Artwork by  sambaba
Story by me

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It was the talk of all of Sherwood Forest, from the village to the castle to the campgrounds. The famous bandit Robin Hood, warrior against the corrupt monarchy, had all but disappeared after his wedding to Maid Marian. No one - his friends, the townspeople, or even his wife - appeared to know where the gold-hearted thief had gone. Now that the good King Richard had retaken the throne and returned the kingdom to peaceful and fair rule, Robin's services were no longer needed. But still, rumors swirled.

The last anyone had heard of the fox's whereabouts was shortly after his wedding to Maid Marian. As the vixen appeared to be in high spirits despite her husband's supposed disappearance, the townspeople figured he was off journeying or exploring for the crown. Only the most conspiracy-minded animals kept the question on their minds over time; after a year, the fox's legend remained, but the stories were told in past tense.

Marian did indeed know her husband's whereabouts, and he was indeed safe, but his location, though near, was a secret to all but the king's most trusted servants. The situation arose shortly after the foxes' wedding, when the regal lion called his maid into his quarters for a discussion, just the two of them.

"Marian," Richard had began, "we need to discuss the matter of your husband's past. While I appreciate all he did to fight my brother's corruption of the throne, the matter of his criminal record remains."

Marian questioned what he meant. "With all due respect, your honor, Robin did what he did out of necessity and bravery, fighting against unfair taxation and cruelty against the people."

To her surprise, the lion nodded knowingly. "I agree," he said. "My brother truly put the future of the monarchy at risk, and Robin's deeds were necessary. But, at the same time, we cannot deny his methods remain a violation of the law up to and including treason. He is an inspiring fox, to be sure, but imagine if his legend falls into the wrong hands. Imagine a future freedom fighter who wants to overthrow my throne changes Robin's story. It would take only days for him to launch a new campaign of the people. I myself will remember the good of Robin's actions as inspiration to never turn against the people, but I can't stop the people from turning against me."

It was Marian's turn to nod. "My king, I understand. But what shall we do? If Robin is thrown into the stocks or the dungeons, the people will revolt. If he's exiled, they will never forget. What is your plan?"

King Richard spread a catty grin. "My plan? My plan is simple. The people like to say there is no greater trap for a free man than marriage." Marian grimaced, but the king continued. "I do not mean to insult. I simply mean I will place his punishment in your paws. My only requests are that you keep your husband out of the public eye and you ensure he no longer poses a threat to the kingdom, even as he trusts me more than my conniving brother." With that, the lion stood. "I thank you for your help, my treasured liege."

Marian bid her king adieu and slowly wandered through the castle, returning to her living quarters. Out of the public eye and no longer a threat... those would be challenging, given that the fox was a born athlete who loved to help the people. How could she stop him from leaving the castle? Then she saw her answer.

Marian's walk had brought her past the guards' quarters, more specifically their canteen. In front of her, about a dozen hulking security staffers sat at a banquet table, busily stuffing their faces with meat, bread and pastries. And they weren't hulking with muscle - huge guts hung below thick legs, numerous chins covered necks, and billowing fat folds flowed over every other part of the guards. What especially caught Marian's eye were a wolf and rabbit sitting across from each other at the end of the table - she'd seen them join the king's guard only months ago, then standing as swift and strong trainees. Now, though they should have been dwarfed by their elephant and rhino coworkers, the animals stood nearly as wide.

That was the ticket, Marian thought to herself. If she plumped up her husband, he'd be too encumbered to leave the castle, let alone participate in any plots against the crown. And he was devoted to her in every way, giving her an easy path to fulfilling the king's request. Before she returned to their quarters, she called over the guards' kitchen staff and requested a large plate of pastries from them.

"Robin, my dear, I've returned," Marian called as she opened the door to her quarters, the plate in her hands. "And I've a surprise for you."

Her husband was sitting in the corner, reading a book, but his wife's appearance commanded his attention. The fox closed the book and stood, clad in his traditional green tunic, walking to embrace his vixen. "My love, it's good to see you," he said, hugging her around the plate. "What did the king have to say?"

Marian paused for a split second before coming up with an answer. "Richard just wanted to see how our honeymoon went, and he wanted to give us this gift. His staff taught me a new recipe and I want you to try it," she said, gesturing to the plate in her hands. It was overloaded with sugary pastries, drizzling with syrup, sugar and honey.

