A day on the slave block. [Open!]

[Rhindeer]

Unlike her younger brother, Yhuni didn't pitch a fit, didn't struggle, didn't resist in the least as she was led up to the slave block and made to stand in front of all those hungry eyes. Unlike Kuanie, she didn't cry out, didn't even look over at him as he was dragged away calling out her name, sold to his first master. No, she stood there quietly, brilliant aquamarine eyes downcast obediently and back stiff and straight, and she kept her mouth shut and arms loose and relaxed in front of her where the chains held her wrists together. She looked for all the world like the broken-in slave that she wasn't and refused to be, and the only thing that ruined the act was one brief second where she repressed a wince when Kuanie's shouts cut off with a yelp. Those shouts had probably earned him a good smack.

With a slow, quiet sigh, she resisted the urge to look up and make sure he was okay. Kuanie...he always had been loud, he never had been the type to use his head. Yet even so, Yhuni couldn't really blame him; she hardly knew how she could remain so calm with such an uncertain future awaiting her, yet she felt strangely stoic, a bit disconnected from the world and reality around her. That helped. It made it easier to play the part.

At least, that's what she told herself. A part of her was actually afraid that, maybe, she really had finally snapped...she found herself asking herself that very question everyday: was she really still acting? Or had she become so convincing in her act that she'd finally convinced herself?

But it was best not to think about that now. Instead, she comforted herself with the fact that, in that brief moment before Kuanie had been taken away, she had caught a glance of the man that had purchased him.

That was all she needed, and she had locked that face away into her memory.

When she was unable to focus on that anymore, she finally turned her attention back to the world around her, to the shouting and bidding, to the auctioneer listing off her qualities in the pauses between bids to try and encourage more bidding. Hard-working? Strong? Hah. She could have laughed at that. Maybe at one time she would have looked strong and sturdy, but with the diet she'd been living on while in the care of the slavers, she was practically a ghost of her former self. Her ribs were outlined sharply against her bronzed skin, visible through the tears and tatters in her clothes, her collar bone jutted out, and her eyes had that sunken in quality that came with missing one too many meals and not getting nearly enough sleep. Her stark white hair hung limp around her shoulders, unwashed. Stupid slavers. They probably wouldn't be getting a good price for her; unlike her brother, she was a mage, and her magic burned more energy in her than most normal humans. Thus, she needed more food. Her brother didn't look that bad. But living off the same diet as he, she was dangerously close to looking emaciated, and none of the slavers had ever been able to figure it out.

Idiots. Oh well. The only reason she was concerned about not fetching a high price was that someone that paid a lot for her would at least be less willing to "damage" her--and that they might have useful resources and useful connections that she could use to her advantage. Or so, that was her theory.

Yhuni could have snorted at the part where they raved that she was a virgin, never been touched, but she forced her lips back into a straight line before the morbid grin could twitch any higher. Like anyone would want her for a pleasure slave in her state. Besides, that was a lie. She'd had a few lovers in her twenty years of life--just not any men.

Gods above, this was stupid. She just wished they would hurry up and get it over with.

Then she could just get on with her life.

And make whoever purchased her seriously regret it.

[...ramblingness. >_> Ahem. Anyway, yush! Feel free to buy her or whatever! x3]

[Anonymous]

Faln let out a small chuckle. Virgin indeed. He would be very surprised if the large, sweaty man shouting the virtues of his slaves had not had his fun with all of the females he owned. After all, any buyer would have to check his claims after they had already made their purchase.

He lounged as best he could on an empty barrel, propping himself up against a wall. The crowd steered well clear of him, and he couldn’t blame them. Mottled green skin, so dark it looked black when not in full light, blended in with his long leather coat and dark breeches. He wore no boots, as with most Drygans he encountered the problem of claws, and his pants flared out at the bottom to allow him not to tear them getting them on and off. He was a crossbreed Drygan, though his mother never could seem to remember who or what his father was. In any case, only two things different from him and the rest of his kind. Firstly, the inner toe on each foot bore a long, sickle-shaped talon, held off the ground to maintain its deadly point. Secondly was his ability to teleport anywhere he could see, over quite a large distance if need be. He had a wing of white coming from each temple which was the only light in his otherwise pitch black hair, which was tied at several places, and fell to just above his tail. Though he was not particularly powerful when it came to magic, teleporting could safely whisk him out of most confrontations. Not that he fled from a fight of course, just no sense in dying.

Beneath his open coat his chest was bare, as many sailors chose to be. Faln was a pirate, and a bloody good one at that. At least he had been until the bloody navy, he wasn’t sure which country it was from, had come along and killed or captured his crew while they were at port. He had barely managed the task of sailing his ship upriver to reach port here in Arca.

His wide brimmed hat was strange in these parts, pinned up on the left side, with a large red feather adorning it and a wedge cut out of the front. Faln pushed that hat back a little to get a better view of the slave lots. Fixing a position into his mind Faln did something that he could never have explained how he did it. One moment he was sitting on the barrel fifty paces from the slaves, the next he was sitting the same position on a crate not a pace away from them, though facing a different direction than he had been before. The only thing that marked his passage was a black mist which sucked inwards from where he left and puffed out from where he now sat before dissipating quickly. Always good to make an impression.

