Note: This story contains not only spanking but also spoilers for Ike and Soren's support conversations. If you don't want to know Soren's secrets, please don't read this chapter. Thank you.
Chapter 1: Soren's comeuppance
Soren frowned gently and held his head in his hand as he scratched a few more numbers down on the sheet of paper before him. His head throbbed. Ike had been sick with fever for the last few days, so the responsibilities for the mercenary company had fallen on Soren and Titania. Soren had forgotten how frustrating it was, handling accounts on his own. Titania took care of accepting jobs and leading their mercenaries into battle while he balanced their money accounts and take inventory on their weapons, food, and supplies. He was starting to feel the stress build up.
His hand tensed a bit as he dipped the pen back into the ink. As he set it against the paper again, he heard the end snap. Growling in frustration, he slammed the pen down onto the table, standing up, causing the chair he was sitting in to fall backwards. He rubbed his head gently and turned away, needing to clear his head a bit. He walked out of the base and into the cold night air, his black robes rustling a bit in the breeze. He took a deep breath and calmed himself. Ever since his talks with Ike about him being half Laguz, he had felt better about himself, but he was still nervous around everyone except Ike. With Ike in bed with fever, Rhys and Mist watching over him all the time, Soren started to get even more nervous, since his one source of reassurance wasn't around. His nervousness made him even more irritable than before. His usual outspokenness became sarcasm. Even though most would consider that a subtle change, it was a change that was easily noticed by the other mercenaries and it was making them just as miserable as they had ever been marching all over the continent when they were escorting princess Elincia.
As Soren's head cleared, he closed his eyes and simply listened. He had done this several times in his life, simply coming outside and listening to the sounds outside the walls of the base. It was so peaceful on the outside, especially when it was nightfall, when all the training and tasks of the day were completed and nature itself came to life. This was the one true place he felt at peace when Ike wasn't around. He sat down and let the smallest trace of a smile cross his face. The breeze felt so good against his face.
"Taking a break?" a voice asked from the right.
Immediately, Soren jumped up, his hands glowing green with a simple wind spell. It was a weaker version of his tornado technique, but it would be effective if he launched it quickly. He stopped, frowning as he saw Titania standing there. He lowered his arms quickly, canceling the magic. "Titania, you shouldn't be up right now… you were in quite a battle the other day. Your injuries must still be painful."
Titania shook her head gently. "I'm fine, Soren, do not worry." She looked around. "You are the one who shouldn't be up. You've been pushing yourself very hard as of late, ever since Ike took fever."
Soren shook his head, turning his back on her. "Don't worry, I'll be fine. I'm just… a little overwhelmed. All these donations we keep receiving from the towns is… making it hard to keep track of our treasury." He sighed a bit and rubbed his head a bit. He still needed to finish adding together the week's expenses.
Titania approached him, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. "There was another reason I wanted to talk to you, which makes me glad I ran into you out here."
Soren turned to her, pushing her hand off his shoulder. He didn't much like human contact. "What was that?" he asked, his face all serious again."
Titania sighed gently. "Well, you were never very socially pleasant before…" Soren gave a bit of a snort, "But recently, it's just gotten worse. Ever since Ike caught that fever, you've slowly started to become more and more hostile towards us, more reclusive. It's only been a week, but all of us have been effected by your change in attitude."
Soren's eyes narrowed a bit, though it was hard to see in the moonlight. "Hmph, did you merely wish to lecture me about my behavior?" he asked, a bit of hostility slipping through. "I will act how I please, Titania. You know that I've always been honest and I don't waste words. What makes now so different?"
Titania ran a hand through her hair. "Because now it's not honesty, it's merely sarcasm and spite. You've been purposefully finding fault in what others say or do and you snap at them as if they had just made a fatal error. Just the other day, Mist came crying to me because of a few of the things you said."
