~*~*~*~ What It Feels To Be Caged ~*~*~*~

Disclaimer: I'm not Tammy, and I'm not pretending to be. The characters you recognize are not mine, and no copyright infringement was intended. Thank you!

A/N: I'm baaaaaaaaaack!!! Lol. ^_^ I think I'm starting to get the hang of this fanfic thing. Don't worry, I'll still update on Forget the Past!! Anywayz, please, please, please R&R, cuz I still need as much criticism-constructive, please-as I can get! Try to keep the flames to a mimimum. This takes place at the time frame in which Lioness Rampant was written. The names in this story might be kinda weird, but they are from a different country, and I was getting bored with normal names. Thanx! Enjoy!

P.S. In case you were wondering, let's just pretend Faithful is, say, staying with Jon in Corus. No don't hate me, I didn't want him to get killed. ^.^

Chapter One: Captured!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Instead of heading towards Maren, as she and her man-at-arms had planned, Alanna of Trebond and Olau decided to travel on the road that would take her to Tyra. The long ride there was mostly uneventful except for one small run-in with an exceptionally large bandit troupe that left Alanna with a deep ragged slash down her right leg from her upper thigh to her shin. The injury left the King's Champion with a slight limp, but it would heal with time. But the woman had lost a great deal of blood and, refusing to stop to rest and rest for a day or two, Alanna wanted to go on, never letting her body catch up on the sleep it so desperately needed. As a result, though she refused to admit it, Alanna was so weak that she could barely wield her sword against Coram in her daily practice bouts. Coram, however, had noticed long ago, and urged his mistress to find a suitable camp and rest up for a few days. Finally, the Lioness gave in and agreed to set up a camp once they got to the Tyran capital, but no sooner. They were currently about a day's ride from their destination, and Alanna's leg was bothering her, as it always did before it was about to storm. But of course, it could always be all the salt in the sea breeze, as they were riding along a cliff above the Great Inland Sea, on a route that would take them to the capital.

"Can't we jus' stop now?" Coram suddenly asked insistently.

Alanna didn't need to ask what he was talking about; her man-at-arms had been raving about the same thing for the last hour or so. She thought he was just doing it to annoy her, but in truth, her burly companion still had a protective father's interest in her.

"Why?" she asked, too fatigued from their long ride and his persistency.

The man pointed a finger at the gray, bubbling clouds overhead. "It's gonna storm soon, I can feel it."

For the first time, Alanna noticed the sky overhead. She was too tired to argue, so she sullenly said, "All right, but only because of the storm."

Coram nodded briskly, taking an overgrown path leading down to the shore, beckoning for his mistress to follow him. "Look, there's a cave that we can take shelter in. You go in and lay down, and I-"

He broke of when he heard Alanna protesting, saying, "If ye don't get yer rest, what will ye do if ye get challenged to a duel in the capital?"

Alanna could say nothing to this and when they got to the shore, she sulkily led Moonlight to the cave Coram had pointed out and tied her mare to a jut in the rock under an overhang in the cliff. She hobbled inside and looked around. Her surroundings were shrouded in darkness, but then it was a cave, and nothing could be done about it. And she didn't feel like wasting her Gift on a silly thing like light when it was going to get dark outside soon anyway.

At least its dry, she thought in an attempt to cheer herself up.

After a moment, Coram came in, brushing water droplets off his clothes from the beginnings of the squall that was forming over the sea.

"Decided to sleep standin' up, have ye?" he asked innocently.

She opened her mouth to object, but it was drowned out by a clash of thunder that shook the ground and rattled the stone above their heads.

"I'll get the blankets for ye." Coram said by way of ordering her to get ready to get ready to go to sleep.

"What about dinner?" she demurred, not wanting to go to bed so early.

You're acting like a little girl, the sensible side of her mind commented. But before the impish part could back talk, Coram spoke again.

"Well, eat yer dinner, an' then go to bed." He wasn't about to let her get away with catching up on her sleep. "Besides, we're not goin' anywhere with this storm." He said as another peal of thunder made the loose rocks in the cave clatter and a flash of lightening lit up outside as if it were day.

You are tired. You're not going to get anywhere with this argument. Might as well go to bed, and leave in the morning. The sensible voice whispered in her ear once again.

Alanna decided to listen to it, set up her bedroll, and clambered into it. She realized just how tired she was as soon as her head hit the pillow.

"Good night, Coram," she murmured sleepily. Even the relentless thunder and lightening couldn't keep her awake.

"G' night, lass," he replied, chuckling around his dinner of biscuits and cheese.

