ is. Anyone fancy dessert?”
  The wiggles in his belly grew ten fold, even the older mouse’s struggles picked up in strength at the realization that this fate might befall the rest of the rats of NIMH, but there was nothing they could do. They went where Fel went, they were inside him, the slow gurgles of his stomach to greet them as they woke up and lull them to sleep. They would be a captive audience as the Fox sent more to join their ranks.
  “That’s what I thought. Everyone loves dessert~”....
 
 
 
 
  ----
 
 
  At the Gates of NIMH, Gregory was getting quite bored. He really didn’t know why they bothered with a guard, no human or animal knew where NIMH lay. It was always just a boring excuse to keep him or one of the other guards awake all night for no reason. He had half a mind to tell Mr.Ages off for being such a paranoid old coot. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d gotten a good night’s sleep.
  It was for this reason, that both he, and the rat in the opposite tower, were lightly dozing when it happened. In fact Gregory didn’t wake up until he heard the rat in the other tower scream.
  The grogginess made him slow to realize what was happening. His eyes shot open, but were unfocused, he blundered around, and in his clumsy efforts to do his job, he knocked his spear from its place and it went tumbling into the dark.
  Another scream brought his focus back quicker. He turned to see a pair of yellow eyes glowing in the dark, looking sideways at him. His eyes adjusted to the dark, and he could see what was making the other guard, a mouse named Nathan, scream.
  A fox stood in front of the opposite gate, his muzzle pressed into the guard tower. As he pulled back, Gregory could see Nathon, his rear half inside the fox’s smirking maw. Gregory was struck utterly still, the Fox was making direct eye contact with him. Without so much as a moment to fully process what was happening, it tilted its head back, and with a slow slurp, Nathan’s screams were cut off, his face vanishing behind those vulpine lips before a noisy swallow broke the silence of the night.
  Gregory watched in horror as the bulging lump of what had once been Nathan slowly slid down the fox’s throat, under that shining black fur.
  “Oh...oh God…” Gregory’s voice shook. Sound the alarm. That was the next thought that passed through his head, but as he turned to hit the lever that would activate the massive bell above the guard towers, he felt a humid breath wash over his back.
  “Well hello there little morsel…” Purred a voice. “We’re about to get to know each other very well…”
  The last view Gregory had of anything outside the Fox’s body, was the dark of the night, framed on either side of his yawning mouth, before he was consumed into the hot, wet cavern of his mouth.
  ----
 