Soren bit his lip softly. Yes, it had been yesterday. Mist and him had been sent out to collect some extra firewood and he had already been in a bad mood since he hadn't had time to go over their current weapon inventory. Mist had stumbled over a rock, a complete accident, really. Her load of firewood dropped from her arms and most of it rolled down the hill into a small river that ran beside their base. Soren had shouted something rather nasty about her clumsiness, something he ordinarily would have never said to anyone, especially not Mist. She had ran off crying and when Soren had eventually returned, no one really said anything to him, only gave him uncertain glances, which only added to his irritability. Shaking his head to clear the memory away, Soren crossed his arm. "What is your point exactly?" he asked gently.
Titania sighed softly again. "We're all tired of it, Soren. Something's wrong. You were like this for a while after commander Greil died, but it cleared up relatively quickly. I won't ask you why you act this way, but it has a lot to do with Ike… if you don't want to talk about this, then I won't push the issue, but either way, this behavior can't keep happening."
Soren looked at her. "Ike was the only one I could trust." It was a simple and plain statement, but it had a large impact.
Titania crossed her arms gently. "Soren… what about the rest of us? We've known you since you were a toddler, almost. There is nothing that you can't tell us. Like commander Greil said, we are family."
Soren clenched his fists and looked up at her. Her eyes held total truth. He took a deep breath. "But… you may tell others…" he said quietly.
Titania shook his head. "If you don't want it told, then it will remain a secret to me as well as Ike."
Soren felt a great weight lift off his chest and he nodded to her. "Let us walk." He motioned for her to follow. She did and they walked a good distance from the base before Soren finally turned to face her. "I… would like it very much if this would stay between us… do not tell anyone. Ike already knows, but please, do not tell him either."
Titania nodded gently to him. "I promise. You may tell the others when you feel it is right."
Soren nodded and closed his eyes, preparing himself mentally, much the same way he had when he had told Ike. "Titania… I am… I am one of the branded." He said it quietly, almost too quietly for human ears to catch, but he knew that Titania had heard it.
Titania came forward and Soren visibly winced, as if he were expecting to be slapped. Titania rested a gently hand on his shoulder again and smiled at him. "Soren… I don't care that you are half Laguz, you are still Soren to me… a sharp-tongued brat."
Soren tried to scowl at her, but he was unable to. He slowly wrapped her arms around her, still uncomfortable about human contact, but doing his best to adapt to it quickly. "Titania…" he whispered softly.
Titania smiled gently and returned the hug. "I am glad that you feel better now, but this is still not an excuse for the way you've been acting."
Soren bit his lip and nodding. He couldn't use his secret as an excuse for how he had acted, driving other's away. He looked up at her. She was much taller than him. "I understand. I will attempt to stop myself from acting in such a manner anymore."
Titania nodded gently. "I am sure you will, but I am going to make sure."
Soren didn't like the sound of that. "Make sure of it… how?" he asked, pulling away from her, suddenly wary.
Titania smiled at him gently. "You know how Boyd and Oscar deal with Rolf with he gets out of line, right?"
Soren nodded gently. "Yes, they give him a… spanking…" his voice trailed a bit as he looked at her, his mind suddenly coming to the realization of what she meant. "Titania, you can't be serious!"
Titania crossed her arms and looked him directly in the eyes. "I am serious, Soren. You do act mature most of the time, but your behavior over the last week or so has only been bratty and childish and I plan to punish you for it."
Soren's mind debated with itself for a while, attempting to find a way out of this. He knew that he had been out of line most of the time that week. He sighed gently and looked at her. "Will… will the others hear about this?"
Titania smiled and shook her head. "Absolutely not. None of them have any idea that we're even out here right now. And I promise that it will stay between you and me, Soren."
Soren bit his lip a bit more. "You know… the woman I called mother hated me… she… she beat me quite a bit."
Titania approached soren and took his hand in hers. "Hush, I am not her, this is not a beating for something you didn't deserve… this is justified punishment for your behavior, and I'll know how to keep it controlled. It will hurt, but trust me, it will be nothing compared to the beatings you suffered at her hand."
Soren felt a little better, hearing that, but it still wasn't totally reassuring. He submitted, however. "Very well… I guess I do deserve it."
Titania nodded and sat down on the cool grass, tugging Soren over her lap at the same time. Soren blushed gently from his position and clenched his fists against the ground. He gasped lightly as he felt Titania pulling up his robes. "Wh-what are you doing?!" he asked.
