Second Warning: Contains spanking of an adult. If you don't like this then don't read and don't flame. I'm not forcing anyone here.
I wrote this story for fun one day after playing Thracia and realising just how easy Rifis got off. Ronan doesn't even say anything so I decided to rectify that. This story is actually a three shot but I'll wait and see about posting up the other chapters. Anyway, on with the story...
But first the Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem, that's all Intelligent System's and Nintendos or whatever... otherwise all the games would be released over here fully updated, even if it took me a millenia! I do actually own a copy of the Thracia game, though, and it cost me a bundle. Shame I can't understand it... but thank Elimine for game scripts online :D
Rifis was in trouble, he knew it, and he wasn't very happy about it either. Everything had been fine until the day Prince Leaf and his entourage had come riding up and mercilessly slaughtered his band of merry pirates. So what if they had plundered a few villages and stolen a few women? Since when had that been a crime? …Ah… Okay… Maybe it had been a crime for a short while now but it still wasn't fair! Now he, Rifis, the loveable rogue, the leader of the gang, had been captured and faced hanging, beheading or worse! He didn't really like those options… He was rather fond of his neck and of the fact his head was freely attached to it…
He shook free of the blue haired oaf that was holding him when he spotted a certain cleric – Safy. That girl could be his ticket out of this mess! He collapsed to his knees in front of her, clinging to the front of her robe pleadingly.
"Safy! Please, you have to help me!" He begged. "They're going to kill me! They say I'm bad but I'm not! You know I'm not! You said it yourself!"
She placed a gentle hand on his head, sending shivers down his spine, before looking up at Leaf.
"Lord Leaf… I believe him. I trust him. You cannot kill an unarmed man in cold blood," she told the Prince, who stood next to the 'oaf' who more commonly went by the name of Fin.
"The villagers are crying out for his blood," Tania cut in, dubiously.
"He could be useful to us though," Evayle murmured thoughtfully.
"Yes, yes, very useful, extremely useful," Rifis agreed.
"Is there anything we could do to appease the villagers? If he truly has changed, it could be worth letting him live…" She added.
"What!? That guy terrorised my village for years!" Ronan burst out angrily. "The reason I joined this army was to take him down!"
"Yeesh. Somebody's got his knickers in a twist," Rifis muttered, standing back up. Ronan yelled out, frustrated, and leapt for him. Halvan quickly intercepted and pulled the archer away before he could reach the thief.
"Ronan, calm down!" He cried, struggling to keep a grip on the normally rather weak archer. Rifis pulled a face at them both gleefully.
"You can't attack people like that, Ronan. If you're not experience in close hand combat, especially with thieves like him, you could easily lose your life," Evayle warned, stepping between Ronan and Rifis and laying her hands on Ronan's shoulders placatingly.
"He's unarmed. I could take him," the archer muttered unhappily.
"Don't count on it. People like him are rarely unarmed," Fin cut in, circling Rifis.
"I don't even know what a weapon looks like," Rifis protested innocently. Fin slipped a hand inside the waistband of his baggy pink trousers suddenly. "Hey! That's harassment!" Rifis protested. Fin pulled out a rather sharp, evil looking stiletto knife. The thief smiled weakly. "Uh… How did that get down there?" Fin bent down, running his hand down Rifis' leg. "You know, I really don't think you're my type!" Rifis exclaimed. Fin straightened up, another dagger in his hand. The thief sighed. This guy really didn't seem to get jokes… Fin slipped a hand under his top. "Is this what you pay him for? Feeling guys up?" Rifis asked Leaf with a grin. Leaf glared at him as Fin pulled out a final dagger and handed them to Evayle, who showed them to Ronan.
"See?" She asked.
"I didn't even know they were there! The boys must've put 'em on me when I was asleep. Such jokers," Rifis lied.
"Shut up. This isn't about you," Evayle snapped. The thief's mouth snapped shut in the face of the angry blonde and the rather sharp looking sword she had pointed at a place he'd rather be left unscathed.
"Yeah, well now he's unarmed," Ronan pointed out stubbornly.
