Chapter 2: Ly
It was a quiet morning. The birds were out chirping and singing, small forest animals darted about their business, a soft breeze ran through the entire area. It was so peaceful and qiuet that one could hear a pin drop on the forest floor…
SPANK! “OW! I’m sorry, Rai!”
Well, so much for the peace and quiet thing. Mia was currently over a small fence that was located near a large orchard. Next to her lay a bag of apples which she had readily taken from the orchard, only to find out soon after that Rai considered that stealing since it wasn’t their orchard. She gave another cry of pain as his hand connected with her red buttocks again. “Please Rai, I’m sorry I stole! I’ll be good, I promise!”
Rai sighed a bit and brought his hand down several more times on her pert behind, causing more cries and sobs to emit from her, and causing her poor buttocks to turn a beautiful shade of red, even redder than it had been last time he had spanked her. Slowly, the force of the swats receded until he was gently patting her bottom in a soothing manner. “There now, you are forgiven.” He gave her back a soft rub and gently let her up off the fence, where she quickly commenced to rub her sore bottom as hard as she could. Rai turned away from her front to leave her modesty in tack and looked around at the forest. “It won’t be too long before we come upon a clan town. There’s always an orchard or some sort of farm before a town.”
Mia finished rubbing her bottom and slowly took her pants up, wincing as they traveled over her bruised behind. “Alright, but just answer me this… how do you plan to walk about in a town, full of people and military personelle with not only a sword, but also a huge price on your head?
Rai grinned a bit. It was a fair question. He reached into his pack and drew out two large cloaks. Each one would easily cover their bodies thoroughly and there would even be enough room left over to hide their swords underneath, just in case. He tossed one to her. “This isn’t my first time going into a town as a fugitive, you know. They never search anyone coming into town if they don’t immediately look suspicious or look like someone on a wanted poster.They’ll let us pass as long as they don’t see my face or our swords.” He wrapped the cloak around himself and, just as it had seemed, allmost his entire body disappeared within it. It was a dirty gray color and it contrasted his hair and tail nicely. He slowly drew the hood up over his head, hiding his face and hair from view. It was so completely shadowed, that anyone who looked at him from a few feet away might have mistook him for a wraith, or maybe the grim reaper himself.
Smiling, she threw her own cloak over herself, her own body disappearing underneath the grey colored cotton. She put the hood up over her head, but frowned and quickly took it off. “It bothers my ears.” she complained.
Rai took his own hood down so that she could see his frown. “Tell me, when you were robbing people back down the road, did anyone ever see your face clearly enough to give anyone a good description?”
Mia shook her head in a positive manner. “Don’t worry, they might have seen my face, but I doubt that they remembered it for long after they saw the mighty picture of me holding my blade out.” She grinned and gave a prideful pout.
Rai rolled his eyes. “Right, well, if your skills at swordsmanship only extend to the skill you displayed at our skirmish, then you should be glad that no one else ever carries weapons around here.”
Mia gave a small growl, but followed after him as he started to walk down the road. “What I was getting at with my original question is, as long as no wanted posters are made of you, and there are no viable witnesses that can give an accurate descrption of you, I don’t think you have to wear that mean old hood over your poor, delicate ears.”
Giving off another growl, Mia walked a little faster and, when she was within range, gave the two tailed kitsune a very hard slap over his clothed bottom. It didn’t really hurt him considering he still had his pants up and the cloak covering it, but it was still surprising and he did yelp a bit. His ears flattened a bit in the hood and his tails visibly flicked underneath the cloak before returning to a docile position around his waist. “That was rather uncalled for, Mia.”
Mia smirked a bit. “You asked for it buster.”
The next few minutes of walking took them past more signs of civilization. Mostly small vegetable and poultry farms. When they saw the walls of the village in the distance, Rai stopped in front of a house and hailed a farmer who was bent over a carrot bed, plucking large carrots from the ground. “Good farmer! Greetings to you!”
The farmer stood up and smiled at them. “And also to you stranger. What’s two young travelers like you doing out here?”
Mai smiled. “Just that… traveling.”
