Chapter 5: Captured

After being reeled in by that biker gang, Kayla started to swing her legs trying to struggle her way out from the ropes they had her in, being held by one arm of one of the bikers, "Let me go or I'm going t-" as Kayla was talking a sock got shoved into her mouth interrupting what she was saying, As the biker holding her chuckled rudely to what he did.

Kayla spitting out the sock giving a sick gagging from the horrid taste, "Your lucky I'm tied or I would do something to pay you back!" she growled only for that biker to respond, "Oh don't worry, that sock will be the least of your worries where you're going." The biker's laughter almost seemed like a pig's squeal.

Kayla, who became filled with both fear and confusion by that biker's statement, started to think to herself as she glanced back once more, 'Gwenn..where are you?' She looked back up to see a small town that seemed to be like a hornet nest to these bikers, seeing they had a functional bar, and what seemed like a cattle pin filled with innocent people, the sight of it frightened her, thinking that's where she is going, she started to squirm and struggle in the bikers arm once more.

"Let me go!" Kayla demanded to the biker, who refused to let her go still. She took a deep breath, stared at the ground below her and bit the biker's arm as hard as she could, seeing her bite did pretty much nothing as utit only caused the biker to stare at her like she was dumb, "You better let me go, or Ace will come kick your ass!" She growled.

The biker stared at her once again then looked up at his pals "Hey you hear that? She thinks Ace cares enough about her to come and get her, he is probably just a weak slop at this point, even looking at him he seemed not long for this world." he says in a mocking manner causing the rest to laugh hysterically. "Plus, that boy is smart enough to know not to make his way into a large clan." He added, forming a smirk on his face.

She thought for a second, then the look of dread shot over her face, realizing that this whole time Gwenn never really agreed outright that he would help her, and that he looked like he wasn't recovering before she got snatched away. She closed her eyes not wanting to accept her fate, having an internal battle of wanting to keep believing or giving up, was she ever going to get back home, or was she just going to end up being pawn or cattle to these mischief bikers.

All the sound around her started to feel muffled as she was lost in her own mind, unaware of what's going on around her, it felt like she was arguing with herself from within, full of negativity only seemed to keep overwhelming her as she began to miss her parents and home so much once more.

Shaking her head, trying to regain focus only to see they are driving past the cattle pen, and towards the bar. She became confused, Being swept up by the head biker and as they walked into the bar. She was being stared at by a pack of dogs, looking at her like she was steak. "Down boys, if we can't get any value off of her I'll drop her to you guys." The biker boss yelled out, causing the other bikers to quiet down and murmur angrily.

Ascending up a flight of stairs tossing Kayla onto a seat, letting out a small yelp as the boss sat down on his chair and kicked his feet up on his table. "Sooo... What to do, what to do..." The boss says as he starts to eye up and down at Kayla, causing Kayla to look away and try to squirm loose from the ropes. "Look...here's the deal, if you don't have anything to offer us on terms of value, be it some sort of scraps, or skill? I'm flipping your chair over the railing and letting those dogs deal with you, and who knows what they will do, but it will be out of my hands..." He says to her in a threatening tone.

Kayla considering what to do, or how to even reply, she was highly aware that she didn't have long to reply. She also had the feeling the fate she would get would be worse than death if she didn't give them an answer they liked.

Kayla blurted out when she saw the boss raise his hand slowly, as if to signal the biker next to her, "I'm a doctor!" She shouted. Her saying that got his attention, not fully believing that at first "Oh? Are you now?" He chuckled to himself and reached a hand under his desk, pulling out a gun and seemingly aiming it at her "Well..let's see how good you are, Hmm?" He said as he pulled the trigger causing the bullet to barely miss her head and hit the biker behind her in the stomach.

"Clocks ticking!" The boss shouted at her who promptly started to grab tools out of the bag she still had, slowly starting to panic, trying to keep her composure. She started to operate on the biker examining and saw that the bullet didn't go all the way through, as she dug around for it she heard the boss behind her talking to her in a mocking tone, "Hurry doc, we're losing him." he says with a chuckle as he leaned back into his chair and watched.

After a short while she was able to dig the bullet out, and tried to stitch up the wound as best she could. She looked over at the boss giving a nervous look, "Well i'll be damned, not any doctor around here even knows how to patch a paper cut properly." The boss said in slight amusement.

