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Nigrido: The Crucible

By Mint the Faithful

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thanks to the one guy who e-mailed! Good things come to those who wait ;) If anybody wants chapter four out faster than three came, e-mail me. It's motivating.

Chapter III - Trial by Water

When Tansy woke up, the first in her field of vision was a pattern of a sea at storm, lightning bolts shooting through it. She blinked a few times, and realized that it was the pattern on an earthenware jug. She lie still, hoping that Anroko would not notice her awake.

"It's two quarts, cat. Pure water. I went to great danger to get a stock of that, leaving you here alone all night... but don't worry. I can always take that out of your hide."

Anroko's voice never failed to send a chill up Tansy's spine. Great sobs of despair forced themselves painfully out of her chest, although they seemed much too large for her windpipe.

"If you need a reason to cry, you'll have it soon enough. On your feet. You've a long day ahead of you."

Tansy climbed, painfully, to her feet. She hissed with pain, her eyes leaking tears, as her tail brushed against her heavily-welted backside. She felt very, very weak. Imagining herself, she thought of a flower wilting in hundred-degree heat... and she felt it. All she'd had to eat or drink in the last few days was a half-loaf of bread and a pint of water. The water had gone through her fast enough, though. She felt the necessity of urination pressing on her more than a little bit.

"Now," Anroko sized her quarry up, "How about I let you choose? Four strokes of the whip or eight of the cane."

Tansy sobbed again, her eyes glistening with tearful fear. "Please... please no..."

"If you don't pick one in ten seconds, you'll get both in double."

Tansy cried brokenly, her eyes leaking as she sobbed so hard that she could not talk. Anroko counted slowly, "seven... eight... nine..."

"NO! No... please... I'll... I'll take the whip..." At least it's only four... oh, please make it quick, she thought.

"Very well," Anroko said, "the whip it is. Over to the cuffs with you."

Tansy trembled with fear, force-marching herself over toward the wall. There hung the abominable manacles, a bit of her own fur and blood still on them. As she was forced into them and cuffed firmly, Tansy started to panic, struggling despite herself.

"Six. And hold still or it'll be eight."

Tansy shrieked in despair, "NOOO! Please, no, no, not this! I don't want to be whipped, please!"

"Your tears will only hurt you worse. Now hold still while I punish you."

Tansy could only stand still and tremble as Anroko got herself squared away. Tansy felt that she would rather die than face this anticipation. Anroko left her to hang for a few long moments, her feet hanging just an inch off of the ground. Finally, the first lash came, suddenly. The mark dug deep into her flesh, and the scream seemed to lacerate her throat the same way. Her feet danced about, her tail zipping up to her whip-slashed back, attempting to comfort... The next lash came, abominably, across her tender bottom, the flesh still welted from her caning the day before. Tansy's scream hurt her dry throat and chest almost as badly as the whip aggravated her ass. Anroko chuckled, "Maybe I'll just chase your tail around like this awhile, hmm?" The next lash came across the back, aggravating the sores of the previous whipping. Tansy's mixed screams and sobs of pain sought futilely to gain some purchase against the awful punishment. Her tail zipped up again, but just as soon as it had reached her back it went waffling down to her bottom as another lash made her jump. The tears stained her face, reddening welts swelling across her back, her legs kicking worthlessly at empty air. Another lash, this time high up on her back, near her shoulder blades. This spot had remained nearly untouched by the whip, and her tender flesh screamed with untold misery, her back arching and her wrists flailing uselessly in the cuffs, trying with all sorts of ambition and energy to comfort her aching muscles just a little bit... And the last lash came, the climax of the beating, and rightfully so. An intense stroke right across her inflamed bottom, right under her tail, where the last cane mark still shown bright pink. The scream was soundless.

"There, now," came a voice so devoid of comfort it was a mockery of its content, "that wasn't so bad, was it? Oho, I see you disagree. Well, good news for you. No more whipping today." Anroko's words somehow failed to be of any comfort whatsoever.

