The sequence of events that followed next was disorienting, to say the least. I definitely remember being dragged around by Jagara's soldiers, and then I was with a bunch of other prisoners. Some of them just look like average guys. I don't know whether they were convicted of treason or traffic tickets, and I supposed I could care even less. It wasn't until I saw Cheza that something stirred within me. She was unconscious, held in the arms of someone I had never seen. Her head was rolled back limply, her eyes were shut, but she definitely did not want to be there. Words were not necessary when you saw a scene like that.
"Cheza!" I shouted, dashing after her. I didn't get very far, I ran right into a guard, who promptly smashed the butt of his rifle into my face.
After that, things were a bit of a haze, but I do remember being shoved into a cell. A gray, bleak, depressing thing. My head was still swimming, and I think I fell unconscious when I was there, but when I gained control over my faculties, I assessed my situation. I was in a cage much like one they kept for large animals. Long iron bars only on one side, since having them on all ends made it easier to bust out. Slamming against the walls would be pretty pointless, and I couldn't bend the bars.
"Well, it seems you're up." A hoarse woman's voice sounded, from the cell next to mine.
"Huh? Old woman, who are you?" I asked.
"Just an old woman." She responded. "You have such a wonderful scent." She remarked off-handely. Then, more to the point, she started to tell me about these cages. They put wolves in these cages. Kept them for a while, then they were killed. What happened next was not pretty, I assumed. This old woman was a wolf then? Like Blue?
"You're a lucky one, human. They won't shoot you like that. They'll just keep you in here until you're a skeleton." I had no intention of dying in a cell like this. I had to get out and find Cheza, but I had no clue how to do that yet.
"You have such a lovely scent, you smell like flowers." She remarked. "How do you smell so nice?" That was curious thing to say. I smelled like a week old gym bag.
"That's Cheza you're smelling." I responded. "Musta rubbed off on me."
"So, she is here." She said, not to me, just to herself.
I spent the next bit of time trying to conserve my strength, but the lack of water was killing me. There weren't any windows, no snow to melt. I needed something to drink, badly. Eventually I heard a guard come by, but there were more then one set of footsteps. Was there another prisoner with him? I was right, there were actually two guards, and they threw a man into the cell across from mine. He was a gray-haired guy, but that didn't appear to come from age. Heavily scarred, dressed in black leather, like some street punk. I tried to plead with the guard for some water, but, as if to taunt me, they splashed my face with it, making me cough and gag. I got so very little that it hardly helped my situation. They got a cheap laugh from it, and I resisted the urge to flip them the Bird. That may have resulted in the loss of my finger.
"Damn…" I cursed. They really were going to keep me in here until I died. The newcomer and the old woman were in discussion about something, but I didn't listen in. I didn't really understand most of it, so I figured not to bother. I needed to think about how I was going to get out of here. After he finished talking, and unsuccessfully trying to break out, he just sat in his cell, a rather pouty look upon his face. He looked at me every so often with perhaps a bit of contempt. I had no clue why, I never met this guy before.
A while later, the guards came back, they threw some other person into the cell across from the old woman. This one was a redhead kid. Then, I heard them open the cell of the old woman. Then the gunshot. Wordlessly, I tried to look out the cell door, but all I could do was hear something being dragged away.
"Old woman?" I called. No reply. They had taken her off, to suffer the fate that she had described to me. Dejected, I sat back on my cot. The redhead and the street punk were talking, and making occasional sidelong glances at me. I tried to ignore them, I needed to get out of here and find Cheza.
I needed to clear my head, and so, I started humming. Of course, the only thing songwise that was in my head was Cheza's song, the one I heard one her sing on the airship. It was unearthly beautiful and it made me feel better that last time she sang, so maybe it would clear my head.
I'm sure it didn't sound that great, at least in comparison to the way she sang it. I wasn't exactly the best singer, and the fact that my throat was dry and parched wasn't helping. But it still pierced me with a calm, and I almost felt all my troubles melt away into the melody. I had shut my eyes to concentrate more, and when I opened them after I finished, I saw that both the redhead and the street punk were staring at me. They look like they had seen a ghost, and I wasn't dead yet as far as I could tell. They must have known it too.
"What?" I said. "So I sound awful, sue me. Not like I'm going to be doing anything else." I had no clue why they were after Cheza, and I couldn't trust a stranger's intentions.
"That song…" The redhead had a high voice, as if he hadn't entered puberty. "That's Cheza's song. Do you know Cheza?"
"Yes, I do." I responded flatly.
"Where is she!" The street punk demanded. A crude person, to be sure.
"Tsume!" The redhead pleaded. "Asking like that gives him a good reason not to tell us. Please, Mister, do you know where Cheza is? Is she close by?"
"I was brought in with her. I busted her out of the convoy she was held in only to get kidnapped again. She's around here somewhere." I answered the kid. He sounded too innocent to even know the words subterfuge. I doubted he was some type of spy. Then again, I doubted Jagara needed spies to begin with, if she was just planning on leaving me here to rot.
