A huge smile remained on young Molly's face as she had finished another training session with the Thief Guild. The Buneary had been excelling at the tasks she had been set as training, under the watch of two other, older thieves, Stella and Marion. Today was no different, as she was able to successfully pick several different kinds of lock given to her in no time at all.
“Yeah! Did it again!” She shouted enthusiastically, “I'm getting better with locks, I think that was my fastest yet!”
“Well done.” Stella replied, “It was indeed very fast. You are certainly a quick learner, considering the immense speed at which you have learnt these lock-picking skills.”
“You're even getting better at sneaking.” Marion the Meowth added, “Much quieter than most young thieves of your age.”
“I bet I'll be able to finish training and put it to good use in no time at all! Do you think?” Molly asked, wagging her tail excitedly.
“I'd be very wary of letting you out on a real task soon, even in light of your great progress in this training...” said Marion, “The atmosphere in the real world is the polar opposite of how it is in the training tunnels. And in our line of work you and everyone else in the guild needs to have no doubt whatsoever that you will be successful.”
“But there can't be much doubt? I've aced every training task I've been set!” Molly replied.
“We're very proud of your progress down here,” Stella smiled, “But in the event you do fail a task here in training then there will be no repercussions, other than maybe to your own confidence. Real tasks are more unpredictable, fail out there and you could be attacked, captured...or even worse. The emotional pressure of the danger involved could make you snap and make all your training null and void.”
“Okay...but I don't see how it could! I'm great under pressure, I've even timed myself to make sure I can work as fast as possible. Nothing could slow me down!”
“You sure?” Stella replied, with a cocky smirk on her face, “I know it's common for thieves like us to be confident and full of themselves, but you sure shouldn't let that fool you into putting yourself into a dangerous situation. Time limits can be much more serious in some circumstances.”
“Then try me! There must be some sort of training that will test how I am under pressure. And I'll ace that one too!”
Marion and Stella looked at each other, both thinking the same thing. It was a common occurrence for young thieves to become just as confident as Molly was after they had excelled at training. That's why the Guild came up with a few tasks that would indeed test their skills under real pressure. And the two of them knew exactly which one would be the best for Molly.
“You sure you want to be set one of our more intense training tasks?” Marion asked the young Buneary.
“Of course, yeah!” She replied, smirking widely, “Give me whatever you've got!”
“Follow us then.” Marion said.
“And let us see exactly how long it takes for that smirk to disappear!” Stella joked, as Molly began to walk behind her.
The three thieves walked through the tunnels until they reached another training area. This one was noticeably bigger than the others Molly had been in, and against the wall was a small wooden chair with a metal restraint system on the seat. Two holes side by side with a large lock between them. It didn't take a genius to figure out that the task would involve having her legs locked into the holes and being made to pick the lock to escape, which made Molly's confident smile grow even wider. Just earlier that day she had completed a task that involved her picking several different kinds of lock in under a minute each, so getting herself out of that chair with one lock was going to be a piece of cake.
“An escape task? Nice! I'm great at these!”
“Indeed you are, but this task is a little different from what you will have done in the past.” Marion says, as he checks the restraints on the chair.
Molly's gaze at the chair is averted when Stella points to something else that was in front of her, that looked like a simple wooden box. “Before we begin the task, we need you to stand in this box for about a minute or so. As an important form of preparation.”
“Um...OK...” Molly looked over at the box and became curious as to it's purpose. It looked like it had a pool of shallow water at the bottom of it, about an inch deep, but there was nothing else in there. Part of her was worried that the chair was a decoy and standing in the box would set off some kind of trap, but she kept herself composed and took some steps into the box. As she placed her left foot in, her body shivered slightly as the water was much colder than she had first expected, and the same happened when she slowly placed her other foot in. She wiggled her toes slightly in the cold liquid, which wasn't even deep enough to go up to her ankles or cover the top of her feet, merely soaking her soles and toes. “So...does having wet feet make escaping from the chair more difficult or something?”