Even as the manacles were undone, Tansy had an awful sense of foreboding. There was still the matter of...

"I believe you haven't forgotten your punishment for today, hmm?" Anroko pointed to the two-quart earthenware pot. "Drink up. And drink it all or I'll go back on my word about no more whipping. Go on."

Tansy swelled with hope, for she was quite thirsty, but had to grimace at the same time. She knew that two whole quarts wouldn't feel good... especially with...

"Maybe you need another few marks of the whip to liven you up, hmm? Going to sit there thinking about it, or drink it?"

Tansy rushed over to drink it, another whipping sounding far worse than whatever Anroko had in store for her. She upended the jug and began to chug the water down as quickly as she could. It was quite a lot, but with a bit of a struggle she managed to get it all down. She felt a little sluggish, nearly bursting at the seams, but...

"Now go stand in the corner for... oh, I'd say three hours is all it will take. If you move or make any noise at all, you'll be screaming for mercy, and then we can start the three hours over again. Your twelve hours of desperation starts... right now. So no toilet. Go."

Tansy stifled a sigh, thinking that twelve hours was an awfully long time to hold her bladder. She had never gone that long before, and she was already feeling the pangs. However, she was determined not to get another whipping. She was sure that holding it could not possibly be worse than the beating she would receive if she became incontinent. So she went and stood in the corner, like a good girl.

Three hours *was* a long time. An awful, awful long time. With nothing to distract her but the same old stones, the agony in her back and bottom seemed unbearable. She squirmed and rubbed her bottom sorely. Suddenly, she felt her hand roughly seized and, before she knew what was happening, Anroko's willow switch was tearing the back of her hand apart. She screamed in pain as three, four, five, six times her hand was struck, then Ann shoved her roughly back into the corner.

"No rubbing. Keep your hands at your sides and your eyes forward. And if I see you squirming around I'll whip your thighs the same way."

With the added burning of her hand, it was extremely difficult to keep still, but after a whipping plus her other punishment, Tansy really didn't want to give Ann another reason to be cruel. She stood facing the wall like a good girl again. After the first couple of hours, however, the pain in her hand, back and bottom was seeming less and less important, and the urgency in her bladder more and more so. The urge to squirm, touch herself, hold herself or do anything but stand stock still was overwhelming. She did her best to just squeeze her legs together and do a bit of squirming when she thought Anroko wasn't looking.

It felt like forever and ever. In her mind's eye she saw her bladder swelling out from her body. She really had to go, but she had a lot longer to hold it. At long, long, final last Anroko hailed her. "Away from the wall, cat. It's time for some excercise."

Tansy did what she was bidden, taking small steps and trying to keep her legs together as much as possible. Anroko had a very dangerously amused expression and tone. "Now, then. I think some squats ought to stretch you out nicely." Tansy's heart melted with fearful realization... "Stand with your legs apart. When I say down, you go until your bottom touches the floor. When I say up, you go all the way back up. And if a single drop of urine escapes your body, I'll have your backside so black and blue you won't sit for a week."

Tansy started to cry, but she knew better than to keep Anroko waiting. She stood with her feet apart as tears leaked down her face. "Down!" Tansy squatted, pushing her crotch into the floor. Her legs ached already, and she could tell that Anroko was enjoying this game from the start. Her bladder felt a little better as the pressure on it relieved some, but it was an awful battle not to pee when she was squatting down in her position. Anroko left her there for nearly thirty seconds, then gave the command "Up!" Tansy stood up, drawing breath sharply as the pressure on her bladder increased again. "Down!" Tansy groaned in pain and suffering as her swollen bladder screamed at her from inside her body, the pressure of the two quarts steadily building inside of her. Her bottom touched the ground and she waited, squatting in the perfect position to just let it all go...

