"I still don't think this is a good idea, boss. We never took slaves before, and-"
"Shut yer gob, Zamik."
"But-"
"I said, SHUT IT. An' besides, she ain't gonna be a slave. Lookit 'er. She'll prob'ly be nothin' mor'n a decoration. She's froze. Sleep'n, like."
This conversation had gone on for weeks now. From the blasted Thunderblacks, all the way back through the Serha plains, and now...
"Thrice Gods Damned desert...." the leader of the band of bandits muttered under his breath, his booted feet dragging through the sand as they pulled a cart, by hand, up to the crest of a dune.
If only the damned horses hadn't run off, they could have been there by now. The last four days, they'd been pulling the cart by hand. And wheels typically didn't work well in loose sand.
And so, Itachi, one of the most wanted bandits in all of Adela, was heaving right alongside his underlings, trying to get the cart with its pretty 'goods' all the way to Essyrn. Lately now, though, members of his band of Craol seemed to be mysteriously disappearing through the nights...
Well, better than mutiny. More gold for him, too.
"Look. It's almost dark. Per'aps we should call it quits for tonight, eh? It's hot, 'n I know if'n we don't stop soon, I'll be lis'nin to yer bellyach'n till we stop."
Itachi dropped his end of the yolk, and stretched his arms high above his head. He felt as if the kink in his back would never work it's way out. After a moment of snap-crackle-pop, he made his way back over to the side of the cart where, underneath the leather tarpaulin, there was a vaguely female shape. With a quick snap, he pulled the tarp off.
And laying there was this light blue beauty, sleeping without a care in the world. "Ain'tcha a pretty li'l thing, now? Yer gonna make me some pretty coin, methinks," he said, one hand reaching toward her face, the back of his palm gently tracing down her cheek.
Sleep had never been comfortable for her. It was the only time she was truly vulnerable, and even the thought of more than a few hours unconscious made her skin itch, made her dread the time when she would be forced to bed down with her troops and suffer through the oblivion that was never quite as dreamless as she would have liked.
A cursed sleep was hardly any more restful.
Neria was haunted through the centuries, entirely unaware of the world passing by around her but aware that she was unaware, that she was lost in the all-consuming blackness of an almost-waking dream. For she didn't know how long she raged inside her own mind, throwing spell after spell against the nearly imaginary barrier that kept her sealed, feeling as though she was attempting to tear down a mountain with nothing but her hands.
Somewhere along the line, she wasn't really sure when, she began to tire. Then she just...stopped. For the first time in her life, she stopped fighting.
It was worse than the sleep, the hopeless stasis that overwhelmed her mind, her magic, her very soul. Just emptiness and waiting, waiting for some power that would never exist....
So when she felt touch like a firebrand across her cheek, she gasped. Somewhere deep in her mind, locked away, her dream-self snapped its head up and blinked, trying to make sense of what had just happened.
In the physical world, Neria's breath caught and her chest hitched, lashes fluttered almost delicately against her cheek. It was the most she'd moved in some three hundred years, and the magic that kept her sealed flickered and pulsed in a crimson halo around her body, trying to lull her into complacency once more.
"Cor Blimey!" Itachi yelled, jumping back. The woman finally moved for the first time in almost a month since his band of Craol found her, and started this foolish trek across the Gods creation.
"You've got ta be shittin' me. I touch her, an' she moves? What th' 'ell did I do that nobody else did, eh?"
He observed the flash of red light that seemed to surround her, and narrowed those green eyes to observe a bit more closely. He reached his hand back out and gently touched her shoulder, wincing on instinct as he expected to be zapped, or caught on fire, or....
Well, nothing happened. The hand on her shoulder grew a bit more bold, making its way back to her face to gently hold her chin, slowly turning her head this way and that.
Other than her sudden gasp and half a blink, there was no indication she was awake. Itachi raised a brow. "Wha's wit' you, then, eh bird?"
Heat. Warmth in the cold emptiness.
The sudden stimulation, the feelings of touch at all, it was almost too much. Maria started to recoil, almost sinking back into the darkness that had held her for so long.
No.
