Lloyd: Okay, we're getting a little better at writing it quicker and more frequently. The only problem is that since we take turns, it can take forever for one person to add another paragraph. We'll try and work on that more in the future.
This chapter is a little longer than the last, but only a bit. Also, don't expect the group back until the next chapter, or if we manage it, the chapter after that. Let's see if we can manage that! And thanks to Nightfoot again for beta-ing.
Genis: ...It also doesn't help that my parents have installed a 'homework before anything even remotely defined as fun' regime. Not a lot of time...:(
WARNING: This chapter does contain a lot of swearing, and the next chapter probably will too. Consider yourself warned. (Genis: That's Lloyd swearing! Not me!)
And thusly the weary travelers arrived at the Palmacosta Human Ranch. Obviously not the safest or wisest place for the girls to be, but they were there nonetheless. While in the game, the ranch was surrounded by a seemingly random forest, the building that stood before the girls was found in a copse of trees that started out relatively thin about a mile out but grew thicker until it was nigh impenetrable. The only exception was a handful of well-worn paths that were taken by patrolling Desians and the like.
The two of them hid out in a semi-clear patch in the forest far enough away from the patrols that would no doubt pass by that they wouldn't get spotted right away. There was a possibility that they could get spotted if someone was actually looking, considering Caitlin was wearing bright red... But they just hoped that no Desian would bother looking close enough. It's not like anyone else - save for the main group and Neil of course - would bother trying to sneak up on the ranch.
"So...we're going to need a better camp than this after a while, but it should work for now, since we can see the patrols somewhat," Caitlin said, gesturing in the general direction of the Desian's paths. "Just so long as we don't get noticed, 'cause that could get pretty bad. And as long as the group hurries up and gets here sometime within the next week." She really wasn't expecting them to be much earlier than a week or so, but she didn't know if the game would vary a little bit because of what she'd told them. Lloyd and Colette at least had probably agreed with her and might want to go get rid of Magnius before Chocolat got kidnapped so... It was best to be prepared.
A few days later, the girls heard a group of Desians passing that seemed larger normal. Peeking from behind trees, they saw why: the Desians had prisoners with them. There were quite a few, relatively speaking, but not enough to be a whole town. Looking closer, Katherine recognized one prisoner in particular. "Chocolat..."
Caitlin stared at the people being led to the ranch. It'd be so great if they could just jump out now and free those people from the pilgrimage. The only thing was, even she knew that was a stupid idea. The two had gotten a little more skilled by driving off any monsters who wanted to bother them, sure, but not enough to take on a group of Desians on their own while protecting people.
"At least the group will get here soon now, right?" Caitlin said to her friend as quietly as she could while lying still on her belly. She was watching the group of prisoners and Desians from underneath a bush - it was her way of keeping the bright red of her jacket, gloves, and boots muted. From that position, she watched the group head away from them slowly and glanced up at Katherine.
"They'd better be. I don't know how I'm going to handle sitting out here knowing that Chocolat and everybody else is in there waiting on us." Katherine turned away from the path, having seen enough, and sneaked back to their makeshift 'camp'. "Although, that begs the question: how exactly are we going to get into the group then? I mean, I know you said you'd wait here, but it'll still be a little awkward...considering the situation and all."
Caitlin nodded, crawling backwards so that she could still try and keep the red of her clothes covered. There were some Desians that were trailing behind the group, watching for stragglers and run-aways, and another couple had branched off to take their respective patrols around the perimeter. Luckily, the girls (Katherine) had figured out this pattern during the time they had camped out right outside, so they knew when to hide and avoid the patrols. The twin swordsman only sat up normally at their camp when she knew the Desians were out of sight.
"Well...I was thinking maybe we could say that we wanted to help them save Chocolat. She is our friend, after all. And if they don't let us come with them, then we'll just follow them on our own!" she said. It sounded like a very good idea to her, and she realized after she said it that that was also a Lloyd-ish suggestion, considering it was something he could potentially say in the actual game. "But hopefully they'll let us go with them. I mean, they let Sheena go with them to the Luin ranch cause she had friends there, so they could do the same for us, right?"
