The Pilgrimage

Scarce light passed through the tall spires rising above the stone keep, barely illuminating the four figures within. The tribunal was in session. A knight was kneeling on the ground, her horned helmet resting next to her feet.

The knight's sharp eyes were distant. She was biting on a strand of her braided honey hair. The trial did not go well. From behind an elevated platform, the three leaders of the Order of the Withering Rose whispered as they discussed her fate.

The Grandmaster banged her gavel, signaling they had come to a verdict. "This council has finished its deliberations. Lady Touly, we find you guilty of desertion."

"I'm not a deserter!" Touly protested, standing up. "The Misty Forest is well, too misty! I got lost. It's not my fault that-"

"But it is your fault!" The Grandmaster interrupted her. Touly gulped. Even for a woman thrice her age, the Grandmaster´s voice still carried the weight of a ferocious lioness. "It is your fault that you weren't there to support your sisters in pacifying the band of delinquent fairies."

"Yes. The whole squad got incapacitated by those creatures," the Quartermaster continued. She was the only woman in the room wearing her horned helmet indoors to hide the burns beneath. "Their weapons and armor were magically rusted away. Even their underclothes got eaten by the forest's ravenous moths..."

"Indeed. Our valorous knights had to suffer the fairies' mischievous spells," the middle-aged Marshall coughed before continuing. "They tickled their sides with ethereal feathers, hit upon their buttocks with enchanted branches, and performed other cruel pranks."

"Our Order should not suffer such indignities. You should have been there to prevent such an ignoble fate or suffer alongside your sisters in honorable defeat."

"I don't know if I would call that kind of defeat honorable…" Touly mumbled, her lips twisting into the most imperceptible of smirks. She was actually somewhat relieved that she got lost and spared the indignity. The mental image of her uptight instructor, Lady Gertra, squealing and jumping while a couple of fairies pinched her tits and spanked her bottom did tickle Touly's funny bone. It couldn't have happened to a more aggravating woman.

The Grandmaster's white eyes somehow noticed her smirk.

"Do you find the suffering of your Sisters funny, Lady Touly? How they got tied around the forest road like festival lamps? The curse that made their skin shine with all colors of the rainbow? Do you know how many caravans passed by and mocked our Order before a righteous man helped them down? And you still have the gall to smile?!"

"N-no, my Lady, sorry! It's a travesty! But, w-well, it's not like one more sword would have made a difference…"

"A craven sword like yours? Maybe not."

Touly grimaced as if the Grandmaster had turned her words into a dagger and plunged it straight into her heart. "I-I…"

"The punishment for desertion is the immediate expulsion from our Order and exile from our lands…" continued the Marshal. Another dagger plunged into her chest, and yet Touly understood the finality of the words. She wouldn't further besmirch her honor by begging.

"I-I understand. I'll go collect my belongings and-"

"Hold on. In light of your otherwise meritorious service, the council is willing to grant clemency. You are allowed to redeem yourself by completing a penance dictated by our Order."

Touly bowed down again, as much as her knees allowed her to. "Of course, I'll do anything. What is my atonement?"

"We… couldn't agree on which penance would be more fitting for your crime, so you will be allowed to choose between three alternatives."

"I suggest you redeem yourself by invading the Misty Forest on your own to expel those mischievous fairies," said the Grandmaster. "I trust you will not find any problems with this job, yes? After all, it was your original quest before you "got lost".

Touly gulped. That… was a tall order. If a whole squad of knights failed, what chances did she have on her own? She shuddered just thinking what the fairies would do to her if she had their undivided attention. "W-what are the other two options?"

"I propose that you can cleanse your sin by making a pilgrimage to the Red Cathedral with nothing on you," said the Marshal.

"Nothing on me? As in, no supplies?"

"As in nothing at all. Like the Gracious Sisters sent you into this world."

Touly swallowed. A journey all the way to the Cathedral au natural? A naked pilgrimage?! That's almost as embarrassing as what the fairies would do to her if she tried to fight them!

But, it was just a little nature hike, after all. Something well within Touly's abilities to complete. If she died of shame afterward, at least she would keep her knight's honor. Somewhat. "…and what's option number three?"

"You will run fives lap around the Sizzling Plateau, to emulate Rosea's the Deserter grueling marathon in which she redeemed herself by warning our Order of the incoming Dragon," replied the Quartermaster.

"That doesn't sound so bad-"

"You will run like Rosea did, with your full set of equipment. Armor, cape, chainmail, gambeson…"

W-what? Full armor on the SIZZLING plateau? Touly would melt in her boots! She was already sweating with her armor, and it was snowing outside! "Err, can I try to do the laps naked instead?"

"No. Choose your penance now or forever leave the Order."

Touly recoiled with the weight of her choice. All three options were dreadful. It wouldn't be a penance otherwise. Of the three, she was only confident she could complete one of them. "… I'll make the pilgrimage to the Red Cathedral, my Ladies."

