Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to a special taster of our new
premium only story. We hope you like it. He yo, Hello,
I'm Josephine and this is the Animal Tales podcast. There
are over one hundred extra stories on our premium service,
with a new one released every Friday, and this is
another one. Wren and Finn are Premium members from Missouri, USA,
and they would like a story with a phenic fox,
a panda, and an axe a lottle. Don't forget to
listen to the animal facts after the story to learn
more about these creatures. For now, it's time to sit
back and get comfy, because it's time to begin the
Oak Rebels. When the Grizzly Bear moved into the old
manor on the Hill, the animals in the nearby village
of Oaktown grew nervous. He had arrived in a splendid
golden carriage flanked by two dozen wolf soldiers, to promptly
declare himself the Duke of the surrounding lands. The Oaktown
animals hoped for the best, but the new Duke gave
them the worst. The Grizzly demanded that the villagers give
him food and pay him gold. Anything else that caught
his eye was likely to be taken too. His wolf
soldiers were no better, taking whatever they wanted as they
terrorized the Oaktown animals. Should any animal refuse or protest,
they would be dragged off and locked up in the
Duke's cellars. A small few, though, managed to escape before
the soldiers came, and died together in the safety of
the forest, calling themselves the Oak Town Rebels. There weren't
many of them, but they drew courage from their brave,
kind hearted leader, a fenic fox named Wren. Wren and
the rest of the Oaktown Rebels did their best to
help the animals as much as they could, which meant
regular run ins with the Duke's wolves, which was how
Wren found himself sprinting beneath the trees the soldiers hot
on his heels. Wren knew the forest well, ducking under
branches and hopping over ferns until he arrived on a
path at the top of a rocky cliff. He could
hear the wolves close behind, so new he needed to
be quick. Instead of taking the path, he dropped over
the cliff's side, slipping into a hidden opening in the rock.
Seconds later, the wolves charged past none the wiser safe now,
Wren continued down the passage until he emerged into a
secret cavern. This was the Oaktown Rebels home, dressed with rugs,
space to sleep, and what little supplies they'd been able
to scavenge. In the cavern's center blazed a fire pit,
lighting up the darkness. Wren said a large panda, standing
up from beside the fire. What did you get this time?
Not much, Finn, Wren replied, holding up a small sack.
It's getting harder. Finn and Wren were best friends, and together,
along with the rest of the rebels, they helped their
village from afar. They sabotaged deliveries to the manor house,
released prisoners, and took back the villager's stolen proper. I
found a few wolves returning to the manor they'd been plundering,
but I managed to snatch these back, said Wren, emptying
the sack out two gold coins and a silver Finn.
The panda sighed, it's not much, but it's something. Sad
murmurs of agreement echoed through the cave. It seemed that
no matter what they did, it was never quite enough.
An axe alottle called Grace picked up the silver coin.
We have to try something bigger, she announced. If the
Duke and his wolves carry on like this, the villagers
will starve. They're already going hungry. But how Finn asked,
we're so few and they're so many. We should take
back all the gold that the Duke has taken. An
otter suggested, then the village could buy what they need.
That's easier said than done, said when. If you'd like
to hear more, please join our premium service. You can
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