Misery loves company (Tal-pants <3)

[Anonymous]

"Oh, uh, spear and sword mostly. Better with the sword." Not by a lot, he was still early in his training, but he had enough of a grasp to be decent. And he had seen the slavers fight, few of them had any real skill.

Raphael watched the other man, hope growing. Razi seemed to know what he was doing and between the two of them, they could get out and save everyone. And, well, it was just nice having someone around again. He had been lonely and starved for any real company.

"Oh, um, and I'm a Mordecai. So they can't use any magic on us."

[Tally]

"Spear and sword," Razi muttered, nodding.  He would remember.  "And if you see a way to get this collar off me, a key, something, it would be most helpful."

He would not underestimate the treachery and wit of humans, especially humans like these—they had trapped him once after all, had they not?—but he doubted many of them would leave here alive if he managed to get free and get the collar off.  They obviously feared exactly that, or they would not have bound him so.

"I don't know the word," he said.  "But that is good."

[Anonymous]

Raphael nodded, glancing around them, "Uh, yeah. I'll see. But I donno how lucky we will be. They guard the master keys pretty close."

He tilted his head, rather surprised, "You've never heard of the Mordecai? Really? But I thought everyone knew about us. I mean, I'm not an official one or anything yet, but I have the ability.

[Tally]

Razi closed his eyes.  The collar was not over-tight, yet he felt the edge of suffocation whenever he even thought of shifting.  He craved the power of the panther shape, to feel their bones crack in his teeth.

"Just the same," he said, opening his eyes.  "We must try."

[Anonymous]

Raphael nodded, "I agree. We gotta save everyone. These people are gonna sell us and, it's...it's not good." He had seen too much violence and not all the woman were virgins, which meant rape. Raphael hated hearing the screams and being unable to do anything about it.

He hated seeing people beaten and starved and hurt right in front of him, "These men are...monsters."

[Tally]

Razi sighed, a annoyed exhalation of breath.  "Don't do that," he said.  "Don't build them up into anything but what they are.  They're just men.  Men with no honor, lost men.  Nothing especial and nothing you should trouble yourself trying to define.  They're...nothing."

He would kill them, think nothing of them as he did so, and forget about them.  His anger was useful, powerful, but they were so much meat and blood waiting for his jaws.

[Anonymous]

Raphael winced when Razi said that. It was much easier to think of them as monsters, as things not like himself. The idea that other humans would do this was just wrong to him. "I...I know. I just..."

He fell silent, not sure what to say, staring down at his feet. He felt sick and hurt and his strong front cracked for a moment.