“You'll find out in no time at all!” Stella said, smirking more as she watched Molly's feet move around in the cold water. “It's been about a minute now, you can step out and get in the chair.”
“Yeah, and then it won't take us long to get everything ready for the task to begin!” Marion added, as Molly stepped out of the box and strolled over to the chair. He assisted as she climbed up and placed her ankles into the metal rings, before they were tightened around her, not enough to hurt her legs but enough to keep her tightly within the seat. Once her ankles were secured, Marion locked the restraints in place.
“We'll give you the pick in just a moment, but first we need to go and bring in the rest of the set-up!” Marion told her as she squirmed her legs around as much as she could, “Sit tight, we'll be back soon!”
Molly remained confident that she could get out of the restraints, but she became much more confused and curious as to what the gimmick was with the task. She had no idea why her feet needed to be cold and wet, but one thing was certain, they certainly felt a lot more vulnerable. The restraints on the chair made sure that her soles were fully exposed and pointing outwards, and the cold water dripping from her heels made the slight breeze through the tunnel even more noticeable against them. The Buneary had been focusing a lot on her footwork during her sneak training, to ensure that nobody would be able to hear her fluffy paws taking steps on any kind of ground. Here her feet were obviously an important aspect too, but she couldn't figure out exactly why. She was also already slightly creeped out by being left alone in the metal stocks, so her confidence was already taking a few hits, despite her being determined not to show it.
After about 3 minutes, Marion and Stella returned to the room, much to the delight of the impatient Molly, but she happened to quickly notice that the two mentors were not alone. They had brought in a small animal with them, which looked like an ordinary domestic goat. Marion was also carrying a bag of grain, which he began to gradually pour out onto the ground in front of the goat.
“Oh no, a goat, how dangerous!” Molly said sarcastically, before noticing that the Meowth was scattering grain in a line leading up to the chair she was stuck in, “What is that for? Is it going to eat me or something?”
“Of course not,” Stella replied, “but it is certainly looking for something on your person...”
“The grain is going to lead the goat to you in just over two minutes from now,” said Marion, holding the lock pick in his hands, “And he has been pretty thirsty for a while now. Luckily, those big feet of yours have been soaking in salt-water, so he hasn't got long to wait!”
It took a few seconds for Molly to realise exactly what the challenge was. She soon figured out that her worries about the vulnerability of her feet were fully justified – and what exactly the consequences would be if she failed this task. “W-WHAT!? The goat's gonna lick my feet?!? But aren't goats tongues really rough!?”
“Indeed they are!...but you've got two minutes until that happens, that's plenty of time for a young girl as confident as you, eh? Good luck!” Marion said, smirking as he dropped the lock pick into Molly's hands and then stood back, leaving her to stare directly at the goat that was approaching her and eating the path of grain.
Panic set in within seconds as she tried her best to remain calm and composed and begin picking the lock. The lock between her ankles was one that she was not familiar with however, and she found it very difficult to analyse this new kind of lock when she always had a hungry goat in her vision. The timescale she had been given seemed to be accurate at least – the goat had eaten a quarter of the grain after thirty seconds, but the anxious Buneary had made no progress at all in that time. She was trying her best with the pick, trying to force it through the lock as much as possible, but her hands were trembling and her anxiety was overwhelming her, stopping her from going through the proper procedure for picking an unknown type of lock. Whilst she had been efficient in past training sessions, now she was going crazy and simply pushing on the lock pick over and over again, which was never going to get her far.
After a minute and a half Molly seemed to lose all semblance of confidence and cockiness and was noticeably sweating in fear with her eyes wide open. No matter what she tried, nothing seemed to be able to get that lock pick in properly, and her paws became less steady with every second. The goat was only a matter of inches away from her vulnerable bare feet now.
“Aagh!! I can't figure it out! Get that goat away from me!!” She shouted almost involuntarily to try and admit defeat, but Marion and Stella remained at the other side of the room, watching her struggle.
“You've still got about 20 seconds!” Stella shouted over, “You might wanna hurry up if you wanna keep those feet in good shape!”