"Take her to the VIP suite!" He demanded after what happened and the other biker picked up Kayla, dragging her to what seemed like a decrepit shed and tossed her inside, locking her in. Kayla quickly got up and darted to the door, trying to open it and using her shoulder to bang against it, she even backed up and tried to kick it down like Gwenn seemed to do, only to fail miserably as she toppled to the ground.

footsteps coming from the several hours had passed, the boss biker had finished off a few of his own chores, returning to the bar and giving his dogs a few pats on the head as he made his way up the stairs and back into his office with a subtle yawn with how late it was.

Walking around his desk, reaching his hand out as if to grab something he knew would be there, was not. He quickly glanced down and noticed his glass wine was missing, quickly suspecting it to be one of his men toying with him as he glanced around the floor to see if it dropped only to find it not there either.

"Looking for this?" A menacing voice approached his ears, he quickly shot his head in the direction it came only to widen his eyes. "Ace!?" He shouted frighteningly, Gwenn who was sitting in a dark corner, one arm stretched out as it rested on his knee, to be exactly holding the bosses wine glass in that hand, slowly letting it pour to the ground as he tilted it.

Gwenn looked pissed, and the boss biker had clearly realized this expression of his, "How did you get in here!?" He growled. Gwenn squinted at him angrily, "Did you already forget who I am, Mave? You can put as many patrolmen and guards around your base all you want, I will always find a way in." Gwenn somewhat mocked, though he was clearly being serious and he wasn't wrong.

The boss hesitated when Gwenn called him by his name, "Damn you…" Mave growled, glaring at Gwenn. "Where is she?" Gwenn questioned angrily, only to have Mave not reply, still giving him a scornful look. "You're not looking too good there, Ace." Mave mocked, though wasn't wrong as Gwenn still was very Ill and was slightly noticeable because of how tired he looked, and the fact he was burning up and sweating.

"What concern is that to you…" Gwenn questioned, only to let the rest of wine pour out onto the ground. "Gives me an opportunity!" Mave growled excitedly as he quickly reached below his desk, only to suddenly panic and quickly look over at Gwenn, realizing it wasn't there.

Gwenn crushed the wine glass in hand as the glass shattered and fell to the ground, showing the gun in his other hand, giving Mave a menacing and very angry expression. He tossed the gun to his right, away from them both, knowing full well what Mave was going to do as he quickly stared at Gwenn, only to immediately dart after the weapon. Gwenn, who stood up quickly, used his wings as a small boost, leaping at Mave and grabbing him by the throat, slamming him down to the ground before he could reach the gun.

Hovering over him, despite his weak state, kept Mave pinned down to the ground as he attempted to break out of Gwenns grasp, though Gwenn was much stronger as he glared down at Mave. "I won't ask again, where is she!?" He snapped, "I kid you not, I will snap your damn neck and feed you to your own dogs!" Gwenn added angrily.

Mave, only letting out a small laughter, "You think those mutts would chew on their own master!? They only obey and love me, you fool!" He laughed, this only seemingly pissed Gwenn off more as he quickly grabbed one of his daggers from his belt, stabbing it into the bosses shoulder and keeping it there as he immediately cried out painfully.

"You forget one thing once more, those so called 'dogs' can't resist the smell of blood." Gwenn began, forming a small smirk, "You never know what they will do, right?" Gwenn added menacingly as he grabbed Mave by the shirt and pulled him, about to drag him out to the dogs that were outside the door and downstairs.

This officially and finally made Mave turn out as he began to steadily panic, attempting to break out of Gwenns grasp only to fail as he made a valid point, "Ok ok! I'll tell you!" Mave said nervously, causing Gwenn to come to a halt and peer over his shoulder at him.

Mave with slight hesitation says to Gwenn "S-she is in the VIP suite...outback..." his answer caused Gwenn to pull Mave away from the door and throw him into his chair, following that with a heavy punch, knocking Mave out.

Gwenn hurried outback to that shed, kicking open the door only to see Kayla curled into a ball in the corner looking up to see he was in front of her, causing her face to light up with joy knowing he didn't abandon her as she shot her head up from the loud kick of the door opening, "Gwenn! You're here!" She said excitedly, quickly covering her mouth thinking she was too loud. She got up and ran to him and quickly hugged him, slightly shivering from the experience she just had what felt like just minutes ago.