Her magic pulsed, beating against the edges of her cage like waves against the shore.
No. NO!
The crimson glow flashed again, brighter. The spell keeping her sealed wrapped tighter, and suddenly a voice echoed through the air around the bandits.
The words were ancient and lilting, a tongue unspoken by mortals for nearly a thousand years, but their meaning would thunder through the minds of all who heard them.
"Turn back. You know not what you wake. For your sake and for all, turn back..."
Neria's head snapped back and she keened, spine arching and fingers curling into trembling fists.
There's a funny thing about bandits who experience something beyond their ken, something they can't explain away with their uneducated logic. Some of them are superstitious, some just ridiculously cautious, and some are just plain stupid.
So when Itachi heard multiple footsteps running in random directions, all of them away from him, he wasn't the least bit surprised. Very angry...but...
But, he supposed he should have expected as much out of them.
"Go on, then, ya bloody idiots! Ge' outta 'ere, and don' ya be expectin' any share o' th' money, either!"
He grunted in frustration, and turned back to the woman laying on the cart. He'd pulled his hand back when she'd jerked again, and the voice in his head gave him a start, but he was still made of sterner stuff than the morons under his employ.
But now how in the hell was he supposed to get creepy girl here all the way to Essyrn? Carry her? Not bloody likely, not through these blasted lands.
"Well, then, if'n yer gonna get up an' smite me 'r whatevee, le's get on widdit..." he mumbled. The girl moved every time he touched her, so if she could wake up, it'd be much easier to get her to their destination.
He'd get her there kicking and screaming if he had to.
"C'mon, then, bird. On yer feet, now..." he reached for her hand, picking it up with one of his and tracing a callused finger down to her wrist.
"Wakey wakey, eggs an' bacy. I ain' got any bacon, mind."
"Turn back!"
"NO!"
Neria jackknifed upright, eyes suddenly blown wide as her magic clashed with the spell sealing her, sending her crimson halo pulsing and a softer, lavender glow lit just over the surface of her skin. "Let. Me. GO!"
The curse screeched as it shattered, the sound ripping through the air and echoing unnaturally.
The fae woman tipped sideways, collapsing onto a bent elbow as she panted, eyes clenched shut. Her lashes fluttered, hair fallen in front of her face.
Heat. Sand. Sunlight. It was so much it hurt.
And she reveled in it. With a deep breath, Neria tilted her head back to let the sunlight stream over her face, lips slightly parted as she tried to regain her breath.
Itachi jumped backward, one hand reaching with nearly inhuman speed and dexterity into his tattered longcoat and withdrawing three thin throwing knives, each held between three fingers.
He hadn't expected such an explosion of power, and was actually hoping it would be a bit more lackluster. And do, he readied these knives, preparing to throw them at near point blank range into the woman's skull, if need be.
"Y'know, if'n ya want bacon so bad, I s'pose we could fin' ya somethin'. Ya ain' gotta scream an' explode at me, y'know."
Despite his words, his eyes were narrowed and his lips were drawn thin. "'Bout time ya woke up."
Neria looked at the mortal through a curtain of rather disheveled hair. Her eyes narrowed, glinting and reflecting like a wild creature's.
"You." She pushed herself upright. She wasn't foolish enough to try to stand just yet- she hadn't nearly enough strength- but she made an effort to appear as though she was perfectly content kneeling. "Who are you, human? Where is the one who woke me?"
When she finally acknowledged his presence, Itachi didn't so much as move. His arm remained tensed, more than ready to fling those knives he was so infamous for.
"My name is Itachi, son of none. An' as fer who woke ya, well, I suppose that'd be me. Now, ya have my name. So what's yers?"
He woke her?
This- this human?
"Ridiculous," Neria scoffed, cautiously rising to her feet. Her knees shook, but the length of her kilt thankfully hid it. "You are no faerie. You aren't even a mage."
She frowned and glanced around. "...Where am I? This is...far from where I slept."
"Impossible? Dun' doubt me, bird. 'Sides, you see any'un else aroun'? Hmm? An' we're in th' middle o' th' bleedin' desert! There's no 'un else 'round fer miles!"
