AUTHOR'S NOTE
Hello everyone! Now, who would have guessed that I'm back with more SPANKING fictions. I know, big shocker right? Sorry I've not had that much to update with lately, my health has been a tad shitty. However! I am back with a new fiction.
EDIT: I'm writing this edit after I've already posted five chapters! I'm going through this chapter and re-writing parts of it. When I originally wrote Chapter One, I had intended for it to be a oneshot… and so I wrote it as if it was a oneshot. It's no longer a oneshot, and so I've decided to re-write it so it suits the overall story better. I hope you like the edit!
This one is for the newest video game I've gotten, Dragon's Dogma. I really thought I'd hate this video game… but I ended up LOVING it for the very thing I thought I'd hate it for - the Pawn System. The Pawns honestly intrigue me! The whole idea of them is just fascinating to me, especially after having finished a certain part of the game. That part has inspired me to write this fic! For those of you that are familiar with the game, the three pawns I mention in this fic are the three pawns I am using at the time in this game. I am not someone that switches out their pawns very often - I like to keep a solid, lengthy party around. Sybille is my main pawn, she's mainly a support Mage (though I'm thinking of changing her to a Fighter). This story is centered around my hired Ranger, Mez, which was created by a good friend of mine - he has given me permission to write this story about Mez. Yey! Since the creator of my Warrior is a rather NEW friend of mine and they do not know that I am a spanko. So I obviously do not have their permission to put their pawn in this fic. SO. I have cut her name in half and she does not speak in the entire thing, hah! xD
If any of you like this fic and play Dragon's Dogma on the Xbox, I'd love to make some friends on there!
So yus! I hope you enjoy my newest fic and my point of view on the pawns. My Arisen is a female, so that is what the Arisen in this fic will be... since this Arisen is based off my Arisen O:
NOTE: For those of you that are unfamiliar with this game but still want to read my fic, let me explain a bit about the game. There's no need to read this part if you've played DD. It's an RPG style game, in which you play as someone called "The Arisen". ((Slight spoiler in this next sentence)) In the beginning of the game you try to fight off a dragon attacking your village, Cassardis. The dragon seems to find you pathetic, hah, but it also seems to respect you for trying to fight it... it rips your heart out with its claw, saying something along the lines of "if you would face me, then take up arms!" and even though you have no heart, you survive the attack. That is when you are given the name "Arisen" and you find out that there have been other Arisen's before you, and that it is an extremely important and powerful role. In the game, you meet people called "pawns." Pawns are not human, though they look human. They lack the will and tenacity of humans... and have a very hard time making decisions on their own. So they sell themselves as sell swords. However, all pawns are loyal to the Arisen, and the Arisens before him/her. They swear their allegiance to them, and make it their first priority to assist the Arisen. You create one "main pawn" and share them online, letting other "Arisens in other realms" hire them. You can hire two additional pawns at a time, hiring and releasing as many times as you'd like throughout the game. I like to keep a steady party instead of changing it up constantly. Many say that pawns are empty, emotionless shells... and I just don't feel that way. After playing for so long, you hear them say certain things that just kind of prove they have emotions. They just seem to need some guidance. Each pawn has their own personality, look, skills, powers, and fighting inclinations.
WARNING: This fic contains nonsexual spanking. If that kind of thing offends you, then perhaps this fic is not for you. Rated M to be safe.
r&r下さい！ありがとうございます！
EMPTY SHELL
"I SHALL GRAB ITS LEG! STRIKE AT ITS EYE!" Mez shouted, clutching on to the towering beast's leg and scurrying up. The Ranger was always the first in to battle, even before the Warrior of the group. He had saved the Arisen and his fellow pawns on various occasions, though he normally tried to be modest. He clung onto the Cyclops' leg, shouting for the Arisen to strike. She took aim carefully at its eye, releasing a fully charged and powerful ingle, lighting its one and only eye ablaze. Finally after a lengthy battle the gigantic beast crumpled to the ground, Mez jumping off just before it hit the ground. He landed on his feet and dusted himself off, looking around and doing a headcount of his comrades… feeling great ease to discover they were all there and breathing. The Arisen, however, was hunched over, hands on her knees and gasping for air. He ran to her side, and after quickly inspecting her and realizing that she was fine, let out a snarky and rather annoyed "You need help again…?"