He got up and strode along the line of slaves, each with heir hands bound by chains. He checked off the things he wanted in his head, which was easy seeing as there was only one criteria. Expensive. Expensive. Expensive. Expensive. Cheap. Expensive. Expensive. He stopped, and backtracked, apparently taking his time to inspect each as he went by them. He finally stopped at a girl with lank pale hair and dirty feet, though that really could have described any of them. If the others looked like they were being underfed, this one looked like shed only been getting the craps from the others meals. And that was why she would be cheap. He was a little short on coin at the moment, after all he was a pirate. Pirates weren’t thieves, breaking into a house or robbing a man on the street. Pirates took ships, merchant vessels laden with gold or silk or spices. Without a crew that was all but impossible to do, and thus Faln found his resources dwindling. He weighed up the costs in his mind. A cheaper price on this one would still mean more cost of food to get her healthy again, and she would need new clothing, but then again so would the rest of them.

He took her chin in his palm; strong fingers closing around her jaw as he turned her head this way and that. He checked in her mouth, a good set of teeth, and scanned her hair for lice. Though she appeared meek and docile he could see strength and rebellion in her eyes. That was good; you needed a backbone on the open sea. Taking his hand away he inspected the rest of her. Lastly he pressed a hand to her stomach, which was sunken and empty. That could mean she was sick, but he didn’t think so. Faln ran the back of his hand up her ribcage, counting them until he reached the bottom of her breasts. Best to be sure what you were getting was human; some slavers would sell a dog that had been transmorphed.

Pulling a small pouch out of his coat Faln slowly counted out seven silver pieces. They were from Connlaoth from the seal printed on them. Seven silver was a fair price, though he expected to have to haggle a bit.

“Seven marks for this here pathetic excuse for a slave� Faln said in a slightly slurred accent to the slaver, flashing the silver before him.

[Rhindeer]

Now, if there was one thing Yhuni hadn't counted on it was the possibility that humans wouldn't be the only prospective buyers, and with her eyes down and watching the ground like a good little whipped slave she couldn't really take the time to study the crowd. She wanted to, but she knew better. She had to keep up the act for now, seem totally harmless and docile, and once she was taken away to her new home...that's when she'd drop all pretenses, if subtly and slyly. But for now, a weak slave was an unintimidating slave, a "safe" slave. She just had to stay calm. Right now, there was nothing she could do about any of this, but she'd get her chance...eventually.

However, even if she couldn't actually see anyone's faces or bodies, she could at least see their feet and legs. While that might not have seemed important, it was actually pretty amazing what you could discern from such a small detail. For one, she could tell who was rich and who wasn't judging by the shoes and clothes the person wore, and another thing was--

Holy shit! Talons?!

Her eyes widened as she found herself staring at a pair of...well, there was no other way to describe them except that they looked like a dragon's feet, with two huge, hooked talons. Talons. And those feet were striding along the line of slaves, coming ever closer to her. Yhuni swallowed and though she desperately wanted to look up and see the person who belonged to those limbs, she also didn't want to break the act or draw more attention to herself. She was a filthy, skinny, underfed, pathetic slave! A person with...talons...wouldn't want someone weak and unhealthy like her. Yeah...

She watched those feet step past her, moving on, and let out a slow, quiet sigh of relief. At least until those feet suddenly backtracked and she felt a hand under her chin, lifting it, and her eyes flew open to meet those of someone who <I>definitely was not human. Blood freezing, she quickly averted her eyes to keep up the act--and her lowered eyes caught a glimse of the man's feet. It was him...as she'd feared. Yhuni's pulse, which she had succeeded in keeping calm and normalized, began to race. A strange humanoid. With huge claws. And a tail. Like a dragon. Why would he want her? she thought as he inspected her teeth, opening her mouth without even thinking about it and holding her breath as taught so as not to breathe on him--since her breath, like the rest of her, was rank. She held still as he inspected her hair, as he looked over the rest of her, but inside she wasn't nearly as calm and collected.

...Maybe he was going to eat her.

After all, of all the other slaves she had to be the cheapest. And no one cared what happened to a slave. Maybe this was how he got his human flesh. Oh fuck...

She felt his hand on her stomach and sucked in her belly, even though it was already rather concave from lack of proper nutrition, and she almost forgot to breathe calmly and slowly as his hands travelled along her ribs. Still she kept her eyes lowered, her mouth closed and silent. What was he doing? Feeling the meat on her ribs? Well, there wasn't any! And that hand better not go any higher...

He pulled away and she exhaled slowly through her nose. He wouldn't want her. He'd want a much more meaty, healthy, voluptuous--

"Sold!" the slaver called out, accepting the coin gladly since no one else had bid on the scrawny and unhealthy Yhuni. Despite herself, Yhuni's eyes snapped up in horror before she quickly looked down at her dirty feet again, forcing herself with an effort not to clench her fists as the shock ran through her, suddenly too numb with the realization of what had happened to really be afraid or feel much of anything.

Please, please don't let him eat her...

She'd counted on a human buying her, not a monster! This...completely changed everything, and suddenly she didn't feel nearly so confident about her plans.

[Anonymous]

Well, that was easier that expected. The fact that he’d gotten away with such a ludicrously low price without any bartering at all made Faln give the slave another look over, expecting to see some deformity he had missed before.

He jerked his head back to the slaver when he produced a wooden board holding a selection of rings on hooks. Faln selected one as instructed and slipped in onto the middle finger of his left hand. The slaver produced a silver collar and fastened it to the slaves neck with a small click. “This ‘ere collar ‘n ring will like ye to th’ slave. Anythin’ you tell her ta do she’ll have ter do. An she canna take the thing off neither. Other then tha’ she can do anythin, so I suggest ye lay down some ground rules. No order can be broke, not until the collar is off an only you can do tha’.�

Faln nodded. That made sense, a wilful slave like this one appeared to be, as much as she was trying to hide it, would need a restraint of some kind.