The sun was out in full force, pushing the cold clouds away with its warm rays. Patches of stubborn snow still piled up in the corner of the courtyard. The temperature was warming up, and yet Touly still could not wait until she was out of the castle. At least the forest would be more temperate.

The disgraced knight was shaking in front of the closed stone gate in the courtyard. She hugged her firm breasts, grabbing the sides of her arms for warmth. Her legs were pressed together, knees bent, her bare feet rubbing each other.

The only adornment on Touly's athletic body was a small necklace that hung uselessly around her neck, a metallic representation of three women praying together. A proof that she was a pilgrim.

Was this part of her punishment? Were they dragging it out to see if they could make her give up before she set foot outside? Well, she would give the Grandmaster no such satisfaction. She could handle the cold. Although her sisters… They were another matter entirely.

"Looking good, Touly, I see that you never skip your training," a redheaded knight said, punctuating her words with a playful slap on Touly's steely behind.

"Yep, good attention to personal care," commented a squire that crouched down to inspect the trimmed honey trail over Touly's sex.

"Who wants to bet she never makes it to the Twin Rivers?" one of the stable hands yelled.

"You kidding me? Look how much she's shaking. Five coppers that she's going to call it quits before nightfall," replied another.

"Don't listen to them, Touly, have a fun trip! Don't forget to bring me a gift!" One of her fellow knights placed her hand on Touly's shoulder to cheer her up.

"Well, I say she deserves it for leaving us hanging," Lady Gertra the Stern scolded. "By the Sister's Heavenly Ass, my breasts still glow pink in the dark!"

Touly's punishment was the talk of the keep. Everyone was there to see her off, for better or worse. She said nothing, opting to glare daggers at her mocking sisters.

"Hey Touly, you seemed annoyed," the gatekeeper said with a grin as wide as the horizon. She began poking the woman's firm stomach. "Are we annoying you? Are you annoyed? Hey, Touly? Touly! Are you annoyed? Hey, Touly?"

"Enough! Please, just open the door …the pilgrimage is punishment enough."

"Wait," the Marshal walked into the courtyard. Everyone stopped messing around and stood in attention.

Behind her was a sorry sight, another naked woman. She was short and slender, with shoulder-length black hair. Wooden stocks held her hands next to her head, preventing her from covering anything between her smallish breasts and her hairless womanhood.

A leash ran from the stocks to the Marshall's hands. She was dragging the woman along. Touly didn't know why, but she got the feeling that the prisoner was a renowned adventurer from faraway lands.

"Wait, wait. Not so fast, plea- EEEP! Cold, cold, cold!" The woman stepped on a pile of snow and stopped walking to kick her feet. Right, a disgraced adventurer, not that Touly was one to talk.

Even with their commander present, the sight evoked the laughter of some of the knights. The Marshall soon unlocked the prisoner's restraints. After rubbing her wrists for a few seconds, the woman quickly hid behind the Marshall, wrapping herself up in her cape.

The horned helmet of the Marshall belied her icy glare, but everyone in the courtyard gasped. They recognized the brewing storm. "S-sorry. I'm just a bit cold, that's all," the prisoner tried to excuse herself. "Also, I don't like how everyone is staring…"

The Marshal briskly grabbed the woman's arms and pushed her towards Touly. "This is Min, the Indecent…"

"I don't like that soubriquet..." Min replied, promptly copying the disgraced knight's posture, crossing her arms for warmth and a bit of cover.

"…Currently she's serving a sentence for destruction of public property, coin counterfeiting, aiding a conspiracy, theft, arson, and public indecency."

"H-hey, that's slander! Who are you to call me indecent when you refuse to give me even a skirt-hmf!"

The Marshall placed her hand upon Min's mouth, silencing her. "The road to the Red Cathedral is not an easy one. We decided to enlist this criminal's help for your naked pilgrimage. She'll aid you in exchange for a waiver of her sentence."

"You mean I no longer have to stand in the stocks? Yes!" Min said, hearing the news for the first time. "There are only so many tomatoes to the face a girl can take before… wait, pilgrimage? Naked?! Don't I have a say in the matter?"

"You can return to the stocks if you want."

"I, hmm, err, tch…" Min clicked her tongue, her lips curved into an uneasy smile. "S-sure, I accept this q-quest! After all, there are only so many tomatoes to the face a girl can take…"

"In that case, let's not waste more time. Lady Touly, you are hereby banished from our Order until you complete your pilgrimage to the Red Cathedral ."

Chains spun loudly as the heavy gate rose over the courtyard. To the conflicting cheers and jeers of the rest of the keep, the two naked girls set foot outside to begin their long journey…

"Do you think they'll be all right, Marshall?"

"Stop clinging to me, criminal! I can't walk!"

"But it's cold! And people are staring at my butt!"

"I don't ca- hey, stop pushing me! We are heading straight for that pile of snow! Eek!"

"Ah! Cold, cold, cold!"

The Marshall sighed. "No."