He huffed and took a step backwards as she stood.
"Moraki desert, that is. Far to the south of basically everythin'. We...er, well, I guess I, brought ya 'ere on tha' cart. Ya scared off all me men when tha' creepy voice sounded, when I started tryin' ta wake ya."
Neria bared her teeth like a wildcat, long canines flashing for a moment. "You brought me? To what end?"
And if she did decided to believe that he was the one who'd woken her... "Why? How did you wake me?"
What was he supposed to tell her? That he was going to sell her into slavery? The thought that occurred to him then was that the truth was likely going to make things ugly...therefore, he decided to ignore her first question for a moment.
"Well, wakin' ya seemed a whole lot easier than draggin' ya through the damned desert, at leas' aft'r every'un else 'cided to tuck their talks 'tween their legs an' run off. An' to tell ya the truth, wakin' ya was sorta an acc'dent. Jus' touched yer face, really, an' dun' get no ideas. I may be an asshole, but I ain' th' kinda guy ta take advantage of a lady when she's sleepin'."
The warrior made a sound that in a less graceful creature might have been called a derisive snort. "Forgive me if I don't take your word," she replied scathingly. "Do you truly expect me to believe a spell enacted by two Seelie generals was undone by a human? With a simple touch?"
She'd noticed his cagey response as to why she'd been brought to the desert, but decided to address it later. Once she'd gotten her strength back, it would be easy enough to cast the human aside and be on her way.
"Well, I dunno wha' a 'Seelie' is, an' it was more'n one simple touch. More like three, really." Itachi tilted his head and grinned widely.
He'd see what it took to really fire her up, and see just what he was dealing with.
"I'm guessin' ya just couldn't stay sleepin', what wit' yers truly payin' such speshul 'tention to ya, like."
Neria growled, resisting the urge to simply kill him right then for his insolence. "Mind your tongue, mortal," she spat. "Men have died for less."
There was no hint of a threat or exaggeration in her voice; she was simply stating fact.
She looked around again, squinting against the sun's glare off the sand. "How far is it to the Tuath'an from here?" she asked sharply.
"Aye, an' women have, too. You'd best remember who's the one aimin' a few pieces o' death at yer noggin'," he spat right back. He wasn't about to bow down to her - he was notoriously good at what he did, and he was confident it'd be little trouble to knock her off her high horse.
"An' I've no idea wha' a 'Twathin' er wha'ever ya said is, bu' th' closest city is Essyrn, still a ways ta th' south. Tha's where I was supposed ta be takin' ya anyways."
She blinked. "Essyrn?" They were that far south?
Ignoring his threat- because honestly she couldn't imagine him being able to truly harm her- Neria growled in frustration and rubbed at her temples.
"I need to return to Tieor-" No. No, the humans called it something different. "Serendipity." She leveled a cool state at him. "Do you have supplies?"
"Seren....Serendipity!?"
This was one of those rare, scary moments where Itachi lost his uneducated facade, and could truly be understood - those times that would typically send his men running for the hills.
"Do you have any blasted idea how godsdamned far away that is from here? On foot? We're in The Moraki desert. To get there, you'd have to go through Serha plains, cross over the Thunderblacks, go through Adela - which isn't gonna fucking happen, that's a damned death sentence for me - and then somehow get to wherever you're wanting to go."
He took a step forward, eyes scathing and his face screwed into a sneer. "And SOMEHOW get there with NOTHING, because we'll be lucky to even get out of the desert to BEGIN with, because NO I DON'T have any fucking supplies, my dumbass, sorry excuses for Craol took everything but you and the fucking cart!"
He stepped away again, turning his back to her and rubbing his temples. He had no idea why he was screaming at her - he had no intention of being around her longer than Essyrn, even if it meant losing an arm.
"Ya wanna know wha' I have, bird? I got, count'em, one fuckin' waterskin, and no damn food. I dunno 'bout ya, but I'm cuttin' me losses an' headed fer Essyrn. At leas'....there I can resupply an' whatnot."