Molly was in no mood for sarcasm as she saw the goat eat the last of the grain from the ground. The two minutes she was given barely felt like one to her. She still held some slight hope that the goat would be uninterested in her saltwater-soaked feet, and would leave as soon as it finished the grain, however it became evident immediately, as the goat began examining her soles, that was not going to be the case.
Her pulse raced as she saw the goat's tongue emerge from it's mouth, and she began rapidly stabbing the pick into the lock in some sort of last-ditch attempt to do something, but it did nothing to stop that goat from putting it's incredibly rough, raspy tongue against her soft heel and slowly licking up her left foot. She didn't really know what to expect from the sensation of her foot being licked – it's not particularly one she ever believed she would feel – but one thing immediately struck her. Her feet were a lot more sensitive than she had ever believed. The feeling of the rough tongue sliding up her furry sole made her want to squeal, but she just about managed to keep her mouth shut as she felt the whole length of her sole being licked. This was something she found much more difficult over the next few seconds, as the goat began a continuous cycle of licks. Over and over again, the animal lashed it's tongue up the sole of Molly's poor captive foot from her heel up to just beneath her toes. It only took until the fourth lick for cute, high-pitched giggles to force themselves out of Molly's mouth, as real anxiety began to set in. The sensations pulsing through her sensitive feet were unbearable, so if she didn't want to go insane in a matter of minutes, she had to pick that lock and fast.
Marion and Stella continued observing what she was doing, both of them well aware that she was being far too violent with the lock to properly pick it. As her foot was attacked and her giggles began turning to louder chuckles, Molly began to violently stab the pick against the lock, becoming more vicious with every stab as if she was trying to kill it. Her effort got to a point where her two mentors became genuinely worried that she may accidentally injure her own legs with it if she wasn't careful. As the excess saltwater was licked off, the goat became much more vigorous with it's licking, and Molly's chuckles turned quickly into full-on hysterical laughter. She never knew that her own feet were so sensitive and ticklish, but she now knew that it was a huge weak spot for her, the tingles and tickles of the tongue surging through her big feet and even through her legs. It felt to her as if the tremendous tickly sensations in her soles were going through her entire body and emerging at the other end through her mouth as uncontrollable laughter.
Of course, her feet weren't the only thing being attacked, and the poor lock between her legs was continuously hit with the pick, absolutely none of the strikes doing anything to actually loosen the restraints. Her hands had become slippery from her nervous sweating, and as she attempted to force the lock open once more, she fumbled and felt the pick slip out of her hand. Time seemed to slow down as her eyes were transfixed upon seeing the pick fall out of her grasp and onto the floor, landing near the goat's hooves.
Now she knew she was in for it. Marion and Stella didn't seem to be making any moves, they were still stood at a distance watching, so Molly knew that she still had plenty of tickling left to come for her poor feet, and absolutely no way of stopping it herself.
“STHAHAHAHAHAHAHAPP ITT!! GEHEHET IT AWAHAHAHAHAY FROHOHOHOM MEEEEE!!!” She began to shout between bouts of her increasingly loud laughter. Her two mentors remained at the sidelines. Stella had hold of the goat's leash, so had the power to pull it away at any time, but both her and Marion were rather sadistically enjoying seeing their student in her captive, ticklish state. At least moreso than Molly herself was, who had taken to trying to physically force the goat away herself. She was just about able to reach the goat's head with her hands, and she attempted to push it away from her, however the hungry animal switched to her right foot, and back to her left, and back again, every single time Molly's hands approached it. Now that both of her tender feet were captive in ticklish agony, her hysterics were at their most extreme, and her cheeks were blushing madly. Her soles felt like they were becoming more sensitive with every single lick, and whenever the tongue travelled up to her toes, licking and scraping all over them and between them, she let out a loud giggly squeal and wiggled her fluffy toes all over the goat's snout.
