Misery loves company (Tal-pants <3)

[Anonymous]

Raphael wasn't sure how long he had been gone. The days all blurred together, the dull monotony of misery and confusion made everything hazy. One day he had been home, safe and happy in Reajh, then something had clamped over his mouth and he had woken up in this cage, his mouth feeling like it was stuffed with cotton, a massive headache and no idea where he was or how much time had passed.

The tall, lanky blond boy sat curled in the corner of the small cage. There were a few other wheeled cages, two or three people shoved into them and a line of chained slaves attached to the last one. As far as Raphael could tell, the more valuable slaves were in the cages. He must be in the cage because of his ability. The fact that he was young, good looking and strong didn't really occur to him.

He was in the woods. He could tell that much. What woods, he had no idea. None he had ever seen before. And the trees all looked the same to him, it all blurring together as he watched it go by. He knew he needed to get out, but he didn't know where to start. He was still shaken and confused by everything. But he knew he had to get away and free everyone else as well.

They weren't moving, the men saying something about checking traps. Raphael tried to see anything, his hazel eyes scanning for anything in the woods. He could hear them returning. The slavers pushed through the trees, holding a bundle between two of them. One of the slavers that had stayed behind approached the boy, holding a set of manacles, "Gimmie yer hands."

For a moment, Raphael stared at him, thinking about resisting, but he knew it wouldn't do any good. He was covered in bruises from his earlier attempts at fighting back. So the boy stuck his arms out between the bars and let them shackle him. He had seen them do it to the other slaves. To keep them from rushing the door when it opened.

Twisting around, Raphael tried to see what was happening. The bundle appeared to be a man, though Raphael couldn't see much more then that. The slavers dumped him in a heap on the floor next to Raphael, congratulating themselves. Once the door was locked and Raphael's manacles removed, they started moving again.

Crawling forward, Raphael lightly touched the man. He seemed unconscious and Raphael could smell blood, "Hey? Hello? Sir?" The boy moved closer, trying to locate the injury, not wanting him to bleed to death.

[Tally]

The figure in the bundle shifted, lethargic, as the men carried him toward the cage, and the impact when they threw him inside jarred him awake even more.  He struggled against the cloth blinding him, but it wasn't until a hand touched lightly upon him that Raziya came fully to his senses.  He jerked away from the touch and thrashed, clawing at the heavy canvas until he'd tore free of it all.

The scent of iron overwhelmed him.  Bars.  A cage.  Panic speared through him at being confined to such a small space and he went wild, shoving back from one wall only to ram into the one behind, plowing over someone in the process—he didn't know or care what creature he might be trampling, nor what danger might await out of the cage.  He just wanted out!

He kicked at the bars and strained against the door, hissing, spitting.  Teeth bared, he began to shift into his panther shape, then froze, still as stone save for the rapid rise and fall of his chest as he panted, contorted within the cage and clutching the bars in a strangle grip.  Something had stopped his changing.

Razi reached up to his throat and found there an iron collar.  He hissed again, less frantic and more furious now.  With the collar in place, he could not transform.  That iron collar would choke the panther shape's thicker neck.

"Sure he won't kill the other one?  Seems pretty wild."

Razi's eyes found the man who had spoken and he growled at him, drawing laughs from the other humans.  He knew what they were seeing.  A lanky, humanish thing, clad in only a pare of threadbare trousers cut off at the knee.  Blue-black disheveled hair and sharp teeth.  An animal, something they could dominate.  Something to entertain them.

One of them hefted his quarterstaff and jabbed through the bars at Razi's ribs.  He reacted more violently than he might otherwise have, baring his teeth at the man and swiping at the staff.  Oh, they thought that great sport and others joined in, stabbing at him with sticks and staffs, and he thrashed about the cage in a frenzy, playing the animal.  Let them think he was a dumb beast.  That underestimation had been a boon to him many a time.

As they began to tire of the game and leave off, Razi spared a glance for the other in the cage, and found it odd that it was one of their fellow humans.  But he didn't take his attention off his captors for long, glaring at their backs and finally settling down.  His head still rang from the blow they'd given him to knock him out, and he bled from the leg where the trap had closed its teeth on him.  He seethed, so restless to sate his anger that the pain was but a ghost, barely perceptible to him.

