.Chapter two.

The guard and I came to a stop at a desk that had a rather bored looking Triceraton behind it. He looked up when we came to a stop in front of him. He sighed and was about to press a button when my guard told him to stop for a moment.

"What's wrong?" asked the Triceraton behind the desk; he obviously wasn't used to being stopped when he was about to register an inmate.

"I've been asked to cell her with Sleeg," replied the guard who was behind me.

"Right." The Triceraton behind the desk moved his hand over another button and pressed it. Suddenly a big contraption came out and down from the ceiling. I recognised it immediately; it was the 'tattoo machine' that had branded the turtles. I closed my eyes and clenched my teeth as the tattoo was applied to my neck, seeing as my arms where covered by my long sleeve the only bare flesh was on my neck; I let out a small squeak of pain as the machine pulled away. Once the machine had gone back to where it came from the sidewalk started to move again.

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Within a few minutes we came to the cellblocks. I tried to read the words that were above the block we were about to enter, but Triceratonese is a bit alien to me. The guard took hold of my shoulder and led me into the cellblock. After walking halfway down the corridor, he stopped me in front of a cell door. He took out his key card and used it to open the door. Inside was Sleeg; he didn't look too upset at being interrupted from his… um… I actually don't know what he was doing. When we had opened the door we found him hanging upside down from one of the bunks.

"Good day, guard. How can I help you?" asked Sleeg, as he jumped down from his perch.

"Good day, Sleeg; you can help me by taking care of this little off-worlder. Ensign Garzu requested that she be put in with you," replied the guard.

"Okay. Come in, little one." Sleeg smiled at me and beckoned for me to come into his cell. I cautiously walked into the cell. The guard nodded and closed the door behind me.

"What's your name?" asked Sleeg, he said each word slowly to make sure I understood what he was saying; he did this because he wasn't sure if I spoke the same language as him. Thankfully I did.

"My name's Cal," I replied.

"Cal, huh?"

"Yes."

"Right. Why you here?" he asked.

I shrugged.

"What did you do?"

"Nothing."

"That's what everybody says."

"No, seriously Sleeg, I was abducted by Prime Leader Zanramon and Commander Mozar. They brought me back here as a hostage."

"Why they bring you back?"

"As a hostage."

"I know that, but why? Who were they trying to escape from?"

"The Federation, I suppose."

Sleeg nodded at this and then went back to his perch and hung himself upside down again.

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It wasn't long after my introduction to Sleeg that our cell door opened.

"Food time," Said Sleeg, as he jumped down from his perch.

"Come, Cal," he said, as he took my hand in his and led me out of the cell.

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Once out in the corridor, Sleeg led me down to the mess hall.

"Now remember, Cal, desserts are the main commodity here; you can use them to buy and sell just about anything," explained Sleeg, as he handed me a bowl and led me down the line. I decided not to do a Mikey and stayed behind Sleeg; I imitated his every move, well almost. I think we'll skip the whole eating process. Sleeg's table manners leave a lot to be desired.

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After finishing our green slop that tasted like… uh… I can't quite place what it tasted like, but it was edible… I think. Anyway, after finishing our green slop Sleeg led me out into some sort of courtyard. Apparently it was the exercise yard, but it was also used as a space to allow the prisoners to stretch their legs after meal times. Sleeg led me over to a bench and told me to stay there. Apparently he had some business he needed to take care of with one of the other inmates. I didn't really mind; I kinda liked being alone. Also I was able to survey who else was in the prison. I saw quite a number of guards on the perimeter of the exercise area. They all looked very stern and rather untrusting. I started looking at the inmates and wasn't terribly encouraged by what I saw. I was suddenly snapped out of my thoughts by a guard sitting next to me.

"Hi," he smiled.

"Hi," I replied a bit cautiously.

"You're the new kid here, right?" I wasn't too sure how to respond to this approach.

"Uh, yeah. I was registered earlier today."

He nodded and then turned his attention to the other inmates. I wasn't sure if I should try to start up a conversation with him or not, but he helped me make up my mind by talking to me again.

"Just so you know I'm not always like this to the prisoners," he said, as he leaned his back against the wall behind the bench.

"Oh, but then why are you making an exception for me?" I asked. I was hoping that he and another guard weren't playing good cop, bad cop with me.

