Chapter One: The Arrival

"I'm so sorry miss, but you can't bring your backpack in with you. You'll have to leave it with me to be searched..." He rubbed the tips of his two index fingers together nervously. "...you'll get it back... after they search it of course. It'll be delivered to your room sometime after the big assembly."

The guard leaned down, hand outstretched to take her backpack. His face was earnest and kind, but there was no doubt whatsoever that he was in control.

"But... I..." Aurora backed up further until her back hit the wall, trapping her backpack between the oak panelling and her own small frame. Fuck. What was she going to say? I have eight thousand dollars cash in the bottom of my backpack to bribe my way out of this cage? Yeah. That'd go well. Her mouth went dry.

"Ummm..." Aurora tried desperately to buy time, but all her well-practised lies fell apart in the presence of this unexpected gentle giant.

The guard pulled a small tag and a marker out of the breast pocket of his shirt, either not noticing her hesitation or simply used to this reaction from new students. The pen looked laughably small in his hands but he didn't struggle with it, his penmanship was surprisingly neat as he wrote the time and date of her arrival.

He held his hand out for her bag courteously, and after a moment's pause while she desperately fought for a reason why she should be allowed to keep it Aurora handed the bag over meekly. She couldn't fight him, she hadn't come up with an argument, and even if she ran she'd still be locked in this damn cage. Her cunning plan had fallen at the first hurdle.

Even her backpack looked small in his huge, careful hands."What was the name, miss?" The guard was so earnest and helpful. He seemed to be overcompensating for how intimidating he was. He was like a puppy the size of a freight train. Ordinarily, Aurora could have made a man like this putty in her hands in seconds, but his size had caught her completely wrong-footed.

"Erm... Aurora? Aurora Idris." She managed, trying desperately to pull herself together. To fight.

The guard wrote her name down on the tag, and attached it to her backpack.

"You'll be assigned a room after orientation. That's in the building across the central plaza unless..." his eyes fell on the small key between her breasts. To her shock, the guard blushed and looked away.

"Er... In that case..." He swallowed hard, an Adam's apple nearly the size of an actual apple moving under the skin of his throat. "It's the two story brick building on the left side of the plaza; Agnes Hall. Right next to the bike racks..." He cracked his knuckles nervously. "I'll also need you to give me the key, miss. Regulations and all..."

Aurora again thought about running, but the hall was jammed with arriving students, and Rattangrove was in the middle of nowhere. Apart from a tiny village that supplied both Rattangrove and St. Jeremy's it was nothing but fields of wheat and cows for miles around. Running might buy her a few hours, maybe a day at best, but ultimately she had nowhere to go. She'd be caught and probably punished. That thought gave her pause. She had heard... rumours... about punishments here. In the end she simply handed it over.

The guard placed the key, along with the necklace, in a small envelope and wrote her name on that too. "Right... So yeah... Agnes Hall. You don't have to check in right away though; there's lots of clubs to sign up for, and food, and there's a DJ later..." Aurora was already tuning him out. She didn't want to deal with clubs or any of the rest of it. She was furious at herself for not fighting back, but the guard was still talking. "...I'm actually off shift in about an hour..."

Aurora sighed and turned around, assessing the guard a little more carefully. He was cute and vulnerable when he was flustered. He wasn't bad looking at all, if you were into men the size of small buildings, and if his cock was anywhere near as large as the rest of him well then... She sighed and shook her head. This wasn't the day for this -- she'd happily have dragged him off to bed if it had gotten her out of the cage, but she was in no mood for sweet, well-intentioned boys today.

She thanked the guard and let him down as gently as she could under the circumstances and followed the crowd of young women through the hall and out onto the immaculate lawn of the main plaza.

Emily had already handed over her backpack and key to the easily flustered guard, and she was standing just outside the rear doors of the Great Hall looking out onto the plaza. Dozens of tents and tables were spread out across the cobblestone square, spilling over onto the manicured lawns that surrounded it.