[Anonymous]

Raphael made a small grunt, smashing back against the bars when the other man went insane. His eyes went wide as he stared at him, confused and a little afraid. The man looked half-mad and was hissing and snarling like an animal.

He had never seen anything like it and it frightened him. All that rage and violence and he didn't seem to be human. Was this what happened when magic had devoured your soul? He kept well away from it until the men started to jab at him with staffs and sticks. Raphael's eyes narrowed and he lunged forward, trying to knock the sticks away, "Stop it! Leave him alone!"

It didn't matter if the man hurt him, Raphael couldn't stand to see any living creature taunted like this. It wasn't right! His efforts just made the guards laugh harder and keep jabbing. Raphael bit down on his lip, trying not to cry out when the staffs connected. He was already bruised and tender, and while they were careful to not break any bones, it still felt like his body was covered in blinding fire.

Eventually the men started to tire of the game, leaving to go see to the various duties around the camp. Raphael sat down heavily, curling his arm around his stomach. He watched his new cellmate for a while, not sure what to do or say. But the man was obviously injured.

"Um...excuse me." Raphael wasn't even sure if it could understand him. But he tried to speak in the calm, even voice he used on skittish animals, "You're bleeding. I'm gonna wrap it up, okay?" He didn't really have anything in the way of first aid, but he had his shirt. Carefully pulling it off, no sudden movements to startle him. Raphael inched a little closer, carefully watching the other man, "I'm not gonna hurt you, okay? I am just gonna help you."

[Tally]

Razi jerked backward and hissed, baring sharp canines.  His ears flattened against his skull and his tail lashed and bristled.  Their handlers had mostly moved on, seeing to other prisoners and duties.  Only after glancing around and ensuring none of them were in earshot did Razi speak.

"Don't touch me."  He kept his voice to an urgent whisper.  He didn't want these men even knowing he could speak.  The more they thought of him as an animal, the easier it would be to take advantage of their ignorance.

And even if he were dying, he wouldn't accept help from this one.  His eyes did not leave the stranger's hands with the shirt in them.  "I will live."

What concerned him more than the injury was where they were going, though he was loathe to ask the human in the cage with him, and for much the same reason he didn't want him touching him.  Being a victim of these men made the human boy neither trustworthy nor honorable.  To Razi's mind, the human sharing his bondage was every bit as deserving of his suspicion as those outside the cage.

[Anonymous]

Raphael winced when the man growled at him. He was really hoping this...man? Raphael really wasn't sure what the person in the cage with him was, besides angry.. Maybe he had come too close to magic? Had his mind stolen by it. He just really hoped the man didn't attack him.

The boy's green eyes went wide with shock when he heard the man speak. That was good at least! He felt a rush of relief that he finally had someone to speak too. That he wasn't alone in this cage anymore. And the moment after thinking that, Raphael flushed, guilt hitting him. He had been happy that someone was captured with him. What was wrong with him!

His eyes flicked back to the wound on the other man, "But....your bleeding." He kept his voice low. The other man didn't seem to want the guards to hear them, but he didn't know why, "It's not good to leave wounds like that open. It'll attract flies." He still kept his voice low and calm, as aggressiveness as he could passably make it.

"My names Raphael. Raphael Lithonin. What's yours?"

[Tally]

Raziya opened his mouth to respond, but out of the corner of his eye he noticed one of their captors strolling back down the line, checking on the prisoners, and he shut his mouth again just as quickly.  He hissed when the man passed and didn't look away until he was well away from their cage.

"It is good," he said to the human, keeping his voice low.  "It lets the evils out."

The ignorance of humans!  Anyone with sense should have known that.  It should not need explanation!  Close it up and the evils would stay in.  They had to bleed out of him else they would make him ill.

And why would this one give his name?  Razi leaned forward and peered at him.  It couldn't have been his real name.  Not even a human youth could be that foolish.  What was his purpose, then?

"Raziya," he said.  "You are very odd."

[Anonymous]

Raphael didn't notice the captor walking by as quickly as Razi, but the shifters actions clued him in and he went quiet as well, watching the man warily. But they didn't seem interested in them and Raphael untensed a little when they passed by.