"I don't know, actually. Maybe it's the fact that you really don't belong here," he replied.

"You new here too?" I asked.

"How could you tell?"

"You're not as stern and nasty looking at the other guards."

His cheeks went slightly red as he smiled at me.

"Thanks for the compliment, kid."

I nodded and returned to being silent.

"What's your name?" he asked. Obviously he was one of those talkative types.

"Cal," I replied simply.

"Cute name. My name's Zimmer by the way."

"Pleased to meet you, Zimmer." I smiled at him.

"So, uh, who you celled with?"

"Sleeg."
"You poor girl."

"Why do you say that?"

"Let's just say you'll be gasping for air once he's been into the exercise yard. That guy has some serious b.o or so I've heard."

"Thanks for the heads up."

Suddenly another guard called Zimmer.

"I've got to get going, but it was nice talking to you," said Zimmer, as he stood up and started to walk away.

"It was nice talking to you too, Zimmer," I replied.

He nodded and disappeared to meet up with his fellow guard.

"Who was that?" asked a voice from behind me.

"You back already, Sleeg?" I asked, as I turned my head to look at him.

"Yes. Come on, we better get back inside."

I nodded in agreement as I got up from the bench and walked back into the main compound with Sleeg.

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For the first two orbital-cycles I was there (that's about six earth weeks) not much happened. Although a guard had informed me that Ensign Garzu had been successful in contacting my family and that they had been informed as to my whereabouts. This kinda put my mind at rest about them. Also during these first two orbital-cycles I had been getting to know which inmates I could talk to and which I couldn't. Zimmer had also been giving me plenty of attention. When I was out in the exercise yard after meal times, either walking around with Sleeg or sitting on a bench watching the other inmates, he would be watching my every move with a slight smile on his face (for some reason he never seemed to tire of this activity). Occasionally he would wave a subtle hello to me, so long as he thought that no one else was watching. Though, on one occasion, he had been caught waving to me and was being questioned about it by one of his fellow guards; I don't think I've ever seen anyone answer a question so awkwardly before.

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It was coming up to Horn Sharpening Day and the guards were all looking forward to a bit of a holiday. By now some of the inmates that had been in the compound when I had come were gone because their time was up or they had been sent to the games. We also had some new inmates; apparently they had been in isolation because of something they had done, or so Sleeg told me. Among them there was a Triceraton. He was a tall Triceraton, about 6'3". He was a dirty orange colour (and no it wasn't because he didn't wash) and had dark lines in the grooves of his frill. He wore, what looked like, a Triceraton pilot's uniform with the sleeves removed and he had black gloves on his hands. He seemed to be a bit of a loner because of the way he kept to himself. If another inmate addressed him all he did was look up at them for a moment and then drop his head back to where it had been before they had spoken to him. I had tried to get him to smile by smiling at him if, by chance, he ever looked my way. Unfortunately my efforts were in vain; as soon as he was done looking my way his head would drop back to where it had been before he had made the effort to look around. I eventually tired of trying to get this solemn Triceraton to smile and just went on with life.

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It was just a week to go before Horn Sharpening Day and all the guards were giving their jobs 110%; apparently there was to be an awards ceremony on Horn Sharpening Day and one of the awards was for the most outstanding guard. The inmates on the other hand still acted much the same way as usual. I had finally settled into the routine of the compound and Sleeg didn't have to stick so close any more; which was kinda nice, but not on this particular day. Rynokk had been in a bit more trouble than usual and so wasn't in the best of moods. So when I accidentally bumped into him on the way out of the mess hall and into the exercise yard he kinda snapped. As he turned around to face me he growled viciously.

"No one touches Rynokk!" he yelled at me.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to," I apologised.

My apology must not have been enough because at that moment he pulled my atmosphere converter off of my belt and out of my mouth.

"Give that back, Rynokk!" I commanded, as I tried to keep in the oxygen I still had.