She gasped for air, slowly regaining her vitality… looking up at him with confusion, annoyance, and a bit of anger. His attitude had changed so much since he first came to her in The Rift. He was so excited, so eager, and unbelievably kind and giving. He never hesitated to come to the rescue, and when he did, he did it happily. She had grown to care for all three of the pawns she traveled with, and wanted to know what had changed his attitude so much over the last few months. Arisen did not fall for the talk of pawns being empty and hollow beings - she did not take them for emotionless… she had come to realize in her travels how full of emotion these beings actually were, they were just very bad at expressing it, and had a very hard time making hard decisions on their own. Their emotional queues and expressions were much more subtle. Arisen saw her pawns as family, and knew she could not continue on without knowing what was driving Mez to change so drastically.
Arisen, Sybille, Mez and Merry finally exited the fort, looking up to the sky and attaching their lanterns to their belts. As they made their way to the rest stop they heard a deep, malicious growling. It was not long before Sybille let out a high pitched scream, "THERE master! Wolves!" At this position in their travels a small pack of wolves was nothing for them, however… while charging her Ingle to save Sybille from being eaten by a wolf twice her size, the Arisen was caught off guard. A large wolf leaped in the air, pouncing on her and shoving her into the dirt. She screamed for help, trying desperately to escape the animal's teeth… before Mez drew his bow, taking it out in one blow, it going straight through the head. It slumped against her - she struggled to get out from underneath it, grabbing her arm where the wolf had had its teeth embedded.
Mez pulled her to her feet and gently held her arm, looking it over before rolling his eyes and saying in yet another arrogant tone, "Ah, what would you ever do without me?" She looked up at him in anger this time, eyes squinted as she pulled her arm away from him and walked further towards the rest stop. Mez shrunk down a bit in his head, realizing that perhaps he'd pushed the envelope. He followed Arisen and the other two back to the rest camp, slowly… about 5 paces behind the rest of them. Sybille and Merry cringed inwardly at the awkward silence, not quite understanding what had gotten in to their fellow pawn.
After finally arriving at the camp, they all exhaustedly dropped their things in the tents and finally took a seat. Arisen didn't bother sitting down. She simply approached Mez and said, "Mez, could you come talk to me, if it is not too much trouble?" She asked both politely and almost sarcastically. He could tell she was not happy with him - he rose to his feet and nodded, following her back behind one of the tents. She sat down on the nearby stump with a loud PLOP, folding her arms and looking up at him with an inquisitive stare. He looked at his feet and avoided eye contact, knowing he must have really made her unhappy. She just looked up at him, and after a moment of silence just blurted "what has been going on with you, Mez?"
"I…" he stuttered, "I am afraid I do not know what you're talking about, Arisen…" he lied through his teeth.
She gave him THE look, and he backed up a little, still staring at the ground, shifting from foot to foot nervously. "Mez. You have done nothing but be venomous toward myself and the others for the past week or so. I shall be blunt, your belligerence currently knows no bounds."
"That is NOT-" he paused and stopped himself, going red in the face… not with anger, but with shame… realizing that she was right. "That is… I… uh…" He stumbled for his words, not able to think of the correct words to use. Instead he just stared at the dirt, letting out a quiet "…you are right… I am sorry, Arisen…"
Arisen looked at him curiously, "'Tis… alright. But why have you been acting this way? 'Tis hardly like yourself."