Rai nodded. “I am afraid that this territory is unfamiliar to us, good sir. Would you be so kind as to inform us on which clan village we are approaching.” The farmer nodded. “Certainly. You’re walking towards the Lycanthrope village.”
Rai nodded. “Much obliged good sir. Good luck with your crops.” With goodbyes said, Rai and Mia went on their way.
About halfway from the farm house to the village, Mia looked at Rai. “Hey, Rai?”
Rai looked at her through the hood. “Yeah?”
Mia scratched her ears gently. “Um, what’s a Lycanthrope?”
Rai stumbled over his own foot at this comment. “What’s a Lycanthrope? Where have you been living all these years, under a rock?”
Mia blushed. “Well… actually…”
Rai huffed a bit. “Fine, forget it. A Lycanthrope, or Lycan for short, is a race of shapeshifters. Most that don’t know their true name simply call them werewolves.”
Mia frowned. “Okay… I’ve heard the werewolf legends.”
Rai nodded. “And their all almost certainly false. For starters, Lycanthrope can change whenever they want. In their human forms, they have the ears, eyes, and tail of a wolf, and when they get older, they do start growing fangs. When they change, they generally take on the form of a wolf that was roughly the same size and stature as they were. Example, the wolf would be as long, from snout to tail, as the man was head to foot. They’re pretty friendly, but don’t get them riled. If worse comes to worse, just hurt them. If a Lycanthrope in human form is in pain, he can’t accurately concentrate on transforming. Also, if the Lycanthrope does transform before you can cause him pain, I would suggest either turning tail and running really fast, or giving him a good touch of silver.”
Mia frowned again. “But doesn’t silver kill them?”
Rai shook his head. “That’s another myth. When in human form, they can handle silver just fine, but when they transform, the touch of silver is acidic to them. It won’t kill them on contact, or even if it gets into their bloodstream, but it’ll leave them with a good burning sensation for a day or two afterwards.”
Nodding, Mia quickly stocked this new information into her mind. “Alright… thanks.”
Rai nodded. “Just doing my best to keep you from getting killed.”
Mia giggled a bit. “Well, you’re doing a good job so far, I think.”
They hailed the guards at the gate, who were obviously from the military. Ordinary soldiers by the way they were dressed, deep red jumpsuits that were loose enough to provide good manuverability. Each one carried a spear holstered on his back, a dagger hanging in a sheath on their right side, and a claymore sword hanging on their left. One of them was a tall male Kitsune, around age thirty or so. The second was a female, looked to be elven, or something close too it. The elf tribe had been interbreeding for so many centuries it was beginning to get hard telling to purebreds from the halfbreeds, which, in its own way, was a good sign for diplomatic purposes with them. The guards eased open the gate for them and Rai and Mia stepped through, unhindered.
Mia let out a breath that she didn’t know she was holding. “So, those are military soldiers, hm? They looked so cold.”
Rai nodded. “The training is tough and rigorous. It strips away your identity, makes you become part of a machine, so to speak, where you have no name, only a number. You live to follow orders, to maintain peace, and on occasion, to kill.”
Mia gulped a bit. “You went through it, didn’t you?”
Rai sighed and nodded gently. “Indeed I did. Granted, I got out of there before any damage could truly be done to me, but there are few who choose to leave of their own free will, like me.” He grew uncomfortable with the way the conversation was going and he sighed a bit. “You still have our consolidated money, right?”
Mia nodded and patted her side. “Yes.” For security reasons, both of them had agreed to merge all the money they had into one wallet and they each took turns carrying it. It was quite a way of trust for two who had been at odds with each other when they first met. They walked on, looking for a good place to have a sit down, and maybe a hot meal, when out of the blue, a young Lycan, roughly half Rai’s size, ran smack into Mia, knocking her over. Both of them muttered about owies before Rai helped them both up. “Are you alright, Mia?”
Mia nodded and sighed. “I’m okay.”
The small lycan looked at her shyly. “I’m sorry lady…” he said cutely, looking at her with innocent, and quite literal, puppy dog eyes. Mia squealed and gave his little ears a small tweak. “Oh, you are so cute! It’s alright, no harm done. Go on then, and be more careful of where you’re running!”