"The evils?" Raphael frowned, never having heard that before, but he didn't try to wrap the mans wound again. If he wanted to leave it open, he wouldn't try. Not unless he looked like he was using a lot of blood.

Flushing darkly at the odd comment, Raphael ducked his head, "I am? I don't try ta be or nothin'. I'm sorry. It's uh...it's nice to meet ya." Raphael gestured to the cage, "Just wish it wasn't...ya know, here."

[Tally]

"The evils!"  Razi threw up his hands and shifted position to ease the pressure on his wounded leg.  He should not have to be explaining this.  "The bad spirits that get into the body!  It is best for them to bleed out!"

A pity they were not south, in the jungles where Razi generally made his territory.  He was new to this place and knew very little of it.  He twisted around to look through the trees but saw nothing familiar and nothing of interest.

Most of the other prisoners remained sensibly quiet.  The one sharing Razi's cage insisted on talking more.  It wouldn't be so bad if he would say something useful.  "Do you know where we are?  Do you know where they are taking us?  Is there some human place around here that they may be going to?"

[Anonymous]

"It is?" Raphael stared at Razi's bleeding leg blankly, very confused, "I was always told to wash a wound and keep it wrapped so it wont get infected. And to put maggots in it if it starts to rot..." He had never heard of evils in the blood, but he supposed that made sense. Maybe it was like bits of magic?

He shook his head at the question, brushing a strand of dirty blond hair out of his face. He wanted a bath so badly and he probably smelled awful, "I have no idea. I was taken from Reajh, in Connlaoth. But they drugged me and I have no idea how long I was out. But, um, I'm pretty sure we are in the Naihi woods. But, no idea where though in the woods. I'm sorry. They talk about a ship, so probably taking us to the coast. Might be a boat downriver though. They don't talk a lot around us. I just know I'm apparently going to be worth a lot."

The slavers liked to make comments about his pretty face that Raphael found very uncomfortable. And more than one talked about training him in a way that made him pretty sure they were implying something unwholesome, but he wasn't really sure what exactly that was.

Raphael then blinked, "Human? Are you not human than?" He had assumed the other man was just feral or something, "What are you? If I can ask." Please not a magic user. Please, please, please not a magic user.

[Tally]

Razi strained to see some landmark beyond the bars of the cage, bug the forest stretched as far as he could see, even when the land dropped away and revealed briefly the distant horizon.  But at the word boat his tail fluffed up and his ears flattened to his head. He knew that word!

"A boat!" He added a hiss after the word.  Well, that did it.  They would just have to break free before they got him on that boat.  All that water!  He'd rather die in an attempted escape than let them take him onto open water.

Razi leaned forward and flicked his ears and swung his tail around to wave in front of Raphael.  "Do I look human? Ey?"

Humans asked such stupid questions.

[Anonymous]

"Ah, yeah. A boat." Raphael had never seen an ocean before and only had a vague idea of what it was. The most he had ever seen was the lake near the capitol, so Razi's fear seemed a little odd to him.

Raphael blinked at the ears and tail. He had honestly not noticed them in all the confusion, as the ears blended into the hair and he hadn't been looking for a tail. He tried to calm himself, assure himself that it didn't make him a magic user. He could just have been born that way.

Eying the man warily, Raphael tried to keep his voice light, but the nervousness was obvious, "You...ah....aren't a magic user are you?"

[Tally]

Razi forced himself to relax, to quell the rage boiling in his blood.  As much as he wanted to throw himself at the bars and claw at the nearest guard, it was clear they were not stopping anytime soon.  They were off the main roads, traveling wilderness paths, probably to avoid other humans.  It was the same reason Razi used these hidden trails.  So he sat back and resolved to bide his time.  That door had to open sometime.

"Where would they take us in a boat," he mused.  He had traveled the entire continent and knew the locations of its cities well, mostly so he could give them a wide berth.  There were no cities on the western coast, nor any major rivers that would give them access to the cities of the east.  Unless their destination was a village or small township somewhere, they would have to sail north, around the top of the continent, then south to reach any significant population.  A long trip.  Plenty of time for them to make a mistake.

"My kind cannot call the elements to our will. A pity."  If he could command such power, he would already be out of here.