Mez looked to her briefly before looking back down to the ground, letting out an almost too immediate "N-No reason Arisen! No reason. It shan't happen again. Pray, let us go back to the fire…?" He sounded desperate, and Arisen could tell he was highly uncomfortable, so she decided to cut him some slack and walk back with him to the fire. As they all sat around the fire and spoke of their travels, the normally talkative Mez stayed unusually silent. Arisen sighed and announced that she would sleep, standing slowly and stretching before entering her tent. Mez stayed at the fire with the others, remaining silent while Sybille and Merry exchanged stories of their adventures.
As morning lit the sky, light flew into the Arisen's tent… stirring her from a rather deep sleep. She groaned a bit and rolled over… wanting so badly to be lazy for once in her life, but with the tent as bright as it was… it was obvious that was not going to happen. She rolled her eyes and crawled out of the tent, looking around to see where her party was. Sybille and Merry were out by the water's edge, keeping watch for Saurians… but she saw no Mez. She scanned the grounds for a moment, to notice he was in the most obvious place… still at the fire pit. She frowned and dusted herself off, wandering over to the pit and sitting down as well. She looked at him inquisitively, as if asking what what wrong. He avoided her gaze, staring at the ash. He didn't want to burden the Arisen anymore than she had to be… her world was complicated and stressful enough without him bothering her with his trivial concerns.
She sighed, not willing to be ignored. "Pray, talk to me…" she stated, rather concerned, "What is ailing you…?"
"'Tis nothing, Arisen," Mez defensively hissed. He kept his gaze to the ash, hoping she would just grab her things out of frustration and tell them to head to Gran Soren.
Arisen folded her arms and watched him closely, "well Mez we are not leaving this camp until you tell me what is going on… I cannot have us out there fighting… ANYTHING… with you in such a strange state. We will not work well as a team…"
He at first looked annoyed, but then almost instantly looked rather grieved… he could not honestly say he could battle at maximum proficiency like this. He fumbled for his words, completely unsure of how to put it. After a minute or so of thinking, he just let out quietly, "I… do not know the word for it."
She unfolded her arms and listened, "What do you mean…?"
Mez shrugged a bit and kicked at some of the ashes, "I do not know what words humans use to describe what I am thinking, Master…"
Arisen blinked for a moment and leaned forward a bit, "try to describe it in different words then…?" She had long known now that Mez was very bad with their language. He spoke fine enough, but he often faltered on the simplest of words. She did would try to help him figure out exactly what word it was that he was looking for, not trying to make him feel ignorant, though it did strike her as odd that a pawn of his age wouldn't understand such things.
"I…" he stuttered a bit as he thought for a moment, "I… suppose… I… er… I treated you… all of you… rather poorly, Arisen. I possibly even put us in… danger. I do not like how it feels to know I did such…"
Her face almost instantly softened, going from impatience and curiosity, to compassion. Arisen rose from her seat and took a seat next to him, speaking quietly, "we call that guilt, Mez… you feel guilty."
"Guilt…?" He repeated back, she nodded slowly. He asked solemnly, "How do you normally rid yourself of guilt, Arisen…?"
She blinked for a moment, not expecting that kind of question. She laughed awkwardly for a moment, trying to think of her words carefully, "well… I apologize to those that I wronged, I suppose. 'Tis easier to move on if they forgive me… and you know I forgave you last night…"
He nodded slowly, looking down at his hands, "I just feel… horrible, Arisen. I have failed you, and the others…" he began to stutter again, trailing off into something incomprehensible.
She frowned and interjected, "You've not forgiven YOURSELF then, Mez. 'Tis possibly more important than me forgiving you…" she tried to convince him, "so you were a bit vile for a while, 'tis not the end of the world. There are worse things one can do…"
Mez brought his arms around himself, almost as if hugging himself… raising his voice a bit, not angry, just rather upset, "but this is what I exist to DO Arisen!" He finally looked her in the eye, "this is what I am for! And I have ruined that! I am but a pawn… this is all I am good for… and I…" he trailed off again, looking back to the ground.
