A small excerpt from my upcoming story, N:Era.

Cyras is half-ascended (nature goddess) on mother's side, her daddy was a regular dire fox.

This battle happens in the flower garden outside of Owlis' palace. Cyras is a wild child - born to the wildlands, not in Wysdom - and steals food from Owlis herself. As Owlis won't let anyone get away with the total lack of respect, she fights Cyras.

Owlis is the empress of Wysdom and also a fox.

As all these characters are animals, I do not necessarily condone any behaviors - my goal is to create realistic characters who are their own people, er, well you know what I mean. Therefore, human morality will not apply. At least, not completely. Just saying ahead of time.

All characters are quadrupeds

***

Owlis unleashed a bolt of lightning by slamming her paw into the ground. The current shot forward, only for it to hit a flicker of flames as Cyras seemingly teleported away.
Only ash was left.

Owlis' eyes widened, at how quick Cyras was.

Owlis halted split second, before Cyras circled her. As she ran the circle, the ring of fire grew into a tornado, consuming Owlis, and sucking up all the oxygen.

The sphere of destruction swallowed Owlis.

A sphere of wind pushed out and the flames dispersed. Embers flew in the air, with Owlis' heartless green eyes staring down at Cyras. One ember landed right upon the back of her paw, and she blew it out.

Cyras jaw dropped, as she was sure that attack would severely harm Owlis.

"Treason on an empress," Owlis said. "Racking up your charges very quickly."

Owlis sprinted towards Cyras, but Cyras dropped to the ground, tripping Owlis over. Owlis flipped over, and did an impromptu somersault. As Owlis stood, the ground rumbled, and a block of stone jutted out to take her out by the knee.

Owlis limped as the back of her knee was struck, but still she stood up again.

Cyras ran at Owlis, but Owlis cuffed her across the nose. Cyras' head jerked downwards, as she was hit like a mother fox would do to her own cub. Owlis bit down on her ear, and yanked, making Cyras whine and scream. The Empress released.

Cyras dropped on her back, until her belly. Owlis was about to accept the submission, only for Cyras' foot to reach up, kicking Owlis' jaw.

Owlis' lower teeth clicked with her upper teeth, and she backed up, shaking her head. As Owlis reopened her eyes, she saw Cyras' bottom, while she was being mooned.

Cyras sang, "Sour grapes, may make you whine!"

"Cheeky," Owlis said. Then paused. "Literally."

Owlis unleashed a surge of lightning at Cyras, purple forks piercing the air, but Cyras jumped up onto an arch. She rested her cheeks on her paws, before pulling her eyelids down.

"Darling, you may not want to get too cocky. Those arches are metal."

"Huh?" Cyras asked.

Owlis pointed a claw at the arch, before zapping it. Cyras' teeth chattered, and she fell off the arch. As Cyras' body thudded on the pavement, Owlis put her arms under Cyras', making Cyras have a wings spread position.

"Good night, kid." Owlis lifted Cyras by the arms before slamming her down on the pavement, Cyras' ribs being crushed into stone tiles. Cyras screamed and grabbed at her chest.

Cyras rolled around on the ground, and staggered away from Owlis.

While marching, shards of glass surrounded Owlis, and she shot the projectiles at her opponent. A fiery blur darted off, but Owlis ran with her.

Owlis prepared a finishing move. She ran up behind Cyras, jumped in the air, and somersaulted. During the end of the somersault, she grabbed Cyras neck with one arm in a flying headlock.

Lightning filled Cyras' body before her face smashed into manicured grass and dirt, but despite the cushioning, it felt like being stabbed in the skull with a battle axe. That, and every atom of her body felt burned now. Cyras rolled over and curled up.

"Shame, I think we're done for now. You lack skill." But even Owlis realized how strong Cyras was when the other fox successfully got to all fours. Eight whips came from her backside in the form of eight new tails.

"And you lack a brain, so I guess that makes us even!" As Cyras executed a jump, during highest ascension, she brought her tails down.

Once they hit, they would unleash karmic destruction, as that's how "Nine Tails" worked. It dealt damage equal to the dark karma of the opponent, and if anyone had dark karma, it has to be Empress Owlis.

An explosion occurred and smoke filled the air. Cyras' powers prevented the flames from hitting her personally.

Now the ground had a ten foot hole, without any Owlis. Cyras blinked and scanned the area before sniffing. Did she vaporize Owlis?

Owlis swiped Cyras off her back feet with her tail, making Cyras scramble onto her back.

With a burst of inspiration, Cyras prepared a fireball in one paw, but Owlis slapped it away.

Cyras' swapped onto all fours to make a mad dash, before Owlis ran circles around Cyras, whipping up not a fiery tornado, but a fiery hurricane.

Cyras screamed as she was thrown around the hurricane before being spat out. She smashed into an arch, gut first.

***

"So let's look at the lists of charges, alright?" Owlis said as she had her in her throne room instead of a court. She wanted to scold Cyras while maintaining her own position of power.

Cyras mumbled to herself as she waited to hear Owlis' litany.

"So, we have mooning an empress," Owlis said.

