Page 280 of Dirty Discipline, Vol. 1

She went over reluctantly and tried not to look queasy as he efficiently cut the meat into small chunks and tossed it into a pot. It was a bloody job, and she had no interest in food preparation, but the more she learned about surviving out here, the less she’d need to depend on anyone else. “If you’d let me out, I could find edible roots and plants to go with the meat. Then I could help too,” she pointed out.

“And how will you know what plants and roots are edible?” He looked interested as one eyebrow went up in question.

“In the colony I was a botanist. Growing plants, modifying them, and creating new ones was my job.” She said it with pride and expected him to look impressed.

He didn’t. “Good, then I won’t have to teach you everything.” It was clear he didn’t have much respect for anything the colony did.

She couldn’t entirely blame him. Her respect for the colony had gone downhill rapidly since she’d discovered they’d been drugging everyone into compliance, and that the option to not breed wasn’t really available to everyone. It was funny how different it had all seemed, as a child. The stark reality that hit her, as an adult, had been painful to accept.

It wasn’t the only difficult thing she’d have to learn to deal with. The next morning when he went out to check his snares, she decided to show him that she knew more than he thought. She was feeling a little stronger each day, and after a good night’s sleep, she thought she could manage a short walk into the woods to find food.

It was harder than she’d expected, and she hadn’t gotten far before her energy levels started to drop. She ignored it and made herself keep going, stubbornly determined to pull her weight. She’d slung a leather sack over her shoulder when she left the cave, and as she walked, she stopped now and then to add things to it.

It was the wrong season for many of the crisp greens, and the fruits, but with a little effort she was able to dig up various root vegetables and tubers with a stick. She shook off the dirt and popped each one into the sack, thinking how surprised he’d be when she brought back enough to supplement the meat for days. But while concentrating on the search for edibles, she ended up going much further from the cave than she’d intended.

Suddenly her energy vanished, and her legs started to shake. She was forced to sit down abruptly before she fell. She’d gotten used to the sudden lethargy by now and knew her strength would return after a short rest, but it did mean her little adventure took longer than planned.

Jahk returned to the cave and found her missing. It didn’t take him long to track her down, and when she looked up to see him coming towards her, she made a small sound of dismay. He held the coil of rope in his left hand, and there was a grim look on his face that she didn’t like.

She started to explain immediately. “I wasn’t running away again, I promise,” she blurted. “I just wanted to see if I could find food nearby.” The words came out in a frenzied rush, trying to convince him before he did something she would regret.

“I warned you,” he said simply. “If you keep pushing yourself you will relapse, and the second bout of fever is always worse.”

“I just wanted to be useful,” she said. Her bottom lip quivered with upset.

He crouched down in front of her and she could see the anger in his eyes. “Having to care for you when you get sick again will not be useful. Having to pull you out of another hole in the ground and carry you back home again will not be useful. If you want to help you will let yourself recover fully and stop trying to push,” he said.

There was a coldness to the words, and she ducked her head, embarrassed. He was right, of course. She hated the idea of being coddled just because she was female, but being taken care of because you were sick was different. She just had trouble separating the two in her mind. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

“You will be,” he promised her.

She flinched at the ominous threat but had no intention of looking up to see the anger in his face. The silence grew between them, but she had decided it was better to be quiet before she got herself in more trouble.

After a minute or so went by he sighed. “Are you well enough to walk back now?”

She nodded, silent.

“Good,” he said, as he helped her to her feet. “Now, undress.”

That got her attention and her head snapped up with a horrified expression across her face. “What?” Her eyes dropped to the rope in his hand and she shook her head quickly. “Oh no, not that again. You can’t!”

“I can, and I will. You walked all the way here; you can walk home, but you’ll do it wearing the ropes. I told you it was very affective for females who couldn’t behave themselves. This is punishment by the way, just so you know the difference. It’s not the only punishment you’ve earned, but it’s a start.” He jerked his head in a silent demand to undress.

She stared at him, a pleading expression on her face but he didn’t soften. He folded his arms across his chest, making the muscles bulge. She wasn’t sure if it was a reminder that he was stronger than she was, but it served as one. The clothes came off slowly and she pushed them into the gathering bag as she stalled for time.

“Put the boots back on,” he said, when she was done.

Finally, she stood up, bare to her fur. Except for the boots, of course, which somehow managed to make her feel more naked. She kept her amber eyes down on the ground, refusing to look at him, but she had a good view of his hands as he started with the ropes again.

As he tied them in place, he told her a little bit about the history of the ropes. “Many generations back, before our people had formed a civilized society, the females often became dangerous and feral during their breeding seasons. So much so,” he explained, “that the males had trouble controlling them. The women were often the tribal leaders, the wise ones, but that came later after their fertile years ended.”

That made sense, it was how the colony was still run now. Most of the authority rested among the women. Of course, there were no heat cycles under the dome, thanks to the birth control and controlled breeding.

“Going into heat often made the women reckless and prone to acting suddenly because of emotions. They went wild and were impossible to contain. At times they could even be dangerous, so the rope harness was used to train them while the primal instincts were in play. The patterns are complicated, and the knots are mostly tied out of reach to make it difficult for the female to get out of them, unless she just cut them off with her claws.”

None of this history was discussed or taught in the colony. They did learn about their origins, and how they’d been more violent in the past. Once they’d been feared predators with sharp claws and teeth for hunting. Most of those characteristics had been deliberately blunted by scientists many generations ago, but she’d heard nothing about this. She had to wonder if he was making it up.

“What happened if she cut them off?” she asked, curious because she’d considered doing that herself the day before.

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