by Ther Renard
"Is this how you'd protect yourself?" Kira breathed against Rogette's ear.
The robber shivered visibly in the warrior's grip. She looked so much smaller, so much more delicate, so entirely helpless in Kira's grasp.
"Let me go," she squeaked.
"No," Kira dropped the thumb and wrapped her right arm around Rogette's waist instead. "You are a rude, boastful, silly little girl who is going to get herself hurt."
Atrocious watched wide eyed as Kira propped her leg up on one of the stools they'd recently vacated and tossed the robber over her thigh as if she weighed nothing at all. For all Rogette's acrobatic talent, there was no getting away from the determined warrior as she raised her hand and brought it down hard across Rogette's cloth pants. The robber squealed like a little stuck piggy and Kira repeated the treatment, a satisfied expression on her face.
"You! Will! Not! Be! So! Dis! Res! Pect! Ful!" She smacked Rogette's curvy bottom hard at every syllable.
"Stop it! Stop it!" Rogette squealed over and over.
"What's the matter, little girl? I thought you like being spanked?" Kira reached down and slipped one of Rogette's leather soled shoes off her feet. "Let's see how well you like this."
The flexible leather sole made a soft swish as it sped through the air, but a very loud CRACK when it contacted Rogette's bottom. Rogette arched and howled, clearly not at all accustomed to being spanked in spite of her earlier boasting. She started wriggling and squirming frantically, but Kira had no trouble locking her in place with a strong arm as she belabored the brat's bottom with her own shoe.
Rogette was soon squealing and crying out plaintively, but the next major objection did not come from her. Atrocious, quite incensed at what she was seeing, ran up and booted Kira in the shin as hard as she could. The pain was enough of a shock to make Kira loosen her grip on the robber and Rogette tipped forward off her thigh. A lesser girl might have fallen head-first onto the stone floor, but Rogette's training kicked in and she simply rolled up and onto her feet. She wasted no time in speeding outside, fleeing as fast as her toned legs would take her.
Atrocious was left with a hopping mad Kira who advanced on her, limping ever so slightly, her eyes burning with the need for retribution. "You're going to regret that."
"What else is new," Atrocious scowled. "I regret everything I've ever done. What makes you think I give a damn if you hit me now? Go on." She put her hands down and took a step into Kira's range. "Go on then. Hit me and make yourself feel better. Someone might as well feel good."
With a sort of mad inspiration provided by wild hormonal imbalance, Atrocious had managed to say one of the very few things capable of stopping an angry Kira in her tracks. Instead of grabbing the thief and thrashing her on the spot, Kira stopped and looked at her with an incredulous expression on her face.
"That's the only way you can fix anything, isn't it? Hitting it?" Atrocious continued her snappish lecture, pushing her luck dangerously. "By the goddess, you're like a monkey throwing poo at everything it sees."
Kira looked over at Ayla. "Does she have a death wish? What is wrong with her?"
"You know very well what's wrong with her," Ayla said patiently. "Leave her be."
"Leave her be?" Kira's brows almost rose right off the top of her head. "That's your suggestion?"
"Not a suggestion, an order." Ayla spoke softly, but there was absolute command in her voice.
Kira's expression hardened. "As you wish." She turned on her heel and strode out of the inn without another word.
Trembling slightly from the intensity of their encounter, Atrocious sank down into a nearby seat.
"You should not speak that way to Kira," Ayla said, stirring her cauldron.
"She's a bully."
"A bully who saved your life."
Atrocious grunted. She wasn't going to feel guilty about being rude to Kira.
"You were very rude to her, very, very rude," Ayla said. Her tone was merely observational, but it made Atrocious feel bad nonetheless. She waited for the rest of the lecture, but it never came. The witch contented herself with her potion and did not speak another word. Atrocious was left with time to sit and think about what she'd done. Eventually she realized that she'd been quite nasty. Kira had feelings too. Probably.
She had to try to put things right. With a sigh, she stood up and made her way towards the door. She made a few glances over shoulder, sort of hoping that Ayla would tell her she wasn't allowed to go out, but Ayla maintained her silence so Atrocious kept going, scuffing her feet in the dust as she tried to work out where Kira had gone.