"Is that really illegal?" Cyras asked with a grin.

Owlis pursed her bottom lip. "You did it while naked."

"We're always buttnaked!" Cyras said. "We're not Crimsons!"

"Great, so you've admitted to that," Owlis said, before saying, "Next charge happens to be assault on an empress. And third charge is treason. So we have three consequences to dole out, total."

"Um..." Cyras pawed the ground as she stared down. "Ryvoh usually cuffs me if I'm bad."

Owlis said, "We've gone far beyond the point of one cuff, young lady- Hold on, Ryvoh?"

Cyras said, "Yeah, Ryvoh. She lives in the woods-"

Owlis shook her head. "I don't need any more information, I know who she is. Anyway, your lack of sophistication and your dedication to stealing has left me with little choices. I could forgive you of some aspects of your crimes, on basis of you being wild, and on basis of you being a juvenile."

"What are you going to do?" Cyras asked.

"Usually for juveniles our list goes from jail, to community service, to corporal punishment, to even fining the parents. Albeit it's hard to do the last one."

"What's corporal punishment?" Cyras asked.

"You'd be struck with a paddle up to 19 smacks."

Cyras thought about a paddle. She wasn't sure what a paddle was. She heard of someone paddling in the water. Maybe it meant a hand? No, wait, Lilu had that little paddle with the ball - the paddle being made of foam and the ball. So maybe Owlis threatened to hit her with a ball.

It didn't sound like it hurt. "Okay," Cyras said with a nod. Maybe it was done on the nose or eyes? "Uh... Where?"

Owlis said, "Don't know yet, but since you're a juvenile, we won't want to hit you anywhere sensitive that could cause major damage or break skin."

"Okay, so, what's community service?" Cyras asked.

Owlis explained, "Community service means you'd be working for the empire of Wysdom, until you paid off your debt."

"Oh, what if I grabbed more tokens and paid in those? Would that pay off my debt?"

Owlis bit down on her lower lip, and said, "Yes, but ironically you'd have to pay off the debt for grabbing those tokens, so vicious cycle. Too bad."

Cyras muttered, "In the wild, if we wanted something, we took it. What's the value in your little metals? Besides the shininess."

Owlis continued. "Anyway, since I'm sure you have no idea about jail, a jail means you'll be behind bars."

Cyras blinked as she thought about fences which had bars. It must have meant she'd be kept out of somewhere! Probably the kingdom. Cyras nodded. "Yeah, that makes sense."

"For up to 30 days," Owlis said, "a full month."

Cyras wasn't a big fan of the ideas. Getting hit with a ball, being fenced out, and having to figure out how to generate metal seemed hard, but it was the quirks of Wysdom. "Guess I agree."

"Very well," Owlis said. "You are getting all three later tonight."

"Is it one consequence for one thing?" Cyras asked, "or..."

Owlis said, "Basically, mooning earns physical discipline, along with Treason, so that's up to 38 smacks on your body with a paddle. Treason and assault lead to jail, so that's up to 60 days. Finally, Treason leads to exile, but it seems I'm at an impasse for that, so you'll be working for your community for up to 30 days." Owlis didn't explain why Cyras couldn't be exiled, but Owlis said, "You put up a decent fight."

"Thanks," Cyras said.

Owlis posted guards to watch Cyras as she walked off to talk with some judges about the fate of Cyras now.

***

The prison cell was dark. The fox was led down by guards, and locked into a little metal cell.

Apparently, Owlis' private prison served to imprison only those criminals she deemed necessary to keep an eye on. Mostly nobles, but in Cyras' case it involved her as well.
It wasn't until Cyras found something poking out of the wall she suddenly saw things light up. One of those icy boxes Rosod showed her which preserved food sat in a corner, right next to a red couch. Cyras hopped over to the ice box, her tongue already wagging out of her mouth, as she opened it up.

Some sort of meat wrapped up into a tube. She bit down on it, and ripped chunks off. For some reason, the skin of the meat frayed, which made her wonder what animal she ate into. Perhaps this animal's thin skin led to its easy hunting? As Cyras ate the meat, she noticed the skin was far from savory. Perhaps it was a quick protection, as in someone bit down, and they'd never know the monster inside was tasty.

Cyras chewed down on more of the tube. How lucky was she, then, she got a good enough bite to taste the inner meat inside. Spices rushed into her mouth, as she salivated. It was linked to more of its kind, and she dragged them onto the ground, as she consumed.

Next was the matter of something else inside. A jug of a clear fluid. She took it to be water.

Her suspicions were soon confirmed as she tried hauling the jug out, albeit it on wobbly legs since she wasn't a weight lifter, and fell back. The jug hit the ground.

"Well, at least its sealed in there." She sniffed at it. No easy way to drink it, so she tore at it with her claws and teeth before sucking on the water leaking out.

All in all, she contented herself on her nourishment, while still wondering about the paddling. She disliked how undignified the future punishment would be. Who hit little girls with balls?

She'd find out the answer soon enough when the metal door into her chamber opened. It was a hyena guard. "Cyras. Owlis would like to see you, in private."

