Serious Moonlight (M)

[Lion]

The long trek to rejoin the group began and the two were captured and hoisted up on large poles, separated as they were carried between two hunters each.  The one that was slashed was supported by the shorter man that had ordered them carried.

"Fucking shapechangers!  This'd better be worth it Red!" He growled, limping along.

[DragonSong]

Very slowly, Ghost started to come back around. She groaned at the pain in her head and the chafing ache around her wrists and ankles. Eyes clenched shut against the throbbing soreness, she vaguely realized she was suspended from some sort of pole. She wriggled around, trying to find weaknesses, take stock of the situation, but that just sent another jolt of pain through her head.

"Veles?" She coughed and groaned again, then cautiously cracked an eye open. "Wh-where are you taking us?" she demanded of te first hunter she saw, wincing.

[Lion]

"Shoulda gagged her," the hunter said, ignoring her.

Veles on the other hand was barely stirring and when he registered her voice, only then did he shift his eyes open.  His head was aching hard, and his shoulders felt like they were going to be ripped apart, and the blood shifted down from his extremities.  He breathed in sharply.

"Ghost!" he said, voice soft and in shock somewhat.  He was about to ask the most obvious question but it was evident from how they were tied and by whom what had happened.

So instead he asked, "Ghost are you all right?"

[DragonSong]

"Veles!" Despite everything, it was a sort of relief to hear his voice. Even if she did wish he'd somehow gotten away while she was unconscious.

She twisted in an effort to look at him, then whimpered as her body gave a sharp pang of soreness from various extremities. Eyes clenching shut, she swallowed a whimper and murmured, "I- I'm alright. Are you okay?"

[Lion]

Veles gave a groan at the pounding that made his ears thump in his head.  "I'm...okay, I think" he said with a few grunts of being uncomfortable.

"Shut up, the both of you!" one hunger growled.

They were making good distance but they really should have gagged this pair, it would have made the journey that much easier.  "We'll wait by the river for the others.  And you two, you try to escape and we'll take your fucking scalps."

[DragonSong]

Ghost hissed at the hunter, teeth bared in an animalistic snarl. "If you hurt him, I'll rip your throat out," she growled, pale eyes snapping with rage.

Honestly, the force of her own anger startled her a bit. She'd never been in a position where she felt so protective before- but the fae creature was so innocent to her, she just felt like she has to look out for him.

[Lion]

"That's it.  Gag the both of them," the lead hunter growled as he helped the man beside him. 

Veles did not accept it willingly, but after being tied and held down, he had no choice.  There was little he could do in his current state and soon the hunters made their rendezvous with the approaching group.  They hailed them from across the river, the signal fire waiting.

"What are you doing all the way over there?" Darian called out.

"Took a wrong turn.  But look what we found."  And the hunter revealed the pair tied together to their stake.

[DragonSong]

Ghost fought against the gag as much as she could, but like Veles she was held mostly helpless. Attempting to bite the hunter who gagged her only earned her a crack upside the head that had her seeing stars.

When their group met with the rest of the hunters she felt her heart sink and a small whimper was pulled unconsciously from her lips. She tried to shrink back from the light of the signal fire, sensitive eyes snapping shut.

[Lion]

Darian smiled at the look of their quarry on the other side, and he motioned for his men to find a way across the rushing water.  Within fifteen minutes they whistled back and the others soon followed.  "These two look like they've been beaten," Darian said after he inspected the pair.

Veles shivered in the cold, steeling himself as he felt the lead hunger draw near.  Turning, he met the other man's gaze, and he scowled, biting down at the cloth between his teeth.

"Why did you beat them?"

"They struggled sir!  And wouldn't shut the hell up.  I did what I had to do to keep them under control."

"And you devalued them by at least a third by the time we get to market," Darian growled and before anyone knew it, his hand slammed hard against the stockier man's face.  The smaller man tumbled to the ground, landing on a rock against the riverbank.

Veles frowned and with what hand he could, wiggled it toward Ghost to somewhat intertwine his fingers with hers.  And all the while his heart beat wildly in his chest.