As soon as that collar was on Faln felt something…odd. He could feel her, and he was sure he could point to her with his eyes closed no matter where she was. Strange, most strange.

“Well come along then� he barked at the slave. The order seemed to flow along the ring and collar, leaving no room for intentional misinterpretation. A nifty little device to be sure.

Striding through the crowds Faln headed for the river. Things needed to be done, and the day was still young yet.

“Alright. First of all let’s set down some ground rules. You will not run away. You will not let yourself be taken. You will obey swiftly and to the best of your ability at all times. You will not cause me harm or insight others to cause me harm. You will never try to escape nor insight other to help you escape. You will answer all questions truthfully and without hiding anything. You may talk whenever you wish about whatever you wish as long as it does not go against any of these rules or any others I give in the future.�

There, that should handle most of it. He could always add more later if need be. “Now,� he said in a lighter tone, “What is your name? Where are your from? How old are you?� As an afterthought he added, “Tell me of any abilities you have, magical or otherwise.�

The water came into sight as they rounded a corner.

[Rhindeer]

Yhuni kept her head bowed and peered up through her eyelashes at the slaver and the...dragon guy, wanting to see what they were doing and to get a better look at her buyer. They were picking out rings, apparently. Rings? What did that have to do with anything? Her heart was thumping wildly in her chest, but she still managed to keep an outwardly calm appearance, determined not to show weakness, determined to be strong. She always had been the strong one between she and her younger brother. She had to keep a clear head in order to get out of this and save them both. Be calm, Yhuni. She was probably overreacting. After all, if the guy wanted to eat her, well...she was still rather expensive for a one-time meal, right?

Unless he was rich.

But he didn't look rich.

And besides, it wasn't like she had much meat on her bones.

Then a collar was being put around her neck, and at first she didn't think much of it except that it was cold and uncomfortable. It was when the slaver began to explain what exactly it was that her blood ran cold and her body went stiff. She had to do whatever she was told?! Cold fear traveled through her body, and she swallowed hard as though the collar were choking her. She'd have no choice? The collar was enchanted and made her do what she was told? She couldn't take it off?

Suddenly all her ideas, all her plans, were blown to dust.

But it didn't mean she wouldn't still try. She had to get free. She couldn't live like this. She couldn't let her brother live like this.

Then the dragon guy ordered her to follow, and before she could even fully register the command her body was obeying, her legs moving as though of their own will. A strange sort of panic gripped her as she tried to stop but couldn't; she wanted to stop, but she felt overwhelmingly compelled to obey and no matter how much she tried to resist that strange pull, she was powerless against it, no longer in control of her own body. Oh no, oh no...sweat broke out on her brow as horrendous thoughts raced through her mind, worst case scenarios she tried hard to ignore, like that he could probably order her to strangle herself and she'd be forced to do it...

The man was talking as she followed along, not knowing where they were going and desperately trying to think of a way out of this mess, but any plans she thought up were soon crushed the more he spoke, every loophole filled in. It seemed he'd thought of everything, cut off all possible escape routes. It didn't mean she wouldn't test them all to see if they actually worked, though, or pick her brain apart for any loopholes, even the smallest one.

By the time the water had come into view, Yhuni had abandoned all pretenses of being a meek, whipped slave girl in her panic and was instead openly looking around the area with wide eyes, as though looking for a way out. The one thing that had kept her going, the one thing that had kept her from breaking, ever since her capture were all the mutinous thoughts and plans she had devised for when she'd finally been sold, plans that had...not involved a bloody collar like this. This changed everything. She didn't have to pretend anymore, she could cut the bullshit, because playing meek and lulling someone into a false sense of security no longer mattered.

No. Actually, it did. She had to keep her head here. The more obedient she acted, the less wary he'd be. Maybe. Maybe she'd find a way to exploit this whole thing. Maybe. And after all, she still had connections--connections he most definitely couldn't see--

Oh fuck.

That was when Faln asked his questions.

"Yhuni," she answered curtly, her voice hoarse from keeping silent so long and her tone emotionless. The words just poured out despite her efforts to hold them in, and she clenched her eyes shut and grit her teeth to try and keep silent, but it didn't help. The command forced her mouth back open. "I'm from Necromantia; from the city fo Thanatos. I'm twenty. I'm a medium, I guess you could say. A summoner."

She slapped a hand over her mouth as soon as she was done speaking, looking horrified. Shit shit shit!

Hopefully he had no idea what she meant by "medium" and "summoner". Those spirits were all she had left...her only connection to her brother, for that matter.

She tried to change the subject quickly. After all, he'd told her she could talk about whatever, whenever. "What is your name and where are we going?"

...Erk. Way too forward for that whole "meek" thing she'd been trying to play at. But she'd completely forgotten in her haste to cover up what she'd given away.

[Anonymous]

“Yhuni,� he mused as she spilled out information. Quite effective this collar was proving to be, quite effective.

She certainly wouldn’t have been so talkative without it, of that he was sure. So, from Necromantia. And a medium no less. That could be quite useful, given the right hand to guide it. He snickered quietly as she finished, looking so shocked that she’d told him so much.

She had spirit, which was good. He didn’t like people without a little fire in their belly.

“I, am Faln, captain of The Jagged Rose, and we are going to have you bathed.�

 The streets leading down to the dock were cobblestone, which wasn’t the most comfortable thing to be walking on barefoot, but was better than dirt. Faln didn’t wear shoes, there were no shoes that fit him of course, and Yhuni’s slavers hadn’t wasted money on shoes or proper clothing. Neither would he of course.

