Unchained [M] [SanctifiedSavage]

[Lowen Thorn]

"That should be good enough."

Amaya stroked his chin, pondering on the different scenarios, as he further expanded on their plan of action after Legs picked the lock. He took a look at his surroundings, really studying them this time, and snapped his finger.

"Kay," he started. "There's no magic bound to these cells that could set off an alarm. That I am sure of. Now, I don't know how many guards there are going to be waiting right outside this room.. but I am going to assume not many."

He jumped to his feet, brushed himself off, and rubbed his hands together in excitement.

"Now that we're locked away in here, they won't see us as much of a threat. Nicholas is still going to need his guards attending to that shit show, and they're too stupid to think we wouldn't try anything."

He approached the bars, placing his each hand on one and resting his face between an opening. "I say our chances are pretty good," he grinned. "You lead the way, and I'll sneak up on the guards one-by-one if I have to, taking them out. What about you? Feeling up to it now, or do you need to rest? Did they hurt you?"

For the moment, Amaya's customary wise-ass routine was replaced with honest concern. If only for the moment.

[SanctifiedSavage]

She wanted to ask how he knew there was no magic, but Inaya didn't exactly want to admit to that sort of ignorance either. The dancer would take him at his word and if he botched the whole thing up, she'd blame him for it all too.

Neither did she move when he bounced to his feet excitedly. There didn't seem to be all that much to be too thrilled with, just yet. Her eyes even narrowed once more when he approached the bars. "Before we go dashing down the halls, hand in hand, I'm curious. Is your goal still to get out or are you intending to still go after this Nicholas fellow? Because I'm not about to risk my ass so you can get paid. I want out." Inaya wanted to make that abundantly clear. He could come back at a different time, alone, and get caught again. She wanted the open sky above her and this city at her backside.

Then... well, then she didn't know. But there was no way she wanted to go wandering around trying to find the other guy.

Inaya didn't answer the question about whether or not she'd been hurt, either. It was another one of those stupid questions. Of course she'd been hurt, but not badly enough she couldn't walk or move. It wasn't much more than what had been done to her before, anyway. Most seemed to think her long hair was some sort of leash to haul her around by... Were she a less vain or proud creature, she'd have cut it off a long time ago. Now she wanted to keep it in spite of her ill treatment.

@Elf Lady Love

[Lowen Thorn]

"I didn't come all of this way to leave empty-handed," he replied flatly. "Once they've figured out that we're gone, they'll move locations, and I will have to start all over. Of course I am going after him."

Amaya removed himself from the bars before walking over to the back wall, leaning against it slightly. "I'll make sure you get out first, but you better have a damn good plan on what you are going to do once you are outside."

"Think about it," he continued. "If you're the prized pony around here, they'll stop at nothing to put you back in chains. Once we get you out, what are you going to do?"

And how many other girls here are in the situation she was in. He couldn't just leave them here - especially if it came down to the worst case scenario.

For a mage from Serendipity, he was a pretty piss-poor mage. But, if there was one thing he was good at, it was creating explosives with little to no material.

[SanctifiedSavage]

Inaya clenched her jaw in irritation, mostly because she didn't really have an answer to his question. All of her focus was getting out, with the follow up being she'd figure it out once she got out. The odds that her former husband, or even her father, would want her running around the countryside as an embarrassment, free, were rather slim though. Now that she thought about it.

Likely, they'd want to tie her up and send her back so she could be justly punished for all the trouble she'd caused. Then sold off to someone who dealt with troubled women. The sort that paid for the kind that caused a fuss. Inaya chewed on her inner cheek a moment, weighing her options, before she scowled and looked at the stone in front of her toes. "Fine, fine. I can probably help you... find him, too. Or whatever else you need." She didn't want to, that much was obvious, but she didn't really have a lot of other options. At least, not a lot of other better options.

Maybe, if she helped him, he'd help her. After this all was said and done.

@Elf Lady Love

[Lowen Thorn]

Amaya grinned. Broadly.