"Make me," he growled, keeping my converter away from me. I saw Zimmer trying to come to my aid, but he was stopped by another guard who wanted to see the out come. I started coughing; I needed to get my converter back quickly. I decided to give Rynokk what he wanted; a fight. I started my attack with a roundhouse kick to his gut, but that didn't faze him too much. He countered with a punch to my chin, which sent me flying back into the mess hall. I slammed into a couple of inmates, but I couldn't be bothered about that now. Obviously kickboxing was out, so I decided to use another martial art I had been training in on him. I ran back out of the mess hall and back to Rynokk, who was waiting for me. My coughing was getting worse so I just went at Rynokk. I tried to land a punch on him, but he moved out of its way with ease. He then tried to deliver an upper cut to my chin, but I deflected it easily. As I deflected his punch I moved in closer to him and was able to snatch back by atmosphere converter. I hurriedly put it back into my mouth and returned the main part to my belt. Rynokk didn't look too impressed with me for retrieving my atmosphere converter and came after me. One of the first rules I had learnt in Krav maga (the other martial art I had just used on him) was not to prolong fights, but to get out of them as quickly as possible so I ran the other way.

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I ran into the mess hall and dived behind some trashcans, hoping he wouldn't look there. I had been hiding for ten minutes when I heard someone come into the mess hall. They began to approach my hiding place. I began to shake a bit; there was no way I could defeat Rynokk in a one-on-one match. Suddenly my trashcan barricade was removed and, where I expected to see a seriously ticked off Rynokk, I saw a smiling Triceraton. It was that Triceraton I had been trying to get to smile.

"Are you okay?" he asked, as he held his hand out to me to help me get up.

"Yeah, just a bit shaken and sore," I replied, as I took his hand and he pulled me up.

"You're the little off-worlder who's been keeping her eye on me ever since I got here; aren't you?"

"Unless there's another female Earther here, yeah."

"You took quite a beating from Rynokk. I'm impressed." He smiled a bit more. I looked up at him with a bit of an annoyed look on my face.

"It takes my getting beaten up by Rynokk to get you to smile."

He just shrugged.

"Well I ain't gonna go through that again just to see you smile."

"Wouldn't expect you to. Say, uh, what's your name?"

"Cal, and you?"

"Cloak."

"Cloak, hey?"

"Yes, what of it?"

"Nice name."

He just smiled at me.

"Come on, Rynokk has been sent into solitary for what he did. You're safe now," said Cloak, as he put his hand in-between my shoulder blades and started to lead me back out of the mess hall and towards the cellblocks.

"Which cellblock are you in?" Cloak asked, as he stopped at the junction where all the blocks joined together.

"To be quite honest I don't know. Sleeg always led me back." I replied.

"Well look at the symbols above the doors. Which one looks like the one you usually see?" Cloak looked up at the symbols above the doors. I looked up at them and soon found my block's symbol.

"There it is. The second last door." I pointed towards the door.

"Ah, double zag. Come on then." Cloak started to walk towards the door and I followed quietly.

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Soon after entering the cellblock we arrived at my cell. Sleeg wasn't there so I guessed that he was still in the exercise yard. Cloak pushed me into the cell.

"Rest now, Cal, you've had a rough day," said Cloak, as he turned to leave.

"Where're you going?" I asked, as I sat down on my bunk. My legs felt like jelly from the adrenaline that had pumped its way throughout my body during my scuffle with Rynokk.

"Back to my cell. Why?"

"No reason."

"Would you like me to stay here until Sleeg gets back?"

"Only if you want to."

Cloak thought about the invitation for a bit and then decided to come and sit with me until Sleeg came back.

"So what you in for?" he asked, as he sat down on a bunk opposite mine.

"Nothing," I replied. He gave me a 'now tell the truth' look.

"Seriously Cloak. I'm only here because Prime Leader Zanramon couldn't think of anywhere else he could stick me," I explained.

"What's your connection to Zanramon?" he asked, as he swung his legs up onto the bunk and leaned back against the wall that divided the toilet area from the bed area.

"He's my kidnapper and I'm his hostage." Cloak just nodded at my reply.

"So what you in for?" I asked.

"Defacing Zanramon's statue," he replied with a bit of a smile on his face.

"Which statue?"

"The one in the Tri-sports arena."

"No way!" I laughed.

"Yes way," he replied, also laughing.

"What did you do to it?"

"Here's a picture of what it looked like after I had finished 'working' on it." Cloak handed me a picture of the defaced statue. I looked at it and found it hard not to go into hysterics. The statue had a decent amount of, what looked like, toilet paper on it; especially between the brow horns, a few splatters where overripe fruit had been thrown at it, and, to top it all off, a big black moustache had been painted on its beak.

