Hallway after hallway, door after door, he had lost track how many they had gone through now. He couldn't recall when he'd woken up really. Also, his head was spinning, the gag in mouth tasted horrid, and rough against his tongue. His vision was also still fuzzy from being slammed into the ground by Rodelia. That's at least what she had told him her name was a little earlier, or it could have been a day ago. To be honest, Tiz had no clue where he was, and was absolutely clueless about what was going on.
Tiz wiggled his arms in the shackles, they seemed to get tighter the more he struggled but that's not really what he was worried about. He was actually more cognizant of the hand currently exploring his lower backside. Turning he to the silvery-blue shape he assumed was Rodelia he glared. It snickered and he had his confirmation. "Aww. Don't glare at me like that. You have such a pretty face. It will get all wrinkled and saggy if you make those faces too much." She firmly squeezed his butt before letting go. Shuttering, Tiz moved away from her grimacing through his gag. "Now. Miss Rodelia. You shouldn't tease him too much." the tall ranger finally spoke in a low gruff voice.
"Jealous Galoric?" Rodelia teased.
In response he snorted then proceeded to continue onwards in silence. She giggled and did the same. They continued down the seemingly endless corridors until going through a thick heavy door. Loud squeaking erupted from the doors hinges while Galoric pushed them open into a dark room. Foul stagnant air wafted out to Tiz as they entered. Jeez. What could they possibly keep in here that smells so bad. Trying to ignore the smell he focused on figuring out what kind of room they had entered. Gray mixed with gray then met black as it went further down. I still can't make sense of anything.
"We're here."
Turning to the direction of the voice his face met with a very hard fist.
"Ringabel... Ringabel."
Ringabel jolted awake as his hand shifted to the hilt of his sword. "Wha? What? What's happening? What is it?"
Agnes held up one of her hands. The other held a signature fox mask of a Ranger. "Whoa." She gestured to the hand which was still on the sword.
"Oh, sorry." He relaxed and removing his hand from the sword raising it to his mouth to cover a large yawn. Giving him a worried look Agnes lowered her hands. "Did you get any sleep?"
"Yes.."
She sighed looking at him incredulously but continued. "Well, me and Edea didn't want to wake you, but we found information on who might have taken Tiz." Without warning Ringabel shot up out of his chair. "Really" Stepping backwards at sudden movement she nodded. "Yes. It's actually just who we were looking for."
"The rogue rangers?"
"Indeed. The exact location is unknown but the attacks have been concentrated heavily in the forest east of Florem. We will most likely need to go undercover as Rangers to infiltrate them."
He nodded. "Ok. When do we leave?"
"Quite soon actually. Edea is checking us out at the front desk as we speak. Do you need my assistance cleaning your room." He shook his head. "I can clean it up myself. Thank you though Agnes. I'll change and meet you down there." Rotating he speedily went to work on cleaning the mess of papers he'd fallen asleep on. The floor squeaked under Agnes's feet as she left the room. She closed the door and sighed. Placing the mask over her head she went to go meet Edea.
Edea paced around in the lobby impatiently. Why in the world are they taking so long? She looked at the stairwell entrance spotting Agnes but no sign of Ringabel. Letting out an exasperated sign she ran over to her. "Where is he? Is he alright"
"He's coming. I really don't think he got any sleep last night though."
Frowning slightly she began pacing again. "He hasn't been for two days." They each turned to the sound of footsteps behind them. Eyes widening Edea gawked at the sight in front of her.
He had faint bags under eyes and left side of his hair was sticking up in weird directions. She could see the dried drool mark running horizontally across his right cheek. Furthermore, he clothes were a mess; it looked like he had just been drug out of hell. He wasn't even wearing the mask. Edea cringed at the sight of him as he slowly moseyed over to them. He grinned when he saw the two of them walking slightly faster. "Ladies." Oh jeez. Not this. Shaking her head she could feel the headaches already starting to form.
"Ringabel?"
"Edea?" The same annoying smile was starting to make itself a permanent home on his face.
"You.. look like shit."
Placing his head on the wall he could already feel the soothing chill of the rock walls. The cold floors and walls of the cell did a great job of reducing the swelling. Well, he was pretty sure there was swelling. First being slammed into the hard ground then a punch straight to the face. I really really don't like her.
It hadn't been long since he'd woken up. Sometime during all of this they'd changed is clothes which made him very uncomfortable. There was also a sharp pain in his both his wrists that hadn't been there before. He didn't dare mess with it though.
Kling. Tep.
Kling. Tep.
He froze up as he heard someone approaching the cell. Unfortunately, he still couldn't see very much of anything. Not that it would help since it was pitch black anyway.
Kling. Tep.
Kling. Kling.
They had stopped directly in front of the cell door but said nothing. Tiz looked over at the bars. "Hello?" His voice sounded scratchy and it hurt slightly to speak. A loud gasp escaped the strangers mouth and quickly they rushed back down the hallway. Tiz listened until the sound had completely vanished. His eyes drifted down to the small glowing object the stranger had left behind. The light soon separated into three lights; reaching for one he quickly recognized the soft feel of paper. Soft but slick under his hands the paper read:
Before I explain anything I feel obligated to apologize for my sister Rodelia. She enjoys hitting things that she likes. It is highly likely that she has already branded you.