"Good point, but that was after...well...I suppose we have shown the group that we want to help, but we still have to get over the potential 'double-agent' factor." Come to think of it, Raine was suspicious of everyone, expecting anyone to betray them. Anyone, that is, except Kratos and Zelos, who do betray the group. That's pretty ironic, Katherine thought, the people she suspects the least are the only ones guilty...
"Hmph. If they actually spend some time around us, then they'll know we're not double-agents. Couldn't Genis have figured that one out?" Caitlin pointed out. Of course, there was still a possibility of Genis being slightly suspicious of them, and it might not affect Raine's decision, but it was still a nice, optimistic thought. "But still, at least we can follow them in if...we..." Caitlin's words suddenly trailed off and her eyes got wide in surprise and fright. Katherine looked a little confused at her friend's behavior and turned around to see what she was looking at. Then she screamed.
Directly behind the older of the two girls stood one of the Desian guards. He had most likely heard their conversation and followed their voices to their small camp site. The sight of the half-elf was enough to make the girls freeze for just a second before they jumped into action. Katherine scrambled up and bolted to her friend to get away from the armed man behind her as Caitlin jumped to her feet, hands going for her swords.
The Desian smirked at them under his helmet, holding a sword of his own. Apparently, this Desian was one who tended to do any kind of fighting, considering there was no weak-looking whip anywhere in sight. "Why don't you two just come with me quietly and no one will get hurt?" he suggested. His answer came when Caitlin drew her swords and took a rough defensive stance. Katherine kind of followed her friend's example by unsheathing her sword, which she then proceeded to practically cower behind.
The smirk turned slightly sadistic now as the Desian gave up any ideas of negotiating (not that he had very many of those) and simply went in to attack. The forfeit of those ideas and the creepy smirk didn't bode well for the girls as the half-elf swung his sword down toward Caitlin. She made a frightened noise and brought her swords up to stop the attack, and the force of it jarred her arms and made her stumble. She fumbled to keep her grip as the Desian launched his next attack, a sweep toward both girls. The attacks were meant to disable so that the girls could be taken back to the ranch unharmed, but they could still be deadly. Clearly, the half-elves didn't see much of a distinction between 'disabling' and 'killing'.
Katherine jumped back out of the way, eyeing her shield which was attached to her bag behind the Desian. She thought that if she could reach it, that she might have a better chance of standing up against the half-elf. Unfortunately, that hope was very small, considering that the Desian didn't seem to have too much of an intention of letting them out of his sight. After his next attack, which was desperately dodged by the two girls, his expression became amused and he lowered his sword slightly. Confused, the girls raised their own swords just a little bit with the expectation of another attack. The attack did come, but not from the direction they expected.
Two Desians appeared, one behind each of the girls, restraining them before they really comprehended what was going on. As soon as she felt it though, Katherine screamed and dropped her sword in surprise. Caitlin shouted out and nearly lost her own weapons, but she managed to keep a hold on them. After her scream, Katherine paused for a minute before she lashed out with a kick toward her captor. The attack was fairly ineffective, considering that the Desian behind her had placed himself a good enough distance behind the girl to avoid an attack like that while still restraining her.
Caitlin took advantage of the fact that she still had her swords in her hands and swung one up behind her. It collided with her captor's helmet with a solid thunk and she grinned at the success of the attack. It was the Desian's fault for pulling her arms back the way he had. However, he didn't take that attack lightly and pulled back on her arms roughly. She yelped and dropped one weapon but barely kept hold of the other. It was an advantage of having two weapons.
While Katherine tried unsuccessfully to hit the half-elf behind her or wriggle out of his grasp, the armed Desian made his way to Caitlin. She was having a hard time gripping her sword with her arm being jerked back painfully, so it wasn't that difficult for the swordsman to knock it from her grip and into the bushes nearby. "Well fuck," she said to herself, watching her sword disappearing before glaring at the Desian in front of her. "You cowardly bastard. Are you too scared to fight two weak kids on your own without resorting to sneaky attacks? Or are you just afraid that we could easily kick your ass to hell?" she snapped. She had gone from being frightened for her life to being fairly pissed off.