The squats continued, up and down, for nearly ten minutes. By the end squat, Tansy was positive she couldn't hold it another second. Just as she was about to concede defeat, Anroko instructed her, "Alright. Hold yourself, squirm, do what you need to do. There's still nine hours on your sentence, and I promise you a heavy beating if you fail, plus another fifteen with the cane per hour you're off, so you don't want to stop now. I'll assign you a new task in an hour." Anroko was wearing a grin that would haunt Tansy forever.

Being able to hold herself almost made up for the nightmarish vision she had of getting nearly a hundred and fifty strokes of the cane on her bottom. It really didn't bear thinking about. She knew she wouldn't survive it, and that there were so many better ways to die... her bladder was really, really urgent, though, and she knew she'd never make it another full nine hours without some kind of miracle.

But as time ticked down, Tansy was astonishing herself more and more. She of course felt as though she would die at any moment from the pain, but she had no idea her bladder was this strong. The hour ticked by at a slow eternity, and it was miserable, but Tansy took some heart in the fact that she had not yet failed at a task she would've given up as hopeless two days ago. Pain could be a very, very powerful motivator.

Anroko finally came over to give Tansy another task. "Can you read and write?" Tansy shook her head sheepishly. Farm girls didn't need to know how. "Well, you'll learn, kitten," said Anroko, "you'll learn. Can you at least sign your name?" Tansy nodded. She had learned that much. "Good. Come here."

Anroko had set up a little desk with a quill, ink and a long parchment.

"Now, my dear, you sign your name to the parchment. One thousand times." Tansy's eyes grew wide with a combination of surprise and confusion. What was this? "I'm going to count when you're done, and I'm only going to count the neat, legible ones. For every one you're over or under you'll get three strokes of the whip before bed tonight. If you get it perfectly, you get food before bed instead of a whipping. Now get writing, and don't even think of getting up until you're done."

Tansy sighed with resignation. She squaddled over carefully, and then gingerly sat herself down in the desk, being careful not to spill herself. At first the writing was a welcome diversion from the horrific throbbing in her bladder. She wasn't very good at writing, and the effort involved took her mind nicely off of the pain. After awhile, though, the monotony just made it worse. The urge to urinate is strong and distracting, and Tansy frequently lost count and had to go over them again, which just made the whole ordeal take longer. The scratching of the quill seemed to echo in her mind for hours as she sat there, squirming in her seat, one hand planted between her legs to keep herself from losing control, the other hand shakily trying to chickenscratch her name down on the parchment.

About halfway through, Anroko stopped her, tut-tutting. "That's pathetic, child. Start over, and I'll give your hands a good thrashing instead of the countless lashes your back would've taken for this pathetic lot. Now go." Tansy nearly burst into tears. She had thought she was doing good... and she highly doubted she could do much better. Besides, her bladder was swelling fit to burst within her, and she was positive she couldn't hold out another moment. Each and every second of this punishment was a fight against herself.

And so she went, back to the scratching quill and the quivering bladder. Back to filling each and every inch of the parchment nearly as full as her bladder was. The monotony was unbearable. At long, long last she finished the parchment, sobbing with the exhertion of not peeing herself. Anroko took a look and sneered, "I guess we'll have to forget the neat and legible part and just count. You go stand in the corner and wait while I do it."

Tansy was openly crying now, hobbling herself over to the corner as her bladder shrieked like a woman scorned. She had never had to go potty so bad in her whole life. She had never known that a physical desire could be this bad. She wanted to just go over and squat over the urn she had had to drink from that long eternity of a morning ago and fill it right back up. But then she remembered what punishment awaited her if she did, and she decided to stick to the desperation.

Anroko must have taken her time counting, because it seemed like days and days to Tansy. She really had lost all sense of time. Fighting for each moment can do that to a girl. Finally, Anroko came over and gave a report. "You were three short, cat. That means nine lashes on your paws before bed tonight. Now, you've six and a half hours to go on your sentence. I'm going to put the chamber pot in the middle of the room and leave it there, and you can go use it when you're ready to give in. Remember, though, fifteen lashes per hour, and that's on top of the whipping you'll get for failure, so sit tight."