 
  There was no alarm, so there wasn’t any warning. Fel came into the village like a shadow in the night. He made a game of it at first, to see just how many he could devour without alerting the rest of the rats. Morsel after morsel wiggled wonderfully down his throat. Every feature of their faces in that last moment of surprise just sent a shiver of pleasure down his spine. He could read every feeling in that expression, first a shock of danger, the body responds on automatic, throwing hands up, jumping backwards. Then, they’d see his maw, coming forwards to greet them, and they’d realize they’d done the wrong thing, but it was too late to correct. There was fear then, and realization. The realization that they’d never be outside again, that their fate was sealed. As his throat pressed in around their struggling little bodies, most would give up just before thier reached his stomach. While he liked the wiggling, there was a certain pleasure to this too, their submission, their accepting of their fate that they were his now. Little did they know just how long they would be his, but he was sure Justin was being a lovely little greeter to the new residents of his belly, which was good, because it was about to get a lot more crowded.
  Bored with the silent method, four or five rats now making his belly hang low between his legs, Fel strode into the center of town, stepping over houses and over fountains. Already there was stirs in the village as he settled in down on his haunches.
  “Hello, Rats of NIMH!” He cooed, as though he were talking to children. Various rodent heads poked out of windows, widening as they realized just how far into the settlement a predator had gotten. “That’s riiiiiggghhhttt…..” Fel purred, standing up again. “You’ve got a guest….” He let a slow rumble escape from his chest, standing up again, with the night vision of rats, they could see how low his belly hung, the wiggling motions within far more obvious for his previous snacks. “And he’s hungry.”
  The commotion started immediately. Fel let out a giggle, reveling in the sudden panic. The rats had woken up, sleepy and disoriented, just like the others. This would be easy.
  An older rodent, stumbled in the street and with a casual ease the fox’s dark muzzle descended. Some of the running crowd paused in a feared awe as in a single, graceful motion the rat vanished, struggling down the length of the fox’s neck and into his belly.
  “Mmm….delicious…” Fel chuckled, his tail swept around to the side, catching three rats off guard and brushing them off their feet. “Now, now, no need to get excited, there’s plenty of room for all…”He leaned down to face the tripped up rats. They shivered and quailed under Fel’s golden gaze as he smiled cruelly down at them.
  His voice ruffled their fur as he spoke, their bodies struck still by the sight in front of them.
  “If it makes you feel any better, you’ll have some close and personal time with your neighbors. Justin will give you the tour, I’m sure that nice rat woman will assist. Harriet maybe? I’m not sure if that’s actually her name. Most of what she said sounded like ‘Please help mmmphh!;” It’s so hard to understand the words of a struggling morsel in my throat. But you know, I’m trying to learn, so say something on your way down won’t you?”
  With that Fel’s jaws snapped shut around the centermost rat, a chubby little number who squirmed beautifully on his tongue as the fox swirled him about like a sweet. He didn’t have much time to play, not when there were so many toys about.
  A quick swallow made short work of the chubby fellow, his size made such a lovely lump along his path into Fel’s ever fuller belly. He was such a portly rat that Fel could feel his outline much more distinctly. He liked to imagine all the other rats could see the outline of his face as his muffled yelps pressed against that slick passage.
  The other two rats stumbled over their own limbs, trying to crabwalk akwardly backwards and away from danger. Fel just smirked and leaned in close, jaws opening wide to embrace them...When something suddenly smacked his nose.
  Fel blinked, putting on an expression of mock offence. His eyes settled on a young female rat, obviously just past her adolescence entering adulthood and feeling brave. She turned towards the other two rats.
  “R-run! I’ll distract him!”
  Fel frowned. “Well that was rude.”
  The female rat made a shooing motion at the other two, who were still shaking too much in their fear to effectively get away. Not waiting any further, she gave a weak kick to Fel’s forepaw, before darting between his legs.
  “Dorothy wait!” Cried one of the fallen rats, reaching out for her.
  “Yes….he’s quite right.” Fel mused. The girl was uncoordinated, just like her ‘Friends’. She tripped just as she stepped between Fel’s hind legs, and the Fox smirked, timing things just right.
He slammed down onto his haunches, and for a moment, the girl was lost under a torrent of silky black fur and bulk. “Hold up a moment dear.”
  “No!” The male rats cried in unison, but as Fel stood up, their looks of horror turns into stares of confusion. Instead of their crushed friend, there was nothing on the cobbles as the fox stood up.
  “If you’re in such a hurry, I think you deserve a special entrance. He turned to look at the prone rats before him. “Wanna see something cool?”
  Before they could answer, Fel turned around, the massive expanse of his rump filling their vision as he lifted his bushy vulpine tail out of the way. For a moment they were even more confused, before their eyes centered just underneath the fluffy appendage. Everyone within view paused mid step, jaws dropping open in horror at the sight.
  “H-help!” The female rat, Dorothy, cried.
  Fel’s timing had been good, just as she’d tripped, he’d come down on her, her hind legs getting shoved into the tight ring of the fox’s anus. He smirked at his audience over his shoulder as she pounded at either cheek, trying to pull herself free of the horrifying hold.
  ‘You’d be surprised what they teach over at NIMH for those of us who aren’t so lucky to escape so soon. Like….this for instance.”
  The girl screamed as that hole clenched around her legs, jerking her backwards as it puckered forth around her, drawing her in further. Her shot wide with fear.