[DragonSong]

Ghost was shaking desperately, both from cold and fear. She started slightly when she felt Veles' hand against hers, then clutched at his fingers the best she could. She twisted her head to meet his eyes and shifted a little closer, pressing her shoulder against his.

Market. These people were going to sell them?

[Lion]

He stumbled to his feet, holding his jaw.  "Sorry Darian," he griped.  Darian only sniffed and moved toward the man with the wound, who was writhing on the ground.

"And I guess someone sunk their teeth into Bickney here?" he asked.  "Sloppy work.  But you got the pair.  Now we can get the hell out of this fucking forest.  And make some real money."

Darian was clearly irritated with the whole operation.  And when he was close enough to Ghost, he pulled down the gag.  "You two are lucky.  If I didn't show up, it seems the beatings probably just would have continued.  They don't have to as long as you behave."

[DragonSong]

She hissed at him.

"Behave? You want us to just go quietly into slavery? Or worse?" Her grip on her friend's hand tightened and abs shifted until she was a little more protectively in front of him- almost laying over top of him, actually.

"You go to hell," she snarled at Darian, her while body shaking violently, though whether that was mostly fear, rage, or cold she honestly wasn't sure.

[Lion]

Darian just laughed.  "I like your moxie kid.  You've got heart.  You'd have made a fine hunter.  It's too bad that mouth will no doubt get you into trouble."

[DragonSong]

She glowered, shifting a little closer to Veles. "Bite me." She twisted her wrists against her bonds, subtly bring the ropes into contact with the tips of the fae creature's fingers and tapping lightly. If he could just work the knots a little loose...

[Lion]

Veles however was too trapped in fear to realize what Ghost was trying signal him to do.  He only looked at her and gently felt the rope in his fingers.  Only then did he understand.  But what good would escaping do, they were surrounded and would be quickly detained again.

"I can see why you gagged her," Darian smirked and tightened the cloth around her mouth once more. 

Veles slowly wiggled at the rope, trying not to make it look obvious. 

"When we get back, we've got to thank Rook for telling us about you two.  People pay good money for exotic skins "

[DragonSong]

Ghost struggled, but there really wasn't much she could do to keep from being gagged again. She snarled into the cloth, trying to keep her wrists still for Veles to work.

Her eyes were like ice as she stared up at Darian, silently daring him to just fucking try it. Honestly the shapeshifter was a little suprised by the sheer rage that rose up in her.

She was going to protect Veles. She had to. Rook had said he would help them, but to her it seemed obvious he's either been untruthful or incapable. Getting them out of here fell to her.

[Lion]

Veles felt his fingers turn to claws, just enough to prick at the rope in small intervals.

But from the other side of the river, something stirred in the woods that got the other hunters' attention.  "Brandt, go check that out," Bickney growled, rubbing at his throat.  Brandt was a tall lean figure, not all that imposing, but didn't argue with the stockier man.  He wouldn't have had much of a chance too when an arrow came flying out from the trees beyond and struck him deep in the throat.

[DragonSong]

A gasp jerked from Ghost's throat at the now all too familiar sound of an arrow in flight, twisting in an attempt to see what had happened.

One of the hunters, dead. Either by coincidence or design, it was an opportunity- the others would be distracted at least for a few minutes.

She twisted her head to peer at Veles over her shoulder, silently urging him to hurry.

[Lion]

There was a commotion, and Darian angrily swirled toward the trees.  "Who did that!?" he howled, but as another arrow flew out from the trees, another hunter screamed when it stuck deep into his knee.  "Get the pair and let's get out of here!"

A few arrows flew back into the tree, and sunk hopelessly into the ground.  Two men went for the pair tied to the stake in the ground.  Veles grit his teeth and took a leg up to one of them and kicked him hard.  The claws shredded part of the rope and loosened it enough that he hoped she could break her hand free.

[DragonSong]

With a small cry of triumph Ghost ripped her wrists free, rope burning her skin though she didn't really feel it. In an instant she shifted, taking the shape of a wolf just long enough to snap Veles' bonds between her teeth.

Then she whirled and rose up on her hind legs, becoming an eerily pale grizzly. She roared, paws swatting at hunters as she stood protectively in front of her friend, trying to buy him time to run.