"So?" asked Cloak; he had a bit of a smirk on his face.

"Classic," I chortled.

"I couldn't find any whipped cream to put on the frill so I kinda had to do with what I could get my hands on." I handed Cloak his picture back.

"You might have received another year's imprisonment for that."

Cloak just shrugged; he didn't seem to care.

"So what were you before you became an inmate here?" I asked.

"A pilot."

"Really?"

"Yeah; I was one of the best, actually."

"Then why do something that could get you put in prison?"

Cloak just shrugged again.

"I guess I wanted to have a bit of fun," he said after thinking for a bit.

"Okay," I replied. His explanation sounded… plausible.

Suddenly we heard the sound of someone running down the corridor. Cloak got up and looked out of the door.

"Who is it?" I asked, as I started to get up from my bunk.

"It's just one of the guards," he replied; there was a cold tone in his voice.

"Is the girl with you?" asked a familiar voice.

"Zimmer?" I asked, as I walked out of my cell.

"Oh thank goodness," said Zimmer, as he slowed his run down to a jog, then a walk, and finally he stopped in front of us; he was breathing heavily.

"You okay?" I asked, as he tried to catch his breath.

"I'm fine now," he smiled.

"What were you running for?"

"After we had escorted Rynokk off to solitary I was looking for you and when I couldn't find you in the exercise yard or in the mess hall I started to get worried about you."

"Why do you even care about her?" asked Cloak, coldly.

"I have my reasons," replied Zimmer, as he and Cloak glared at each other.

"We're sorta friends," I explained, trying to break the tension building between them.

"So this is who you're waving to during our free time after meals," said Cloak with a mocking look on his face.

"What of it?" asked Zimmer; he started to get just a bit defensive.

Just then Sleeg and the other inmates of the cellblock started to come back in.

"Time for you to head back to your cellblock, Cloak," said Zimmer.

Cloak just snorted and walked off back to his cellblock. I watched him as long as I could, which wasn't too long since he disappeared into the crowd within a few seconds.

"Come on, Cal; back into your cell," smiled Zimmer. I nodded in agreement, walked into my cell and sat down on my bunk again.

"You okay after your fight?" he asked.

"Yeah, just a few bruises. I'll possibly just be a bit stiff tomorrow," I replied. Zimmer nodded.

"Thanks for trying to come to my aid," I said with a smile.

"Y-you saw that?" he asked in disbelief.

"Yeah. It was very sweet of you."
Zimmer just blushed and smiled.

"No problem," he said, as his normal colour started to return to his cheeks.

Just then Sleeg came back in and our door closed.

"What happened to you after the fight?" he asked.

"Went into hiding," I replied.

"Where?"

"Behind some trashcans in the mess hall."

"Good move. Rynokk wasn't happy that you had retrieved your converter."

I couldn't think of anything to say as a reply.

"But I'm glad that you got it back," smiled Sleeg.

"Why?" I asked.

"It would be very lonely without you."

"Thanks Sleeg. It's nice to know that someone enjoys my company."

"I'm not the only one apparently."

"Oh, who else enjoys it then?"

"There's a rumour going around that that guard who's always watching you and waving to you has a crush on you." This was unexpected news. I'm terrible at telling if a guy has a crush on me or not.

"I'm not too sure about that, Sleeg. I mean the guy likes me, but I don't think he like likes me."

Sleeg just chuckled.

"We'll see in time; won't we?" he said.

"I suppose so," I replied.

"Well, it's getting late. Time to go to bed."

"I hear that. Good night, Sleeg."

"Good night, Cal. Don't let the bed bugs bite."

"Don't worry, they won't be biting me anymore."

"Why do you say that?"

"'Cause they aren't in my bed anymore."

"Oh, then where'd they go?"

"They migrated up to your bed."

Sleeg suddenly jumped out of his bed and checked it for bugs, while I almost busted a gut at his expression. When he saw that there weren't any bugs in his bed he shot a look at me.

"Good night, Sleeg," I laughed, as I turned onto my side and prepared to go to sleep.

Sleeg just muttered something under his breath and climbed back into his bed while I tried to get over a fit of the giggles.