Unwanted (Rina-Lady!)

[shinigamikitsune]

It was a typical day for the small town, nothing out of the ordinary had happened, and there were the usual merchants that had stopped to set up their tents along the market road.

Today there was a tent that belonged to a slave trader. All of the living merchandise were nicely groomed and well dressed, meant to entice potential customers. However the personal slave of the trader wasn't nearly as lucky as those who were for sale. He was dressed in rags, and looked rather filthy. For the most part he stayed behind the scenes, but today was different.

Since it was warm out, the little elven slave was tasked at bringing water to the other slaves throughout the day. He was currently on his way back from the well with a bucket of water, nearly back to the tent he was bumped into by a passerby, causing him to fall over and spill the contents everywhere. Which happened to include his master's feet, sloshing up some mud on him.

The slave trader glared at the little slave, and grabbed him by the hair in order to drag him to his feet. "You idiot! I give you one simple job, and you even screw that up!"

The petite slave winced in fear, and whimpered, knowing what was coming next. He was dragged back to the tent then thrown to the ground. The trader grabbed his flogger from the post, and turned back to the little slave to start hitting him across the back with it.

[Anonymous]

It was a nice day and Doyle was picking up supplies for the kitchen. The extra mouth he was feeding meant he ran through he supplies faster then he was used too, so he was visiting the merchants. It was nice having someone staying with him, even someone as prickly as Ruben.

His bag was starting to get pleasantly heavy, though he was making sure to avoid meat. The incident with the pig seemed to have made the mage skittish about meat. Doyle wasn't really liking that, he missed eating flesh, calmed some of those urges in him. He could make though. It wasn't so bad.

Passing by the slave traders made Doyle uncomfortable. He didn't really like the practice, though it wasn't his business. He avoided it as much as possible. A small, malnourished elf was getting flogged outside a tent. Clenching his fist, Doyle kept his head down. It wasn't his place to interfere. It made him feel heavy and dirty to keep walking, but the slave was legally owned.

[shinigamikitsune]

"You're such a worthless piece of filth!" The slave trader yelled at the whimpering elf. He hit the elf a few more times, then kicked him. The other slaves winced and looked away, even the more hauty ones. It could have easily been any one of them in that position.

"You're not even worth the food you eat! Get out of my sight, you disgusting creature!" The slaver kicked the small elf harder and out into the street. He then turned to close the curtains of his booth.

[Anonymous]

The shouting was hard to ignore and Doyle turned his attention to where the slave had been kicked into the street. He winced at the sound of the boot hitting flesh. He knew first hand how much that hurt.

Then....the man went back inside. Leaving the slave lying in the street. After telling him to leave. That was not something Doyle had ever expected. Slaves were expensive and few were ever just...freed.

But that didn't really matter right then. Jogging over, Doyle dropped down next to the boy, reaching out to hesitantly touch his arm, "Hey. Are you okay?"

Seemed like his week for taking people to the healers.

[shinigamikitsune]

StarFire flinched when the stranger touched him, almost expecting to be beaten more. "I... I'm s-so-so-orry..." he stuttered in almost a near whisper. "I-I-I'll... m-m--mo-ve.... just p-pl-ple-ease... d-d-do-on't h-h-hhhurt m-mmeee."

On closer inspection, it was easy to see that the petite elf had been starved and malnourished for an extended period of time. He'd been beaten and whipped many times as well, and from the scars, some of them were from long before this master.

[Anonymous]

Doyle blinked, startled by the slaves fear. Though, he was well aware he wasn't really fit the image of a rescuer. He looked more a little villainous for that, but hopefully he could get the kid to calm down.

"Hey. It's okay, yeah? I'm not mad. Deep breaths, okay?" Doyle held his hand out, "Let's see about gettin' ya out of the street. Ya hungry?" Waiting around outside of the slavers tent was probably a bad idea. Man might change his mind and, well, loitering in the streets was just kinnda rude.

[shinigamikitsune]

It wasn't that Doyle was a mean looking guy, it was more the fact that StarFire was use to violence against him then having a helping hand extended to him. He wasn't sure if he should go with this man, but his old master had kicked him out. Perhaps this man intended to become his new master. If so, then he shouldn't do anything to upset him so soon, and try to show him that he could be a good slave.