"And you still have no experience in close combat," Evayle retorted, ruffling his hair fondly. She had a soft spot for the young archer.
"Are we off then?" Rifis asked, eager to be away from the villagers.
"The villagers deserve some justice. None will ever trust you if you let him off scot free," Ronan insisted, turning to Leaf. Rifis was really starting to hate that archer…
"Don't worry, kid," Dagda cut in, patting Ronan's shoulder. "Ole Dagda has an idea…" Rifis glanced nervously at him, already deciding this idea wasn't for him.
"Safy…" He started.
"Don't go running off to her. Ronan's right. You can't get off free," Leaf told him sternly before turning to Dagda and Ronan. "But I won't see him killed or maimed either. Not if he's so willing to change his ways."
"Don't worry. I have just the thing for him," Dagda responded, laying a heavy hand on Rifis' shoulder. "Gather any villagers who want to see him get his just desserts."
Rifis grimaced when he saw the sheer amount of people who turned out to see him getting his just desserts. He was standing next to Dagda on a wooden platform in one of the villagers by now. The only thing Dagda had requested was a stool, which was giving the thief a very bad feeling…
"I think most people are here," Evayle decided, looking out over the crowd.
"No, there's still more to come. Much more! Loads! Thousands!" Rifis whimpered. Dagda shook him, shutting him up.
"Right, lad, let's get this over with," he murmured, grabbing the much smaller man by the back of his collar and marching him to the front of the stage.
"Ah! This isn't fair! I get stage fright!" The thief protested weakly.
"People of the Villages, this is the man that has been terrorising you for so long," Dagda announced, shaking Rifis again. The thief tried to shrink closer to him as the villagers yelled out a large variety of insults. Evayle caught Ronan nodding in agreement to many of them and nudged him.
"Don't let me catch you using language like that," she warned, smiling as she noticed his disappointed look.
"Look at him. What do you see?" Dagda asked, his foghorn voice cutting across the roar of the crowd. They fell silent, not offering any suggestions. "A thief? A pirate? A murderer perhaps?" Dagda continued.
"I didn't do any of that!" Rifis protested loudly. "…I just…Ordered them to…" He added quietly. Dagda shook him again as the crowd roared their agreement at the last question.
"I don't," the burly man cut across them simply. The crowd fell silent once more. "All I see is a boy. A kid. Barely older than a child."
"I'm twenty-five," Rifis hissed but thankfully his voice didn't carry. Dagda shook him again warningly.
"He was just let loose with a bunch of fools willing to obey his every command. Those fools are all dead, only this boy remains. He's no threat. Not anymore," he continued. "Those that really destroyed your homes have lost their lives but I don't think any of us good, honest men could kill this kid in good conscience." The crowd stayed silent, no one quite agreeing but no one quite disagreeing. "However, there's no arguing that this boy has done wrong…"
"Oh…No…" Rifis murmured, finally cottoning on to what was about to happen to him. "Not that…"
"And everyone knows what happens to boys who have done wrong…" Dagda finished.
"Safy!" Rifis cried, struggling against the much stronger fighter as he was pulled towards the stool. A general murmur started up in the crowd as some members began to reach the same conclusion and appeared to be finding it all rather amusing.
Dagda sat down on the stool, Rifis' struggles having no effect on him.
"Oh, he won't be hurt too much will he?" Safy asked Fin worriedly.
"I hope so," Ronan cut in darkly.
"SAFY!" Rifis yelled out again as he was pulled over Dagda's lap, kicking and hitting out as best he could, struggling to get free.
"Oh…" Safy murmured, wishing she could help him. Fin gently placed an arm round her.
"Perhaps we should take a walk," he suggested calmly. Safy nodded gratefully, allowing the handsome older knight to lead her away.
Dagda kept the struggling young man pinned down as he removed Rifis' belt.
"This is a violation of human rights!" The thief complained bitterly, hitting the fighter's leg with all his, admittedly not very large, might. Dagda showed no sign of even having felt the blow as he started to pull down Rifis' baggy pink trousers. "RAPE! SEXUAL HARRASSMENT!" The thief wailed out. Dagda ignored him, yanking down his boxers, fully exposing him. Rifis squirmed even more, wishing the man didn't have muscles the size of mountains, and a grip that was just about as unbreakable.