"I knew you'd come around," his flirtatious response breathed as easily as the air. "I'll make sure you get out. I'll make sure you are in a position to where you won't fall back into this trap again, and I'll keep you out of what I need to do as much as humanly possible. You have my word."

Taking a guy like Amaya on his word would be hard for anyone to do, but the way he so it, she really didn't have any other choice.

"So you're up, Legs," he said, calling her by her nickname for the first time out loud. "Gonna pick the lock?"

[SanctifiedSavage]

Her options were rather limited. She could pick the lock, leave him there, and hope she could figure out a way around the guards beyond... Or... she could see if they could actually pull this off together. Worst case, she'd have to abandon him in the place and she'd be no worse off than before.

She was about to stand until he called her Legs. Inaya scowled a little more, hesitating a moment so he could see she did not approve, before she slid to her feet and padded over to the lock. Though her hair had been used as a sort of leash, there were enough pins left in it that she found one suitable. Picking locks had never been a part of her official training, but it'd been something she'd learned so she could roam her father's house at night and, eventually, her former husband's. It'd been her key to freedom. These locks were simple by comparison and far larger, so it only took her a moment to pop the internal latch.

Inaya eased the metal door open just enough to slip through before she moved to his. "You know my name. You should use it," she grumbled just under her breath while she just as easily popped his lock.

[Lowen Thorn]

"Me and you are going to get along just fine," he said, a sly grin on his face as he left his cell and faced the woman. "Thanks," he said, extending his arm to shake the woman's hand (if she would let him, that is).

"And sorry," he quickly added. "So... partners?"

Not exactly the charmer, that Amaya.

[SanctifiedSavage]

Inaya took a couple of steps back, out of his way and personal space, once his cell was unlocked. When he offered his hand, she stared at it a long moment, bought herself a second while she tucked the pin back into her hair, before she invariably shook his hand. His mouth might run a bit, but he had given her his shirt.

He hadn't needed to do that.

"Partners. For now," she agreed before gesturing toward the hall where the guards were. "Your turn."

[Lowen Thorn]

His grin was all-too-excited, and after the shake he took a step back from her and gave her a slight bow. "Your wish is my command," he said. "I'll let you know when the coast is clear."

He stretched from side to side and rolled his neck around to loosen up after spending a better half of his night on the hard floor of a jail cell. Now that that was taken care of, he tip-toed to the door before slipping out of him.

Moments had passed and there was the soft sounds of shuffling, a muffled crowd, and then the indistinguishable sound of bodies hitting the floor. Amaya was soon in her line of sight again as he soon dragged two unconscious guards, placing them on top of each other, back into the room and leaving them in the open jail cell.

"Let's locke'em up," he said. "Want to do the honors?"

[SanctifiedSavage]

Inaya was content to let him do that part of the 'dirty work'. If she didn't have to fight the other guards, she didn't want to. Just because she could, didn't mean she wanted to. A lot of her skill was based on speed and surprise. That and if she started with something pointy.

She watched him stretch while wrapping her arms around herself, still a little chilled. Her gaze tracked his departure and listened, to see if anything would go south, before she wandered in his direction quietly when the commotion quieted. Except he met her, dragging two guards.

Admittedly, she was impressed. Not that she said it aloud.

Inaya took a step in the cell and searched them briefly, taking one of the guard's belt knife and the keys, before she shut the door and locked it. Inaya likely wouldn't have left them alive, but she didn't question his choice. Instead, she asked, "You ready?" Not that she waited for an answer before she was quietly making her way down the hall, toward the guard post, and up the stairs beyond.

They'd dragged her through a fair portion of the place and, while their attention had been on her and what little covered her, Inaya had been tracking what was around her and how she might get out. Before they climbed up and out of the prison section, though, she glanced over her shoulder. "You want me to lead you to the... bedrooms?"

[Lowen Thorn]

As ready as I'll ever be.

He kept up, smiling along the way. There was something unique about a girl like Inaya, something fun. She asked a question she already knew the answer to, and she did want she wanted. Amaya admired a person with backbone.

"Sure," he said nonchalantly. "If you think that's the best place for us to go next. I really don't know where Nicholas would be, but I very much doubt he's going to be in the public eye after what I did to his face."