Anyway, I assume that you attained the other effect of the paralysis darts. It is common here and you likely will experience it again. This is why I have also given you an anti-paralysis ring, however, that is all it will protect you from. I apologize for that as well, but I hope the bottle I have left you will help with the other effect.
~E
E? Guess that's another mystery I'll have to solve eventually. Along with how he could read the paper even though he could barely see two feet in front of himself. Folding up the note he reached for the second light and swiftly recognized the small glowing letters. "EYE DROPS"
Wow why didn't I think of that sooner. Smiling Tiz quickly used the eye drops then waited as his eyes slowly adjusted. The room was actually a whole lot brighter then he'd originally thought. It was still pretty dark though. The items had stopped glowing, but he could see the last tiny thing laying on the floor. Picking up what he assumed he was the ring. It was a small black crescent with a shiny sheen to it that slid perfectly on his finger.
Frowning he looked at his hand. He hadn't even noticed the silver fingerless gloves on his hands. They appeared to be metallic but looked like fabric. Glancing down at his clothes he finally noticed how different they looked. On his chest was a silver high collared vest with white trim, the bottom was cut up into a 'v' shape exposing his stomach. The trousers were white and tight fitting but not painfully so. Like the pants, the knee-high boots were white but slowly faded into silver until reaching the bottom. Many light blue belts hung askew loosely across his hips, a few attaching to the hollowed wolf tail hanging freely to his backside. It was extremely soft to the touch and seemed to move in tandem with his movements. Everything was made out of the same metallic fabric.
He studied the clothes as he absentmindedly twisted the ring back and forth on his finger. What in the world are these made of? Wait. Actually, more importantly. How am I going to get out of here. There were too many hallways for me to memorize. Plus that wouldn't do me any good anyway since I've been half blind this whole time. Releasing a long sigh he glanced over at the cell bars again locking eyes with a girl with a wide grin staring back at him.
"Ah!" Tiz scooted backwards into the corner of the room eying the girl from a distance. Looking at her closer she was actually quite pretty. She had hair was that pale blonde in color that was swept off to the left side in front. Her bangs curled up into a suicide roll pony surrounded by smaller curls that straightened out as they went down. The clothes she was wearing looked like a mix of the Bravo Bikini and Ranger outfits but with added armor. It consisted of a light blue tube top with black bottoms that had a small bow on the left hip. The backs of the bottoms had two "tails" that extended outwards leaving space for a fox tail attached to a belt in the middle. On her hands were long black fingerless gloves lined with fur on the top rim. Covering her legs and feet were light blue knee socks and black knee high boots.
Grasping the bars she cooed at him.. "Aw. Scared? It's ok. It's me. Remember?"
His eyes widened in realization. "Rodelia‽" Coughing slightly his eyes narrowed to slits.
"Wow, he speaks. If only I could get a name." She raised one of her eyebrows pouting. Tiz turned his gaze from her to the floor. It didn't seem to shake her determination at all. "Oh well. I'll get it sooner or later." Her voice deepened suggestively. "I always do."
Tiz's cheeks flushed as he pushed himself closer into the corner. "Come on pretty boy." She unlocked the door swinging it open while holding a pair shackles. A few guards had appeared beside her. Maybe his hearing was better when he was blind because he hadn't heard any of them arrive. He decided to ignore them. Suddenly a hot strands of electricity ran up his arms and through his entire body. Screaming he fell over onto the floor laying there until the pain subsided. Rodelia chuckled behind him.
"If you don't cooperate I'll be forced to electrocute you again. Now, please, come here won't you?"
Glaring at her angrily Tiz pushed himself up off the floor walking over to them silently he holding out his arms. Heavy shackles clicked together on his arms as two of the four guards gathered behind as they walked out of the cell. Only the silence and the sounds of footsteps filled the air as they walked down long halls and corridors. Soon they came to large doors with two large wolfs growling on each one. Signaling for them to stop Rodelia then gestured to the doors. With great haste the guards opened the doors standing silent waiting for the next command.
"Hold on, before we do anything else I need to put this on you." She reached into something on her back and pulled out a large object. Looking it over it looked like a mix of a headband and a colombina mask. It was silver and white, just like his outfit, with three sharp points that curved together just above the ear area on each side giving the wearer the appearance of wolf ears. Instead of simple cut out areas for the eyes it had four slits for the wearer to see through. The mask itself was made out of two thin layers; the top was white with light blue swirls under the eye slits. Being bigger than the top half the bottom was silver and the top was placed over it. She reached up and slid it over his head. It fit perfectly.
"Oh! That looks good on you." She grinned looking him up and down. "Really good." Tiz grimaced at that but he could feel himself blushing again anyway. It was a good thing the mask covered part of his face.
"You should know the mask I just placed on you is fixed. It will not come off unless I take it off. Also, along with your wristbands, it will electrocute you if you don't do exactly as I say." Winking she twirled the keys on her finger smirking. Begrudgingly, Tiz held out his arms. Giving him a full smile she unlocked the shackles sliding them off his wrists. "You wouldn't last a second out there wearing shackles and I do want you to survive." Leaning in close she grabbed the front of his vest. Tiz looked down and back at her.
"Now. When i wake you up you better win."
Wake me up. What? Wait.. Oh..