Giggling, the child ran off, waving to them as he left, his tail wagging back and forth as he did so.
Mia smiled a bit as the boy ran off and waved back. “Alright, let’s go and get something to eat!”
Smiling, Rai nodded and they both managed to locate a fairly large pub. Upon entering, they were both rather surprised to find it only half full, and at noon time as well. Usually, a pub would be overflowing with customers at this time. It was lucky, however, that no soldiers were present. Rai and Mia walked up to the front and Rai sat down, keeping the hood over his head. “This place seems oddly vacant.”
The bartender turned to him and sighed, resting his arms on the bar. “Yeah well, the army’s been recruiting a lot of my regular customers as of late. Business just hasn’t been as good without the regular drinkers around. Anyway, what can I get for you two.
Mia sat down and sighed. “A plate of steak and a tall glass of milk if you don’t mind.”
Rai nodded. “Same here.”
The bartender nodded. “Alright, but I’m afraid I need to ask to see your money. We’ve had a lot of people who’ve tried to get a meal for free and then sneak out on us as of late.”
Mia nodded and reached into her cloak to draw out the money. She fumbled a bit and frowned, her searching becoming more frantic. “What the hell?! The money’s gone!”
Rai frowned. “That kid that ran into you took it when you fell down.”
Mia turned a stoney glare on Rai. “You mean you knew and you didn’t say anything?!” she asked.
Rai shrugged. “Well, I assumed that you had felt him take the money when he knocked you down and if you weren’t saying anything, I didn’t see anything wrong with it. It’s just money, we can get more.”
Mia gave him a hard knock on the head. “DUMBASS!” she shouted at him.
The bartender raised an eyebrow. “A kid you say? Was he about yay high?” he asked, motioning with his hand to indicate the boy’s height, about up to Rai’s waist. “One ear slightly slanted, looked at you with big eyes?”
Mia nodded gently. “You know the kid?”
The bartender nodded gently. “Yes. His name is Ly, he’s the resident orphan around here, comes in here and gives me stolen money in exchange for a good meal. I don’t have the heart to refuse the kd.”
Rai rubbed his head gently. “So, he’s a regular thief?”
The bartender chuckled. “Regular doesn’t even begin to describe him. His cool, calculating, mature for his age, though he does use his childish looks to help get himself out of troubling situations. He’s quick too, even by our standards. That’s why most people who he steals from don’t even notice that their money’s gone until he’s a good distance away. That’s also how he’s managed to avoid the military for so long is how quick he is.”
Mia growled and got up. “Come on, Rai, we’re gonna find that little brat and get our money back!”
Rai turned around. “It doesn’t look like we’ll have to go far.” He pointed to the door to show that Ly himself had walked in as if on que. He stopped as he saw the people he had just stolen from and they stared back. Finally, Mia growled and lunged at him, but the boy turned and dashed out of the pub right before she was upon him. Sighing, Rai got up out of his seat and dashed after the boy, Mia darting right behind him.
The chase led them down the main road of the village. The bartender had been right, Ly was fast. He always managed to stay just a few crucial yards ahead of his persuers. He ducked behind several barrels into an ally, attempting to shake them off, but the end of it ended in a huge brick wall. Growling, he turned to find Mia and Rai standing there.
Rai smiled a bit. “We aren’t gonna hurt you, Ly… we merely wish for our money back. Would you please be so good as to give it to us?”
Mia growled and stomped a few paces forward. “Speak for yourself, Rai, but I plan on tanning this little brat’s hide until he’s begging for mercy!”
Rai frowned. “Mia, remember that little talk we had earlier about not provoking a Lycanthrope?”
Mia turned her back to Ly. “Oh for god’s sake, he’s just a freaking kid!” She gasped as she felt something tackle her from behind and twisting her head to see a small wolf growling and standing over her with it’s jaws open, ready to bite. Instantly, Rai lunged forward, his sword unsheathed. He swung the flat edge at the boy, forcing him to jump back towards the wall. Mia got up and rubbed her sore back. “Don’t say a damn word, Rai..” she warned the kitsune as he started to speak.