The Desian with the sword seemed annoyed at the fifteen-year-old's insults and hit her in the chest with the hilt of his sword. She lost her breath with the hit and doubled over as best she could, gasping for breath, but she still managed to groan, "Fucking bastard." At the same time, her hands were pulled behind her and shackled while she was distracted by getting her breath back.
"Caitlin!" Katherine tried vainly to wriggle her way out from her captor. Contrary to her normal, planned attempts (as it would be against her brother) she unknowingly let instinct take over, as all rational thought was delegated to this: Oh God Oh God Oh God Oh God... Even while she struggled, Katherine's hands were shackled behind her as well.
"Take them to the ranch with those other inferior beings," the Desian with the sword ordered, gesturing with the weapon. Caitlin had got her breath back a bit, even though she had a feeling that her chest would hurt for a long time. The Desians started to pull the girls away, keeping firm grips on their arms. Caitlin tried digging her heels into the ground so that she wasn't pulled ahead as quickly, while pulling back from the Desian at the same time. Katherine was also struggling and trying to get free of their grip.
The head Desian noticed how slow and hard it would be to get the two back to the ranch willingly. He came up behind them while the other two Desians continued to try to drag them off and raised the hilt of his sword. He landed a blow to each girl, knocking them unconscious easily and mercilessly. "Carry them into one of the holding cells," he ordered the other two, who quickly went to do as he asked.
The two girls woke up a while later. Katherine gave a small groan and sat up, rubbing the back of her head where the sword's hilt had collided and moved over to her friend. Caitlin just rolled over onto her back, rubbing her chest with a slightly pained look. She took in the dingy, dirty room they were now in, as well as the clothing both girls had been changed into. It was the standard uniform-thing for the prisoners, which meant any helpful items they had before were now gone. "Son of a bitch," Caitlin swore under her breath, closing her eyes.
Katherine winced, feeling the extent of her injuries. Note to self: getting knocked out is not fun. "Someone owes a nickel to the swear jar..." she muttered under her breath. Her head hurt. A lot. Actually, it felt a lot like the time she fell of the swing in the third grade and the swing came back to smack her upside the head. As it was, her thought process was a little muddled. "So...I guess we really do have to sit back and wait for them to come."
Caitlin sighed and sat up, a hand on her chest and one rubbing the back of her head. "I guess so. This really isn't going to help with any kind of 'we're strong enough to accompany you' argument, though," she pointed out, before surveying their surroundings a little more. The room didn't look much different sitting up than laying down, and it was eerily empty. She assumed that the other prisoners were out doing...whatever it was they did exactly. "And that Desian can hit really hard," she added, scowling.
"Normally, I'd say something about how that would be obvious, because he's a trained solider and all, but he hit me too. I am in pain. Great pain." She reached back and felt the lump on the back of her head again. A noise outside the cell attracted the girls' attention and they spun around where they sat. The door slid open with the help of a Desian and his key card.
From the look of things, it was the exact same Desian who had knocked them out and probably bruised Caitlin's ribs. His sword hung from his belt, and one of his hands rested casually on the hilt. His smirk was still noticeable under his helmet as he looked at the two girls. "Well, well, look who's woken up," he said, chuckling to himself under his breath. Caitlin's response was to flip him off. His smirk turned into a scowl. "Watch it, kid, or you'll pay worse than you already have," he threatened, his hand that was resting on the hilt of his sword now grabbing the weapon.
The Desian stepped inside the cell, still loosely holding his weapon in case he felt the need to use it. "Now get up and come with me," he ordered. Katherine obeyed, pushing herself to her feet. A little reluctantly, Caitlin rose also, but she stayed away from the Desian, a defiant look on her face. He ignored the look for the moment, considering it to just be an act, and headed out of the cell again. The older of the two girls followed behind, but Caitlin didn't. She simply crossed her arms over her chest stubbornly, noticing for the first time the Key Crest-less Exsphere on the back of her hand.