“Well, if you can use magic, then I’ll have to add some rules. You may not use your magic without my permission, unless it is to protect your life. Oh, and you may not kill yourself, just in case that crossed your mind. You will refer to me as master, until you earn the right to call me by my name.� He looked down at her and grabbed a fistful of hair in his left hand. “Know this, I own you. Your body is mine. If I choose to give you clothing that is mine. Your magic is mine. The only thing you still posses is your mind, and even then it can do nothing of any merit without my order. I will try to be a fair master, but you will not be rewarded without cause. You have nothing, so you must start again, earn yourself back from me. Good behaviour will be rewarded with privileges, bad behaviour will see these privileges taken away. Draw comfort, if you need, from the fact that your body is my possession, and I do not want to see it harmed.�

He let go of her hair and wiped his had on his coat. She desperately needed a bath. Now, you say you’re a medium from Necromantia. I raided a small village there once; three of my crew were killed and brought back and zombies to finish the rest of us. Nasty place that is. What exactly does your magic do? Explain as fully as you are able.�

Faln hadn’t really been paying attention to where they were going, and gave a little start when he realised they had arrived. The river stretched out before them, crowded with boats and ships of all sizes and description. He turned to a small shop at the end of the road, the closest one to the water. It had copper pipes running into the river itself, and the sign above the door read ‘Cini’s Cleaners’. He pushed through the door, into a steamy haze with Yhuni trailing along behind him.

A very large woman in a bright red dress with the sleeves rolled up had her sizeable back turned to them, evidently washing something in a copper tub. Clothes hung about the shop, either waiting to be cleaned or already finished.

“No more today, we’ve got too much to do already!� the woman shouted at them without looking.

“Not even for me?�

She turned, suddenly beaming. Not a pretty sight, Cini usually wore a tight grimace, and the smile seemed to pull her face in a way it wasn’t meant to go. “My dear Faln! Good tey see you m’boy. What can I do for you today love?�

“I need something a little special washed and I thought your boys wouldn’t mind helping� he replied.

Peering at Yhuni, who apparently had escaped Cini’s notice before, she said, “Aye, we can do that. Good to see you’ve finally bought a slave to help you out. She’s not lookin’ to good though love, you sure you’re feeding her enough?�

“She’s new, a little underfed but that can be easily fixed.�

Cini beamed at him again, then called over her shoulder, “Boys! Boys! We’ve got a special customer.�
Three boys in their early teens rushed in from the back garden, where the water pumped in from the river came out of a large showerhead. The entire area was paved with copper sheets, with a drain in the middle.

“Yhuni,� Faln said softly, “Give me your clothes.� He held out his hand and took them. Dirty, horrible rags they were. He tossed them into a pile of old rags in the corner. She wouldn’t need them anymore.

“Boys, could you please give her a thorough was, all over. Wash her hair as well. Make sure she’s clean; I don’t want any lice or anything on her. Yhuni, you be good and do as the boys tell you.�

They told her to follow them outside, where they began washing her, telling her to bend, lift thing, and spread those. Faln watched through the back door, chatting with Cini.

[Rhindeer]

Yhuni glowered at Faln when he told her she couldn't kill herself, then snorted softly. It hadn't crossed her mind though it was also true that she did not fear death and that, if it really came down to it, she would have no issues with taking her own life. She came from a culture that worshipped Death, viewed suicide as honorable, and had the living dead and skeletons all around. She communed with spirits daily. Needless to say, she was quite accustomed to death, but that also didn't mean she was ready to die yet. It also didn't mean she wasn't scared to death of the pain that usually came with the dying process.

Still, she resented that order more than she resented him forbidding her to use her magic. That was bad enough; she wouldn't be able to get in touch with her brother without it, or work out an escape. But even more she resented the power he had over her life, and this stupid fucking collar that gave him that power.

She glanced back down at the cobblestone street as he told her she was to call him "master" and tried to focus entirely on the sensation of the uneven ground on her cracked and dry feet, hoping the discomfort would distract her from the frustration that was building up in her. That was when Faln grabbed a fistful of her hair, and that distracted her well enough. She gave a little cry of surprise and pain, then clamped her mouth shut stubbornly even as her eyes began to water. But the wincing came more from his words, hammering home the awful truth, than it did from the discomfort. She really didn't want to hear all that; she already knew it, but she still didn't want to hear it, because actually hearing it reminded her of how scared she really was, even if she was doing a fairly good job of hiding it. Being owned by someone, just a piece of property to do with as they pleased...yeah, that scared the shit of of her, and she swallowed hard and kept her eyes averted as she tried to hide that fact, but her shallow breathing probably gave her away.

There was some small comfort in that last line, that he didn't want to see her harmed, but it wasn't much. At first there was relief because she thought that meant she wouldn't have to worry about him beating or raping or killing her, but a second later and she remembered that some people didn't consider it harmful if it didn't leave any permanent marks. She quickly pushed the thoughts from her mind. He said he wanted to be fair, though, and something else in all that stood out. Earn herself back from him? Wait...did that mean she could gain her freedom back?

But before she could ask--even if she was a little afraid to ask because of what the answer might be--he released her hair and asked her about her magic. Yhuni reached up to massage her scalp, idly scratching with her nails where her skin itched. About the only ray of light in this whole situation was that she'd be getting a bath.

And that was a very small ray of light.