She looked to him sadly, before placing a hand on his shoulder and uttering a quiet, "I shall be right back." Arisen walked over to each of the guards and her pawns, and explained that she needed them all to surround the camp, keeping about 20 paces from it in each direction, and keep watch. She told them she did not want them to come back into the camp to get her unless there was an emergency, and let the guards know there would be compensation if they cooperated. With the promise of gold, there was of course no fight. They surrounded the camp and kept watch, 20 paces away. She returned to Mez, and offered her hand down to him. He looked up at her confused, but placed his hand in hers. She slowly led him to behind one of the tents, where the stump was.
She took a seat, and began to explain, "Mez… I do not know how you have handled such things in the past… but we humans have a few ways to handle guilt. I grew up in a small fishing village, Mez, as you know." She explained further, not willing to dive right in to action without explaining to the rather shaken up pawn, "my family there knows me better than anyone. They also know I have a conscience of pure glass. The few I trusted the most understood just how hard it was to get me to forgive myself - they would say I was by far the most stubborn girl they knew… and even more stubborn when it came to myself. Eventually, they seemed to have discovered some way to get me to let go, though I of course never admitted it helped nearly as much as it did." She thought of her words carefully, shifting in her seat and feeling rather awkward as she explained, "Mez… you do know what punishment is…?"
He nodded slowly, "Of course Arisen. Jail time, execution…" he trailed off with all of the possibilities he knew of, most of them being rather harsh.
Arisen couldn't help but smile just a bit, chuckling. He rose an eyebrow, wondering if he had said something funny. He did not know execution was funny! She grinned, before explaining, "yes… those are some. But the kind I am speaking of is not nearly as harsh" He just looked at her, confused. He'd only seen the world of war, to be honest. He was also just a pawn - the world had never honestly treated him well. He knew of nothing else. She carried on, "The kind I am talking about is given by someone that cares about the other, something family would do, Mez."
"Family…?" he looked confused, yet somewhat hopeful. Perhaps she had a way to help him get back to normal. Right now he just felt foggy, like he couldn't think straight. What a horrid pawn he had been for the past week or so was all he could seem to think about.
She nodded slowly, "Yes Mez, family… that is how I see you, Sybille and Merry…"
He looked shocked! He'd been alive quite some time, probably three to four times as long as the Arisen had been alive… and he had met many humans, but knew very little of the human world and had certainly never had a human call him family. He did not know how to respond, or even how to feel, at first. He shook his head, saying in a pleading voice, "A-Arisen, surely I do not deserve that title from… from YOU…"
The Sorcerer quickly cut him off, scolding slightly, "that is nonsense, Mez, the three of you are just as much my family as Cassardis is." She continued quietly, "I just need you to trust me, Mez. I need you to trust that this will not bring you any actual harm and that it could help you feel better, even if it seems bizarre." Truly, the Arisen was making a very real gamble. Who's to say if the same things that make people feel better make pawns feel better? Regardless, he had to try.
"I…" Mez thought for a moment. He was willing to try almost anything at this point. He wanted to be of use to his party again, and to get rid of this rather sick feeling in his stomach. He had grown to trust the Arisen with everything he had in the last few months, and figured this situation would be no different. "I trust you, Arisen…"
She smiled gently up at him, before taking a deep breath and nodding, "alright then. Here is what I need you to do. I want you to lay, face down over my lap." He looked at her curiously, but did as he was told, positioning himself over her lap. She rubbed his back for a moment, doing her best to calm herself down… this was all very new to her. She wasn't looking forward to explaining the next part, "now comes the strange part, Mez. I am going to inch down your lower garments so we can get this done more effectively, and so you feel it better."
"F…Feel it better?" He was beginning to wonder if he was going to regret this.