"Come on, you inferior being. Step out so I can put you to work," the Desian barked, turning to look at the younger girl when he realized she wasn't there. With a little shrug, Caitlin went up to the cell door but stopped there instead of following her friend out into the hallway.
"I'd rather not do anything you jerks want me to. That's hardly a great choice," she said. The venom and swearing she'd expressed in the trees was just being suppressed. She didn't want to go and do whatever the Desians wanted her to. She would prefer to just sit back and make the most of being captured in the cell while waiting for the group. And no Desian with a sword was going to change her mind. Instantly.
The Desian didn't look too pleased with her and went back over to her. He made himself look threatening, and it worked really well. Caitlin gulped but didn't back down and managed to keep her stubborn and defiant look in place. "You don't have much of a choice in the matter," he snarled. Katherine watched fearfully, wishing her friend would just do what he told them since she wouldn't get in so much trouble.
"I'm pretty sure I do have a choice," Caitlin said with a frown of her own. In response, the Desian smacked her with his armored hand. She winced, rubbing the new ache, but then glared at the Desian.
"Don't speak, brat, and come with me," he said dangerously. She listened to his first order, but not the second, simply stepping back and shaking her head 'no'. Finally fed up with her, the half-elf stepped forward and grabbed her arm tightly, forcibly pulling her from the cell and down the hall. Katherine followed after them, continuing to watch her friend worriedly.
The swordsman led the two girls outside, where other prisoners were going about doing mundane, but laborious, tasks in the yard. Some were busy digging out a random trench along the wall, while others worked on making the walls thicker with numerous bricks. Desians watched over the prisoners, and a lot of them were getting very whip-happy. There was the snap of the whips, cries of pain and coughing from the prisoners, and not much other noise.
The two girls were led past a lot of the prisoners, back to one of the walls being thickened. "You get up there and help bring those stones into place," the Desian ordered, shoving Caitlin toward a short ladder up against the six-foot-high wall. "You get stones from the pile and bring them here. And don't slack - we're watching," he said, the first part directed toward Katherine and the second toward both. Caitlin rolled her eyes and pulled herself up the ladder onto the short wall. The other prisoners watched her without stopping their own work as she got up onto the top.
As Katherine reluctantly went off to do as the Desian said, not wanting to get into trouble like Caitlin, the Desian turned to one of the whip masters watching the prisoners. "Keep your eye on that one," he said, gesturing to the girl up on top of the wall. "She might need a few good reminders of who's in charge." The whip master smiled sadistically and nodded, going back to his work as the swordsman left to do his own job.
At the end of the day, the prisoners were all brought back to their cells, all of them exhausted and wanting to get what little sleep they could. As soon as the door closed, Caitlin collapsed to the ground in a corner of the cell she and Katherine shared with a lot of other humans. She had a couple of cuts from the whip, one or two from talking back to orders and any others from simply not going fast enough for them. "I don't want to go through that again tomorrow. These guys seem to have it out for me. And while some of that may be my fault, it doesn't seem like it entirely," she said.
Katherine sat next to her friend and pulled her knees into her chest. "Dammit, Caitlin. It took everything I had not to yell at them. I can't do this. I can't do this until the group comes. I just can't." She was trying desperately to keep from crying, having held everything back during the day. "And now I've got a freaking Exsphere, and no Key Crest, and so do you, and I just know that our lives'll be screwed up enough that somehow we won't even last a week before we become Exbeluas. Because our freaking mana signature is all messed up, or something, or just because the stupid Rubik's Cube decided to freaking screw up our lives." She kept ranting, most of it incoherently, but she just needed to blubber her way through things. And if this is how it is after one day, Katherine thought, what kind of mental state will I be in after a week?
Caitlin sat through her friend's ranting more patiently than she would have normally. Generally, Katherine would have been interrupted by now with some kind of joke or something to either distract her or make her feel better. But Caitlin wasn't feeling up to it at the moment, and she figured that her friend just needed some uninterrupted venting time. So she just sat there silently for a minute, letting Katherine rant herself out before speaking up herself. "This does royally suck, but you can't have bad thoughts now. Then we never will make it past the week. Just keep thinking that the group is going to come by any day now," she said quietly, both from lack of energy and the need to keep their conversation private.