The lycanthrope growled again. “Leave me alone! You two were stupid enough to let your money be taken, so obviously you don’t deserve to be carrying around any cash.”
Mia was about to speak, but Rai shook his head. “He does have a point there, Mia, you were rather easy to steal from. Not at all what I would expect from an ex-bandit.”
Mia’s face went red with embarrassment and rage. “Just who’s side are you on?” she asked.
Ly let out a shrill bark at them and looked at his feet. There was a manhole before him, but he couldn’t open it in his wolf form and he wouldn’t be able to change back safely with those two in front of him. He would have to fight. “Either you leave or you die!” he threatened, snapping his sharp teeth together.
Rai frowned and brandished his sword, throwing off his cloak for more mobility. Mia mimicked him and pulled out her own sword. Rai sighed. “We just want our money back. From what we’ve heard, you should be able to reclaim just as much money very easily.
Ly gasped a bit. “You… I’ve seen your face before. You’re on wanted posters everywhere!”
Rai sighed gently. “It seems I am well known even here.”
Ly growled again. “A military deserter… hehe, you can’t be all bad then.”
Mia smirked. “Well then, will you give us back the money then?”
Ly frowned, which was a rather difficult thing to do in his wolf form. “After what you threatened to do, bitch? I think not! Apologize to me and maybe I’ll give you back your money!”
Mia flared a bit. “Oh, that’s it, brat!” She dashed at him, something that neither Rai or Ly or had thought she was capable of. She tackled Ly and gently tapped him with her sword, causing him to yelp. “That’s right, brat, it’s silver.”
Hissing in pain, Ly’s shape quickly reverted back to his human form. His dark hair flailed about as he tried to get out of Mia’s grasp again. “Let go of me!” he shouted at her.
Mia frowned and pinned him down, noticing that the place where she had touched him with the sword had a small mark on it. Rail walked up to her. “Don’t be too hard on him, Mia.” he cautioned. He liked the child and didn’t want to see him too badly hurt.
Mia sighed. “He may be a brat, but he’s still cute… yes, I’ll hold back on him. Can’t feel more than a little sorry for him anyway.” She grabbed Ly’s pants and quickly slid them down, exposing the child’s bright, pale behind.
Ly’s eyes widened and he squirmed a bit more, cursing at them. Rai sat down in front of him and shook his head. “Squirming and cursing won’t help you out of this situation, Ly. This could have easily been avoided if you had merely given us back our money, as we had asked.
Ly wanted to curse, shout, and snap at the kitsune, but he restrained himself. The kitsune was right, he had brought this upon himself by taking their money… and they had politely (Well, at least Rai had asked politely) for it back, but he just kept pushing it. He sighed and squirmied just a bit more to make himself more comfortable.
Mia saw how he submitted after Rai’s logic sunk in and she stared at the kitsune for a few seconds. How could he calm that boy so quickly and carefully, and with a phrase that would usually make anyone else boil over with rage. Sighing, she decided not to think about it, finding it to complicated for her mind to fathom. Instead, she turned her attention on Ly, who was still laying there over her lap, pinned down, bottom exposed. She raised her hand and brought it down hard on the boy’s bare backside. SLAP!
Ly gasped and his head shot up for a second but he soon composed himself and settled down, awaiting the next slap. SLAP! SLAP! SLAP!
Rai watched in silence how the boy gasped after each slap and then calmed himself. It was evident that he was losing control since his eyes were starting to fill with tears and his breathing was getting more erratic. But Mia was keeping her word, keeping the spanks at a good level of severity for a child of Ly’s age.
Ly started to whimper a bit around the tenth slap and his tail started to flick back and forth. Sighing in frustration, Mia grabbed the offending tail and pinned it against his back quickly, returning to slapping his bottom. SPANK SPANK SPANK SPANK SPANK SPANK!
Mia watched as his bottom turned from pale to pink and started to scold him as well, wanting to drive the message home. “You, SPANK, will not, SPANK, ever, SPANK, steal from, SPANK, us again!” SPANK SPANK SPANK SPANK SPANK SPANK SPANK SPANK!
