The day in the kingdom of Lorast went as per usual fare. The townspeople went about their usual ways if buying, selling, trading and bartering. It consisted of a large wall to keep out intruders, a castle at the southern side, and farmland all around the kingdom, where people made their living. The kingdom overlooked the many various farmlands down below the plateau, from the castle’s highest tower.

Down at the central market, things started to get hectic as the citizens of Lorast were getting ready for the midmorning rush of people coming for items to make lunch. All around, markets were hustling and bustling, looking to squeeze every single customer and every single dollar to put food on the table.

Down below, in the bowels of the kingdom, lay a city underneath, home to criminals and deviants of all measure. Drinking, gambling, and all other illicit activates took place in the Undercity, an underground city, built in an abandoned mine where everything that people above frown upon ends up. Three girls readied themselves for action, some quick and easy money that they have learned to take without anyone noticing.

The first was a half dragon named Draka, with plates of armored scales, and claw-like nails on both hands and feet. She always uses them to climb up vertical walls when someone had her cornered. Never once had this dragon-human hybrid been caught. Draka might’ve been tough, but she was also reckless at times, having close calls while thieving. The second was Ginger, the only human of the three, who happens to be the weapons master. She always carried an arsenal of weapons, hookshots, bows, oils, and smoke balls to escape. Ginger’s brown coat concealed this very well when she was out in missions to snatch some coins and purses from unsuspecting villagers. Last, not least, Snowfox, a Kitsune, a shape shifter. Her white hair hid her face very well. Her specialty was magic, being able to light the way with flames. Being the most flexible of the bunch made it easy to literally squeeze her way out of trouble. All three ladies were avid barefooters, never wearing any type of footwear, no matter where they were, in the Undercity, or strolling around the kingdom of Lorast above ground. Despite all this, Draka, Snowfox and Ginger all kept their feet very nice and groomed, making sure they got the calluses from their feet removed regularly.

Not a day goes by that the girl fantasized about massive quantities of loot, and didn’t have to go up to the kingdom to steal money to survive, and end up being punished by the people. Only Draka seemed unfazed by the thought of spending a day in the pillory, suited for thieves and general miscreants. The girls were planning yet another outing to the kingdom above to scam some unsuspecting suckers and get an easy score. But how was a debate that they were having trouble reaching a middle ground. Draka, being the very blunt and straightforward one, wanted to just snatch purses from people in broad daylight. Ginger and Snowfox were not amused. They were not really willing to risk an afternoon being punished for petty crimes and possibly locked away for their misdeeds.

“I have an opening for you guys!” Draka cried out, her scaly bare feet slapping the floor, running over to the others who were in the thief hideout. Her cohorts were puzzled as to why she was doing this. Best not to really think about it too much, since crazy ideas always were going through Draka’s head. Meanwhile, Snowfox, always keeping to herself, and always with her nose in a spell book of some sort, was practicing her fire magic, as many of her kind did, as to not lose that ability. Somehow she felt it would come in handy one day to get them out of a sticky situation.

“I think I should go first, if we’re to do a couple of jobs in Lorast.” Ginger suggested, offering sound advice to her fellow thief, trying to make her see the danger in going in more than a few missions a week before being noticed.

“I think we can go!” Snowfox beamed, holding a green candlelight flame in her palm, confident that her spells could get them out of any mess they might get if they did decide to go another city outing. Ginger always warned Draka about thieves from the Undercity not being welcome in Lorast. They always end up caught because their insatiable appetite for more loot becomes the downfall of every thief from the tunnels below. Every thief could attest to that. Well, nearly every thief in Undercity. For some strange reason, the trio has never been caught and punished. So everything they’ve heard.

“I have heard horrible things about what they do to thieves up in the kingdom!” Snowfox chirped, holding her hands to her mouth, fearfully. “They make them pay for their crimes by cutting off their fingers!”

“Bah, I don’t believe that for one second. Everyone knows that they won’t cut off fingers. The majority of the thieves in the city below have been punished, or jailed!” Draka stubbornly said tossing a rock to the other side of the cave they resided in, annoyed. She was not afraid of what they might do to her.

“Oh, sure, with those tender feet of yours, we’ll be just fine!” Ginger remarked with a sly smile. “What if the royal guards make us endure the most notorious punishment of them all? Locked in stocks with goats?” The half dragon shuddered at the thought of goats going at her feet. Her feet are tender as it is already. She didn’t need any animal taking advantage of her weakness. Ginger saw that shudder from her fellow thief, knowing it was where she crumbled. She could already imagine herself being tortured, helplessly bound and unable to escape with goats lapping at her.

