Raven leaned his shoulder against the thick wooden pole that stood in the middle of the tent. It felt cool against skin that burned half from the effects of hard labor under the desert sun and half he guessed from the growing infection spreading thru the wounds his body bore. Aggravated by sand and sun his injuries made it nearly impossible to find comfort in any position for long. He knew the marks encircling his wrists from the heavy manacles chaining him to the pole had become infected. Their inflammation gave off such heat the metal no longer felt cool at night. Shifting his weight awakened the dull ache along his left side. Two, maybe three broken ribs he mused. He couldn't be sure anymore. The pain that once made every breath an agony had grown numb or maybe it was he who had.
There had been a time he still held out hope that his brother's-in-arms would descend on midnight wings to free him from his captors. At night he dreamt of curling up beneath the embrace of his soot coloured wings, but the drugs the Elyos kept giving him robbed him of even that. The burgundy coloured liquid they forced down his throat each dawn left him with a ringing in his ears, draining him of his mana and preventing him from unfurling his wings. His world was smaller now. Marking the passing of the merciless Suns is all that dominated his thoughts now. He had but to beg for water and it would be given him. Thirst had long since eroded away what little pride he'd taken with him to the work camp as only water can do; effortlessly bending even steel and stone to it's will over time. Raven made himself like water, embracing it's immutable power. The abuses of the guards were but stones skipped across the placid surface he showed them. He marked the passing of the suns for one reason. He marked them because they foretold the boulders and landslides the depths of the dammed lake he had become was powerless to absorb.
Raven stared at his palms, worn raw and blistered from the heavy wheelbarrow that had become his entire world. The irony of how he'd fallen into the hands of the Elyos wasn't lost on him... a rock, a tiny little rock and one hyper alert mage. Raven had felt the pebble slide from under his heel as he had moved away to the edge of the escarpment. The next thing he remembered was waking up in chains. He lost track of how many days they had spent interrogating him, having lost consciousness/blacked out to many times to keep it straight in his mind. The night-maned Scout had been well trained though, the only things his inquisitors managed to wrench from him were his blood and screams.
Every utterance was music to his torturer's ears and she meticulously tuned her instrument [adding another opera to her growing body of work], expanding his vocal range from tenor[alto] to soprano after just a few rehersals/sessions. Even after they had given up trying to get information out of him, she would visit him at the Labor Camp to continue his voice lessons. It was this emerald eyed Elyos that Raven feared most. The beatings from the guards at the camp, while still brutal, paled in comparison to the agony she inflicted on him. Thoughts of escaping were ever on his mind. Escaping the camp, escaping Elysea, but mostly escaping from her. He struggled to keep his mind alert, constantly scanning and evaluation his surroundings as he shipped the same stacks of slate back and forth from one side of the camp to the other. A struggle that grew more difficult each day as he left a portion of his strength behind in every pile of stone he stacked/ as every pile of stone he stacked claimed a portion of his strength.
The heat of the day still clung to the air, but Raven found himself shivering. He didn't know if it was from his rising fever or the memories of his ordeal. It was then that she appeared. A vision in white from head to toe. She glided toward him with unearthly grace, her eyes as soft as a Daru. Her slender fingers reached out to his burning brow. Cold as ice they rested there, her touch so comforting he found himself closing his eyes, his head leaning into her hand. She shimmered like the snows of Morheim and he thought for a moment that Lady Triniel had sent this vision to escort his soul to the Aether, until she spoke.
" Poor thing." She said. Her accent betrayed her as Elyos and he glared at her, his golden eyes taking on a menacing glow as crimson as the sun that slowly set behind him.
" So, I guess you are supposed to be a snow clad memory of home sent in some new attempt to coax information from me?" He growled, pulling away from her touch. " Or have you come to take me off to some new ordeal beneath this blasted sun of yours? Best be quick about it either way. Precious little is left in me, so I doubt you will be able to wrench as gratifying of sport from my body. I am afraid you will find you have tarried over long, dear. My voice, no longer quite as strong as when her whips were teaching me new songs to sing."
" Neither." She said, her eyes filled with a mix of concern and pity. " I'm simply a tailor, here to take measurements and believe me when I say I mean you no harm."
" You mean me no harm? I've heard those self same words from the lips of those who later laughed as I writhed in pain." He said sardonically. " Your kind knows no greater pleasure than inflicting harm on Asmodians like me."
"Poor soul." She said. " I know another like you who suffered the lash at the hands of my people. I'm sorry. Please know that not all of the Elyos are like those who have hurt you." Lowering her eyes, she reached up into her hair. She removed an ornament and worked at it in her hand. With a faint crack, the pin came loose. A look of satisfaction on her face, she placed the pin in the sand beside Raven. " Here, take this." She whispered.
Raven's eyes darted from the female to the pin that winked up at him from the sand and back to her with mistrust. Sure that this was some devious plan to kindle in him a spark of hope before cruely extinguishing it, Raven sat as still as he was able with the shivering he could not manage to quell. " Take it? ...and do what exactly, White Wing? Free myself?" He sneered extending a manacled wrist just enough to cause his chains to clink softly. "... kindle a spark of hope in me so that you can call out to the guards and watch them extinguish it beneath their boot heels for your amusement."
" Poor thing, you've been used so badly." She said sorrowfully. " I do not offer this to see you suffer. On the contrary, I have an idea."
