Punishment

Shade the Echidna watched, hidden in a dark corner, as the three children were brought in the room. The three echidna children were whimpering in fear, looking up at the Nocturnus Guards in anguish, and at the posts that awaited them in sheer terror.

With a sigh, Shade stepped out of her spot and looked at the children. The three looked at the fully armored Lieutenant in terror. “You know this needs to be done. You shouldn’t have pulled that ludicrous prank.” She said, her voice muffled by her helmet.

The smallest of the children, who was the mastermind of the prank, looked down at the floor miserably. It was quite clear he regretted what he and his friends had done.

In the Training Room there was a group of warriors were sparring. According to the warriors, the children came up to them saying they wanted to join them. The warriors merely laughed and told them to get lost, pushing the three rather forcefully towards the doors. The three complied, and less than five minutes later flash grenades began pelting those warriors, stunning all of them while the culprits laughed hysterically.

“Lieutenant Shade, shall we begin?” One of the Guards asked.

It was time for Punishment. Shade had never seen children this young being forced to bear through this…but it was the only way to make sure they would never step out of line again. “…Yes. Six on each child, three on each arm.” She ordered as firmly as she could. She hoped that was merciful enough.

“Understood.”

Shade quietly stepped out of the way as the three children were lead to the posts. They each passively turned towards the posts, and all of them shaking, raised their arms in a T position and let their wrists be tied.

One of the children began to cry in fear, burying her face in the stone she was tied to as she sobbed. Shade was glad she had her helmet on, because nobody could see the look of terror and anguish she had on her own face.

The Guards each looked at each other. Through their masks, they exchanged unhappy looks, before bracing themselves and readying their whips.

The first slashes were always the worst. Shade always knew that. She cringed again and again with each whistle, each crack, each cry of agony. Shade closed her eyes, trying to block out the sight, but it just seemed worse with only the sounds. At least she wasn’t the one delivering the punishment…no, she was just the one who ordered it in the first place.

After what seemed like forever, the punishment ended. Each child was wailing in pain and misery, three vertical slashes on each of their arms. The lashes weren’t deep, but they were enough to leave drops of blood on the ground.

The Guards looked at Shade. “Lieutenant, the usual?” One asked.

“Of course!” Shade said, a little too loudly. Embarrassed she cleared her throat. “Yes, the usual. Have them properly bandaged and put in the cell room, with blankets.”

“Understood.” One of the Guards looked at her, head tilted. “Lieutenant, are you feeling alright?”

It was then that Shade realized she was trembling. She swallowed hard. “Fine…I’m fine.”

* * *

It had almost been an hour, the amount of time they’d spend in the cell was almost over. Normally an ordinary Guard would take the culprit out of the cell, but Shade decided to do it herself. After she talked to them for the rest of the hour.

There was a reason for this. Shade had seen many Echidnas punished, but this was the first time she had seen it done to children, much less ordered it. These children…when she saw the whipping, she was reminded of her own childhood punishments. Shade knew just how it felt, the agonizing slashes, the blood in your fur, and feeling of hopelessness. She wished she hadn’t given the order, but if she didn’t then she would be in trouble as well, and worse, the troublemakers would go unpunished, which was unacceptable.

She paused at the door, taking off her helmet as she contemplated what to say. What could she say? “I’m sorry?” No, that would never work. She was always taught that a punishment must never be regretted, unless it was done to an innocent. Part of her felt like that this had been done to innocents, but she knew the truth. They pulled the wrong act, and they accepted the consequences.

Come to think of it, Shade couldn’t remember one of them whining as they were brought in. She snorted to herself, remembering her begging wails when she was little. These kids certainly were braver than she was.

Shade opened the door to the cell room and saw them. The three kids were curled up in the darkest corner of the cell, covered in the blankets they were offered. Two of them were breathing deeply, somehow having fallen asleep, but there was that third one, the mastermind, still sniffling and whimpering miserably.

There was only one thing Shade could think of to say that wouldn’t make her look like an idiot. With a deep breath, she asked. “Do you want to talk about it?”

The small echidna looked up at her and flinched backwards, pressing into the wall, wide eyed. This sudden movement awoke the other two, who both froze upon sight of Shade.

The Lieutenant felt her gut twist painfully at the look of sheer terror in their eyes. She felt a strange pinch in her eyes, before murmuring. “It’s alright, the worst is over. I promise.”

The smallest echidna’s expression turned from fear to anger. “Why’d you do it?” He demanded through a hiccup. “W-why’d you have them hurt us!?”

“No felony can go unpunished.” Shade replied, successfully keeping her voice steady.

The echidna’s eyes narrowed. Shade sighed, “It happens to almost everyone, you know this.”

“But it still hurt!” The second echidna snapped. The third just shrunk down further, cradling her bandaged arms.

Shade sighed. “I know…” She walked towards the cell bars and sat down. “But it is our way of living.”

“So, we pull one small prank, and we get whipped?” The female asked miserably.

Shade narrowed her eyes. “You’re ‘small prank’ not only wasted our resources, but stunned an entire squad for twenty-four hours!”

“And that deserves a flogging!?” The second one demanded.

Shade blinked, a little surprised at the impressive vocabulary. “All crimes do. You’ll all understand when you’re older. In the meantime, your hour’s almost up. I’ll open the door for you when it’s time. Then you can go to your families.”

The smallest echidna snorted. “Great, so a real whipping, and a tongue whipping from our parents.”

Shade shrugged. “But think optimistically, you get a clean slate after all of it, you’ll be forgiven.”

The third echidna looked at her curiously. “Miss Shade?”

Shade looked at her, surprised.

“Why are you being nice to us?”

Shade tried not to smile wryly as she pressed a button on her suit in answer. A single line appeared up her arm. The line cracked and peeled away her armor, revealing ten crisscrossing scars she had grown up with most of her life.