"I can summon things. Spirits, both malign and benevolent," Yhuni answered automatically, grimacing even as she spoke and helpless to stop the words. "Some can be used as messengers, some can be used to accomplish tasks, some can give knowledge or protection, some can be used to sabotage enemies. It all depends on who is summoned and what I need to be done, and with many of them it also depends on what I'm willing to give. Many require a fee be paid before they'll help," she spilled out, crossing her arms over her chest as they walked. "And by 'fee' I don't mean money," she added cryptically, still not looking at him.

She finally did look up when they turned toward a shop, one right beside the river, and Yhuni peered curiously at it before frowning. Cini's Cleaners? Faln pushed through the door and she followed after him, squinting against the steam...and then blinking. Clothes were hung up all over and a large woman was bent over a copper tub. So...this was a clothes cleaning place? But she thought Faln had said "bath", and her clothes were far too worthles to even waste a cleaning on.

Yhuni stood by quietly as the two spoke, obviously familiar with each other, though she did look up when the woman came to inspect her, shifting from leg to leg awkwardly. Underfed. Eh heh. That wasn't quite the truth. She had been fed as much as the other slaves, who were thin but not starved, and still she had never gained weight. She had really hoped that would work to her advantage and she might not even get sold, but...

That was when Cini called for the "boys", who came running in, and she really thought nothing of that or of the previous comment about the boys helping. She just figured they might clean her clothes, worthless as they were, or prepare her a bath--even if she was a slave, still, it was the only thing she could think up. But that was when Faln asked for her clothes.

Right then and there?!

"What? Right here?" she gasped before she could stop herself, giving a wide-eyed look around herself, at Cini, the three boys, and Faln. She wasn't especially body shy, but that was still asking a lot! For her to just strip naked in front of five complete strangers?! Four of them male?! Her mouth was open in horror, and yet she still couldn't fight the command. Her hands moved on their own accord, pulling off her shirt, stripping off her tattered skirt, and she literally threw the clothes at Faln when she was done so she could quickly cover up her chest, murder in her eyes as she looked at him. It wasn't like her body was much to look at, her stomach sunken in, her ribs poking out, even her hipbones sticking out more than they should, but it didn't mean she still didn't have her pride.

And her pride stung all the more at Faln's instructions, her cheeks reddening with embarrassment and anger. Thorough wash?! He was talking like she was a shirt or something! And have them do it?! Oh fuck no.

All pretenses were dropped right then and there, and Yhuni no longer cared about pretending to be meek and humble. She snarled something unintelligible before stomping off after the boys, nearly doubled over to cover herself. Until they dumped rather cold water over her and started washing her, telling her to bend over or spread her legs, which she had to do because they told her to, and Faln had told her to obey...that was when she lost it. She was not about to be molested by a bunch of kids! Or anyone, for that matter! Faln told her to listen to them, but they'd never told her that she had to let them wash her!

"STOP IT!" she shouted suddenly, slapping their hands away none-too-gently and standing up straight. She clamped her legs together and covered her chest with her arms again, body angled away from them. "I can wash myself! Go the hell away and I swear if you touch me again, your only wet dreams will come from succubi sucking the life out of you! And not in a fun way, I promise!" she snarled, snatching a washcloth out of one of their hands. Her chest was heaving in her anger, her face was red, and she felt utterly violated. She hardly even felt the cold anymore she was so upset, though she was still shivering.

"I can wash myself," she repeated, much more calmly, before turning her back to them so she could start scrubbing herself, and wash her hair. If she couldn't see them, even if they were watching, it at least made it a little easier on her. She could pretend they weren't there, get this over with as quickly as possible, and just focus on all the layers of dirt and grime she was getting rid of. By the time she was done, it was almost as though she were a new person--her dark skin shone a nice shade of copper, and her hair, once a dull, limp gray, turned out to be a snowy white.

It didn't do anything for her emaciated body, of course, or for her embarrassment, but at least she felt clean again. Kind of. She still felt horribly violated.

[Anonymous]

He couldn’t help but chuckle at the girls face as the lads started bathing her, especially when they touched something obviously sensitive.

She certainly needed a good wash. It wasn’t uncommon for slavers to completely ignore the hygiene of their slaves, even though one would think clean slaves would fetch a better price.

And there it was. The truth, finally revealed in a spectacular fit of rage. He chuckled again. Stupid girl, as if this were the most effective way to wash her. He could have just conjured the river water straight onto her and cleaned her himself far more quickly. This had been a test, a test to bring out that spark of defiance that he had seen earlier. Well, her act was well and truly broken now. The silly little chit hadn’t even been able to maintain it for ten minutes. Hah!

He glanced at the boys, who had bunched together and were still staring at Yhuni, whispering and pointing. That was until their mother roused at them to stop staring and get back to work, making them sulkily return to the wash pots, casting regular curious glances at Yhuni and scathing looks to their mother.

She didn’t look too bad when she cleaned up. Good skin, the colour showing that she’d seen her share of sun, which was good since she was going to be out in the sun on deck most of the day. Her white hair was a little…unexpected. Faln caught himself running his fingers through the bands of white hair that winged the rest of his black. To a Drygan, white indicated power. Though this didn’t hold true with humans, it still piqued some curiosity on a primal level as to her powers.

“Come Yhuni!� he snapped once she was done.

With a word of thanks to Cini, Faln strode out the door and back into the street with Yhuni on his heels like a faithful dog. A horribly thin dog at that.

He walked to the waters edge, scanned the river for a moment, then cursed and trudged back up to where the road was stone again. Damn merchant ships were blocking his view. It wasn’t that he couldn’t get around that problem, but why waste the energy?

“Come one, you can drip dry.�

Again, not necessary, a flick of magic could have her dry in an instant, but letting her walk around naked and wet was fitting punishment for her tongue earlier.