Arisen slowly lowered his pants and under dressings to his knees, making sure his bottom and thighs were exposed. He instantly tensed, feeling rather uncomfortable, and needless to say, a bit embarrassed. She could tell that he was beginning to panic, and so she rubbed his back again, trying to soothe him. "I will not lie to you, Mez. This will hurt. But you will be alright… try to have faith." He was not sure why, but that calmed him a bit… and so he held still and just tried to breathe. "I made sure that the ONLY person that may be able to see this is Sybille, so do not worry…" she tried to calm his nerves more. She was doing her best to try to keep him calm, but the Arisen had a rather unfortunate gift for making situations much more awkward than they needed to be, and Mez tensed up again. She sighed, "I am sorry, I am perpetually bad at putting people at ease, I know… but Sybille is trustworthy, and someone must stay across the lake to guard us from Saurians. Pray, trust me…"
Mez drew his breath in, before letting it out slowly, "a…aye." He supposed at this point, he had to trust her. Still, he could find himself lifting his head and trying to look across the lake.
Arisen took a deep breath - truth be told, this was her first time not finding herself on the receiving end, and she was a tad nervous. She desperately wanted to leave a good impression. She said slowly, "I am going to begin now, Mez… are you ready…?" He nodded, he was sure it would be fine. He's gotten shot with arrows, stabbed, blasted with fire. He could handle whatever she was going to do, he was sure of it.
She nodded, hesitating for a moment before raising her hand up in the air, and then bringing it down firmly against his backside. He gasped a bit and jolted forward, the type of pain he was experiencing not quite what he'd expected. It wasn't too horrible though, so he positioned himself back in place and shut his eyes, bracing himself. After she saw how he'd handled the first swat, she delivered several more, even harder… one after another. He was still convinced that this would be a piece of cake. Some smacking compared to all those arrows he got in the back? No problem. However, as Arisen began to spread the burn more evenly and even faster still… he was not so sure. It was becoming harder to stay still. He couldn't believe how different this pain was compared to what he was used to… and what he really couldn't believe was that he was already squirming from just a few good smacks. He held his composure though, wanting to make up for what he had done and not wanting to let the Arisen down. Even though he was definitely beginning to see that this was punishment, and a rather painful one at that, he was still wondering how this was meant to make him feel less guilty. Little did he know, Arisen didn't plan to just spank… she had a lot she wanted to talk about, as well.
Arisen watched his movements carefully. She did not want to overwhelm him too badly but she could see she was going to have to step it up a notch if she was going to make an impact, and most of all, get him to forgive himself. She took a deep breath before moving the spanks down to his under curves and thighs. He immediately let out a pained yelp, then covered his mouth with his hand - he couldn't believe he was crying out. He shut his eyes tighter, trying so hard to keep quiet… but he was no longer able.
"A-a-AH!" He shouted out, "A-Arisen! Please!"
She smacked his thighs harder, "I do not think so, Mez. We are not done here." It pained her to say so… but she knew she could not stop just yet. They were not finished, though she could tell that it would not take much to get through to him. "You've gotten yourself in this position, Mez…" she tried to be stern, knowing that this was something he would need to get past this, "you've been nothing but rude the past week and I am intent on making sure that it does not happen anymore."
As she paid close attention to his thighs, he cried out, "a…aAH! It… it will not, Arisen! I-It will not aAHN happen a…again! It will not!" He gritted his teeth, cringing and squirming about. As she continued on, he could not take much more. He cursed his weakness, giving in so quickly, but he could not help it - he reached back and covered his bottom with his right hand. "P-Please! No m-more Arisen!" He would never give in so easily in battle, why was he now? Perhaps it was because he trusted the Arisen far more than he did, say, a Cyclops.
Arisen sighed, knowing what she had to do. She gently but firmly grabbed his wrist with her free hand and pinned it to his back, winding her arm back and bringing it back down once again, twice as hard now… focusing on spreading the burn evenly now between his bottom, thighs and sitspots. "I am sorry Mez, but I cannot allow you to do that - I could hurt your hand," she informed him gently.
Mez let out a whine, a noise neither him nor the Arisen even knew that he was capable of making. He kicked his legs just slightly, yelping every few smacks, "AaaAAH! P-Pleassssseeee! I am s-sorry A-Arisen! It will not happen a-again! N-Never again!"