The crowd cheered as Dagda raised his hand above Rifis' small white bottom. The thief was so small that the hulking man's giant hands were almost big enough to cover the entire area. He proved this as he brought his hand down sharply and Rifis jerked before howling out. Half his rump seemed to turn a shade nearly matching his trousers from the first blow! The ex-pirate started to struggle harder with more desperation.
"SAFY!!!" He wailed as the hand came down again. SMACK!!! "OWWW! SAFY PLEASE!"
"Stop struggling, Rifis. It's either this or you lose your head completely, y'hear?" Dagda ordered, tired of having to hold him down. Rifis whimpered and forced himself to relax. Maybe if he closed his eyes he could go to sleep and not feel any of it…
Another painful blow to his bottom made him rethink that idea as he wailed out, trying to reach behind and rub the afflicted area. Dagda grabbed his hand and twisted it painfully behind his back, rendering him completely helpless.
"Mercy! Please! I beg of you!" He entreated. Dagda slapped him firmly again as if in answer. He continued to slap Rifis, turning his bottom from a pinkish colour to a deep dark crimson, targeting the more tender areas whenever Rifis made a move to struggle, determined to make the villagers feel the young thief had been punished.
Rifis' agonised wails seemed to treble in volume at each hit and he called out for Safy more than once. However, throughout the punishment Ronan remained unsatisfied, still wanting him dead and left out for the crows to pick at. Evayle kept an arm around him, wishing the young archer could learn to forgive, even if she could see his point of view. It was hard not to.
Dagda stopped as the pain got too much for the thief and he finally broke down into tears, still begging forgiveness.
"Just a boy," he repeated loudly, as if the tears were all the evidence he needed. "But this punishment isn't over."
"No, please! I'll never massacre villages again," Rifis wept out as Dagda scooped the belt from the floor.
"That didn't sound very convincing," Tania murmured to Marty, who laughed.
Even Ronan winced this time when the belt was brought cracking down across Rifis' backside, buckle first. The young man screamed out, crying harder as a mauve stripe appeared, slightly darker where the buckle had hit. Dagda ignored the gasps from the crowd and slammed it down again. Rifis wailed out, tears falling faster as he begged even more desperately for forgiveness, in too much pain to think of doing anything else.
"I think he's had enough!" Someone yelled out from the front of the crowd. Dagda cracked the belt down again, staring the person who had spoken out down.
"Release him! The poor dear's crying!" A woman yelled out.
"Are they all out of their minds!?" Ronan exclaimed as more audience members chimed in.
"No, they just think enough's enough. Look at him, Ronan. Don't you feel any forgiveness?" Evayle asked. Ronan looked at the sobbing, beaten man.
"…No. He almost slaughtered my entire village," he replied, stubbornly. "He should be beaten 'til he bleeds… No, 'til he faints!" Evayle sighed at the angry archer. It seemed this time there would be no moving Ronan.
Dagda didn't hit Rifis with the belt again. Instead he reached down and pulled the thief's clothes back up. Rifis stayed limp and sobbing, not wanting any more of the cursed belt.
"It's over, Rifis. They've forgiven you," Dagda assured him.
"Oh… Great… What… Always… Wanted," Rifis gasped out in between sobs. Dagda scooped him up and took him away from the platform before setting him down on his own two feet and handing him his belt. The smaller man replaced it, still crying bitterly, although it was turning more into an act. He wasn't happy about being hit and he knew who was to blame. It wasn't Leaf, or Fin, or even Dagda. No, the one who had got him punished was that hateful little archer. He risked a quick glance over at Ronan, who narrowed his eyes in disgust.
"Oh, still not satisfied are you?" He thought. "Well just you wait, squirt. I'm going to make sure you get a taste of your own medicine."
A/N I know, I know, I love my Ellipses or whatever you call them... Who doesn't... I'll stop using them... One day... Maybe...
I hope someone enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it and I didn't offend too many people. R and R if you please :D