“Remember Yhuni, misbehave and you will be punished. I was going to give you a nice dress if you had been good.�

Not entirely the truth, but hell, she was his slave. He walked along, following the river and scanning the ships that filled it. Because he wasn’t watching where he was going Faln ran into a large man dressed rather pompously to be loitering around the docks. Though he pretended as if he hadn’t seen it, Faln knew that the man hadn’t been watching where he was going either, apparently quite distracted by little Yhuni. It was amazing the power of breasts, even on the most dishevelled husk of a body.

He bowed and apologised most humbly to the man, who sniffed and continued on, muttering about dock rats. Faln simply grinned, and gave Yhuni a little wink as he tossed a fat coin purse he’d lifted into the air and caught it again, hiding it safely in a pocket of his coat.

“Ah!� he exclaimed suddenly, “There she is. Fabulous.�

Taking Yhuni by one shoulder he focused on what he could see sitting in the middle of the river, the Jagged Rose. With a brief sucking feeling they were both on the deck, surrounded by a quickly dissipating black haze. He grinned. “Welcome, to your new home.�

It was quite a ship, sleek and thin, with two raked back masts with furled triangle sails. The lower decks held the various bunks, galley and storage hold, which could be accessed through a covered hole in the centre of the deck, to which a crane could be rigged. The raised back platform, atop which sat the wheel, formed the room of the captains quarters. Sprouting from the two back corners of the ship were two huge fan-like constructions, held up and painted in vivid orange. The fans could be released to fall into the water for sharp turning, and then pulled back up again by a crank. The ship had no cannons, relying rather on Faln to use magic to protect her, and housed a single powerful weapon. A bladed ram sat below the surface at the bow, which was swept back for ramming rather than forward as in most ships of the day. The ram was the tip or the main beam running along the spine of the ship, a single solid trunk of wood that was near unbreakable.

Atop the swept back bow with her feet resting atop the rams blade and her arms stretched up to the front rail lay the mistress of the Jagged Rose, a carved maiden, naked to the seas wrath, her steel body gleaming in the sun. Her wrists and ankles were bound by roses, whose thorns dug into her skin. Her hands held the ships front lantern.

“The Jagged Rose, my ship and my only true love, most of it carved by my own hand. Respect her, for she is my master, as I am yours. I do nothing that she doesn’t agree with. Nor does she do anything that the sea does not wish. So you see Yhuni, we are all bound to our respective masters.�

[Rhindeer]

Yhuni was still seething with anger and humiliation when Faln called her over, and she had no choice but to respond and walk after him, dripping wet and quickly crossing her arms over her chest to shield what she could. Not that it made a difference anymore...everyone had already seen everything, now. But pride still burned strong within her, and her pride was sore now. Not only because she'd just been stripped naked, everyone around her had seen her, and some boys had started to wash her, but if that wasn't enough, that state of her body just added to that. She felt ugly and ashamed.

She glared melevolently at Faln, but her expression slowly began to change when she realized one vital detail: he was leading her away, he wasn't stopping and...there were no extra clothes in his hands.

They were heading towards the street!

"What're you doing?!" she screeched before she could stop herself, panic jolting through her, and only increasing when he made his intentions clear. DRIP-DRY?! No dress?! "WHAT THE FUCK! You can't do this! You're gonna get arrested!" But even though she tried to resist, the command was stronger and she had no choice but to follow him along the river. Shivering, cold, and...naked. Exposed, vulnerable, pissed as all hell...and scared, too. "I was behaving! I just didn't want a bunch of little boys touching me, you sick bastard! You sick--"

She stopped, but that was only because she finally noticed, through her blinding rage, that Faln had had run into another man. Another man that had been watching her. Cringing, Yhuni wrapped her arms around herself tighter, wishing she had her rags again or that she could at least sit down and curl up, but thank Gods the guy moved on. Shuddering, she hunched her shoulders and averted her eyes when Faln grinned and showed off the coin purse he'd snatched. She didn't care. She hated him.

His sudden exclamation made her glance back over at him, and before she could jerk away when he placed his hand on her shoulder...well, suddenly they were on a ship. Yhuni blinked rapidly as the haze cleared, for a moment forgetting her anger as she glanced around, wondering how the hell that had happened but too stubborn to ask. Either this was a dream, or that was magic.

Her shivers, racing heart, hunger, and the goosebumps covering her skin told her it sure wasn't the former.

And the tension that locked every muscle when he announced that this was her "new home" further confirmed that. Gods...

Yhuni's hands, which were gripping her shoulders as her arms were crossed over her chest, tightened until her nails were digging into the bony flesh. Oh hell no. Trapped out at sea, there'd be no way to break away! Or contact her brother. Not that she could to begin with but...oh no...

The ship was majestic indeed, but Yhuni could only stare at the ground at her bare feet, trying to fight against the sense of defeat that wanted to consume her right there. She'd held onto her sanity for so fucking long for this? When Faln spoke, she finally raised her eyes, but only for a moment before she looked away and turned her back on him, both out of disgust and, well...because she also didn't want him to see her tears. She was more comfortable expressing anger than she was fear.

"I don't care. I hate it, and I hate you!" Yhuni snarled, no longer even trying to act like a beaten slave. She didn't care anymore, it didn't matter, and what was the use of pretending, anyway? Nothing had gone according to plan, and Faln had managed to breach a number of her limits.

[Anonymous]

While Yhuni had some sort of panic attack Faln gazed up at the sails, furled of course, to check that everything was in order. People sometimes snuck onto an unmanned ship.