Truth be told, she was not all that worried about him repeating that same mistake again, but there were two more things she wanted to go over. "I should hope not. I am quite honestly not that concerned with you doing this again - I am sure you will do just fine, Mez." Inside, the pawn rejoiced at the small bit of praise, but wanted to ask her why she was still spanking him if she thought he had learned his lesson. Before he could ask, though, she said firmly, "but there is one thing I want to make PERFECTLY clear." The Ranger cringed a little at the firmness in her voice, and Arisen took a deep breath, beginning to smack at full force, "aiding me is most DEFINITELY NOT the only thing you are good for. Don't you ever… ever… let the humans convince you of that! You may be a pawn but you are still MEZ. Not just MEZ the PAWN. You are Mez. There are PLENTY of things you are good for and I do not EVER want you thinking like that again! Am I understood…?" Her voice was wavering and she was beginning to tear up, shocked at the fact that he thought such a horrendous thing about himself.
He was shocked, himself. Completely shocked. Even through the pain he froze, not able to believe that she had said such a thing. No human had ever seen him as on the same level as them. She drew in a sharp breath and gave him a good, hard smack to one of his thighs. He yelled out, realizing she was expecting an answer. He let out a rather shaky "Y-Yes Arisen… I… I… u-understand."
She took a deep breath in, and stopped to rub his rather warm and swollen backside… not finished, but giving him a break. Mez also took in a deep, wavering breath… shocked at both her words and her physical strength - he had not expected the Sorceress to have so much upper body strength. Arisen kept rubbing, one more thing left to discuss on her mind. The pawn shook subtly, overwhelmed by not only the pain, but the many things running through his head. "Mez…" she began, "t'was more than obvious last night… that you have been acting so vile for a reason. And I want to know that reason." He began to shake a bit, not wanting to share his reasoning, knowing she wouldn't like it. She could feel him tense at the question, and so she moved her left hand to his head and stroked his hair a bit, trying to encourage him to talk to her.
He relaxed a bit as she ran her fingers through his hair, shutting his eyes tight and muttering "I… I… I did not want to be j-just… another pawn, Arisen." He spoke very quietly, the Arisen having to strain herself to hear him, "A-All I ever hear from humans is that we are a-all alike… that we are just empty shells… emotionless… uninteresting… all too w-willing to do the bidding of a-another." Mez felt an odd sensation, as if his face was on fire, his eyes beginning to burn as well. He, himself knew he was not emotionless… it was just harder for him to express those emotions without a bit of help. Was this not the way with all pawns? But when one constantly hears such things about themselves, they begin to resent themselves, and that was exactly what he felt. Resentment. Hatred for what he was. "I… I just wanted to… stand out. I j-just wanted to be interesting, A-Arisen…" The Ranger had spent almost a century now, wondering if it was wrong to be what he was.
Arisen teared up yet again, taking a deep breath and sighing. How does one respond to that? She had absolutely no idea, but she'd have to try. She spoke as gently as she could to him, "Mez… you have always been interesting. You… you've always been fine just how you were…" Now that she had the answers, she knew how to finish off. She ruffled his hair a bit while patting his bottom a few times, warning him that there would be more, so she wouldn't surprise him. He grit his teeth, knowing what was coming. Arisen reared her hand back and landed it crisply on the pawn's bottom. He cringed and yelled out as her hand landed, the noise echoing throughout the rest stop. She kept a good hold on him, spanking at full force again on every little inch, ready to finish this up. She had released his wrist during their talk, and he was doing his best not to reach back yet again. "You are a good man - you are kind, giving of yourself, intelligent, eager to help others, humorous," she did her best to keep her composure, "those things do not make you uninteresting, Mez… they make you who you ARE. And we all love who you are…"
Mez began to tear up, a sensation he had never really felt much in the past. He closed his eyes tighter, trying to keep it inside as he protested, "B-But…"
"But nothing," she insisted gently, smacking at full speed now, "there is nothing wrong with you Mez. Nothing at all. And I do not wish to ever see you allowing people to convince you otherwise… or you shall find yourself right back over my knee. Am I understood?"