"You thought I wasn't coming…?" He questioned, glancing down at her as he slightly pulled her off of him from the embrace so he could look at her in the eyes which were full of worry but also fear. She glanced down, almost looking shameful just as he did before, "You… never outright agreed to help.. So I thought-" Kayla began, only to be interrupted by Gwenn who was giving her a sad but also concerned expression.

"Kayla, after what you've all told me, and after what the Elder requested, I agreed to help you, from the start. Whether I said it or not, doesn't actions matter more than words?" He stated with a somewhat confused tone and expression that formed onto his face.

Kayla, unsure of what to say with how relieved and grateful she was to him. The dogs from inside the bar had started to bark, mostly because they had felt cars arriving, upon hearing the dogs, she quickly pulled Gwenn into the shed in case anyone came near it.

The shed started to rumble and shake from the heavy trucks that arrived seemingly here to pick up something or someone, they could hear a dozen men outside yelling at people to move into the vans aggressively. Kayla figured they were moving the people from the cattle pen into the vehicles.

Kayla held onto Gwenn slightly standing behind him, still shaking a bit from fear and not wanting him to do something stupid again, "Please...don't go.." Kayla whimpered out softly to him not wanting to be alone here again.

Gwenn waited for a chance to book it out of there with Kayla in tow, gripping Kayla's hand tight and readying himself to run as much as he could. Despite his state becoming worse, he bolted out of the shed and started running more north, hoping his body doesn't give out yet, after some distance he used his wings and launched upwards and started to fly to cover more distance away from those bikers as he quickly slowed down and lifted Kayla into his arms.

Almost exhausted, Gwenn started to drop fast as he hit his limit, almost about to make a crash landing, landing shoulder first into a field, holding Kayla in a way to shield her from the impact and debris from the landing.

Kayla quickly lifting herself and looking at Gwenn worriedly as he wouldn't move had quickly checked if he was severely hurt by the landing. She sighed with minor relief to see he only had bruises and minor rashes, he was completely exhausted and she knew he hit his limit and had pushed himself, she tried to help him stand but realized he was too heavy for her to lift on her own. She looked around slightly making sure they were not followed, "I think we're safe now" she says looking at Gwenn worriedly.

Kayla looked around once more, realizing they were surrounded by tall grass, which made Kayla cautious. Getting startled by the sudden rustling coming from the grass she jolted her attention to where it came, "W...whos there? Show yourself!" Kayla demanded out to whoever was in the grass, pulling out her dagger with slightly shaking hands and placing a hand on Gwenn trying to be protective, only to get caught off guard to see a little girl pop her tiny head from the grass.

"Boo! Did I scare you?" The little girl said hiding back into the grass giggling away, this prompted Kayla to follow after looking back at Gwenn seeing him now unconscious, she wanted to follow the girl but realized she would leave Gwenn alone and that would be harsh, especially after all he's done and been there for her.

Kayla tried to wake Gwenn to no avail, he was dead tired from his condition, so Kayla sat by to watch him, hoping he recovers soon. She got bored after a short while and started to draw in the dirt with a stick, drawing a picture of the clinic back home only to then sigh, clearly missing home, and wanting to get home as soon as she could, be she doesn't even know where to look still.

Hours passed and Kayla getting a bit impatient started to gently shake Gwenn, he wasn't responding at all and it somewhat scared her as she then tried to hear for his heartbeat just to make sure he didn't suddenly die somehow on her. She sighed in relief, shrugging, she tried to drag Gwenn out of the tall grass, to somewhere that won't catch much on fire for starting a campfire. "W...why are you so heavy…!?" She sobbed lightly. After struggling to drag Gwenn, Kayla spotted an old worn down shack, and figured that was a good spot for a camp.

After starting a campfire as she made it into the shack, she let out a yawn and took a blanket from the bag, wrapping herself mostly and him a bit considering his fever, she cuddled and held him, slowly falling asleep, more hours pass, feeling more like seconds as they slept through the night, seemingly undisturbed.

The following morning rose pretty quickly, and Kayla woke to see what seemed like a child's drawing of both Kayla and Gwenn at both the farm and the biker town, upon seeing that she thought these were from that little girl, she quickly suggested that she had been following them for a while.

Kayla put the drawings in the bag to show Gwenn later after he wakes up, if he ever does it seems like at this point as he seemed to sleep like a log, Kayla then felt his forehead to check if his fever went down, which seemed like it had significantly over the hours of rest.

