The sounds of dripping water woke her, and she slowly opened her eyes, squinting at the light flikering through the small window. Blinking a few times, she tried to prop herself up on her arms, but a sharp pain shot through her head, slamming her back onto the pillow.

It was then that she realized that she was in a bed, a lumpy, uncomfortable bed, but a bed nonetheless. Again she struggled up, this time realizing that she was restrained by her wrists and despite the pain in her head, she jerked around, driven by the terror coursing through her veins.

"Shhhh stop moving, you'll just hurt yourself more," the voice behind her was rough and scratched, but it was low and calming. Even still, she wrenched her hands against the ropes that bound them, startled by the noise.

A hand on her shoulder was even more disturbing, but she managed to contain her panic, forced to stare away from her captor. As if reading her thoughts, his hand moved from her shoulder down to her hands, where he began to untie her, talking all the while.

"You have to promise not to try and escape now. I'm a much better option than what you would find outside right now," his face came into view as he looked at her for some sort of conformation that she would remain on the lumpy cot.

She blinked and inclined her head ever so slightly, knowing what he was referring to, and preferring imprisonment in the stable as opposed to what waited for her in the compound. Her mouth did not move however, in speech nor emotion, and the man who cut her free seemed to know that she wasn't about to talk to him.

When she was at last free, she sat up slowly, looking around and rubbing her wrists. Her back pressed up against the chinked pine wall, she saw the source of the dripping water that had brought her to conciseness. A small hole in the middle of the roof leaked rain water into a tin bucket, making a harsh ringing noise. Watching the pure liquid fall, she unwittingly licked her lips, aware suddenly of a need for even a drop of water.

Again however, the young man seemed to be two steps ahead of her, passing over a buffalo leather canteen, sloshing rain water onto her hands as she hurriedly grabbed it and lifted it up to her lips. As the moisture brushed her lips however, she forced herself to stop, her brown eyes lifting to the slightly worried face of her captor, though the title didn't seem to fit him.

He met her gaze, his own eyes as emerald as the spring ranges, confusion at her pause glinting back at her. Slowly, she handed the canteen back to him, crossing her arms almost in challenge, eyes never wavering.

"Really? Why would I poison you?" His words seemed harsh, but his tone soft, and he took the water anyways, taking a deep gulp from it. "See? Not dead." He smirked a little and handed it back.

Grabbing it with barely contained haste, swallowing the remaining water as fast as she could. When the last drop touched her tongue, she wiped her lips with the back of her hand and handed the canteen back to the soldier.

He waved it away however, "Keep it," he gave no reason for the gift, but she hugged it to her chest anyways, suspicion still lingering on her tanned face however.

For a long while, she sat and watched as he tidied the small room they occupied, but when he pulled a rifle from underneath a stained shirt she dropped the canteen, sinking away from him and grabbing at her hip for a knife that was missing from its sheath. Panic filled her as she looked down, hand still groping for the blade and finding nothing but a hard leather belt.

Looking up again, she saw that he was watching her with amusement, no longer holding the gun, but her bone handled knife instead. "I had to make sure you weren't going to kill me as soon as you had a chance," he placed it onto a small wooden table but kept it close to himself, not yet trusting that should wouldn't slit his throat, and she didn't blame him. If he did slide it over she would certainly try.