Alanna immediately slid into oblivion, dreaming unwillingly of the friends she left back in Corus, namely Jon and George.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Alanna later woke to silence. Sitting up, she was immediately puzzled. Her fiery red hair had fallen out of the leather thong she had tied it in, but she did not notice. All she did notice was the absolute tranquility. It was calming, but almost eerie, after the earsplitting tempest earlier that evening. She pushed back her covers, feeling somewhat refreshed, and swayed to the edge of the cavern. She looked outside to discover a dazzlingly clear sky dusted with stars that winked down at her. A full moon lit the seashore, giving it a majestic, serene look. As she gazed out over the gentle waves lapping at the sand, she saw a ship silhouetted against the moonlight. And further in front of it, a smaller ship, and it looked to be heading towards shore.

Curious, not thinking to awake Coram, Alanna softly padded barefoot to the water's edge. She still could not get a clear glimpse of what kind of ships they were, and if they even had people on them, working. She closed her eyes, concentrating on her sense of hearing, but she could detect no sound besides the soothing rhythm of small waves breaking on the shore.

The young woman stood there for a long time, looking almost mesmerized by what she was hearing. If she had been her normal, alert, self, she would have heard the snatches of crude language carried to her on the salty breeze. But she wasn't; she was still half-asleep and her mind wasn't working properly.

She also didn't notice that her figure was outlined in silvery moonlight, giving her a divine, magical look. Her flaming hair whipped around her face, as did her loose breeches and shirt. One man on the boat suddenly pointed towards the shore where she was standing, and began speaking rapidly but softly, in his own language.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Look there! On the shore! What is that? Who is that?"

A dark, curly-haired man (A/N: No, not Raoul. :P) looked to where his companion was pointing. He sat up from rowing for a moment and stared hard at the back. "Is that a woman or a man?" he questioned.

"The person looks to be a man, Kasim. It is wearing pants and what looks likes a shirt." Another answered.

"Hmrph," the curly-headed one threw back at him, "Hamid, how can you tell? But we had better hope it is a woman. We have not brought home any treasure or women for a long time, now, and the king is not happy."

"Well, we might as well go see what it is," the man called Rais said.

The others nodded in agreement and began rowing, silently towards shore. As soon as they got within ten feet of land, they could see that the mysterious figure was indeed a woman.

"Look at her hair! It is a bright as the flames in our campfire! Surely King Dimitrius has never seen such a women before-nor his son! We could be rich if we sold her to him!" a third named Mehmed exclaimed softly.

"Indeed," Kasim said, for he seemed to be in charge. "We will take her back home with us, and see what the slave dealer says."

(A/N: Uh-oh!! Slave dealer…??)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Alanna finally opened her eyes as she jerked at the sound of discreet feet crunching on sand. The sight that fell upon her was that of three very large, intimidating men. Alanna instinctively fell into a fighting stance, not even knowing if these men were friend or foe. As she did so, she reached for her sword, which she frantically realized was not there.

I left in the cave with Coram, she remembered quickly as she ducked the imprisoning arm sweep of one of the men. Her right arm lashed out, landing a bruising punch on the nearest jaw, earning herself a grunt of surprise.

After swiftly checking to make sure that no one was behind her while dodging the arm of yet another man, Alanna stepped back to swing a blow at the same man. But suddenly, she tripped in a particularly deep hole in the ridged sand, and stumbled forwards, right into the arms of the man she was trying to punch. The strong, rock hard arms closed around her and large, rough hands held her wrists in an iron grip. Her forehead stuck an unyielding chest encased in a rough material she had never come across before. Now, Alanna could hear the harsh language that she recognized to be that of the Copper Isles.

What are Copper Islanders doing here? She thought momentarily, before the other half of her mind took over.

Alanna had never been handheld like this before! What was she supposed to do? Remembering about her comrade, she was about to shout for Coram, but something solid and smooth struck her on the back of her head, knocking her unconscious.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A/N: Well?!?! What do you think so far???? It was my first Alanna fic, and I reeeeeeallly need to know!!! Please review-it is sooo easy, you don't even have to be a member!! If you liked this fic, I have another one, in which I have six chapters so far, called Forget the Past. I personally think its great, but hey! ^_^ Like I said before, the names are kinda weird, and I was sorta making them up along the way. =^) I will try to update ASAP, but if I get reviews, it makes me go a lot faster!! *nudge nudge wink wink* Let's say, maybe 10 reviews for another chapter? Sound fair? I already got the next chappie half written, so review!!!!

Goddess bless,

~Starlet~