  “N-no...no please!” Another clench captured one arm as it frantically pushed at the puckered flesh rising to entomb her. “A-anything but this please!”
  “Now now dear,” Fel tutted, giving his rump a little waggle, shaking her hair about as it fell in front of her face, her free arm reaching frantically out to the stunned crowd. “Consider this an honor, you’re taking the path less traveled...Aren’t you academic rat types all about that sort of thing?” To punctuate he clenched again, most of Dorothy's chest entering his rump. Her pleads grew a bit less vocal as the pressure of that far tighter entrance restricted her breathing slightly.
  “H-help...me…” She said more quietly, but still as shrill as she could manage. She probably knew it was hopless, she was up too high for anyone to reach, and even if they could, the chances she could be pulled out were slim to none.
  “Now, now, I hate to see a pretty girl cry. Let’s speed this up shall we?” Fell smirked with a dark laugh.
  “No! Nononono!” Another clench pulled her in up to her neck, her free arm still waving about frantically as she craned her neck, trying to stay within the outside world for as long as she could. That puckered flesh framed her face now, pressing against it on all sides, framing her cheeks in in a tight ring.
  “Goodbye Dorothy~ Your stay might be a bit...more cramped, than the others, but I’m sure I’ll enjoy it all the same.”
  “P-please! Please somebody help mmmmphhhh!!!” The tight hole that held her clenched up over the back of her head, closing around her muzzle and silencing her. Dorothy's face vanished from sight, her waving arm the last thing that could be seen. Even now it tried to grasp at something, anything that could save her from her fate, but it too was slowly slurped up like a piece of spaghetti. With a final clench, her wiggling fingers were buried within that tight tunnel, her body subsumed by the fox’s own.
“Ooooohhh~ Now that feels rather nice.” Fel’s hips gave a little shift, working Dorothy around a bit, before he turned back around, grinning at her friends. “I see why you liked her, so...squirmy.” Even from outside, everyone could see Fel’s body visibly tense, no doubt squeezing in on the poor trapped girl.
“N-no…” One of the boy’s said. “You...you….”
“Shoved her up my ass, yes.” Fel rolled his shoulders with a pleasured little coo. “Don’t stutter my friend, it’s unbecoming, and do try to keep up.” He paused, then blinked. “Oh, I ALSO ate your third friend too.”
“W-what?”
The other male rat’s eyes widened. He managed to get to his feet and try to run, but Fel’s mouth shot forwards and caught his tail between his lips. He managed to grab at his friend’s hands for a moment.
“Tommy!”
“D-don’t let go Robbie!”
Fel smiled around the rat’s tail, before pulling with his true strength and ripping the two appart. “How cute…” He mumbled around his newest charge. “But ultimately…”
The fox pursed his lips and slowly sucked inwards, the rat’s tail vanished slowly before he came to that succulent little rump. His lips flowed over that two as the boy ‘Tommy’ screamed and thrashed just like every other rat had. Inch after inch of him vanished between those dark lips, until only his face remained outside, looking around fearfully at the village. Fel made sure that Robbie got a good long look at his friend’s last expression, before those lips closed over it, and the rat he’d probably known since childhood became little more than another formless bulge slipping down a predator’s throat, every struggle a reminder that he was still alive, and would remain alive for the foreseeable future.
“What was I saying?” Fel tilted his head. “Oh yes, ultimately pointless.”
Robbie sniffled on the ground. “Y-you monster! You horrible creature!”
“Why thank you,” Fel purred.
“W-why don’t you just eat me too!” The third rat, the smallest of the three, puffed out his chest defiantly.
Fel blinked. “Oh...now that’s a good question.”
Robbie yelped as Fel’s black nose was suddenly right in front of him. Before he could say anything, that mouth yawned open, and a thick, spongy, wet tongue pressed against his body, humid breath washing over him as it slowly lathered across his fur as though he were a popsicle in the dead of summer. The sound of it rubbing against his clothes and body was loud in his ears, before it finally pulled away, retreating into Fel’s mouth as the fox rumbled, a strand of saliva connecting the now drenched rat to the fox’s lips like a leash, possessive just for its existence.
Robbie closed his eyes and readied himself for his fate.
“Buuuuuuuuuut I’m full.”
Robbie blinked. “What?”
Fel stood up and shrugged. “Yeah. I’m just gonna eat your friends if that’s alright.” He stood up, his belly almost grossly sagged now, bulges and wiggles now quite obvious along its distended length. As Robbie looked on, he could almost see the forms of his neighbor’s faces pressed against the fox’s flesh, arms, legs tails, all tangled within his stomach, struggling uselessly. “I mean...I think I got all the good ones, don’t you?” He gave his belly a little jiggle, and the struggles within increased. “Soooooooooo, I’m gonna go.”
The fox turned, and started to walk towards where the gates had been, they were wide open now, purposeless.
Robbie was dumbfounded. He didn’t know how to respond. The fox had toyed with him, just held his life in his paws, and now was arguably doing the crueler thing, and simply walking off into the night with a belly...and other places, full of his friends and loved ones.
“B-but…” Robbie practically whimpered.
“Go on, kid...go off with the others I let scurry into the grass...found another little village.” He turned and looked over his shoulder, the setting moon framing his dark outline against the horizon for a moment. “This was fun...And besides…” A little belch escaped Fel’s lips as his smirk grew, framed there as he was, he almost didn’t look real. He looked like something out of a story, a myth almost. “I’d love to join you again for dinner in the very near future.”
With an echoing laugh, the Fox of NIMH, his belly full of new ‘Guests’ vanished into the night, leaving the decimated village in his wake, and a lone rat sitting in an empty village to stunned to scurry off, and haunted by the last sights he’d seen of his friends, devoured in the night by a beast that very nearly seemed to be a living shadow.
 
 
End