Tansy sobbed. She plunged her tail into herself, pushed her hands on top of it and sat on the lot, just staring at the hourglass that Anroko had set up. She couldn't believe the pain she had been through in just a few short days. Each day got worse and worse, all leading up to this. This was an unbearable torture, so horrible that she could scarcely imagine the pain.

It was hours before Tansy finally broke, but she just couldn't take it any more. She got up, shakily, threw herself at the chamber pot, and squatted slightly. She hovered over the pot and evacuated her bladder noisily into it. The rush was amazing, but it stung bitterly on her labia and in her urethra. The stream was uncontrollably large and wild, running in little forked streams down her legs and falling in a torrential niagra into the pot, spattering and sputtering and splashing onto the floor on either side. She totally filled the pot, nearly to overflowing, in a marathon urination that lasted over twenty seconds. Afterward, Tansy collapsed onto her side, sobbing, still feeling the relief flood through her and yet feeling incomplete, as though there were still a little bit left in her bladder. She was wet on the inside of her thighs and calves, all the way to her ass and down her tail.

Tansy knew what was coming next, but she couldn't help yelping in terror as Anroko grabbed her roughly by the wrists and threw her into the cuffs. She knew what was coming, but she couldn't help but scream in pain and horror as the whip slashed across her back once, and then again, and then again. The room echoed with her horrible shrieks as the whip crossed her back again and again, twenty times in all as Anroko loudly counted.

Anroko left her there to scream and cry for what felt like hours, but was really only a few minutes. Then, with a cruel wrench, she undid Tansy's bonds and pulled her over to a pair of large wooden stocks. Anroko forced Tansy's head inside, clinching her tail in with her head. She then put each paw in and clapped the stocks shut. Tansy, bent double, her back still screaming with pain, cried out for mercy.

"Mercy? You want mercy? The mercy of the situation is that you're alive. But very well. You're such a weakling that giving you your full punishment all at once might kill you. Fifteen strokes a day, then, for four days. And I hadn't realized how pathetic your bladder control was, either. You won't be using a chamber pot until high noon tomorrow, and we'll build up from there. Now take your thrashing!"

The first swat of the willow cane welted, and each one after formed a newer, deeper pain in her bottom. Anroko was aiming at three specific spots, and after five strokes on each spot they were cut open and bleeding. Tansy couldn't help but scream. She was nearly unconscious with the pain. She knew she would hate herself for the next three days for not holding out longer.

Anroko left Tansy in the stocks a good two hours. There were twenty clear, burning lines in Tansy's back, and she felt all twenty of them the entire time. There were also three spots on her bottom that she knew would be keeping her awake a good long time. And Tansy was used to tinkling first thing each morning, even before she had been abducted. She had no idea how she'd deal with the pain of desperation each day. She couldn't possibly. Each day would be its own battle.

Finally, after two hours, Anroko let her free. As Tansy started to slog toward her cot to lie down for the night, Anroko grabbed her left paw. "Now, now... surely you haven't forgotten." Tansy had forgotten. But she certainly remembered now. She burst into tears.

"Ah, so much water coming out of you. I'm surprised you don't shrivel up. Nine on your paws, and then you drink a pint of water before bed. I want to make sure your time tomorrow isn't wasted. Now hold still." THWACK! CRACK! THWACK! SMACK! THWACK! The cane came down on her left paw five times, and Tansy wailed. She knew better than to beg, though. That usually just got her worse. Tansy said nothing as Anroko switched paws. CRACK! SWACK! THWACK! SMACK! Anroko let Tansy's screams die down before forcing a pint of water into her.

Tansy lie on the bed, her throat sore from screaming, and every inch of her feeling as though it couldn't possibly ache more. She finally fell into a deep unconsciousness, stomach-first, her abused body having no energy to worry about the next day.