Although the mentors only allowed the goat to lick at Molly's feet for about a minute and a half after she had dropped the lock pick, to the ticklish young Buneary it felt like she had been tickle tortured for at least half an hour. When the moment finally came that the goat was tugged away, she felt an overwhelming relief and her whole body slouched in the chair as she panted from exhaustion. Her toes curled and splayed slowly over and over again as she tried to soothe the tingling that was still lasting in her tormented feet.
“Are you alright, Molly?” Marion asked, slightly worried that they had waited too long to put an end to it.
“Y..yeah...im...fine...I think...” Molly struggled to speak between her tired breathing, “My feet...feel...really weird....”
“As expected!” Stella jumped in, “We're sorry for leaving you for so long, but after all it was you who was cocky that they could handle anything under pressure! You need to remember that if anyone catches you snooping around, they may very well hold you captive and threaten you with torture. And as you've just found out, panicking is a one-way ticket to a very bad time.”
“And enemies may not be merciful enough to stick to tickling either. Of course, it might not take them too long to figure out you have two big and fluffy weak spots...” Marion added, before gently poking the centre of Molly's left sole.
Molly blushed heavily once more, letting out a brief squeal and curling her toes up. In her new-found embarrassed and ticklish state, she had realised exactly what they were talking about before. If this had been an actual capture scenario, she would have been a goner for good. And she didn't want to think about what the sensations in her feet would feel like after a multiple hour long torture. Her face was now much less cocky and confident, albeit with a smile still across it – although even she wasn’t sure whether that was a happy smile or an involuntary smile left over from the tickling.
Stella reached down and picked up the lock pick that she had dropped at the side of the chair, and handed it to Molly. “Here. Give it another go. No time limit, no torture, just try and see how quickly you can figure the lock out now.”
Molly began to work on the lock, although much more slowly and thoroughly than she had done earlier. Without impending foot tickles to distract her, she was able to properly recall what she had been taught about analysing locks, and she managed to get the pick inside in no time at all. Not even a minute later, she had figured out the correct combination to open the lock up and free her ankles, at which point she leapt out of the seat and stood up as if she was worried the goat would run back in. The cold floor of the tunnels had never felt more soothing on her bare soles.
“Just under two minutes!” Stella said happily, “Just as we would expect for somebody of your skill. But of course, we hope you've realised how badly the pressure of a real situation could get to you now.”
“...Yeah...” the embarrassed Buneary, now feeling much more humble, blushed and smiled at her mentors, “I get what you mean...I think it's best if I stayed in training a little while longer.”
“Don't worry about it.” Marion said, patting her on the shoulder, “Other trainees put through that have dropped the pick before the goat has even reached them. I can guarantee that with continuous training you will be able to work under pressure in no time at all! You'll be just as good as us!”
Molly's eyes soon lit up as she began imagining her two mentors put into the same situation. As much as she detested them sitting back and watching her get tickled, she couldn't deny she would love to see some Starly or Meowth feet in the same humiliating predicament.
“Since you two seem to be much better at working under pressure, how about one of you demonstrates that task for me? You know, just to show off that you can work it out quickly!”
Both Stella and Marion looked apprehensive and nervous. Both of them had been made aware that they had similarly sensitive feet, and were certainly in no rush to deliberately place themselves in a ticklish situation.
“I...think not, Molly.” Stella replied, “It's getting late, we should retire for the evening anyway.”
“Yeah, and both of us have work to do anyway.” Marion added.
Molly wasn't at all convinced of their excuses, but she was not going to argue with her mentors, and simply smirked at them.
“Suuuuure you're busy – but I'm sure we'll get some free time soon, hmm?”
“Er...maybe...in the meantime, you should get some rest. We'll see you again tomorrow.” Marion said to her, still visibly anxious at the thought.
Molly's smirk remained as she said goodnight to the pair of them, still imagining turning the tables on them. If there was one thing she was determined to do during her training period, it was seeing either of those two in a more cute, vulnerable, humiliating, and very ticklish situation. But even if it wasn't soon, at least she knew she had a lot of time to think about it...