Kayla smiled at the results, knowing he is in better condition, "Good..fever is pretty much fine, but you need to wake up Gwenn." she says while poking his cheek, with still no response she resulted in small light pats on his cheek and shaking him slightly. "Still like a log…" She sighed, hating having to do this once more.

Kayla raising her hand had immediately slapped him, just like before, and it clearly worked this second time as he reacted with a sudden yelp and shot upward, placing a hand on his cheek where she slapped him. He then shot a dreadful look at her but was mixed with confusement as well, "Do you have to slap me?!" He asked, somewhat annoyed.

Kayla shrugged, "Seems to be the only way to wake you up, You sleep like a log." She said with a somewhat annoyed tone. Kayla formed a confused and worried look upon her face, "How is it that you seem to know where I am exactly and find me?" She questioned, placing her hand atop his that he still had held against his cheek, showing she was sorry.

Gwenn who formed a surprised expression from her sudden touch had quickly switched to that common shameful look as he tended to always look away from her as well. Removing his hand and hers, he seemed to glance around at the ground, as if hesitating and debating on whether to tell her or not.

He let out a subtle sigh, pointing at his nose and then finally looking at her, "I have a very keen sense of smell, stronger than a dogs." He said, dropping his hand down, "You smell too clean…. Like perfume.." He added, removing his look from her once more, hoping she didn't take it offensively like most women seemed too.

Kayla, who had a slight look of surprise on her face, only smiled after, "Well glad to know then, you'll always be able to find me just on scent alone." She says to Gwenn gently poking his nose trying to get him to cheer up "Wait...so does that mean that tea mixture was a bit much for your nose?" She asked him with a curious look on her face "I apologize if it was, honestly I wasn't even fully sure if it would help your cold you were getting..." Kayla says, placing her hand on the back of her head smiling a bit embarrassed.

Gwenn, tilting his head slightly and looking at her somewhat unamused for the poke "What was that for?" He asked Kayla who then quickly replied "I booped you, haven't you heard what a boop is silly?" She says to him with a smile upon her face, poking his nose once more "Boop" she says when she poked him, and giggled slightly, causing him to look even more confused.

Gwenn looking at Kayla slowly raised his finger and poked the tip of her nose "..boop?" He says confusingly as he raised an eye after poking her nose, this caused Kayla to giggle "boop!" She says poking him on his nose again, causing Gwenn to subtly smile, "Ohhh, is that a smile I see!?" Kayla says happily forming a large smile, only to have Gwenn react quickly by looking away and covering his mouth with his hand "N..no, I don't know what your talking about" He said to her.

Kayla smirking and now poking his side, "You smiled, I saw it!" She said to him playfully as she actually enjoyed teasing him, looking up at him and seeing him still shyly looking away, "Come on it's not bad to smile..." Kayla says to him placing her fingers on the corners of her mouth, she could tell he hasn't enjoyed himself with someone before, considering he's been alone his whole life, No one to play and goof around with, no one to cheer him up when he was down.

Her smiling face instantly turned into shock, upon feeling and hearing an engine that sounded very similar to a massive roar approaching them fast, Gwenn reacting fast pulled Kayla back behind the worn out building they were in, Kayla though had quickly already packed things before waking him and had the bag. Gwenn peeked out slightly, only to see bursts of fire erupt and burn the tall grass away.

A massive armored truck drove into Gwenn's view, seeing it covered in warpaint that looked like a dragon, and it was armed with a massive flamethrower. One of the men inside peeked out, clearly looking like they belonged to the barbarians, the man shouted "I could have sworn I heard someone here!" he shouted, peering back inside the truck, "Let's keep a lookout, seems to be some tourists around here!" he demanded.

The sound of the motorized dragon truck drives around the area loudly, searching seemingly for Gwenn and Kayla, Gwenn looking over at Kayla doing a shush gesture as that truck is patrolling around, now turning on search lights looking around. Gwenn peeking out once more, seeing it a bit away, he held Kayla's hand trying to keep her close while they snuck around.

The truck started to move closer to them, causing Gwenn to drop to the ground pulling Kayla down as well, the searchlights barely grazing them, Kayla covering her mouth trying not to panic seeing how close that light had come to them.

"They might have gone on ahead if there was anyone here, move!" A barbarian shouted from inside the truck, causing them to drive off a distance away, seemingly safe for Gwenn and Kayla now, with her letting out a sigh of relief they quietly tried to flee the area heading where they would head north.