[Old Art] Swift Punishment

This is the first piece I ever commissioned where I hanged my boi David UwU; shame I didn't post it!

Art by mrs_stein

Made to accompany the story written by Doctor Klein, found here: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/38694571/

David and Abby were both panting hard as they sprang through the underbrush, each sprinting just as hard as they could, occasionally looking over their shoulders to see how close their pursuers were. The moonlight made it hard to hide in the tall grasses, but they kept bent as low as they could while maintaining near top speed.

David saw an opportunity: off about a tenth of a mile away was a thick group of trees near where the forest properly began. If they could only reach it…He deviated left, bumping lightly into his friend and pointing. She adjusted course along with him, and together they headed into the safety of darkness and thick trees.

Once they reached the outer edge, they turned as one unit, heading off in a tangent, deep into the gathering blackness. They zigged and zagged repeatedly, and randomly, unable to tell if anyone was still behind them in the reduced visibility. But after what felt like fifteen minutes, and as a stitch was firmly formed in David’s side, they finally slowed to a stop. The only sounds were of crickets and their own heavy breathing, but the two of them listened closely for a full minute, looking around with wide eyes. Finally, when it was clear they were alone, David sighed deeply.

“Well,” he said, looking at his friend, who had her hands on her hips as she caught her breath. “I guess we lost them.”

She nodded, still looking around. “It was a stupid idea, after all. We should’ve known the bandits would never allow their hideout to be tracked like that. It was a trap all the way…”

“Oh well,” David replied, a new thought on his mind causing his heart to skip a little. “Now we have another problem; we better hope the outer sentries didn’t notice all of that bullshit back there.” He jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “Otherwise everyone’s gonna know what we did.”

Abby’s lips were slightly pursed. Her soft white fur shone in stripes from the broken moonlight. “Let’s go,” she said. “The sooner we get back, the better.”

David had no argument for that, and they headed back off. This part of the forest was, thankfully, familiar to the two foxes, who sniffed out the way back to their outpost in short order. They were under two miles away, and at a reasonable pace, made it in under twenty minutes.

But David’s heart sank as they approached by a back way into the compound; there were clear signs of activity within the walls. Despite being the middle of the night, the entire place was lit up in excitement, and prominent were a number of clearly scrambled patrols running along the walls to their stations. The two foxes froze in place near the wall, realizing under no circumstances were they going to be able to sneak back in the way they left, now. In fact—

“Hey down there!” someone shouted from above. Cringing, David and Abby turned their faces upward in unison, realizing there was nowhere to hide. It was good that the sentry who’d seen them hadn’t decided to simply open fire, but then again he could probably tell the two were foxes, and clearly not bandits. The fact that the whole outpost was apparently on alert was a sign that the outermost sentries had indeed been alerted to bandit activity, and incorrectly interpreted that as an attempted surprise attack rather than the failed trap that it had been in reality. Still, that wouldn’t save them from what would come next…

“What are you doing outside the wall?” the sentry demanded as they gazed up. “Everyone’s been looking for you! Stay there!” He hurried away and out of sight, and David and Abby exchanged looks of concern. This wasn’t good.

But they obeyed, and waited while a side gate opened nearby. The sentry came jogging out, and so too did General Xiang, looking imposing and as if he’d been roused from bed. He marched out to them, looking despite his smooth and muted movements to be more wound up than David had ever seen him before. Behind him were several more guards, armed and looking around to make sure no bandits had followed.

“So,” Xiang said, his voice booming out. “We find the reason for the general alert that forced everyone from their sleep tonight.” His eyebrows were furrowed and his lips drawn, not quite into a snarl. The two young foxes quailed under his stare. “What did you think you were doing? No, wait!” He raised a hand to silence them as Abby opened her mouth to answer. “Let me guess. You saw the intelligence communiqué that indicated the bandits had let slip where their base was?”

“Uh…” David gulped. “Yeah…”

“Stupid," General Xiang hissed. “It was an obvious ploy to ensnare one of our patrols so they could be interrogated.” He looked them up and down. “How you managed to escape…You must’ve either seen your mistake before it was too late, or else you run very fast. Or perhaps, you’re just lucky.”

David wasn’t in the mood to admit the truth, and so stayed silent under this barrage from the commanding general of the outpost. He did feel the two of them had been lucky, but perhaps that had just run out. He’d heard of what the punishment was for insubordination, and they had been under a general order not to leave the outpost for days.

“You endangered our entire operation with your stupidity and insubordination. This I have no tolerance for.” He looked from one to the other guilty face, and paused before continuing. “I think an example is in order, in case any of my other soldiers are tempted to become so defiant of their orders. You’re both going to be hanged at dawn. Guards—” He gestured over his shoulder, and a few sentries stepped forward toward them.