[Anonymous]

"So you aren't a mage then? I'm glad." Raphael felt himself relax a little. He knew that a few of the guards could do magic, they had complained of his blessing before. But that only made sense, their souls had already been corrupted by the magic inside them. When he escaped, because he would escape, and rescue everyone, Raphael would have to try and save their souls as well.

But being around magic was just....uncomfortable. He smiled awkwardly at Razi, "Um...so....uh would you mind if I asked why you have a tail? And...well, you know....cat ears."

[Tally]

A question occurred to him, but upon reflection it would have been a foolish thing to hope for.  He had wondered for a moment if Raphael didn't have some gift with the elements as humans often did.  But it was a fleeting thought, and silly.  If the human had that kind of power, he would have done something with it already.

That didn't mean he had to be useless.  If he could fight, he could help when it came time to break free, and it would be a boon not to have to worry about him getting in the way.

He understood Raphael's next question, though it still made him sigh in annoyance.  The first time a human had asked him that question he'd been confused.  What else should a pantherkin have but the ears and tail of a panther?  He had since come to realize that many humans simply knew nothing of shifters and expected all other free thinking creatures to be human like themselves.

"I am panther kin, a shifter.  So I bear the features of a panther."  He was tempted to ask why Raphael had the ears of a human, just to show him how absurd the question was, but it would likely have gone over the boy's head anyway.

[Anonymous]

"Oh, that makes sense then! I've never seen a panther in real life before. Or, well, a shifter, but I've heard about them." Raphael tried his best to keep friendly and upbeat. The other man seemed prickly, but Raphael desperately wanted to get along with him. He was company and Raphael was alone and scared.

His eyes were drawn back to the blood from Razi's wound, "Are you sure we can't cover that. It can't be good to lose blood like that..." He knew the man didn't seem to want it wrapped, but it made him nervous.

[Tally]

"My kin mostly keep to the southern jungles."  He gave Raphael another look.  "There were no shifters in your city?"

Razi heaved a sigh and settled back against the bars of the cage.  The jagged slices in his leg had stopped bleeding freely and were clotting.  Twisting forward to examine them, he thought they were not quite as deep as he might have thought at first. It made sense.  They would not want to damage something they intended to sell.

"It's clean enough.  It'll heal fine.  I am only concerned that it might hinder me if we must fight."  So difficult to judge when the right time would be.  It would have to be before the ship or after.  If he killed them all while on the ocean, he would not be able to reach land again.

[Anonymous]

"Oh, I'm sure there we-are." Raphael wasn't really sure he liked that Raz was referring to his home in past tense. It was still there and he would get back home to it. He knew he would. He just had to escape, and rescue the others, "I just never met any. Or didn't know I met them."

The mention of fighting held his attention. He glanced around, making sure the guards were still far away. He could feel his heart pounding, rather nervous. He had never really been in a fight before, not one like this, where there were no rules.

"Right. Yes. Um...I've been trying to find a good time." He dropped his voice a bit more, "But, they are always prepared. They ever open the cages unless there are a lot of them around."

[Tally]

"Patience," Razi said.  He stretched and shifted about, trying to get as comfortable as he could on the cold iron bars of the cage.  He had the patience of the primitive, of the animal, and could wait however long he needed to with his mind still and his body ready.

"They will make a mistake eventually.  We only have to wait.  Are you capable?  How many could you take? One?  Three?  With this collar on I am diminished, but still worth something."

[Anonymous]

Raphael nodded. He had been patient and would try to be so for a while longer. His cage partner gave him a fresh burst of hope. They could get out of here. No, they would get out of here. And free everyone else and he would get back home.

"I, um, well, I'm not sure. I can fight a little, but I've been in this cage a long time, I'm sore and stiff, so I'm diminished as well. But I can probably take 2 at least. Maybe three if I can get my hands on a weapon."

[Tally]

Razi nodded.  It was more than he'd dared to hope for, and he took the boy at his word.  If he was exaggerating his own capability then it would be his own blood spilled as the price for that hubris.

"A weapon, yes.  Of what kind?"  He may have opportunity to retrieve one before the boy, and he didn't want to waste that chance.  He did not use weapons himself, and in that moment he regretted it.  His strength and reflexes still exceeded that of any human's but the collar negated his true assets.  If he'd ever learned to fight with a human weapon it would have given them more possibilities.