Though the warrior's whereabouts weren't immediately obvious, it didn't take Atrocious very long to find her. The bushes nearby were rustling and cries of ecstasy were rising from them. Tiptoeing up, Atrocious clapped her hand over her mouth.
Rogette was completely naked, her colorful clothing shredded and laying around her as if it had been torn from her body. Her small, neat breasts were bouncing with the rough thrusts that Kira was making between her spread legs.
For a second Atrocious thought Rogette might be in need of assistance, her screams being somewhat difficult to interpret, but when she screamed for more, there was no doubt that she was enjoying herself. Kira was fucking the hell out of her. The warrior was still completely clothed as she curved over the prone robber, her hand between Rogette's slim thighs, her mouth capturing one prominent brown nipple.
It was one of the most entirely erotic things Atrocious had ever had the fortune of stumbling upon. Rogette moaned and arched her hips and, scooting around slightly, Atrocious was able to see Kira's fingers glistening with Rogette's juices as they slid in and out of her body.
"Get the fuck out of here."
Atrocious lifted her eyes to Kira's face. She'd been spotted, and the warrior didn't look pleased. She looked pissed, really pissed. Her eyes were narrowed and her upper lip was pulled back in a snarl. Atrocious gulped and nodded then backed away quickly, leaving Rogette and Kira to their primal tryst.
Scuttling away, she supposed she should have been relieved that she didn't have to apologize to Kira after all. Instead, she felt something else. Something like arousal, but darker and less comfortable - something more like jealousy.
Atrocious returned to the inn, where she and Ayla said absolutely nothing to one another. Ayla was so absorbed in her potion making that a small battle could have taken place outside and she probably wouldn't have paid any attention. Being ignored did not help Atrocious' mood at all. She sat in the corner of the inn near the door, brooding silently whilst Ayla stirred her cauldron.
Rogette and Kira turned up a couple of hours later. Rogette was looking very well satisfied with a smirk on her face like a cat that had gotten into the cream. The robber was dressed in a robe that was about two sizes too big for her - obviously something she'd stolen at the last moment to make up for her shredded clothing that was probably still littering the bushes. Kira didn't seem any different, but she did have her arm draped possessively over Rogette's shoulders, which angered Atrocious for reasons she couldn't quite put her finger on.
"Hey," Rogette said, smiling smugly.
"Hey." Atrocious said in much darker tones. What a waste of time it had been standing up for Rogette, it had all been foreplay for her. Atrocious tried to keep the condescending sneer off her face, but she had a hard time doing so. What kind of girl liked being thrashed and fucked?
Kira leaned over and planted a big kiss on Rogette's lips, making Atrocious wrinkle her nose.
"Ugh, get a room."
"Grow up," Kira said, bored.
"What's your problem?" Rogette inquired, frowning with concern.
"I don't have a problem," Atrocious said. "But you might."
"Why?"
"Fucking her?" Atrocious flicked a glance over at Kira. "You don't know where she's been. Not that it matters, because she's been in practically every cunt in the country."
The room hadn't been particularly loud before, but
it suddenly seemed to get very, very quiet as three pairs of eyes stared at her in varying stages of shock, hurt and anger.
"What?" Atrocious said defensively. "It's true."
There was a movement by the firelight of the cauldron as Ayla rose to her full height. "Atrocious. Apologize," she said in curt, frosty tones.
"No," Atrocious refused. "If they want to sleep around like sluts, it's their problem, not mine."
Next thing she knew the chair she'd been sitting on was spinning across the room and Kira had her held up in the air, her feet scrabbling for the ground. "You need a lesson in shutting the hell up."
"Is this supposed to be turning me on?" Atrocious managed a taunt even as she struggled for breath. It was madness to be talking that way to Kira. She could still remember quite clearly what it had looked like when Kira had dispatched the bandits. The angry woman holding her was more than capable of crushing her to death, but Atrocious didn't care. Some stupid impulse had her spoiling for a fight.
Kira's eyes narrowed. "You are very, very lucky that you belong to my friend," she hissed.