Cyras finished eating by that point, so she followed the hyena close behind. "You know, I'm friends with a hyena. She said she has no idea who her father is, but I do think you could be a good candidate. You are just as spotty as she is, in the same places, I even recognize some similarities in mane!"

The guard ignored her.

"Why are all hyenas fat? You're probably the second fattest I know of. Would have thought with how much of a struggle there is for food that hyenas wouldn't be this hefty. Would you mind if I poked your belly?"

The guard said, "Actually, I would mind."

Cyras pouted, and tried to poke his belly anyway, which made him bite her nape. He mumbled, "Brrt." Maybe brat?

If Owlis was going to see her so soon, what even was the point of locking her up? Was this the punishment Owlis meant, and she'd be locked up for such a long period of time?

They went up a surprisingly long way, until the guard entered a room with a purple door, and dropped Cyras down. In fact, whole room was purple, just like Owlis - maybe Owlis was arrogant?

A purple bed, with purple carpet, with purple drapes. Cyras padded over to a window, before jumping onto the sill. "Wow, we're really high up!" She could barely see the gardeners, them being just aunts.

Owlis said, "This is called the tower. I live in here, and this is my private bedroom. Usually I don't get much free time to myself up here, and almost never at five in the afternoon. I've made an exception for you."

Cyras jumped down. She paced cautiously closer to Owlis, expecting to get bitten or slapped. "So, you're not gonna hurt me, are you?"

"I will," Owlis said, "and that's why you've been brought here. I will be personally paddling you."

Cyras' eyes widened, and she turned to run away, only for the hyena guard to bite her nape again and lift her up. Cyras kicked around.

"We've decided," Owlis said, "the number is different, since your friends with Ryvoh."

"You can't paddle me more because of my friends! That's nepotism... Or something," Cyras said.

Owlis said, "Actually, it was going to decrease, but if you'd rather I stick to the original 38..."

Cyras kicked her legs and struggled in the guard's grasp, albeit fruitlessly, since she didn't want that much.

Owlis shook her head. "My oh my, are you not the little fighter. Admittedly, I admire that trait. Here, tell you what, how about I just do fourteen total?" She fished out a toolbox underneath her bed, and brought out a paddle.

Cyras had enough of an angle to see the pink paddle, and see it had no ball attached. She blinked. "What are you gonna do with that?"

"Whack your bottom," Owlis said.

Cyras burst out laughing.

Owlis raised an eyebrow, and took the paddle in her mouth as she padded over to Cyras. As she sat in front - er, in behind - of the fox, she dropped the paddle onto her paws. "May I ask what you find so funny? As far as I'm concerned, you've spanked others too with your Karma Spanks."

"Yeah, but spanking is just a joke," Cyras said. "You smack a butt, it jiggles, makes this really loud sound, and it's just normal slapstick. You don't do it for punishment, it's for amusement. And some punishment. It really embarrasses others."

"Meanwhile you have no shame since you have no pride," Owlis said. After snarking, Owlis whirled the paddle around. "I won't bruise you or make you bleed, otherwise this ends prematurely, since I won't injure you too bad. Fourteen whacks, at least for this session?"

Cyras felt helpless in the grasp of the guard. She wasn't sure what she could really do. Say "okay" and hope Owlis stuck with her word.

That's when the first crack of the paddle hit.

It wasn't actually all that hard, but Cyras let out a little "eep" and grimaced. Well, she could handle this pretty good for now, despite the pink mark. Then that's when Owlis unleashed a hailstorm of smacks, and Cyras began to wonder if her cousin was little more than a sadist.

Upon the last one, Owlis took an extra hard swing, and Cyras let out a small scream. The guard dropped her, and Cyras hissed at Owlis. Red marks replaced butt flesh, and Cyras scampered off onto a dresser.

"Cyras, you may want to get down. You're going to be doing something for your community. I'll be seeing you pick up trash around the city."

Cyras remembered trash. It tasted pretty good, so she thought that sounded perfect. "Well gee," she said sarcastically, "that makes up for the fact you tried to obliterate my behind."

Owlis giggled. "It's a punishment Cyras. And you will learn later from it, but I will be making something out of you."

"Why? What's your big interest in me all of a sudden, if all I am is a friend of Ryvoh?"

Owlis said, "I think you'll discover who you and I truly are after your sentencing is up, but first I shall punish you like a commoner. However, even when you learn who you are, any of your antics will be met with the force of the paddle, or with the force of my fangs, or even the force of my claws." Owlis glanced at the guard, and made a waving motion. He escorted Cyras away.

Cyras felt she had been left with many questions, but not many answers. Why was Owlis so interested in her? What did Ryvoh have to do with anything?

As she was put back in the cell, Cyras realized she needed answers from Ryvoh, and maybe needed them now. What if Owlis did something, or what if she had a plan for Ryvoh, and what if there was a conspiracy. Maybe Owlis planned to slowly brainwash Cyras.

Welp, maybe Cyras could escape.

After all, fire melted metal, right? All she needed was enough heat...