Unsurprisingly, Robin fell for the trap, taking the top pastry in his paw and biting into it. He closed his eyes and sighed. "My love, you've outdone yourself," he said after swallowing the first bite. "These are incredible." He quickly finished the first, grabbing a second immediately after. When the fox finished the second pastry, he thanked his wife. "These were wonderful," he said. "And we have enough for a week."

Marian put on her best "hurt" face. "You're finished already? The king says these will go stale by tomorrow, and we're not to reveal the recipe until the kitchen staff perfects it. Please have more, I've already had so many."

The moment Robin saw his wife's face fall, he couldn't stand it. Seeing her smile return as he took and ate a third, the fox dutifully motioned for Marian to sit, taking the plate out of her hands and placing it on a table before sitting himself. He took a fourth and grimaced, rubbing his filling belly, before digging in. Whenever Robin tried to stop eating, Marian immediately looked like she was going to cry, which made Robin instinctively grab another pastry until none were left. He groaned, holding his stuffed stomach. "My love, thank you so much, but I must go rest," he said, retreating to the bedroom.

Marian smiled. Nothing made Robin happier than pleasing his wife, and nothing made Marian happier than seeing her husband happy. This would be easier than she thought, she slyly joked to herself, before going to join her love in bed. And she'd get a new pillow out of it, too.

It wasn't hard for Marian's plan to take form. Every morning, before Robin would wake up, the vixen would run to the castle kitchen and take a platter of food meant for the guards - pancakes, eggs and bacon, pastries - and return to the foxes' quarters, surprising her husband with breakfast in bed. And she'd lean on her husband's love to have him finish the whole thing. With Robin too full to do anything but nap or read, much less go for a walk, Marian would spend the morning with him, only to disappear and return with another huge meal for lunch, and again for supper. No matter how much the fox tried to protest, the vixen would eventually get him to clean the plates - portions meant for three people twice his size - and spend the rest of the day with him as he struggled to digest his meals.

It took only a week for the weight to begin to pile onto Robin's frame. With the fox's exercise dropping to nearly nothing and his eating having grown to ludicrous levels, the thousands of extra calories had nowhere to go but his body. Within a week, his flat stomach had started to rapidly round, the reddish fur taking up more space almost by the meal. Another few days and the adipose deposited itself everywhere else it could, swelling his legs with thick, soft flesh and making his thin arms balloon with heaviness. Before her very eyes, Marian watched her husband grow rounder, softer, thicker and wider, and she loved every second of it.

While she'd never considered herself a chubby chaser, it was more than just the weight piling onto Robin's body that made the vixen sigh with love and lust. It was the knowledge that he was doing it because of his devotion to her and for no other reason. Every day, as her husband moaned and snored, waiting around as each full belly only made him huger, Marian's paws sunk into his flesh, massaging his swollen stomach, his massive moobs, his flabby folds and drooping derrière.

After just a month, Marian had inflated her husband to a point where he clearly met the king's request, but once she began to turn Robin's daily meals into a single, extended one - his stomach had grown large enough that it took three times the food to sate him - she wasn't in any mood to stop there. Especially once she began to reward him for especially gluttonous feats.

Marian and Robin weren't shy about their love for each other, or their attraction to each other, but something had awoken inside the vixen and it wasn't about to die back down. It started when Robin tackled a week's worth of food in one long day of stuffing himself. Barely awake, the sheer mass of food in his glutted, expanded stomach dulling his senses, Robin was the perfect prey, lying heavily in bed.

Marian excused herself for a moment and swiftly undressed in the bathroom, stepping back outside in the nude. Even with tens of thousands of calories in his belly, the fox was still a red-blooded male, and his wife's perfect, petite breasts caught what was left of his attention. And despite the momentary discomfort when she dove straight onto his belly, all the pastries shifting under her in the beanbag-sized distended blob, they kissed with a passion that took both of their breaths away. They both knew they'd unleashed a monster neither wanted to slay.

The people of Sherwood Forest eventually returned to a blissful peace, allowing Robin Hood's legend to fade as King Richard's rule never failed them. But unbeknownst to them, the fox had taken on an entirely new legend. Deep in the walls of the king's castle, every morning, a beautiful vixen and her mountainous blob of a husband rediscovered what true love truly meant.