Bright posters and banners advertised the Rock Climbing Club, the Chess Club, the Badminton Team and dozens more. There were booths handing out samples of food and drink from cafes both on campus and down in the village. There were jugglers, mimes, and comedy troupes from the arts programs at the school, and music of nearly every description fought to be heard over the din. It was an explosion of noise and colour and culture, and Emily was drawn straight into the heart of it. She was handed a small coffee at nearly the first booth she approached and she sipped it as she wandered from table to table.

Everything was so loud, colourful, and vibrant. From the brochure Rattangrove had seemed serious and strict, and drab. None of that was on display out on the plaza today; clubs vied for her attention, businesses handed out flyers even though she wouldn't be allowed down in the village until her second year. It was far different and far better than she expected, and her nervousness fled before her sheer joy of new people and experiences, free from her parent's supervision.

She did stop to pick up a tryout flyer for the soccer team, her scholarship required her to participate in at least one sport or activity, and she preferred the soccer team to any other choice. There were other options, but she was hoping to hold out for soccer. She checked her phone: 11:15. The last check-in for orientation was at 3:00PM so he had some time to herself. She wondered if anyone was giving away tacos...

She walked from booth to booth, making new acquaintances and picking up free samples. From her preparations with her father she knew that "orientation" for the locked girls wasn't a particularly pleasant experience, but she wasn't going to let it ruin her excitement for now. So she delayed, and wandered, and played a little pickup soccer, and got another coffee. The sun was bright and the chill of fall hadn't yet begun to encroach on the last days of summer. It was a wonderful time to be outside.

Much later, as she was walking away from the Darts Club tent, her phone chimed. "How was orientation?" read the text from her father. Her stomach dropped. Was she late? The clock on her phone said 2:52. She could still make it if she ran, but this was not how she had hoped to start her time at Rattangrove.

Emily tossed most of the flyers into the nearest bin and sprinted for the building that she had been told to report to. It was long and low, clearly not a dormitory, it looked more like a strip mall than it did a place of higher learning. Taking the steps two at a time she flew up the stairs and into the building. The line was short, with only a couple of girls in line ahead of her. Emily's shoulders sagged in relief, and she jogged to the end of the line, behind a slightly taller girl with strawberry blonde hair.

Having a moment to catch her breath Emily looked over the girl ahead of her in line with a touch of disbelief. She certainly didn't look like a Rattangrove student. She was wearing a leather skirt with cut up tights and a denim jacket covered in patches for what Emily assumed were bands. Either that or this girl was really into the general concept of "Tower of Bleeding Skulls". Hearing her approach, still panting a little from her sprint, the girl looked Emily up and down, then turned away contemptuously. Emily rolled her eyes behind the girl's back.

Great.... Aurora thought. The little brunette from earlier. She must be so excited to be here! I'll bet she owns nine books on horses and wants to be a veterinarian so she can pet all the pretty animals... Her shock at losing her backpack and the failure of her plans had worn off and now she was just sour.

The food outside had actually been pretty good, but she didn't feel like any of the clubs were for her. She didn't like debate or foreign films, chess and poetry definitely weren't her scene, and she really wasn't the sporty type. She hated that this place already seemed unsuited for her and she just wanted to get this over with so she could just go to her dorm room in peace. Plus the cage was chafing -- how did these locked girls deal with it?

"Next" the matronly receptionist motioned her forward. Aurora stepped towards the desk, looking down at the plump woman as she tidied the paperwork on her desk, seemingly eager to go home.

The receptionist gave her a tired but polite smile. "Now then, I've only got a couple of girls left on my list. What's your name?"

"Idris. Aurora Idris" Aurora answered.

"Ah yes. I've got you down right here and... Oh!" The woman adjusted her glasses, and flipped back and forth between pages.

"Er... Young lady?" she was looking past Aurora, to the dark haired girl behind her. "Is it Miss Black?"

"Um... Yes, Miss. Emily Black." The girl said, hesitantly. "I'm sorry if I'm a little late..."

