How much HP does this guy have?!?!?!

Since he's gotten a hand on me (again) I've done many things. Spat on him, but that didn't work this time. Kneeing him in the groin worked then, but then I was caught in the wrong position to do that. So I brought my ankle up into it from behind. Worked well.

Then he caught me from behind again, knees locked together, and grabbed both my arms. I threw myself backwards, head knocking into his chest with the force of an arrow shot from a foot away. Think I broke a few ribs, and he let go but he's got me again.

"Catalina, I just want to talk." He says, still calm and quiet. His arm is in range, so I lunge and bite it with all my strength. He lets go and pulls his arm out so fast I don't have enough time to react before he has me again, backwards by both arms twisted behind me.

"Please, Catalina? Please? I promise not to hurt you." That's only because you haven't had the chance yet, jerk. I try to ankle him again, but his knees are locked together. So I use my foot to stomp on his instep hard enough that he falls over, after letting go of me through sheer pain. I hightail it to the other side of my prison, aches and pains slowing me down immensely.

I reach the other side and see the stubborn King a few feet behind me. I dash to the left and away again, and am grabbed harshly by both arms. We're right near the platform now, and he begins to drag me over to it.

I kick him behind the knees.

He sits involuntarily, hitting the ground with a hard smack. I run to the other side of the cage and feel a hand on my arm. I jump a few feet in the air before I realize he never let go.

How long will I have to do this?

He lets go and stands up, rubbing his back. "Ouch. . . metal burn." He groans. He goes over to the cage door and unlocks it, lets himself out, then locks it again. He then undoes the trapdoors combination, shielding it from my sight.

Wow. That was unusual. Not often that happens.

Something's up.

He lowers it down, and all I can think is: What made him do that? I know he wouldn't have quit that quickly after the stamina he showed earlier.

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I crawl through the tiny cave yet again, looking for the light that tells me the thing that chased me here has gone yet.

Nope. I've spent at least fifteen hours in here, and yet this thing still has its eye pressed to the opening in an effort to find and kill me. Talk about search and destroy. I crawl back, breathing out angrily. How many hours will this take?!?!?!

Hearing the snort of the monster as he tries to get in again, raising a dust storm in this small area, I back out again into the one room. Time to search for alternate exits.

One hand on the wall, I feel my way around. About halfway my hand slips into a crack midway up the wall.

Using both hands, I test it, to find it's a tunnel about two feet off the ground. Hoisting myself into it, I begin to crawl, on my hands and knees. I round a corner to the right, round a corner to the left. Go up for about two feet before it levels out again.

Or not. Pain in my head, from my sneezes there's dust, my arm is twisted at a funny angle beneath me. . .this really isn't my day. I feel around me, and it's about four feet square. On all side is solid rock, hard as granite. Closing my eyes, I try to remember which side I was heading towards before the pit ate me.

To the left. I reach up with both arms- or try to. One won't respond. I touch it with my other hand and fall to my knees. Dizziness courses over my body in waves, and I fight to keep down the fish I ate earlier. I fail, and vomit ferociously.

Great. A broken arm on top of EVERYTHING else. What next, the rampaging brute breaking through into my little cave?

CRUNCH-WHAM!!!!!

Of course.

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Zidane goes over to the door and opens it, letting the others into the room where he had met with Clara. Garnet goes over to type in the password for the soundproof meeting place before turning to stare at her husband. He had collapsed on the one chair in there at the moment, hunched over and shaking.

She touches his shoulder gently while Eiko and Freya take seats on the floor. "Didn't go well with Catalina, did it? She asks while the rest take up various positions around the room.

He laughs shakily. "That's one way to put it." He rubs his head, wishing he had the courage to tell everyone the extent of his troubles. However, he'd learned not to do that over the years. Whenever it was something extreme like this the girls over reacted. Last time something like this had happened he'd been confined to his bed for a week. Still, this one WAS overly important. . . "Wouldn't have anything to do with me. I try to talk to her, get within a foot of her, she'd bolt. Wouldn't get out of her cage at first, so I locked us in to lower the playing field."

"What did she do?" Asks Freya with a grin. Typical Zidane. He always made things like this seem like such a big deal.

"After so long chasing her around I grabbed her and towed her back to the bed. She pitched a fit. When wrenching herself around and throwing herself off the bed didn't work, she spat on me."

"Yuck." Comments Eiko. "She's not exactly the most friendly person, is she."

"Nope. When I tried to grab her again," And he sighs. Finally lifting his head from it's drooped position, he finishes, "She got violent."

They all wince in pity. They'd seen the damage both girls could do when pressed, and the idea of being locked in a small space with one was not inviting. "Damages?" Asks Garnet, fingers already tingling with a cure spell.

"One knee-in-the-groin, one ankle in the groin, one head- propelled with LOTS of force- into my chest, one bitten arm, one broken toe, and once being dragged across ten feet of her cage when I didn't let go fast enough."

Wrong thing to say. They all stare at him, wide eyed. Garnet gets to work with Curaga while Vivi remarks sensibly, "From now on perhaps we should only talk to her in groups."

"No." Zidane shakes his head. "Remember how Clara was more open in one-on- one? This'll work better, faster. I've just gotta persevere. Maybe get some hidden armor."

Beatrice Nods. "I'll get some small things to go under your clothes soon.

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Eika: Decided to wait until I got reviews before posting this. Thanks Lady Tamarisk! Hi Z! Yes, I paid attention to your review.

Clara: Oh, for the love of. . .

Eika: Next time you decide to knife someone from behind, make sure they're not an author. Also. . .

Clara: Make sure they're not in front of a mirror. (groans where she's chained to a chair)

Eika: You learn fast.