The elf gave a little nod at the question asked, he was hungry... then again he couldn't remember the last time he didn't feel some sort of hunger. He was trembling by this point, and trying to pull himself up and get to his feet. However, the beating he had been given had hurt him more in his malnourished state and he was having a hard time at it. Which caused him to whimper in frustration, and fear that he was making his new master angry.

[Anonymous]

Doyle started to straighten up, hoping to get out of the street. The kid still seemed terrified, so he pulled his hand back, not wanting to make him feel crowded. He might not feel comfortable with a stranger so close.

Watching him struggle to stand had Doyle wanting to turn and march into the tent to beat that slavers face in. He hated the whole process. But it wasn't really his place to prevent it. And right now, helping the kid in front of him was a higher priority.

As soon as StarFire whimpered, Doyle leaned down, scooping him up, "Don't worry. I ain't gonna hurt ya. If it's okay with you, I'm gonna take ya back ta my place. Ain't real far, get ya some food and cleaned up, okay?"

Shifting the boys light weight, he grabbed his other bags and started back for home. Hopefully Ruben wouldn't mind the extra company.

[shinigamikitsune]

StarFire tensed the moment that Doyle picked him up. He didn't know what this man was going to do to him, but he figured that if he acted like a good little slave, then at the very least he wouldn't have reason to beat him. Though it seemed as though this man was a kind person. However, the little elf knew full well that even if a new master seemed fine at first, that didn't mean that he would always be that nice.

He was surprised when the man was able to carry him along with his other bags. In all honesty, he had thought that he would have been forced to walk.

[Anonymous]

Moving quickly away from the slavers stall, Doyle tried to avoid jostling the boy too much, "Just let me know if ya wanna walk. Sorry if I startled ya, just didn't seem like a real good idea ta hang out in front of that place long, ya know?"

He felt a little awkward having just picked the kid up and dragged him off. But he really hadn't wanted to give the slaver a chance to change his mind, "Name's Doyle. Let's get ya cleaned up and fixed up. And if ya like, we can get ya some food before ya try and figure out what ya wanna do."

Kid probably had no where to go, few slaves did. His place was already a little crowded with Ruben, but he could easily make space if the kid needed a place to stay for a while, get on his feet.

[shinigamikitsune]

StarFire had his eyes closed at first, almost expecting to be dropped at some point soon after he had been picked up. When his new master started speaking again, his eyes opened and he looked up at him for a brief moment. This man was rather handsome, if a little rugged around the edges.

He quickly lowered his eyes to focus on the man's chest, before he got caught starting at his face. A good slave never met his master eye to eye... a slave was not worthy to do so. He made sure to listen to the man though, in case he would be asked a question. When his new master told him his name, the petite elf made sure to remember it. Doyle was not a name that he often heard. It was a nice name.

With his arms wrapped around Doyle's neck, clinging weakly to him, his fingers started to play with the hair at the nape of his neck. It was a nervous habit he had... playing with whatever was at his fingertips.

[Anonymous]

Doyle didn't notice the elf looking at him, paying more attention to where he was going then the ex-slave in his arms. He was used to getting odd looks from people, with his large size, unusual coloring and scared face.

"Now, ya got my name, what about you tell me yours?" He was starting to feel a little awkward about the whole thing. Things had happened rather quickly, wanting to get the elf away from the slaver before the man calmed down and realized he might have made a mistake in just throwing the slave out.

The fingers against his neck made Doyle stiffen a little. It tickled and he wasn't really used to anyone touching him like that. Shrugging his shoulders, Doyle gave a small laugh, "Careful now. That tickles and I don't wanna drop ya."

[shinigamikitsune]

He blinked a couple of times, and almost looked up at Doyle's face. This man wanted to know his name? He couldn't remember the last time that he had been asked what it was. Then again, most times it was the old master telling the new master about him... or the new master calling him whatever he wanted to.

"S-s-starF..F-ff-fi-ire..." he managed to stutter out. He was still really shook up, and was in a fair amount of pain, even if he didn't vocalize it.

When the man made comment about him playing with the hair at the nape of his neck, he instantly stopped, laying his hands flat against him. He didn't want to take the chance to anger this new master and cause him to stop treating him so gently.