The receptionist didn't answer. She picked up the phone and dialed an extension.

"Yes Headmaster. They're here. Both of them. All right, I'll just get the paperwork started."

She gently replaced the phone in its cradle, and stood up.

"I'm sure your parents told you, but for our locked students, orientation does take a little longer."

She smiled in a way that was almost sympathetic, but still remained a little unnerving. For Emily it was because she knew what was going to happen next, and for Aurora it was because she didn't.

"The Headmaster himself will be overseeing part of your orientation, and we mustn't keep him waiting. Oh no, that wouldn't do at all..." She tutted to herself as she led the pair of girls down a brightly lit hallway lined with doors on either side.

It was a short walk down the bright white hallway, identical grey doors faced each other in pairs on each side as they walked along the polished tile. It wasn't a grand building like the Great Hall, it was plain and institutional. The receptionist stopped and opened a door, motioning the pair of them inside.

The room itself resembled a doctor's office, with a trio of examination tables along one side and a stainless steel-topped work bench along the other. Glass-fronted cabinets displayed both medical equipment as well as an array of small steel cages that looked regrettably familiar to both girls.

The receptionist took a pair of thick plastic bags from a dispenser next to the door and handed one to each girl. "You can get undressed. Your clothes go in the bags; we'll clean them and return them to you shortly. You won't be wearing anything apart from your uniform on school grounds, however, so you won't miss them." She paused for questions for a moment, before nodding curtly. "The Headmaster will be along in a moment." she said on her way out.

Emily was a little speechless. She had expected her clothes to be confiscated, but she had assumed that it would be private. Having to strip down to her cage in front of a complete stranger was more than a little uncomfortable. This wasn't at all how she had pictured today going, and she bitterly scolded herself for leaving this to the last minute.

She looked at Aurora, who sniffed dismissively at her, and then began undressing. Hearing footsteps returning down the hallway, Emily began taking off her clothes as well. She had picked her outfit so carefully, wanting to make a good first impression with whoever handled her orientation. That had been a complete waste of time... She was still sliding off her panties when the door opened.

Through it walked a man Emily immediately knew to be the Headmaster. Tall, slim, incredibly well-groomed and impeccably, if conservatively dressed. Not a single silver hair on his head was out of place and his pale grey eyes looked her over from head to toe without lingering on her bared breasts or her cage. He seemed in total control both of himself and the situation. He had a presence, a gravitas that Emily, so very used to authority figures, felt immediately. He reached the centre of the room and folded his arms behind his back.

"Ms. Black, Ms. Idris. Welcome to Rattangrove Academy. I am the Headmaster of this school. You may call me Sir, or Headmaster, either is perfectly acceptable. I am so glad that you have finally..." his eyes flicked towards the clock on the wall. "Decided to join us this afternoon. You will be rejoining the rest of the students shortly, but there are some matters we need to take care of first."

The Headmaster smiled, confidently. He seemed very aware of the effect he had on nervous young women. "No need to delay, girls. Up on the examining tables with you, we need to get you into your school-assigned cages." When neither girl moved he rapped the toe of his shoe loudly against the hard tile floor. "This isn't the part of the orientation where I test out the paddles on you girls, but if you don't get moving you'll both be getting a sneak preview...."

Aurora hopped up on the examining table hurriedly. The part of the orientation where WHAT?! She knew Rattangrove still used corporal punishment, but she still held on to the belief that it wouldn't really happen to her. She was going to be spanked?! Like a child?! She wanted to say something. To throw something. This wasn't supposed to be happening to her.

In Aurora's world things like this happened to that obedient, doe-eyed little brunette over there; she would look just about right getting her pale little ass whipped red over the old man's lap. Aurora felt suddenly a little warm picturing that... But this wasn't the way it was supposed to have gone at all... not for her.

As the girls waited silently, the Headmaster quietly busied himself over at the work station, arranging items on a small metal tray. He seemed in no hurry for someone who had just scolded them for being late, and Emily tried to make herself comfortable on the hard metal table. Oddly, she didn't feel uncomfortable being nude in the Headmaster's presence. He seemed... above crude sexual urges somehow. It was like being at the doctor, she felt.