“I belong to no-one,” Atrocious hissed right back. “Now put me down.”
Kira obliged, roughly dropping Atrocious onto her feet. She stumbled back a few steps, rubbing her arms where the warrior had roughly taken hold.
"You shame me," Ayla said. She had come forward and was standing shoulder to shoulder with Kira. Her lips were pursed into an expression of pure disapproval, her eyebrows slashing low above her elven eyes. A bug would have received a look of more regard.
"I don't care," Atrocious said, abandoning herself into the madness. "I don't give a damn if I shame you," she said, looking at Ayla. "Or if I anger you," she said, turning to look at Kira. "I don't. Fucking. Care."
Seconds ticked by, each one bringing closer the promise of violence and pain as Atrocious defied both women capable of destroying her without a second thought. Their eyes bored into her, drilling little holes of shame into her psyche.
The high drama of the moment was broken by a hysterical cackle of laughter.
"Girl, what are you doing?" Rogette cut in. Unlike Ayla and Kira, she wasn't pissed at being called a slut, she was giggling like a mad thing as she pushed her way between the two tall, angry women standing over Atrocious.
"You are so stupid!"
Atrocious scowled, but part of her was already won over. There was no humor in the situation, but seeing Rogette grinning like an idiot made her sort of feel as if it might be funny after all. "Tell them you're sorry before they turn you into a toad and use you for target practice," Rogette insisted.
"I'm not sorry."
“We all know you're not sorry,” Rogette said. “Tell them anyway.”
"Sorry," Atrocious muttered, looking at their toes.
Kira scowled. "That's not going to cut it..."
Without turning around, Rogette thrust her palm back and up to Kira's face, making the warrior go a bit cross-eyed for a moment. "Just gimme a second okay, I got this."
Kira took Rogette by the proffered wrist and tugged her away in a spinning motion. "You do not got this," she said, slapping the robber's bottom soundly. "Go and sit down."
"I tried," Rogette shrugged helplessly at Atrocious who was once again left to the mercy of two angry women.
Ayla was the first to speak. Her voice was cold and hard. "What has gotten into you?"
"Don't know," Atrocious shrugged.
"No, that's not going to be enough," Ayla snapped, putting her hands on her hips and looming over Atrocious. "You've been very rude, especially to Kira, to whom you owe your life, I might note. She's not obligated to be here. She's putting herself at risk on your behalf."
“I never asked her to do that!” Atrocious waved her arms. “She's free to go at any time. She's free to go and fuck around...”
“Wait.” Ayla bit out the word. “This is because Kira and Rogette were intimate? You barely know Kira. You certainly have no erotic claim to her.”
“I know that!” Atrocious blushed. Ayla had exposed her jealousy. It seemed entirely ridiculous when spoken aloud.
“Aw, it's cute,” Rogette cooed. “Don't worry, you'll get laid one day.”
“I've been laid a lot of times,” Atrocious scowled. “I have!” She exclaimed a second time when she realized that everyone was looking at her with expressions of amusement and pity. “I have... I have fucked a lot of ladies.”
“Oh stop it,” Ayla said. “You must stop being so petulant, you really must. Everybody is trying to help you, Atrocious.”
"Then leave," Atrocious said, doing her best to hide welling tears of frustration and embarrassment. "If I'm so horrible, you can all just leave. I never asked you to help me."
Ayla took a deep breath and looked skyward for patience. "It's not about whether you asked or not, it's about being grateful for the sacrifices people made for you. It's about acting like something other than a spoiled brat."
"I am grateful!" Atrocious protested.
"Are you? Have you even thanked Kira? Or have you been too busy alternately cowering away from her then abusing her?"
There was no defense to the charges Ayla was laying, so Atrocious remained silent under the continuing onslaught.
"Mark my words," Ayla said, her eyes so narrow they were merely slits in her beautiful face. "If she had not found you in my care, you would no longer be in one piece. You don't deserve to be."
Atrocious responded with defensive nonsense. "What do you want? You want me to hack my arm off?"