He thought more on that. "Yeah, bedrooms would be a great place to start. That, or anywhere else private you may know of in this shithole."

[SanctifiedSavage]

Inaya wasn't happy about her situation, at all, but she did wait for an answer. And she'd help him, as she had said she would. As much as her skin crawled at the mere thought of heading back into the humid, dark bedrooms, Inaya wasn't about to tell him that she was uncomfortable. He'd likely be able to see it on her face if he was paying any sort of attention.

So, when he clarified that was as good a place as any to start, she clenched her jaw and steeled herself before pushing open the door and leading him up and into the halls. Her memory, while riddled with the guards and their treatment of her, was clear in the direction she'd been taken. It'd been something to focus on besides what was being done to her. The halls were dimly lit with oiled lanterns that flickered in their passing, with some narrow off-shoots that went in varying directions. Inaya could tell when they reached the bedrooms because the hall became elaborate, wallpapered, and carpeted. Tapestries hung and small, polished wooden tables displayed little trinkets.

Inaya stopped then glanced back at him, shrugging a shoulder. "Pick a door..." she remarked bitterly.

[Lowen Thorn]

Amaya nodded, calculating with his eyes which door to pick.

Inaya was clearly uncomfortable with all of this, so he'd have to remember to thank her after they were done.

"Eenie meenie miney mo," he all but sang, pointing his finger at one door at a time. "Stay close," he said, peering over at the woman.

Without waiting for her to answer, he turned the knob of the door he chose and...

It was locked.

Fuck it.

He kicked down the door.

Someone was in the room, but it was certainly not Nicholas. Instead, it was one of the slaves, involuntarily servicing a man from the gathering. He briefly considered just closing the door and trying the next one, but his conscious got in the way.

He rushed him, the man naked and confused, and caught him in a tight headlock. "Easy there," Amaya said as the man kicked his legs and flung his arms about. There was an obvious look of disgust on the bounty hunter's face as he rendered the other man unconscious.

He dropped his body and looked at the slave girl. "Get dressed. Hide."

He turned on his heel and walked back into the hall. "Next room, I s'pose."

[SanctifiedSavage]

Stay close.

Like she had any other option. Inaya made a face at the back of his head, which was rather childish all things considering, but she was anxious and nervous. It helped ease the tension, at least a little on her end. She shadowed his steps, frequently looking over her shoulder, and flinched physically when he actually kicked a door in. "I can pick a damn lock," she hissed, far too late.

Inaya wasn't surprised by what she saw inside, and was fully prepared to go after the man herself if he didn't.

But he did. Earning him a point. Telling the slave to hide though? She scoffed at him and, while he was choking the man out, she rapidly wrapped the trembling waif of a girl in a robe. "Stick close. We're getting out." She clung to Inaya like the life line she was. The dancer shot Amaya a scowl. "We can't leave her, they'll just..." With disgust, she gestured to the naked guy now on the floor.

It wouldn't be easier with the other slave, but Inaya couldn't leave her behind...

[Lowen Thorn]

Oh. Right.

"Okay, do whatever you like," he all but waved her off. "Just don't get yourself killed trying to play hero."

Inaya was not only the most beautiful woman he had seen in some time, but she was also the biggest pain in his ass. Go figure. He let his gaze linger on his new companion and her fellow slave from the outside hall, and then his eyes softened. "Sorry. Just stick with us and we'll make sure you get out of this place," he finally said, his voice less sharp than before.

He checked another door while Inaya tended to the slave girl. Empty room.

He checked the next door. Locked.

"Hey, Inaya," he called to her. "Think you can pick the lock on this door? Not sure how many doors I can kick down before the calvary comes running."

He probably should've thought about that the first time, but he tended to get a little ahead of himself sometimes.

[SanctifiedSavage]

Inaya never thought of herself as a hero, and she wasn't about to start playing the role now. Rather, she knew they were likely going to be this girl's only opportunity in... well, likely her life. Opportunity didn't waltz around all too often.