He turned and levelled a stare at her, head lowered slightly. "Fer once, seems like Zamik was right. This was a bad idea. You an' th' 'orseless cart 'ere can fin' yer own way to Seren-fuckin-dipity. I'm thinkin' yer jus' more trouble than yer worth."
The most reaction Neria gave was slightly widened eyes, pursed lips, and an arched brow for his outburst. Which, truthfully, was a rather intense expression of emotion for her.
"Are you quite through?" she asked coolly when it seemed like he'd finished his rant. Still a little shaky on her feet, she opted to cock a hip and croasnhwr arms imperiously rather than approach him. "Because if that's all, mortal, I think I'll be going."
It was probably too soon for her to attempt to open a portal, but she really didn't give a fuck anymore.
Her tone suddenly shifted- a subtle change, but powerful, magic flowing in her eyes and weighing heavily in the air around her. "I do not foresee that we shall meet again, but if we do- do not even begin to think you may speak to me in such a way. Better men than you have died screaming for such insolence."
The air was suddenly bitingly cold, almost too cold to breath, and heavy. Then Neria turned her back and the pressure released as she started walking. She just had to reach Tieorna through the Faerie Realms. Tiring, but doable.
A sound rather like a smug chuckle rolled through the air and she froze, unsure of it had been external or inside her own head. "Atiana's Wolf has been leashed."
She whirled with a snarl, eyes snapping fire, but the last remnant of her curse had vanished, the smallest scraps of magic dissipating with that final message.
She had a very bad idea of what it meant.
Stars, let me be wrong... Very deliberately, she closed her eyes and tried to cross, to open a portal.
She couldn't even make a connection with the Faerie Realm before pain slammed through her, making her cry out and drop to her knees as a flash of crimson light encircled her body and wove lazily though the air between them to the human, an invisible connection that flared bright for a moment before fading away again.
Itachi stepped back at her show of magic, almost sure she was going to surprise him and blow him in half, despite her words. And then he heard...what was Antiana's wolf? Just who was this woman.
And then it seemed as if something went...wrong. He observed the odd light flashing between them, a pulsating crimson show that seemed to connect the two of them for a moment before disappearing.
He didn't feel any different, and suddenly he began to laugh.
"Wha' was tha'? Ya don' appear to 'ave gone anywhere, bird, an' if ya were tryin' ta kill me, it didn' even tickle. No' so 'igh an' mighty now, are ya bird?" He laughed again, hard, his whole body shaking from it.
After a moment, though, he noticed she wasn't moving, and immediately wondered just what she had done. "'Ey, bird, ya alright there? Wherever yer plannin', it can't be healthy if'n it involves lyin' down in the desert."
It took a few moments for the ringing in her ears to die down. The human's voice sounded oddly distant and she glared up at him fuzzily. "Shut...up," she growled weakly, struggling back to her feet.
Well. It seemed he hadn't been lying about being the one to awaken her.
Damnit.
Neria suddenly roared, a primal, gutteral scream that seemed to nearly rent the air as she threw one hand skyward, sending up a blast of flame so hot it burned pure white. It was almost worth the exhaustion that washed over her to vent the anger, and she staggered as her strength bled away once again.
Itachi stepped back again as she did her thing, shooting fire into the sky and whatnot. He blinked when she seemed to weaken once again, staggering slightly.
He only grinned. He wasn't afraid of mages. He'd killed more than a few in his time. "So, ya tell me ta shut it, an' then ya go screamin' yer frustrations at th' clouds. Why don' you shut it, an' tell me wha's got yer unders in sucha bunch, huh?"
He was still deliberately trying to get under her skin, be the itch for her to scratch at and wear herself out even further. Perhaps then she'd be easier to deal with.
Residual power crackled over Neria's skin and she growled at him, deep and animalistic.
Even if she wanted to kill him now- which was seeming more and more like an appealing option- she couldn't.
"Congratulations," she spat. "You have effectively leashed an Arcane Warrior."
Itachi reeled. He stopped and stared while he thought to himself. But, despite his brilliant mind, he has to concede.
"I....did what now? I leashed....ya mean I'm stuck witcha now? Are ya fuckin' serious?" He blinked, wondering idly whether this situation was a good or a bad one.