“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! NOHOHOHOHOHOH!” The dragoness imagined laughing hysterically, being at the mercy of Feet thrashed all around, enticing the beasts some more with continuing to lick away. “MEHEHEHERCHEHEHEHEHE!” Tears ran down her scaly face, forming streams.

“Okay, Ginger, you stand guard at the stalls, Snow, you stand guard with your magic and make sure we’re okay. Just holler if you see villagers getting rowdy.” She took off toward the entrance of the old abandoned mine, with other thieves looking on, wondering if she would ever come back in one piece. Draka looked back at Ginger and Snowfox, looking hesitant of going out. They both had a bad feeling about this particular outing, feeling a bad vibe. Something told them they were going in for some trouble in what should be a very simple swipe of the crown jewels. Ginger and Snowfox reluctantly joined her, walking out of the mine turned hideout for thieves.

“Wish us luck!” they cried back into the cave, echoing.

Draka, Ginger and Snowfox all walked in the forest from the path leading from the old mine to the city, where workers used to travel a half mile to slave away each morning at dawn. Feeling confident this was the day to score the Crown Jewels to the kingdom and become filthy rich, no longer having to stay in the Undercity. Snowfox imagined herself being able to buy potions and many books on alchemy, surrounded with all sorts of doodads pertaining to magic. Ginger fantasized about the many knifes, hookshots, blackjacks she could purchase, from many kingdoms. Perhaps her lifelong dream could come true of owning a claymore, something she has been scrounging up for a long time to accumulate. However, Draka imagined herself as a queen sitting on a throne, adorned from head to delicate toes in expensive ornaments.

Guards stood by the gates, vigilant to any intruders. Lorast was surrounded by three hundred-sixty degrees of thirty-five foot high stone wall. The only way in was over or under. Of course, it was big problem for this resourceful trio. All they had to do was go around past the main path into the wooded thickets to scale the walls. Ginger knew exactly how to scale that wall. She so happened to own a hookshot, bartered in the Undercity for a leather blackjack. A big of a smokescreen didn’t hurt either to camouflage themselves in the same shade of green as the thicket. Snowfox, with a cheeky smile on her face, dropped the small green ball, sending a thick cloud of green smoke wisp into the air around the wall, giving the girls an opening to escape.

“Now you see us, now you don’t!” She said smarmily. Billowing evergreen smoke whipped around the area, providing cover to climb up the wall with Ginger with the hookshot. Meanwhile, Draka extended her long dragon claws and dug her hands into the stone, seeing who could make it to the top first.

“Gonna beat you two!” Draka called to Ginger and Snowfox, clawing her way up the wall already twenty feet up, with only fifteen more to go to the top.

“You’ll have to do better than that to beat us, Draka!” Snowfox taunted back, almost a full ten feet above the half dragon, with only five feet to go, while the smokescreen was dissipating. In the end, claws overcame a hookshot, given the extra cargo Ginger had to carry the full thirty-five feet up.

The three poked their heads over the wall, seeing the busy market, easy pickings for master bandits with tools to help them score easy little bits of money before going for the grand prize. Ginger smirked, seeing this as an opportunity to employ a technique she had been practicing, literally hitting bags of money in midair.

Now over the wall and with a vantage point, the trio staked out a few smaller hits before claiming the bog prize inside the palace on the other side of the market. They smiled at each other, once again imagining the riches that they could acquire with the crown jewels. Of course, there was the task of getting to the palace without getting caught and punished severely for it.

“Leave it to me!” Ginger proudly proclaimed, using a smoke bomb to get past anyone who was walking by, and some of her magic concoctions to distract and deter anyone in the vicinity. She dropped one with a smirk and an innocent look. Others who happened to be right below started to cough and fight for air, leaving Ginger the opportunity to again use her hookshot to climb down the thirty-five foot wall of Lorast. Snowfox used her magic to float down, whilst Draka was more far less surreptitious with her approach. It was the very same way she came up, with her claws, digging into the stone. All three made to the bottom of the wall, into the very busy market in the middle of the day, not a good time for thievery.