When everything checked out her looked down at her, head tilted a little. “Aaaw, you’re cute when you’re angry.�

There, that should piss her off even more. Let her get angry, not like she could do anything anyway. She’d simmer down eventually. Flicking his wrist at her he used a little magic to send the water still dripping off her flying into the river. “Now, follow,� he commanded, turning on the spot and heading aft.

He ducked through the door leading below decks and into a narrow passage that split off to go into the bowels of the ship. He didn’t go down, but rather went through the door in front of him, which lead into the captain’s quarters.

There was nothing fancy about the room itself, other than its size, which was much more than the crew had. The ships inner ribbing ran up and down the walls with cupboards set into them. Light spilled in from the window that spanned the breadth of the ship at its rear and lamps lined the walls for the night. Faln’s bunk sat on the starboard side of the room, with a desk in the middle and a sea chest on the opposite side.

He sauntered over to the chest and lifted it’s heavily gilded lid. After rummaging around for a moment he produced a very old pair of brown canvas pants. They were once long enough for Faln, but claws will cause accidents when it comes to pants, and these ones day had long past. About half the material of each leg was simply gone, torn away, and what was left was ridden with holes, some in rather unfortunate places.

He tossed the pants to Yhuni. “Put those on. That’s all you’re allowed to wear, for now. They night be a tad big, but that’s your problem not mine,� he paused for a moment to think, “Now, I’ll be needing to get a new crew together, that could take a few weeks. You are ordered to eat properly, the galley’s down below, you’ll find it. I’ll give you one week to get you’re strength back before I put you to any hard labor.�

He went over to the desk and pulled a book out of it, ‘Seamanship, Volume I’. Tossing it to her, he said, “Read that, learn it.�

That would teach her the basics of knots, terminology….not that Faln really used the correct terms a lot, the chain of command and so on and so forth.

This was not going to be an easy ride for the girl.

[Rhindeer]

Yhuni was still brooding (if a bit simmered down by then) when they made it to his quarters, and she eyed the room with disinterest and distaste, lip curled. It wasn't a bad room or anything, but she'd already decided she hated Faln and everything about him, ship included. She glared at his back as he moved to the sea chest, arms still wrapped around herself, but she had to uncross them when Faln pulled out some pants and tossed them to her. She caught them and stared down at them, then promptly hugged them to her chest. Clothes! That brought a small spark of happiness among all the gloom.

A spark that promptly faded when no shirt followed, and he imformed her that the ripped up pants were all she got to wear.

The blood drained from her face and her eyes widened, stinging with repressed tears. It didn't matter that he'd already forced her to walk all the way to this godforsaken ship naked and utterly humiliated. She had been hoping for clothes, she'd been hoping that had been the end of her punishment, and now he was only going to give her half? On a ship? For how long?! What about the crew?! Bare-breasted on a ship with a bunch of men?! It was better than being fully naked, and he didn't have a crew yet, but she'd thought that punishment was only temporary! Now it had to last even longer? Panic began to work its way through her again as the situation finally started to sink in.

Her, a slave. A female slave. On a ship full of men. With a master that seemed to have a thing for making her go in the buff.

"You bastard..." she hissed in a near whisper, heart hammering in her chest and throat tightening to the point that speaking was difficult. Probably a good thing, too, otherwise she would have shouted every obscenity she knew at him. Perverted, bastardly, stupid overgrown lizard! Her hands shook as she clutched the breeches and, feeling the overwhelming compulsion to obey, she turned her back to Faln and slipped the breeches on, quickly doing up the fly and wishing she had a belt. Big on her was an understatement. It might not have been so bad if she were healthy, but the pants sagged off her bony hips, showing a moderate amount of bottom, and they were ridiculously baggy around her too-skinny legs as well as being too long on her.

She had to hold them up at the hem with one hand, otherwise she feared they'd fall off. She kept her other arm wrapped over her breasts and peered over her shoulder at Faln as he kept mouthing off. Hard labor? Eat properly? She grit her teeth, feeling the command and loathing him. The bastard could control her even on the level of making sure she ate...

Thank gods there was a loophole there. She didn't want to eat "properly". That meant getting her strength back. That meant getting some meat back on her bones.

That meant she might actually look attractive as opposed to emaciated. No one would want her as she was now, skin and bones and sunken in eyes. She wanted to keep it that way.

The book he tossed to her landed on the floor with a hard thud, as Yhuni simply stepped to the side to avoid it. She didn't even move to pick it up, only raised her eyebrows incredulously at his order to read and learn it before managing a dry, humorless laugh. "I'm sorry Master Faln, but I can't read."

A pang of victory accompanied that simple statement. He couldn't order her into literacy any more than he could order her to sprout wings. He couldn't control everything about her.

...He also couldn't control what she did with the pants he gave her, could he?

They were too long on her. She'd trip. He'd only said it was the only garment she could wear, not that she couldn't alter it.

In a final act of defiance, feeling empowered by the knowledge that she could find ways to subvert him even now, she bent down, back still to him, and began to tear the pants off at just above her knee on both legs. Straightening again, she tied the two strips of cloth together before haphazardly fastening it around her chest and tying it off in the back. There.

Now she had a shirt, and she hadn't broken any rules.

[Anonymous]

A wide grin spread slowly across Faln's face. He couldn't help it; she was trying so hard to be defiant. Alright, so she couldn't read. He should have expected that really, seeing as how cheap she was. Seriously, he'd paid more for cheap whores than he'd paid for her.

He sauntered over to his desk and sat down, leaning back in his leather backed chair and propping his feet up on the oak desktop. He at her again when he heard ripping. What the shit was she...?