Titania looked at him gently, still pulling up his robes. "I want this to be done properly, Soren, which means that this spanking is going to be given to you on your bare backside."
Soren gulped loudly, but he was in no position to argue with her, so he simply nodded and braced himself for what was to come. He had taken a lot of beatings in his years, so he felt semi-prepared for this.
Titania saw him brace himself and nodded gently, raising her hand. "I'm sorry." She brought her hand down right on the center of his backside with a huge smack.
Soren gasped loudly and gave a small whimper of pain, shifting position as much as he could, but Titania quickly pressed him back down with her hand. She raised her hand again and this time brought her hand down right onto his left cheek. SPANK! Soren let out a small cry from this one and his head jerked back as the blow landed. Then, Titania raised her hand a third time and brought it down on his right cheek. SPANK! Soren felt tears burning his eyes already. Titania was strong, very strong, he knew this for a fact, but he hadn't been prepared for this.
Titania's pace started to quicken and she started alternating from cheek to cheek, making sure to try and get his whole bottom. Every time she shifted from one cheek to the other, she slapped the top of his buttocks, then the center, then the bottom, and finally gave him a good smack to his upper leg before repeating the process. SMACK, SPANK, WHACK, SPANK, SPANK, SLAP!
Soren let out more small whimpers, holding in a good amount of the pain. His instincts forced him into trying to get away, usually by trying to raise his back so he could crawl off, but Titania held him steady. SPANK, SLAP, SLAP, SPANK! After a particularly hard slap to his right cheek, he felt his emotional dam burst and he started to cry softly, the tears streaming down his face. "Ow… Titania, I'm, ow, sorry!" he said quickly.
Titania nodded, but did not stop the spanking. Instead, she picked up the pace, landing the blows faster, slapping each cheek twice now instead of once before alternating. Soren felt he couldn't take it anymore and reached back with his arms to block his bottom, but he never made it. Titania grabbed his arms and pinned them to his back without missing a single beat. "OW! Titania, I'm sorry, please stop! AH!" His begging fell on deaf ears.
Titania watched Soren's bottom closely, gauging from his cries and how much damage she was doing, how much longer the spanking should last. His behind was now a nice middle pink color, though it was rapidly growing deeper with ever slap she delivered to him. She smiled a bit, seeing him in such a state that actually reflected his age for once. He had been forced to grow up too fast. She ran each slap from the very top down to the very bottom of his buttocks, pausing only to reposition her hand every once in a while.
Soren couldn't take it anymore. He was outright wailing now, struggling to get his hands free and get off her lap, though it was all in vain. He felt a particularly hard slap land where his legs met his behind and lurched a bit, coughing gently. "STOP!" he shouted loudly.
Titania finally stopped the spanking, but held him where he was on her lap, gently rubbing his bottom. "It's all done Soren." She soothed him as best she was able, smiling as he continued to sob onto the ground, the patch of grass in front of him wet with his tears now. Titania gently released his hands and the first thing they did was fly back to his bottom, rubbing them furiously. Slowly, Titania helped him to his feet and let him rub for a bit before moving his hands away and pulling up his pants for modesty sake.
Soren sniffled a bit, biting his lip and hugging her tightly. "Thank you, Titania…" he whispered gently to her, ignoring the fact that his bottom still stung heavily.
Titania nodded and hugged him as well. "You're welcome, Soren, my friend… now, if you're calmed down, I think we should be heading back before the others are up and about."
Soren nodded gently at her. "Yes, I understand." He smiled a bit, one of his extremely rare smiles. They walked back in relative silence, Soren rubbing his butt the whole way. When they reached the base, Titania pat him on the back. "I need to go and make sure my horse isn't trying to eat out of the vegetable garden again… I'll see you later. You go get some sleep."
Soren nodded and walked inside, waving to her as he went. He quietly made his way back to his room and yawned gently, realizing for the first time how tired he was. He crawled into the bed, not even bothering to get undressed, and lay on his stomach, running a hand over his behind every now and then until he finally fell asleep, feeling thoroughly humbled and happy.
END STORY 1