“Hehehe!” Draka snorted, eyeing many sacks of money exchanged and handed to different people. All she had to do was approach him silently and swipe it before the poor man knew that he was robbed. She couldn’t wait, already sneaking up behind barrels of ale, wiggling he clawed fingers, ready to take those money bags. Ginger and Snowfox were hiding a stall, closing their eyes, not wanting to look, as each time the half dragoness went very close, it was hard for them. She always pushed the limits of her recklessness. And each time, Draka seemed to defy the odds of getting caught.

Clawed fingers wiggled in anticipation, waiting behind the barrels of liquor, for the right moment to snatch the bag and retreat. That was always the plan. When in doubt, make a run or take a strand with her terrifying features. Usually the latter worked to scare off any townspeople who might be afraid of what they don’t know. Draka was almost within reach of the bag when a couple pairs of hands grabbed her by the shoulders, hitting her with a big surprise that she was finally pinched by guards. She was speechless. Ginger and Snowfox were also caught by surprise by guards who had been staking out the area, looking for any and all suspicious activity. Well, they certainly hit the mother lode today.

“Don’t you move or we will hang you, creature!” several guards had their swords and spears drawn to attack if necessary. Draka scowled at the men who had her surrounded. Snowfox and Ginger didn’t stand a chance either with so many guards surrounding them. They had no choice to surrender unconditionally and suffer the punishment that they had coming for a long time. Ginger wasn’t going down without some sort of resistance. She grabbed her bow from her arsenal of weapons and prompted guards to knock her down to the ground, restrained with ropes around her wrists. Snowfox stayed where she was and didn’t resist at all. The two in addition had their wrists tied behind the back and subdued.

“You’re under arrest for theft!” One announced, taking Draka first, chained up. Villagers, as soon as they heard of someone caught for theft, assembled on two sides of a path leading from the market to the castle. Many jeered her as she and her cohorts were taken to the castle’s bowels. Many mockingly threw bronze coins at them, or pelted the trio with spoiled fruit.

“Thieves! THEIVES!” They bellowed at the girls, who hung their heads in shame in the transfer. “You’re gonna get yours, you will!” others waved fists angrily. Thieves were the lowest level, were criminals were often locked up for years, and often until they died.

Walking further, they went through a corridor, a dark one, made of stone, with very little light emanating form it. They then hit a spiral staircase, all the way to the bottom. Guards pushed the three girls to climb down it.

“Down ya go!” One barked, making the girls walk down to the lowest level. Draka, Ginger and Snowfox arrived at a small cell, made of stone, lined with a thin layer of hay and an iron door.

“Hehe! Hope you ladies are comfy, because that’s all the comfort you’ll enjoy for now.” He chortled to himself, walking away and casually spinning a ring of skeleton keys around his index finger. Nobody said anything for the duration of the time the three girls were locked up.

They all had looks of shame, as everyone from their respective cultures would most likely shame them for being caught for something as arbitrary as trying to pickpocket. Draka, had looks of anger at herself for allowing the seduction of a little monetary gain. This is where it got her. She could only jowl at herself. If only she listened to Snowfox and Ginger.

About an hour later, someone came over, happily whistling and then unlocking the cage to the trio. All three were stupefied. Why were they being let out only an hour after their capture?

“Follow me.” A guard growled. Draka, Ginger and Snowfox all cautiously got up and started to walk over through the corridor. “Well, come on, then! Go!” They all went right back up the same staircase and dark stone corridor, toward the market where this all started. To their horror, the girls saw a long plank with six holes drilled for six ankles. Ginger was starting to dig her heels in the ground, dragging them painfully. Snowfox broke out in a sweat. Cold chills ran up and down her body. Draka, on the other hand, did nothing, her heart beating very fast, knowing what they were in for. A crowd assembled to witness punishment. Right in front of the stocks, the girls were lined up, still chained up.

A guard unrolled a scroll with an order from the king himself. “By the order of His Majesty, the King of Lorast, you have been sentenced to spend the remainder of this day in the stocks! All citizens are encouraged to punish these thieves as they see fit!” Cheers roared through the market center as many citizens angrily pelted them once again with rotten fruit. “Now, place these criminals in the stocks so they can begin their punishment!” Again, most of the people in that particular place were present.

Draka, Ginger and Snowfox sat on the wooden bench, putting their ankles in the half holes in the wooden stocks. Guards snickered as they close them up, locking it up. They looked at the townspeople nervously, hoping for the best, expecting the worst.

For the first round, three distraught market owners who have been robbed blind in the past approached the stocks with wooden bucket and brushes.