"What I want," Ayla said in a hiss. "Is for you to act like a useful member of this group and not like a self centered little monster."
"But I'm not a member of this group, am I? I'm just a chattel you two are playing with. Don't fucking act like you're doing me any favors." Atrocious came out of her corner late in the argument. "You're not doing anything that you don't want to do - nor is she." She pointed at Kira. "She likes chopping people up."
"Is that what you think?" Kira interjected incredulously.
"I saw your face," Atrocious said. "I saw how you looked when you killed those people."
"Everyone gets that look when it's time to kill," Kira said. "If you ever defend yourself, you will understand."
"I'll defend myself whenever I feel like it," Atrocious said, looking at Kira meaningfully.
"Cut that out!" Ayla stopped what was fast becoming another slanging match.
"You all need to cut your shit out," Rogette observed from the corner of the room. "You bitches are crazy."
It was Rogette's turn to bear the brunt of three irate female gazes. "Don't shoot the messenger," she said casually. "You got a witch and a warrior defending a someone who calls herself a thief who doesn't even want to be defended and demanding that she be grateful for it. Hell, let her spend one damn night on her own and she'll be ready to be grateful."
"She has a point," Kira said to Ayla.
"I can take care of myself," Atrocious insisted.
"Sure you can," Rogette rolled her eyes. "Hell, you're almost getting yourself hurt with people who like you."
"They don't like me," Atrocious said, sounding petulant and petty even to her own ears.
"If they didn't like you, you'd be dead in a ditch," Rogette said sagely. "You need to settle down and be glad you made some friends, because you're trouble and you're going to need as many friends as you can get."
"I couldn't have said it better myself," Ayla agreed. "Though I probably would have said it without the 'bitches' part," she said, raising a brow at Rogette.
"I had to get your attention before things got out of hand," Rogette explained. "I did it for you. I'm a giver."
"Yeah, you're a giver alright," Atrocious said snidely, glaring at Rogette. "You give your body away for all it's worth, which is apparently nothing more than a roll in the hay."
"See, now you've gone and messed with the wrong girl.”
Where Kira and Ayla had showed restraint, Rogette did not. S
he launched herself at Atrocious with a furious flurry of open palmed slaps that caught the so called thief around the face, ears and wherever else she could make contact.
"I'm not going to take your shit, even if they do," she declared roughly, cuffing Atrocious over the head.
Atrocious squealed and ducked, but it was impossible to avoid Rogette's blows. Her hands were everywhere, smacking palms catching every skerrick of exposed skin.
"No. Stop. Stop it at once. Or later. Whatever works for you." Kira spoke in a dry, disinterested drawl, watching as Atrocious had her ass handed to her by the bandit. Ayla did not seem inclined to intervene either, turning a deaf ear to Atrocious' squeals for help as Rogette smacked her around.
Atrocious tried to curl up and avoid the blows, but Rogette pinched her ear and twisted, making her open her position up and exposing her to more slaps. By all objective standards it was nothing more than a little tiff, but to Atrocious, who had never had to actually defend herself properly before, it was a first fight. With her ears ringing and her face stinging, she finally started to give something back, catching Rogette across the cheek with a good open palmed slap.
"We should probably stop this," Ayla remarked to Kira.
"No, it's good for both of them," Kira disagreed as Atrocious and Rogette managed to roll themselves into a small table, dislodging a pitcher of water that splashed down, wetting both combatants equally.
"They'll tire themselves out eventually," Kira said, turning away from the petty scene having apparently lost interest.
Kira and Ayla poured themselves drinks and sat by the fire whilst Atrocious and Rogette continued scrapping for several minutes. Their tenacity and stamina was quite impressive really. Atrocious was rising to the occasion admirably, using Rogette's hair for leverage as she started biting the pretty bandit on the back of the neck. Rogette yowled with rage and kicked out at Atrocious, managing to get her foot wedged into the thief's stomach.
"If they draw blood, I'm calling it," Ayla said, sipping her wine.
"If one of them manages to draw blood, I'll call them the winner," Kira winked. "Having two servants could save us a lot of trouble," she remarked as an afterthought. "They could discipline one another."