[Anonymous]

"Starfire? That yer name?" The kid was stammering so badly it was hard to tell for sure, but he hoped he had that right. When he felt the boy freeze, his hand going back to his chest, Doyle felt a little guilty for asking him to stop. He hadn't meant the boy couldn't touch him, just that it had tickled.

"Hey. It's okay. I ain't mad. Relax. I told ya, I ain't gonna hurt ya." His long legs were making good time and Doyle's house wasn't far. He could already see the roof of it. It wouldn't be long before he would be back. Ruben was probably still asleep, which might be best for the shaken boy.

[shinigamikitsune]

The small elf nodded when Doyle asked about his name being correct. Over the many times that he'd changed masters, many of them had called him different things, though he managed to remember his own name.

He nodded again when the man said that he wasn't going to hurt him. StarFire really hoped that this man wouldn't hurt him like he said he wouldn't. It seemed as though this man didn't want to hurt him, but it was still too soon to tell for sure. There had been so many times when masters had claimed to be nice, turned out to be some of those that had hurt him the worst.

When he worked up the courage to look around, he was surprised to see that they were so far out of town already. So this person was most likely a local... perhaps that was a good thing, since he knew that the slaver would be traveling to one of the larger cities within the next day or two. While there was always the possibility for people to buy slaves in the smaller towns, business was always better in the larger ones.

[Anonymous]

Kid wasn't much of a talker, but Doyle couldn't blame him. Probably little shook up and, well, Doyle had kind of abducted him. Well, once he got some food into the kid, the elf could leave if he wanted too. He traveled the rest of the distance to his home is silence, letting Starfire rest.

He entered the house as carefully as he could, not wanting to make too much noise. Ruben needed his sleep or he was cranky. ...crankier. He smiled a little, heading to the kitched, "Welp. This is my place. Let's get ya some food, yeah? That sound okay?"

It was a bit of a dance to set Starfire down on one of the chairs at the table and the food onto the table without dropping it all, but he managed. Rubbing the back of his neck, Doyle glanced around, "Um...what would ya like? I ain't got much, but got some bread and cheese and some pork...or I can cook somethin' but that would take a bit longer."

He was feeling rather awkward. This was definitely a new situation for him.

[shinigamikitsune]

StarFire was a little surprised at being placed into an actual chair, and at the table as well. He wasn't sure what he had done to warrant this kind of treatment, but he was going to do everything he could to ensure that he didn't anger his new master.

"Anything you make would be great," he said softly. It had been a long time he was given the choice in something to eat, and nearly just as long since the food he'd eaten wasn't just table scraps or food that would have otherwise been thrown out.

[Anonymous]

"Well, I tend ta like my food really spicy." Doyle looked a little sheepish, going through the food stored around the kitchen. It was simple foods and lacked much in the way of variety, but he had an impressive collection of spices. Traveling the world had given him access to a number of different flavors and he still had a decent store left over.

"How about some gruel? Got some left over from breakfast." It wasn't anything special, but it was hearty. Serving up a bowl, Doyle slid it in front of Starfire before taking a seat, "Go ahead and eat as much as ya want. I got plenty. I would offer ya some new clothes, but I don't got many and I think they would be too big." Between lending Ruben clothes and the monster from the other night, Doyle was running low on outfits.

[shinigamikitsune]

Gruel would be just fine, it was something substantial, and it didn't look as though somebody had eaten half the bowl then cast it aside. "Thank you," he said softly, then picked up the spoon to start eating.

Over the years of being half starved for periods of time, he had learned that it was best to eat slow. Wolfing anything down right now would only make him sick and cause him to bring up anything that he had eaten. Having been so long since he had been given much food at a time, he ate slowly, until his was full. When he was done, he had only eaten about half of what was in the bowl.

[Anonymous]

While the boy ate, Doyle started to unload the supplies he had picked up. It was going to take a little while to adjust to feeding more than himself again. And Ruben didn't really eat meat after that first breakfast. Doyle wouldn't have killed it where Ruben could hear if he had known how much it would have affected the mage.

Glancing up, he noticed half the bowl was still there, though he wasn't to surprised, "Well, lemme know if ya want more. I got plenty. Now, there ain't no rush, ya can stay here long as ya need, but, well....ya got any plans kid? For what yer gonna do now?"