After a moment he returned, approaching Emily's examining table first. The Headmaster placed the tray on the table next to Emily, and pulled the small envelope containing Emily's key from his pocket.

"Thighs apart please, Ms. Black." It was an order not a request, no matter how gently and politely he said it, and Emily complied, leaning back on the table to give him access to her cage. The cage she was wearing wasn't terribly different from Rattangrove's own design: A fully enclosed steel tube with a small hole on the end to allow her to urinate attached to a simple steel ring. The Rattangrove cage would be white and a little smaller, but they were otherwise nearly identical in design.

The Headmaster inserted the key into the locking pin, and with a twist, Emily was unlocked for the first time since her cage fitting.

She gave an involuntary twitch and whimper of pleasure as the Headmaster slid the tube of the cage off of her. The sensation of the slick metal sliding against her extremely sensitive organ was more than she had felt in a very long time. Gently he removed the ring as well, placing both tube and ring on the tray leaving Emily completely nude and feeling exposed in a way she hadn't with the cage still on.

Moving swiftly on the Headmaster picked up what appeared to be a small, silver blowtorch from the surgical tray. "This is an infrasonic epilator." the Headmaster explained; "It is completely painless and will ensure that you do not need to be unlocked to shave while you are here. Assuming you do not receive another treatment, hair growth should start again in approximately eight to nine months." The Headmaster turned a dial on the epilator, and although there was no flame, Emily could see the a faint blue glow at the tip of the device.

Emily had always kept things fairly clean and tidy so far as hair went. It made wearing a cage much more comfortable, and she thought it made her seem less... petite. She didn't have a lot of hair to lose but as the epilator passed over her skin she watched as each hair shrivelled from the root upwards then dropped away. It was painless, but she still felt a cold tingling as the torch passed over her skin. The Headmaster was slow and thorough, removing every trace of hair before brushing her clean with a small shaving brush.

Satisfied that she was entirely hairless, he picked up a small tube of clear gel and rubbed a generous amount into his hands. Firmly, and without any hint of getting any pleasure from it himself, he applied the surprisingly warm gel all over Emily's recently freed parts. Emily bit the inside of her cheek at the sensation, intensely pleasant after so long denied, but she also knew that she would be utterly mortified if she started getting hard.

The Headmaster's hands were strong and ever so slightly rough, but she wasn't in a position to complain. The gel started warm and finished tingly, smelling strongly of antiseptic and alcohol.

"The gel won't keep things clean forever." The Headmaster said, "But from your records, I assume you won't need any help keeping things clean and tidy with the cage?"

Emily shook her head. No. She knew all about that. Honestly not having to shave for the next few months would be really nice, and once you were used to it keeping your locked bits clean was really quite simple even with the cage.

She looked down at herself, pink and soft and free at long last. Seeing herself without the cage was always a little surreal and she had no idea when she might be unlocked again. She quietly willed the phone hanging on the wall to ring so that she might sneak a quick touch while the Headmaster was distracted, but it remained frustratingly silent.

The Headmaster picked up the ring of her new white cage and slid it over her testes, and then over the shaft, expertly manipulating the skin so that the cage didn't tug or bind. The tube was next, and the titanium locking pin sealed both sides together with barely a visible seam. It had taken only a few short seconds to seal her back into chastity once again.

The Headmaster exhaled quietly with the satisfaction of a job well done. Emily got the feeling that seeing her unlocked, even for such a brief time, had made the Headmaster slightly uncomfortable. She looked down a little sadly at the snowy white steel that was her penile prison for the next few months. It really was smaller than her old cage...

"You may relax Ms. Black. We will begin the next part of your orientation once Ms. Idris has been fitted." The Headmaster returned to the work station to prepare Aurora's cage, slipping Emily's key into his pocket.

Now it was Aurora's turn.