"So....wha's tha' mean, exactly? Other than th' idea tha' ya can't hurt me, 'parently."
Her lip curled back in distaste. "It means I am bound to you," she hissed. "When you woke me, what was left of the spell that kept my power locked was transferred to you. I...cannot harm you, nor travel very far from your presence." Not if she wanted to figure a way out of this mess and go home.
Itachi stood and stared, the gears in his head working double time. This could either go very well, or very, very badly. After a moment, his eyes closed, and he took a deep breath.
What a situation this was.
"So...lemme ge' this straight. Yer basically stuck wit' me now, an' there's nothin' ya can do about it, leastwise no' right now."
He opened his eyes, and turned toward Essyrn - night was rapidly falling, and he could see the lights in the distance.
"Now...I usually don' min' havin' a pretty bird like yerself followin' me aroun'...but somethin' tells me tha'....this partnership of sorts is gonna be slightly caustic, yeah? So....here's me idea. A proposition o' sorts."
He turned back to face her, jade eyes gleaming as the setting sun shined on his face. "We 'ead towards Essyrn, get us a couplea 'orses an' a fuckin' wagon, resupply, an' 'ead back north. There's no fuckin' way we'd be gettin' outta th' desert with one fuckin' waterskin."
He walked toward her, grinning all the while, and leveled a pointed finger at her face. "We go ta yer Seren-fuckin'-dipity and fin' someone ta undo this li'l situation of ours, an' we both go on our merry fuckin' ways. Sound good, bird? Oh, an' I s'pose I can't keep callin' ya that."
He lowered his hand, and mock bowed to her. "Th' names Itachi. Mos' wanted man in Adela, an' bandit extraordinaire. Charmed, I'm sure. So, then. Wha's the name o' the spitfire I'll be walkin' next ta fer the foreseeable future, eh?"
Part of her wanted to dismiss his plan as overly simple- not to mention irritating- just ok principle. But that would be juvenile...not to mention it was the most reasonable solution to their current predicament.
"Very well," she sighed, eyeing him with obvious distaste. "I suppose I can suffer through these weeks."
"Ugh. I asked yer name, woman, not whether yer gonna go wit' me 'r not. No' like ya 'ave a choice in th' matter anyway, hmm?"
Itachi shrugged and turned away. "Oh well. I'll jus' 'ave ta make up a name fer ya. 'Ow does 'high horse elfy pants' soun' ta ya?"
He grinned and started walking towards the city, hands shoved in his pockets.
She had to resist the urge to send another blast of fire at him. Stars only knew what would happen if she actually tried to hurt him.
"You have obviously not met many Fae," she spat as she moved along behind him, watching him warily. "We do not disclose our names so easily." In fact it was rude to ask- which was why she'd ignored his question at first.
Although....well, even without her full name, he had a decent hold over her as it was. Not that she'd admit it.
"Well, obviously. Tell ya the trut', I haven't met any Fae. At leas', not full blooded ones. Mos' 'r jus' claimin' a teeny bit o' blood from way back when."
He shrugged, and glanced over his shoulder at her. "So, yer a Fae, huh? Had ya figured for some kinda elf. So, then, I guess I call ya ' 'igh 'horse Fae pants' instead. 'R Maybe sommat else, tha' don' roll offa th' tongue too well. Gotta call ya something, anyway."
He turned his head back to the path ahead, smiling. Well, at least now he knew what she was. If she wouldn't tell him anything, he'd just piss her off until she inadvertently divulged what he wanted to know.
"Th' 'Fantastic Fae Bird!' Tha's wha' I'll call ya."
Her eyes flashed, animalistic. "If you must call me anything...Wolf will do."
It was a moniker she'd never wanted, but she wore it proudly all the same. If he insisted on ridiculous titles, she may as well give him one of her actual ones. "And what is this..."bird"?" what part of her seemed avian to him?
"Wolf, eh? Ya don' look like a wolf ta me. There a story behind tha'?"
He glanced over his shoulder with a flat expression. "An'...really? Ya ain' heard tha' expression before? Bird refers ta a girl. A pretty one, ta be specific, bu' I ain' picky, mind. No' tha' I'm in'tristed, either. Go' another bird on my min', anyway, so don' get all hot under th' collar 'bout it."