Her expression hardened at his words, and a waspish quip on the tip of her tongue, until he corrected himself. Better. Besides, the hall of the place wasn't really a good location to start arguing over the treatment of almost-freed slave girls.

Inaya remained in the hall, as look out, while he checked another room. Then another door, which was locked. She tensed, half expecting another loud crash while he kicked it it.

She couldn't help the self-satisfied smile when he called her over. "Lets hope you find your man before they do..." she remarked, kneeling in front of the door and pulling a pin from her hair. It took her a breath to pop the lock, then another to spin out of the way so he could lead in. Inaya didn't want to have to do any more fighting than she needed to. Speaking of, she'd not grabbed anything to fight with. Apparently relying on him... She'd have to correct that in this next room. Steal something hefty or sharp. He'd been too quick to turn himself in last time.

[Lowen Thorn]

Amaya watched her pick the lock with an amused smile on his face. What a woman, he thought. From chained and oppressed, to unchained, picking locks, and fighting bad guys. You got to love a woman who can take care of herself, at least.

"Much obliged," he said as he approached the door. "Let's hope my boyfriend is behind door number three. We have lots to talk about."

He opened the door. Empty, too. God damn, this was becoming a real bitch and a half. But why was this empty room locked, and the other was not?

Doing a quick scan, his eyes landed on something in the back-right corner of the room. Looks like a hatch of some sort. He motioned for the two women to follow him before proceeding, kneeling, and opening the hatch to reveal a ladder.

"Wonder where this leads," he mused before looking to Inaya. "Recognize this?"

[SanctifiedSavage]

Once they moved in, and the room proved empty, Inaya pushed the door shut. Hopefully if anyone did come dashing down the hall, they'd pass right by them. Stumble upon the naked guy they'd left in the kicked open room. It'd buy them some time, at least.

She had really hoped it would be easier to find the guy he was looking for. Every minute they lingered in the cramped, dark halls made her even more anxious. The other slave continued to shadow and cling to her. Amaya might have technically saved her, but he'd been equally willing to leave her behind. Inaya was her savior.

While he looked over the room, Inaya snatched up a slender marble sculpture. Anything that she could use. Something point would've been preferred. When he motioned for her, she approached with a degree of caution. Inaya frowned and leaned over him a little to peer down the tunnel. "No... An escape path, maybe? You might've spooked him something fierce. Especially if these rooms have largely been empty..." She chewed on her lower lip a moment, considering. "Wouldn't hurt to check it out?"

It could. But she was hoping it was a way out and she could leave sooner rather than later.

[Lowen Thorn]

"Wouldn't hurt," he agreed, already crawling into the tight space. "One step at a time, ladies."

Maybe it was the gentleman in him that led him to go first down the dark hole. No, that couldn't have been it. He could hardly call himself a gentleman. Maybe it was just the general intrigue of what could be down this seemingly bottomless pit of shit. Regardless, he was heading down with or without them, and if they did decide to follow, he hoped Inaya had the common sense to close the hatch behind them.

"Smells like shit down here," he said as the echo of the steeled ladder steps rang against his boot.

[SanctifiedSavage]

She hesitated for a moment, if only because the idea of climbing into a dark hole with him wasn't exactly appealing... But there weren't many great alternatives either. Besides, this could be the way out. She made another face before she had the sense to go back and lock the door, either covering their tracks or buying them more time, before she had the other girl go first.

"Eimee." The girl offered her name, eyes wide and trembling. Wanting someone to know who she was in this whole mess. Inaya smiled for her. "It's ok, Eimee. Just follow the loud mouth down. He'll lead the way and I'll be right behind you. Or above you."

Eimee smiled just a little before she did as instructed. It took her a moment, her nerves making it a little more difficult to find her footing in the dark. Inaya waited, despite how impatient she really was, and reluctantly left behind her impromptu weapon. She did pull the hatch closed over her, but that swallowed them up in darkness. "I swear, if this actually leads into the sewer..."

Wouldn't that just be great? Not only would it not be a way out, but it'd lead them into literal shit. If that was the case, Inaya really did hope the guy Amaya was looking for was down there. She wanted to stab him herself. He had said dead or alive, right?