Again his eyes, unable to resist the temptation, moved from her to the object of his possible escape. He could detect no guile in her words nor her manner. He could no longer recall how many times he had begged the Gods to release him to the aether, but now he was filled with an intense desire to live. The sun sat half devoured by the horizon and the ringing in his ears had subsided to a barely audible hum. He might, just might be able to scrape together the mana he'd need to conceal himself long enough to evade detection. Golden eyes glinted almost as brightly as the thin metal rod laying in the sand. Something about her made him want to believe her. Something he could not explain, but wasted little time working over. This was his chance. Possibly his only one. His strength was waning. He knew it wouldn't be long before it failed him completely or he succumbed to the infections that had settled into his wounds. If it was Triniel's will that he die in this desert, Raven would rather meet that fate free than have it find him in chains. His hand darted out, taking the pin from where it lay almost to quickly for her to see him do it. In the space of a heartbeat, the manacles lay open at his feet. He sprang in one fluid movement, pinning the Elyos to the center tent pole, his hand around her neck. The sudden exertion made his vision blur and his head spin. Not wishing to show any sign of his weakness, he placed his other hand on the pole above her head to support himself.
Leaning in close, he breathed into her ear menacingly "...and what might this 'idea' of your's be...?"
Fear flashed across Shade's face as she found herself thrust against the center tent pole, his hand around her throat, holding her there. The Asmodian leaned in so close she could feel the heat from his flushed skin radiating onto her face. He whispered into her ear, his words dripping with malice, but as he drew his face away to look into her eyes, she saw no real hatred in his slightly unfocused stare. His golden eyes instead, swum with desperation...and hope. Slowly, careful not to spook the man, Shade raised her hands to grasp the arm that held her firmly in place. Squeezing just enough to garner a response, she moved to push his arm down and away from her. As she had hoped, he loosed his hold on her allowing her touch to guide his hand. " You're free from the chains that held you here. You could take me as your hostage to help your escape." She said watching him closely, judging his mood.
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Visibly shocked by her plan, he took a step away from her. What she proposed flew in the face of his personal code. Oh, his blade had never hesitated to cut the throats of any of his targets nor those that stood in the way of his completing his missions, but this? This he was loath to even consider. " No,... no. You have just given me a chance at freedom, risking more than just your own to do so. I could never repay your gift by placing you in danger." Raven said solemnly.
Shade stood considering his words. " My kind have difficulty seeing in the dark, especially at this time of day. You could slip away into the night." She proposed.
Raven nodded as she spoke. Then he did something he never thought he would ever do of his own free will. He knelt at the feet of an Elyos. " Raven, my name is Raven , Raven ShadowSong of Morheim. I am in your debt. One that will not easily be repaid. You are an Elyos, but I pledge to place you under my protection should you ever find need of it. I give you my word and my word is my bond." He said rising from his knee.
" Your name." She said. " It's fitting. Shade, my name is Shade."
" You should leave first...Shade. I shall wait until you are safely away before I make my move." He said peering thru a gap in the tent fabric. " Go, go now. Try not to draw attention to your leaving."
She held him in her gaze a moment more, then she walked out of the tent and out of his view.
" Please tell me that you are the daughter of a man of great wealth and influence, some precious jewel of Elysea? Not to belittle what I am sure is exceptional skill at garment making, one does not see Castor holding back his hounds that his haberdasher not risk accidental injury on my account. Even without his involvement, I lack the strength to fight off any guards that may decide to bar our passage. While the offer is appreciated and speaks most highly of your bravery beyond this little act of treason, I see no reason for you to further commit yourself to actions that will probably result in my death anyway for I have no intention of ever allowing them to place me in chains again. Do not misunderstand. I assure you I plan to do my level best [plan on going above and beyond/ on exceeding -all- expectations in my endeavors ...though it is far more likely that I shall meet Lady Triniel here than among the dunes/rolling waves of sand." The sunburned Asmodian said, folding his emaciated frame into a crouch to conserve every ounce of energy.
"...I see your point." The Elyos conceded. "Perhaps 'hostage' is not the best of ideas when you put it that way. Do you think the pin remains strong enough to pick the padlock securing the hatch to the sewer here? I could meet you in the small retaining pond where it empties out. You'll need supplies, water at the very least if you expect to make it across the desert and back to Asmodea."
"While I am not eager to involve you further, water would greatly improve my survival should I make it past the boundaries of this camp. I have seen that hatch, but did not know if it lead anywhere other than a septic tank. I do believe that I can get there undetected. If I make it to this pond, you shall have to go and laud praise upon the handicrafter who made you so sturdy a hair ornament." The Ebony haired Scout plotted, the wheels behind his golden eyes whirring. Then he did something he never thought he would ever do of his own free will. He knelt at the feet of an Elyos. " Raven, Raven Shadowsong at your service. I owe you a debt that will not easily be repaid. You risk your life for mine. You are an Elyos, but I pledge to place you under my protection should you ever have need of it. I give you my word and my word is my bond." He said before rising from his knee.
"Your name." She said. "It's fitting. Shade, my name is Shade.
"The watch will be changing soon, Shade. You should go so that those who saw you arrive see you leave...on your own."
"I'll meet you at the pond." She said holding him in her gaze a moment more then she walked out of the tent and out of his view.