He laughed, tossing his head back and clutching at his sides. "Oh, oh very good. Clever girl."

Couldn't punish her for that, especially since it really wasn't anything important. He wasn't going to be mean, he decided, but rather...helpful. If she did the wrong thing, he would help her learn to do it right. If she did something clever like that, well it wasn't really wrong, so she wouldn't be punished.

Tossing his big hat aside, Faln scratched his head. Uh...what the hell was he supposed to do with her now? She couldn't work until she had some meat on her, he couldn't even perv on her until then. Somehow boobs just weren't fun when not accompanied by a healthy body. He couldn't even have fun punishing her until she was working...because she hadn't done anything wrong.

So he just stared blankly at her, eyes shifting uneasily, for a few minutes.

[Rhindeer]

She'd won.

On some level, Yhuni felt this was a victory, and whe Faln laughed and called her clever, she just grinned right back as if to say, I know. It was a short-lived victory, however, because while it soon became clear that she wasn't going to get in trouble for this, now the guy was just staring at her.

And that was rather awkward.

Maybe he'd forgotten she was even there and was zoning out or something. Weeeird.

"Uh, so...the galley. Mind if I look for it? Master?" she asked after a pause, shifting awkwardly and adjusting her makeshift top in the back to be sure that it was tied securely. She wasn't actually hungry; she was used to not eating much, and her stomach and appetite alike weren't that large as a result. Not like she planned on changing those eating habits, either, since a healthy feeding regimen meant a healthy body and all of the complications that came along with it. Yhuni let out a low sigh at the thought. How ironic. Most slaves prayed for good health whole she purposely sabotaged her own body for her own protection--and in an act of defiance. If she couldn't control anything else about her body, she could at least control when and if she ate.

So even if she didn't plan on eating, it was still an excuse to get away from him, and she'd take it.

[Anonymous]

On seafaring ships, such as the one they were on now, the wood had to be cleaned regularly to stop it rotting or warping from the exposure to salt water. While the Rose was not at sea at the moment, she still needed cleaning. That would have to be Yhuni's first chore.

"No..." he replied, still not focusing entirely on her, "No." Faln stood up and closed the distance between him and the door. He opened the door and motioned for her to go through it, then when he realised the binding magic only worked verbally, commanded, "Off you go, up on deck with yah." As she past him he gave her a hard slap on the bottom...to encourage her to move faster, of course.

Following her up onto deck, and evaluating that bottom as he did, Faln breathed deep, enjoying the air. His cabin was rather stuffy without the windows open, which they weren't obviously. That was just inviting thieves. He should know, he was one.

Blinking, he realised what he'd forgotten. "Wait here." He spun and went back inside, turning immediately to go down the steep stepladder to the galley, crew bunks and cargo hold. Several mops and buckets sat in the corner. Faln took a mop, and chose a bucket that had the brass cleaning rags and paste in it. He appeared back on deck a moment later and dropped the bucket with a clatter in front of Yhuni. "Now, you're to mop the deck, and use them rags and that paste to clean all the brass." He tossed her the mop. "I trust you'll do both with enthusiasm." She'd better, else there'd be hell to pay.

Still, she needed food, and he didn't trust her to do it herself. This fancy magical collar seemed great, but it must have some kind of flaw. Best not take chances; she might try to starve herself or something. It looked like she'd been doing a pretty good job of that already.

Again he turned and descended that stepladder, this time teleporting down the length of the room to the door to the galley, which sat about halfway down the ship. The door was split in half, so that the top could be opened and used a serving window. He busied himself inside, slipping down into the food store below the galley to find cheese and some fruit that he'd bought since making port, since the rest had gone bad long ago.

When he trotted back again he bore a large, slightly chipped, clay bowl laden with various fruits, cheeses, some bread and dried meat. Staples aboard a ship, without cooking anything at least. He needed to find a good steward, because damned if he knew how to cook. And a good bosun as well, and...well a crew in general.

He stepped back out into the sun and grunted, looking at what she'd done in the time he'd been gone. Not nearly good enough. "Hmph. Well, what do you have to say for this then?"

[Rhindeer]

Enthusiasm. Sure.

Yhuni scowled at Faln's back and made a rude hand gesture at him, them turned to the task at hand. The enthusiasm part hadn't been a command, and even if it had, she didn't think her body was physically capable of fulfilling that order at the moment, anyway. She was exhausted from a combination of sleep deprivation and stress, and with her body in the condition it was, even simple tasks tired her quickly. Heaving a sigh, feeling that strange magic tugging her toward her task, she took up the mop, plunged it into the bucket, and began to swab the deck.

It was true that she didn't do a very good job. She was slow as it was, and then she kept getting distracted as she peeked past the railing at the water below. The shore wasn't that far away. If she jumped, maybe she would have energy enough to swim to shore. Then again, Faln had ordered her not to escape, so that posed a problem, and not even she could fool herself into thinking she could make it as she was now.

By the time Faln returned, Yhuni had only swabbed a small square of deck, her hair was sticking to her sweat-stained face, and she was breathing a bit heavier than she should have been for the amount of work she'd done. Wiping a hand across her brow and leaning against the mop, she fixed Faln with a flat, deadpan stare, not even bothering to look at the food-laden bowl. She'd gone so long without a proper meal, half her own doing and half the doing of the slavers, that the sight of it nauseated her more than anything.

Her expression didn't change when he spoke. What could she say? She gave a shrug, straightened up, and began to mop again. "What do you want to hear?" she answered curtly, turning her back to him.