"Tsume, did you hear that? Cheza's close by, we're close!" The redhead was excited, and he banged on his cellbars excitedly.
"We're in a cell, it doesn't matter how close we are." That sour Tsume character responded. "As the old woman said, ramming the gates is stupid." I returned to humming Cheza's song. These guys were wolves, it seemed. Were they the same ones Cher saw at Darcia's Keep? They were a bunch of boys. While I hummed, I tried to think. At first, the two simply quieted and listened to the song, as if it soothed them too. Eventually, though, the redhead was too agitated to sit still.
"We've gotta get out and find Cheza, we just gotta!" The boy pleaded. He started to ram the door. He bounced off each time, and it looked rather painful.
"These cages were designed to hold wolves and other animals. They are built to take high speed ramming." I told him like I was an expert. But the story of the old woman was all I needed to hear.
"But Mister, don't you wanna get out and help Cheza too?" He asked.
"That's an obvious answer. But…" I went to the bars and started to pull the bars. One needed opposable thumbs to grab around the bar like this, and these cages weren't designed to hold humans. I pulled and grunted, but they held fast.
"Damn." I cursed. I tried again. Failure. I kicked the bars in frustration, but only managed to hurt my foot. I cursed again, then plopped down on the cot in my cell, or what passed for that at least. I had to think, how I would get out of this cell. I remembered old stories about fingernail files, wearing away the bars, but I didn't have anything to use. All I had with me were the clothes on my back, although now I was missing my hat and tie. Nothing of those would help me.
The two wolf boys were now ramming the gates together, trying to unhinge the gate.
"It's useless, don't bother. They've built these things to sustain several wolves ramming." The street punk wolf just grunted at me and ignored my protests.
"But…it's Cheza, we've got to save her!" He paused only briefly to talk, and went back to ramming.
"You'd…do all that for her?" I wondered.
"Wouldn't you, Mister? You were with Cheza. Isn't she nice, and she smells so wonderful." The two had stopped ramming to take a brief rest.
"Hmmm…I don't really know about that, but I don't want to see her hurt." I suddenely thought of an idea. I kicked the wall.
"Mr. Sensible tells us not to ram the bars, but he kicks the wall." Tsume responded sarcastically. I ignored him, and broke a fair sized hunk of rock.
"Hmmm…" I saw a computer console, with some buttons. I figured if I hit it with the rock, I might have been able to get it open. I threw, and missed.
"Dammit." I cursed.
"Do you even know if that will work?" Tsume responded. I ignored him again, and broke off another piece.
"There's a giant button on there. They didn't use a computer to throw you into the cell, it would have to be for release." I tried again, and hit it, but nothing happened.
"There's gotta be a way to open that."
"You'll probably break it." Tsume responded. "Then you'll be stuck." He and the redhead resumed ramming. They continued ramming for a time, while I broke off another piece of rock.
"Cheza, I'm coming. Cher…give me luck!" I willed myself as I threw my third piece of rock. That did it! My cell door slid open.
"Wow, mister! You did it!" The redhead cheered. Tsume half-smiled, as if he was slightly impressed that my gamble worked.
"Now get us out of here." He responded gruffly.
"Don't you know the word please?" I said sarcastically. The console nearby didn't look any different then the one I threw the rock at, but there were several buttons on it. Which one was release.
But then, I sensed someone to my side, I jumped back. And I thought I saw a ghost. Way back when that white dog was caught, there was a pudgy little young guy who said he was with the cleaning crew. And here he was again.
"You!" I scowled.
"Well, if it isn't the tall detective guy." He responded playfully. "Didn't expect to see you again. But I can't stay and talk, I need to get these guys outta there. So move it."
"That's what I'm doing." I responded.
"Didn't think you humans would be helping us wolves." He was exceptionally cheerful, but I could tell that he was acting that way because he didn't want to feel bad. Much the way Cher did when she talked to me when Cheza was driving that wedge between us. She smiled, but it was a painted, forced smile.
"Does the distinction between human and wolf matter now?" I asked, then returned to the console. The first button I hit did the charm, and the doors opened.
"No, I guess not. Thanks, mister!" The pudgy one turned around and ran back down the hallway, as if he was leading the others somewhere. To Cheza? Probably. Gruff Tsume passed me wordlessly.
"Thanks again, mister!" The redhead shouted. "What's your name?"
"We should follow them." I sprinted down after them, and the redhead followed me. "But it's Hubb." I smiled.
"I'm Toboe!" He was exuberant and cheerful, like the naïve rookie. "We're finding Cheza to go to Paradise. You gonna help us free her?"
"Yeah." I responded. "And I'll go to Paradise too. Cheza wanted me to go with her, so I will." I didn't understand why I told him that, but he probably would have prodded me about it anyway.
"Alright!" He cheered. "I'm sure you can get there." That made me feel a bit relieved. Of course, until I reached the gates of the place, I wouldn't know if I had wasted my time or not.