That sentence struck David as if he’d been hit in the face with a bat. He was rendered speechless for a second, his heart frozen and his blood cold. But something else was forcing its way out rather than his terror, and it compelled him without conscious thought.

“Wait!” he cried, so loudly and shakily that Xiang paused midway through turning away. “Wait,” he repeated, somewhat more quietly. “I violated orders, I’m sorry for that. And I decided to go after the bandit headquarters…But she had nothing to do with it!” He gestured wildly to Abby, who stared at him in possibly surprise mixed with horror.

“I forced her!” David said emphatically. “She didn’t want to do it; she was trying to stop me and bring me back to camp the entire time! And…” He searched for something more to say to exonerate her. “She’s the only reason I survived; she sensed the trap just before they tried to spring it.”

And that made Xiang pause, and really consider the foxes again. He was surprised, clearly, and didn’t seem to know what to say right away. Finally, he uttered: “Abby, is this true?”

And Abby, who was clearly reeling from the outburst, nodded after a second, looking extremely nervous.

“So you can’t…I mean, please,” David finished, gulping in panic at his own words. “Hang me. But spare her…Please…”

General Xiang stared at them. When he finally spoke, his words were full of a strange tone. “I don’t believe you, Private. I think you’re trying to save your friend’s skin…All the same, I suppose one example is enough for the troops. Against my better judgment, I’ll spare her the rope for now, until I can look deeper into this. But it won’t save you. Guards, take him into custody, and ready the gallows for the morning.”

David breathed a sigh of inexplicable relief. He was going to hang; he was going to die. Why did he feel so good? But the answer was as clear as day: in an instant, his priorities had changed. He was dead, and nothing would change that. But he’d been able to save Abby, his favorite person in the whole world, a girl whom until just now he never realized he loved. That made him swell in happiness even as two young guards he recognized stepped to either side of him, and pulled his hands behind his back. A thin rope secured his wrists together, and they marched him into the outpost, following the others who walked before them.

Only Abby remained behind, staring dumbfounded at all of this. David couldn’t blame her. He’d surprised even himself with the smooth string of lies he’d spun to spring her free; but he’d always heard that love made you do strange things.

He was taken to a small building that was normally used for storage, and tossed inside. There were no windows to look out, and so he was submerged in total darkness as his captors wordlessly closed the door behind him. They apparently remained outside, for he could see as much if he peeked under the tiny crack between the door and floor. But to his disappointment, as the night wore on, no one else came by. Specifically, Abby didn’t attempt to see him, though he had to admit that she was likely under orders not to. All the same, it would’ve been nice to see her one more time before he would hang…But his heart leapt at the thought that she might be at his execution tomorrow. That did a good job of displacing his fear anytime he thought of it.

He didn’t sleep at all, but instead waited in dread with his eyes wide in the dark as he watched the first signs of daylight creep under the door. It was time, and he had only minutes left to live.

Just as he thought that, a shadow stepped in front of that light, and the door opened. General Xiang stood there as the sudden brightness caused David to wince. He was dressed much more smartly now, and seemed alert as if he’d been able to sleep just fine. David didn’t wait to be dragged out; he’d already decided to take this like the man he always wanted to be. So he hopped down from the table he’d been sitting on, arms still tied behind him, and walked straight up to the general.

“Well,” Xiang said. “Are you ready to accept your punishment?”

David nodded wordlessly.

“Very well. Come along.” He grasped David by the scruff of his neck, and led him out into the growing light.

There weren’t many people around, but David could already see the reason why: this was to be made public. There was, already visible in the near distance, a set of gallows that’d been erected, and a large crowd was formed nearby. This sent a fresh wave of dread through him, but also that little ray of hope: this likely meant that Abby would be there. That thought meant he could take his death with strength and dignity.

“Don’t worry, boy,” Xiang said abruptly as they neared the place of his death. “This isn’t going to be like any hanging you’ve seen before. Your neck won’t be broken; it’ll be a guaranteed strangulation instead.”

It was bizarre; he spoke as if that was meant to be comforting. But that just boosted David’s fear over the top of everything else he was feeling, and his legs almost failed him and collapsed. But he kept them steady, and refused to answer what he now realized was a taunt meant to scare him more. So he had to dangle on the rope for a little while longer? No matter.

They reached the edge of the gallows, and to a staircase that led up ten feet or so to the platform. The crowd was chatting amongst themselves, not seeming particularly bothered about what was about to take place. A couple of people clapped as they noticed David being led up the final stairs of his life, and when he stood on the platform, legs shaking despite him, they seemed to pay him polite attention.

Xiang moved the young fox toward the edge of the platform, and held him in place.