“Please, have mercy!” Draka cried, something that she would never ever say unless under a great deal of pressure or a very uncomfortable situation.

“You want mercy when you have been taking from those who have slaved and worked all day while you do nothing but reap off the backs off of others?!” Townsfolk hissed, waving the brush at her. Ginger clenched her eyes, fearing the worst. Snowfox was even worse. Her sensitivity was off the charts. Her toes curled up like mad, trying her best to avoid the most sensitive part of her feet. Lorast citizens approached the girls with the brushes, stating to scrape off all the grime from their feet.

“NYAHAHAHAHAHAHA! NOHOHOHOHOH! STOHOHOHOHOP!” They cried, bucking their feet, trying to avoid the ticklish brushes. Digging in skin made things far worse, by leaving feet blushed from scratches. Not even thirty seconds in, the girls were at the end of their ropes, struggling for air, tears staining faces. As much as they went barefoot, poor tootsies were still as sensitive as someone who regularly wore footwear.

“PLEAHEAHEAHEAHEAHEASE! Snowfox bellowed at the top of her lungs curling her toes, blushing a shade of crimson, visible though her silvery chin length locks. Draka looked at her captors, biting her lip, trying so hard to not burst out into giggles.

“PLEAHEAHEAHEAHEAHEASE! Snowfox bellowed at the top of her lungs curling her toes, blushing a shade of crimson, visible though her silvery chin length locks. Draka looked at her captors, biting her lip, trying so hard to not burst out into giggles.

Ginger couldn’t hold it in and bust out laughing, already weak within a minute of being tickled NOHOHOHOHO! STHOHOHOHP! PLEASE!” her whole body was already drenched with sweat, already exhausted, just about ready to collapse and pass out. Just as soon as it started, the tickling stopped, giving the thieves time to rest before the next phase of their punishment began. Ginger had her head back. She couldn’t take much more tickling. Her air was barely coming back in short, sporadic gasps.

“Let the second phase of the punishment commence!” A guard announced. Cheers exploded from the crowd. What could possibly worse than getting their feet scrubbed clean?

“How could this get any worse??” Draka hissed, jerking in her ankles in her bondage. Perhaps she spoke too soon, hearing the sound of a familiar bleating and dangling of a bell. It couldn’t be a goat, they hoped, just s cruel trick the people were playing to get them to think they were getting the old goat to the feet. One goat came by, clanking its bell, and bleating some more. Eyes widened, seeing they were going to get their feet licked by goats. Cleaning off their feet was just an appetizer for what was about to come.

“Why didn’t you just shut up when you had the chance, Draka? You’ve got such a big mouth!” Ginger snapped back at the half dragon.

“Can it, you two, as it is, we’re gonna be here for a while. So shut up and try not to laugh!” Snowfox called from the far right. Would’ve been better had she been placed between Draka and Ginger. That was very unusual from Snowfox, speaking out when she was normally so quiet, mostly keeping her nose inside a spell book. Now no amount of magic could get them out of the mess they got themselves into. Bleating continued, with our thieving trio, fighting the stocks even harder, trying to escape without any result. Two more goats came by, letting the girls all have tickle torture in equal measure. A watery substance was rubbed all over the feet of the thieves, perhaps salt water to entice the goats to have themselves a very tasty snack. Guards tied up the goats to the stocks so they wouldn’t wander away, only keep the torture going by lapping up fresh coats of salt water.

“Oh, shit!” Snowfox’s eyes widened with terror, anticipating tongues scraping against their helpless feet. As soon as the goats figured it out, they started to lap away, sending the girls into hysterics, not even able to take a breath to speak only laugh. If their faces got red before, their faces got an even darker shade of red, with even more waterworks than before. Guard’s chuckled, happily, seeing criminals suffer to the highest extent for their crimes.

“NOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!” a fountain of tears rolled past Snowfox’s hair.

Draka, Ginger and Snowfox remained in the stocks all day, being tormented by the mocking of townsfolk who continually applied new coats of salt water to already knackered feet. Along with the goats, people tickled between their toes with feathers, adding to the already unbearable torment. Never again could the girls ever show their faces in Lorast without being humiliated by her citizens with this memory, which should remain with them for a long time to come.





I cannot tell you how long this took, from the talks about the ideas to sending notes to revisions. I was tapped by  Phuram to do a story about three barefoot thieves who get caught and punished for of course, thievery. Oh, boy do they get it >:3

Three chars all ©  Phuram