Ly started to cry hard, his childish voice losing all venom and maturity it had held before. “OW! Yes ma’am, I, Oh, I won’t ever, AH, steall from you, OWIE, again, OUCH!!!”
His tears started to fall unhindered and his bottom was now a beautiful tint of red, not quite rose red, but it was rapidly approaching that. Mia continued the spanking, alternating from cheek to cheek, watching the young flesh bounce and jiggle as she did so. Eventually, her spanks started to spread apart and became less severe. Soon, she was merely giving him light pats on his bottom and gently ceased that, rubbing his bare bottom gently, smiling a bit. “There now, it’s all over.”
Ly’s ears were flattened against his head and he slowly raised them as she said they were done. He sobbed gently and clenched his fists, gritting his teeth, attempting to forcefully stop his tears. Rai noted this and frowned. “Don’t force yourself to stop crying, Ly, you’ll hurt yourself.”
Ly obeyed and allowed the tears to continue unhindered until he finally managed to calm down a bit. “I’m… sorry…” he forced out.
Mia smiled and nodded gently. “I’m sorry too, for all those words I said back there.”
Ly’s breathing calmed down and he nodded, slowly getting up off of her lap, pulling up his pants slowly, hissing a bit at the pain it brought. As he got used to the feeling of fabric on his beaten backside, he reached into his pockets and drew out the bag that held their money. “I think this is yours…” He tossed it to Mia, who tried to catch it, but Rai snatched it out of the air first.”
Mia flushed a bit. “Hey, I thought I was holding it today!”
Rai smiled and weighed it in his hand. “One, you would just lose it again, and two, it’s four gold coins short.” He looked at Ly in anticipation, holding out his free hand.
Ly blushed at being discovered and reached into his pockets again, drawing out four more gold coins and placing them in Rai’s hand, which deposited them into the purse. Rai grinned a bit. “Well… I think we might have enough for three meals if you’re interested, Ly.”
Ly frowned. “But I… I stole from you.”
Rai nodded. “Indeed you did, but all the money was returned to us and you were punished for stealing from us, so no harm was done.”
Mia huffed a bit. “I don’t mind as long as he keeps that viscious tongue of his in check.”
Ly chuckled gently. “Trust me, that is not even the worst I can do in that given situation.”
Rai extended his hand and Ly took it quickly. “The name is Rai… and this is Mia, an ex-bandit.”
Ly smiled. “Nice to meet someone related to my trade of expertise.”
Rai chuckled, but he heard a whistle sound around the corner of the ally and frowned. “Uh-oh… that’s an imperial whistle! The soldiers must have heard the disturbance!”
Ly frowned and quickly ran over to the manhole, forcing the cover off with some difficulty. “Come on, into the sewers! We can get out of town through them.”
Mia wrinkled her nose at the stench wafting through, but seeing that she had no alternative, plugged her nose and jumped into the sewer, making a large splash as she landed knee-deep in much. Rai jumped in next and Ly brought up the rear, covering the manhole as he went just before the soldiers rounded the corner into the ally.
As their eyes adjusted to the gloom, Rai looked down at the young Lycanthrope. “You’ve done this before I see.”
Ly shrugged. “It helps to know as many ways out of a situation as possible. Now, don’t get separated, these things are like a maze. We’ll come out the rear of the city and we can find cover in the forest.”
Rai nodded and frowned. “We’ll still need to stop for a meal and supplies… are there any clan villages near this one?” he asked, following as Ly started to lead.
Ly looked thoughtful for a moment before nodding. “The cat clan and the dog clan both have villages near here.”
Mia froze for a second before clearing her throat. “I-I vote for the dog clan!” she said quickly.
Rai frowned. “What’s wrong with going to your own clan’s home?”
Mia shook her head. “I just don’t want to!” she asserted, growling. “Now pick up the pace before I beat you!” she threatened, stomping past both of the boys, stopping a moment later and blushing when she realized that she didn’t know where she was going. “Um, Ly, care to lead?”
Ly grinned cheekily at her. “It would be my pleasure.” He walked past her and trudged slowly onward, Rai and Mia not far behind.