“Take note!” the general called down to the assembled crowd. David scanned it, and found Abby standing near the front with her arms crossed uncomfortably. Their eyes met, and he smiled a tiny smile.

“If any of you get the idea to violate your orders and endanger your fellow soldiers, this will be the fate you can look forward to.” Xiang pulled a pocket knife from his belt, flicked it open, and held it lightly to David’s throat. It gently touched his fur, and he swallowed involuntarily.

But then, the knife moved downward, and Xiang pulled on his shirt collar while slashing through it, and then through the sleeves; after just a few seconds of work, the fatigue shirt lay split in half, dangling from where it was tucked into his pants. But his lower garments weren’t safe either, and were unbuttoned and pulled harshly downward. David gritted his teeth and closed his eyes as he knew his entire body was now on full display for his friends, colleagues, and more importantly, Abby. He felt his penis trying to retreat and become as small as it could, and he felt and obeyed the desire to push his hips out to counteract that. No need to die while looking like a pill-dick.

Xiang was bizarrely down on his knees, attending to untying and removing David’s boots, and finally pulling the pants and boxers completely off. David’s bare paws stood on the platform as Xiang returned slowly to his feet, giving him an odd look.

“Any last words, boy?” His voice was cruel, as if he was enjoying this.

David just shook his head, and he was led backward onto a trapdoor. He stood still in the morning light as a noose made of a very thick rope was pulled over his head, and rested around his trembling throat. Xiang was tightening it now, so much so that the rope was pulled taut. In fact, it was so tight that David had to stand on his very tip-toes in order to not be strangled right now. At this rate, he wouldn’t drop at all. Or maybe he was just being screwed with.

And speaking of, no more time was being wasted. General Xiang stepped away, to a large wooden lever, and looked dead in David’s eyes as he pulled it.

The wood David stood on with his toes disappeared in an instant. He didn’t drop in any way, but just stayed where he was. There was a difference though, in that there was a sudden, incredibly painful pressure on the top of his neck, just under his jaw. His head was jerked upward so he stared at the orange sky as all the breath was taken from him. His mouth was open as he felt himself jerkily swinging, as his legs refused to take his orders to be still and die with dignity.

All thought was overridden as the boy kicked, convulsed, and struggled with everything he had. The pain in his throat was extreme, burning and tearing at him in a way that was an awful sort of unpleasant. And worse yet, he felt to his utter horror that his dick was growing hard. What the fuck!? But he couldn’t even concentrate on that disgrace as his vision faded quickly to black; his intense struggling was only quickening his death.

And as his vision was lost to him, as his jerks became gentle and helpless, the ultimate humiliation: he was climaxing, and felt himself squirting his seed all over as he became lost to the world. He could just die, and thankfully his wish was granted as his last conscious thoughts left him to drift in the great void.

Except, he began to wake. Groggy, hurt, with a tightness still in his neck and a terrible pain in his head, the consciousness that had mercifully fled him was returning unwillingly. His eyes were opening of their own accord, and though he didn’t want them to, they presented a blurry, unclear picture to his clearly still working brain.

And he was lying down, no longer hanging from his neck. What was going on…?

In fact, he seemed to be in the outpost medical tent, lying in a bed. There were people here, two of them, standing to either side of him. As his sight cleared up, he recognized both Abby and Xiang, each appearing in oddly good spirits. Had this all been a dream?

“What…” He tried to speak, but his throat hurt far too much for more than a single poorly pronounced syllable.

“Don’t speak,” Abby said, stroking his hair. “You’re fine. There was a little damage to your trachea from all that violent struggling you did…”

But David shook his head, deeply confused and upset.

“Calm yourself,” Xiang commanded, and their eyes met. “Your punishment has been fulfilled.” When David just stared back at him with even less understanding, he continued. “I told you that you were going to hang. Not die. We don’t prefer to execute our limited supply of soldiers…We just like to scare you. Your friend here was in on it, by the way. She was just sworn to secrecy. There’s a reason we don’t drop you; normally that minimizes damage to the structures of the neck. But you fought hard enough to hurt yourself while you were dangling.”

David looked back at Abby, eyebrows raised as his mind was struggling to wrap itself around this nonsense. She just smiled a knowing smile and continued petting him. “I told him you were lying about me, as well.”

Now back to Xiang, who was nodding with a little smirk on his face. “I admit, I was a little impressed despite your lying to me…To so easily insist on taking the full blame is something I look for in future leaders.” He paused. “You’re free to continue serving with us, but I may watch you a little more closely from now on. Though this is usually a good deterrent, you seemed to…enjoy yourself up there.”

And David felt himself turning red. As he looked back at Abby, she seemed to be a little bashful at that memory as well. In that moment, though, he remembered all of those things he felt leading up to the hanging, and wondered if he could ever tell her.