Silverleaf sighed and let his head fall as far as the manacle would give, a couple inches. It would do. Time didn't exist in his cell, it was all endless darkness, the endless sound of his breathes and the endless numbness eating his body alive. His mouth had long dried, taking with it the tang of dried blood and metal. He could still feel the bit pressing over his tongue. If he wriggled it a little he could feel the ragged edges on the corners of his mouth where they tore when they were stuffing the bit in his mouth. His arms were bound behind his back, the cuffs part of a straight bar that connected to the manacle around his neck. The whole thing was stuck to the wall somehow, he didn't have a chance to see how they got it on the wall. Soon after being bent into the harness a guard wrapped a peice of rough black wool over his eyes. Every blink afterward itched and chafed until he decided to keep his eyes closed. His final piece of 'jewelry' was a pair of manacles around his ankles. Simple garden variety manacles that were connected with a short chain.
After his limbs began tingling from being left in one place so long he started blinking. Blinking and blinking and blinking until the wool stopped irritating his eyelids. They got to a point where they numbed down to a dull scraped sensation and from there on weren't affected in any way by the cloth. Then his mouth dried out and his throat itched for water, they gradually dragged him awake. The dryness kept him from getting any proper sleep; he'd start to drift off, his throat would itch and he'd be back in the lucid darkness. Hanging his head made his neck start cramping up, but the pinching was a refreshing diversion from the monotonous darkness, breathes and numbness until something else outstaged it.
Shouldn't his stomach be growling? It felt like he was shackled in this room for days, hunger should have followed close behind thirst. Shouldn't it? Hells, what if what he thought was several days was nothing but a single day? A single afternoon?? He clamped down on the bit and leaned back, standing on his tiptoes and leaning until the back of his head brushed against the stonework. He rubbed his head side to side, up and down. They tied the blindfold and the leather cords at each end of the bit behind his head. The stone felt smooth, but there were some round edges where the stones were mortared together. Maybe if he rubbed enough one of the ties would loosen and fray. He had all the time in the world.
Until he heard a door creak open and close. It was loud, closeby. His door maybe? Definitely, he could hear the click of heavy boots against the ground. He took his head off the wall and felt the remaining strength in his limbs melt away. His ears began ringing and his thoughts blurred together. Racing together like water in a stream before they slowed and seperated again. Even then his head felt hazy, almost vacant.
Silverleaf clamped down on the bit and curled his upper lip. It was him.
"Greetings Silverleaf," he said in that damn voice. There was no mistaking it. Silverleaf's teeth began to sting from biting the bit.
Click, click, click
A leathery grip grabbed his jaw and forced his head up before a rush of...liquid? Yes, liquid, water, rushed down his throat. It sang for joy but he coughed, stalling some of the water and exhaled as hard as he could. He felt a splash of water against his chest and he braced for the smack.
It didn't come, water continued to flow down his throat, some spiraling down to his lungs. He gagged and the water stopped pouring. A few ragged coughs got the water out of his lungs and back in his mouth. He swallowed it and his throat throbbed, the sting fading.
"We need to talk. Are you still together up there?"
Silverleaf growled and tried shaking his head, his grip was too strong.
"The bit doesn't hamper your speech any I see..."
Silence. The hand left his jaw and moved to the back of his head, it's mate joining it. Every breath Silverleaf took through his nose was thick with his smell, heady like pine. The hands were doing something in his hair, twisting and fussing with it.
The bit loosened and came out of his mouth. Silverleaf took a few deep breathes, careful not to stretch his mouth too far and open the scabs on its ends, and rubbed his tongue against the roof of his mouth.
"I've got a deal for you."
"Save your brea-urk-" the bit was shoved back into his mouth while he was talking. He tasted a hint of fresh blood in the right side of his mouth.
"Don't be so hasty, give me some time to explain."