Neria curled her lip at him. Bird. She did not like that.
"Believe me, human, were you...interested, and if you so much as moved to touch me, I would sever your manhood." The curse wouldn't stop her from doing that, not if she put her mind to it.
Ignoring his comment about her title and its story, she added, "Much of what you say seems to be gibberish to me." Just how long had she been asleep?
Gibberish? The accent, or his vocabulary in general? He smirked a bit, and turned toward the path again.
"Well, then, I suppose my manhood is safe from you, then. No need to get so....assertive about it, in any case." He'd dropped the fake accent, now, wondering if she'd even react.
"Much better." She eyed him sidelong. "I don't know why you insisted on keeping up that preposterous facade." She'd known the accent was false, he'd dropped it briefly before after all- she couldn't imagine why someone would speak in such a way intentionally.
"The accent is a mask, of sorts. Throws people off, makes them underestimate me."
He tossed a glance over his shoulder, jade eyes narrowing slightly at her.
"Well. Most people. Apparently, you're one of the smart ones." Itachi turned back around and muttered under his breath, "Lucky me...."
------
It was fully dark when they finally reached Essyrn, and getting rather chilly as the sun disappeared over the hilly horizon. Itachi was rather glad for his coat - most people thought him a fool for wearing such a long, thick garment everywhere he went, but it certainly had it's uses - not the least being its original purpose.
"So, then. I don't know just how far this...binding between us will let us move away from each other. But, I'm not going far if you'd rather stay out here. Your appearance may garner you the wrong kind of attention, and I'd rather you not get us both roped into fighting in the colosseum."
He leaned against the outer sandstone wall of the city, arms crossed over his thin chest. "I'm known here, so I'll be fine, and you will be too, so long as you stay close. So, stay here, or come with me. Your choice, Wolf."
Neria- or Wolf, as she supposed she must accustom herself to being called- blinked at him laconically. "It is not truly distance that is a challenge," she sighed after a moment. "Truly, I could be some thousand leagues from you and neither of us would suffer ill effect. I simply...cannot go home."
She couldn't leave the mortal plane while bound to the man. Not to mention, it was probably in her best interest to keep an eye on him while her soul was tied to his. Just in case.
"I will accompany you," she decided after a moment, frowning. Her eyes flickered over the towering wall. "I have...never been to Essyrn physically. This shall be...an experience."
Itachi smirked, his head declining and his eyes closing.
"An experience indeed. Just remember to stay close, and don't do anything rash, and we'll be fine." He chuckled a bit, and pushed off the wall, walking toward the front gate and, thus, the torchlight illuminating it.
"If you do get yourself in trouble, I won't hesitate to leave you here, if distance truly isn't an issue. You can fight your way out of the colosseum, I'm sure."
Truth be told, he likely wouldn't leave her there, nor would he leave anyone that travelled with him. It seemed simply like a good motivation for her to behave.
Wolf laughed. Her sharp canines flashed in the torchlight, eyes glinting and reflecting the light in an unsettlingly predatory way.
"That's perhaps the first sensible thing I've heard from you," she noted easily. "Although, I suppose I would be remiss if I didn't warn you that if I die, so do you." She shrugged. "Though there is hardly much chance of that happening."
It didn't take them but a few seconds to pass the gate and under the scrutiny of the guards. Itachi garnered suspicion from some, as they typically knew of his business back up north, but their faces read something completely different from Neria. Perhaps...shock? Itachi didn't think too much on it.
He simply slowed his pace and fell in beside her, tentatively placing a hand on her shoulder. "Remember," he whispered, close to her ear. "With me."
He released her shoulder, and headed toward the city proper. Hopefully he'd be able to find one of his ne'erdowell contacts to resupply.
Neria tensed under his touch, but forced herself not to slap his hand away. She didn't give much of a reply, other than one quick, sharp nod before she followed after him into the city.
Essyrn was...louder than she was used to. Arcane energy crackled around her fingers as she looked around, tense and constantly on alert.