"A…aAH!" He yelled out, jolting forward and beginning to shake again, "Y-Yes Arisennnn, I u-understand…" He shut his eyes tighter, a few tears spilling over and down his face. He put his hand up to his face, feeling the wetness - he was crying. This was something he didn't even know he could do… and though that actually made him somewhat happy, it also made him cry more. He let out a choked sob, trying still to hold the tears back. Arisen could tell this was what he needed, sensing a new feeling pouring off of him, so she continued with the spanking, focusing on his under curves to bring it all together. He kept his eyes clenched tightly shut, but he couldn't hold it in anymore - the dams finally burst. Mez let out a few more choked sobs, before releasing a long and pained wail. He went limp over her lap, no longer struggling, simply crying.
She finally stopped, rubbing his sore bottom gently before helping the sobbing pawn up to sit on her lap - the stump only had so much room, and the Arisen did not care that he was taller than her, he needed her now and that was what he would get. She wrapped her arms around him lovingly and supportively, holding him as closely as she could. He clung onto her weakly but desperately, his arms wrapped around her neck, face buried into her shoulder… gasping for air as he bawled. It was all happening so fast. She lifted his chin to try to help him breathe, noticing that his bandit's mask was completely drenched in tears. She frowned and untied the back of it, freeing it from his face so he could breathe easier. Mez instantly felt more comfortable, but also felt even more vulnerable, burying his face back into her shoulder to hide his face, crying harder and sputtering, "I am s-sorry A-Arisen! I a-am… I am s-sorry…! I… I will never f-fail you a…again!"
Arisen held him closer and stroked his hair calmly, "Ssssssshhh, you have never failed me… not once. 'Tis done and over with, Mez… 'tis all over…" She spoke quietly and gently, trying to calm him, "you need not apologize anymore…" She didn't want him thinking that such trivial things meant failure. She was never even angry with him - she had only spanked him so he wouldn't be so angry with himself. Arisen stroked the boy's hair gently, doing her best to calm his crying, "do not worry… I am here…"
Mez wasn't sure why, but that both reassured him and scared him senseless. He clung onto her tighter, shaking and muffling into her shoulder, "…do not g-go…!"
Smiling gently, she held him closer… rubbing his sore backside gingerly. "I am not… going anywhere, Mez… I am right here," she spoke quietly, wrapping one arm around him tighter and cradling the back of his head with her other hand.
He finally let his body relax, no longer burying his face, just resting his head on her shoulder. Mez finally felt like he could let go of this, but at the same time he couldn't stop the tears now that they were flowing. Arisen just held him close, letting him cry out any frustrations he had… knowing that he must have been holding those fears in for a while, without a clue of how to bring them up or deal with them. All she could think about was how horrible it must be to not know how to express yourself without extensive help. She would hold him there as long as it took, whispering praise and encouragement. As the minutes passed and Mez's cries became sniffles, she brushed the stray red, sticky hairs out of his face, "are you feeling any better…?"
Mez hiccuped a bit and simply nodded, hanging on to her weakly, just emotionally exhausted. He was not used to exposing that many emotions… or any for that matter.
"And the guilt…?" she asked gently as she wiped his face with his mask.
He stopped for a moment, then looked to her with red rimmed eyes, "'tis… 'tis gone, Arisen…" he felt as if a bolder was lifted from his chest - he could breathe again… though at the cost of being extremely sore.
She smiled and rubbed his behind, which only caused him to wince. Arisen smiled at him sympathetically and said "It will go away soon, do not worry. You have been through much worse. You are strong, Mez… you will be just fine."
Mez paused for a moment and looked up at her. He finally let out a smile, nodding. He would be okay.
AUTHOR'S NOTE
Well guys, that's that! I hope you enjoyed it, and look forward to your thoughts. I only wrote it in one day, hah. But regardless, I hope you enjoyed it.
-Johnna