***********************
Nobunaga slowly lifted the pawn out of place and placed it a square ahead on the board. “Check.” He announched, his feline tail gently waving from side to side. “What’s wrong, Korin? you’ve been off your game lately.”
Korin, an elf, frowned gently and studied the board. “Indeed… Forgive my poor performance, but much as been on my mind as of late.”
There was a girlish giggle from the doorway as a young female Kitsune joined them in the room. “What’s on your mind then, Korin-sama? Perhaps I could help?”
Korin smiled at her a bit. “It is kind of you to offer, Sonin, but I am fine.”
Sonin pouted a bit. “You always try to do everything yourself!” she accused.”
Korin chuckled at her girlishness. “Sonin, my dear, I begin to wonder if putting someone so young on the empire council was a mistake.”
Sonin shook her head. “It wasn’t it wasn’t!”
Nobunaga grinned again, flicking his cat ears back and forth. “Perhaps you should spank her. That would shut her up.”
Sonin glared at Nobunaga for a second, but that didn’t wipe the smug grin off of his face.
Korin shook his head. “Spankings are not for those in the empire council, no matter how young or talkative.” He finally picked up a rook and moved it to destroy the pawn that Nobunaga had previously moved. “That form of punishment is for those below the military… and of course, our own maids and concubines.”
Nobunaga nodded. “Indeed… I hear Narek got himself another new concubine, by the way, a real beauty this one, from the dragon tribe.” He picked up a knight and moved it outwards, destroying one of Korin’s bishops.
Sonin smirked. “Yeah, I heard that, and I also hear that our own Monica, the great dragon ruler on our council, wasn’t happy about that.”
Korin nodded. “I wonder, was our judgement correct in selecting her? She does seem very picky about the way things are done.” He moved his remaining bishop and destroyed Nobunaga’s queen. “Check.”
Nobunaga shrugged and his tail flicked in annoyance at the loss of his most powerful piece. “Well, she is efficient… and deadly in combat… not to mention easy on the eyes. Besides, it was either her or keep that fat old slob Han on the council for another four years. None of us wanted that. Besides, we couldn’t go without a dragon, you know that there always has to be one of each clan on the empire council no matter what the circumstances.”
Korin nodded again and moved a bit of his hair from his face. “You are right. It is not like the rest of us are perfect.” He demonstrated Nobunaga’s on faults by moving his rook again. “Checkmate.”
Nobunaga’s eyes widened for a second and he inspected his king before sighing and leaning back. “Once again, you have bested me. I’ll beat you one day.”
Korin grinned. “I look forward to it.” He turned to Sonin. “Be a dear, would you, and go tell the rest of the council members to meet in the brotherhood hall. It is time for our meeting to begin and I do have some pressing issues I need to get off my chest.”
Sonin nodded and bowed to her elders. Before departing, she turned back. “Um, what should I tell Narek and Usul about their concubines? You know that they get crabby when they’re separated from them.”
Nobunaga snorted. “They may be crabby, but their attentive. And the last thing I want is to see that Usul getting another blowjob from his concubine while we’re trying to give reports.”
Sonin nodded and this time did depart. Nobunaga turned to the elf and frowned. “It’s that kitsune again, isn’t it?”
Korin nodded gently. “A bartender in one of the Lycanthrope clan villages spotted him. He narrowly avoided our troops. What’s more interesting, he seems to be gaining followers. He’s traveling with a young Neko woman by the name of Mia.”
Nobunaga’s eyes narrowed for a second. Korin frowned as this happened. “Do you know this woman?”
Nobunaga stood up qucikly. “Let’s just say that I had a rather… personal relationship with that little wench several years ago.”
Korin nodded and stood. “Of course. I won’t pressure you for details then. Let us go then. When this meeting concludes, what do you say to one more game before we feed? Double or nothing?”
Nobunaga gave him a thoughtful glance before nodding. “Hmhmhmhm… I’ll take you up on that offer. This time, I will beat you, and this time I will be the one holding the paddle when it comes time to pay.”
Korin grinned at his friend. “We shall see, Nobunaga, we shall see.”
END: CHAPTER 2
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