She looked over at her friend with a small smile. "These Desians may be heartless, abusive bastards, but they'll get what they deserve soon," she said, and it sounded more like a promise than a comment. Then she looked down at the ground with a frown, running her finger along the small grooves in the stone floor. "Especially that guard that brought us here. He's pissing me off."
Katherine rubbed her eyes with her arm. "He's a jerk. He better get what's coming." Absently, she toyed with the Exsphere on her hand. "But seriously, what are we gonna do about these?" Mentally, she tried going through all of the possibilities, but the fatigue was messing with her head. They needed to get Key Crests, that much she knew, but from where?
"Maybe we can steal a couple Key Crests from Desians whenever everyone comes," Caitlin suggested, still running her finger along the lines in the floor. "I can't think of any other option - taking them off is way too dangerous." She looked at her own Exsphere, the bright blue possessing an almost shiny quality to it since it was brand new. She thought that by the end of the week, it'd be dull from dirt.
Caitlin opened her mouth to say something else but stopped when a woman, one of the other prisoners, approached them, a bowl of something in each hand. She knelt down in front of the two girls, a sad smile on her face. "Here, you two should eat something and keep up your strength. It's better than going hungry until tomorrow night," she said, offering them the bowls. It was filled with a thick, gray-ish goop that could barely be called food. Nevertheless, it was something that would keep them from starving, so the girls thanked the woman and took the bowls.
While poking the goop experimentally with her spoon, Caitlin said, "Yum, yum - delicious slop. No wonder everyone here is so sick looking. It's like they took some of the least appealing foods in the world, shoved them in a blender, and called it food."
Katherine finished the bite/slurp on her spoon and grimaced. "And here I almost expected a joke about my cooking. But sheesh, after surviving this, maybe you won't be so hesitant about my concoctions."
The woman sat down, and started to eat her own gloop. "'After surviving this'? But..." The woman sighed. "You girls aren't looking to escape, are you? Because I've seen enough failed attempts to know that it's not worth it. And it's not a fate I would wish on anyone, especially not you two."
Katherine set her spoon down slowly, and closed her eyes, trying to control her rattled emotions. "Not worth it? Why on earth wouldn't it be worth it? Either you succeed and get out, or you die in the attempt. Either way--"
"They don't kill you." The woman looked straight into Katherine's eyes. "They wouldn't deign to grant that mercy to us. What they do to those who try to escape...it's enough to dissuade anyone else from trying."
Caitlin scowled at the woman's words, setting aside her bowl. "Apparently no one's come through with enough guts to actually stand up to these bastards. Just giving up because a few idiots failed is stupid. And we'll try our own way, and we will get out," she said, crossing her arms over her chest and daring the woman to argue with her. "So far these guys haven't seemed overly threatening anyway. Just overgrown, whiny, bullying children with weapons."
The woman hushed Caitlin hurriedly. "I know you're new here, and that's probably why you don't realize just how bad these Desians are. If they hear you talking like that..." She shuddered. "I suppose I could look out for you. You girls remind...my name is Lucille. And yours?"
"My name's Caitlin, and that's my friend Katherine," the younger girl introduced, settling back against the wall. She left her food beside her, after seeing that she'd lost her appetite, which was rare for her. "And just for the record, I'm not scared of them. Actually, the way I see it, it's more them who are scared of us. It makes sense," she said to Lucille with a small shrug.
"Uhh, Caitlin? No, it doesn't. Why could they possibly be scared of us?" Katherine raised one eyebrow and glanced at both Caitlin and her bowl.
"I think Caitlin might be right. They're controlling us by keeping us in these ranches. At least, that's probably how it started. Now, we're just as afraid of them because of the ranches," Lucille said smartly.
Smiling slightly, Caitlin nodded. "Yeah. But there's no real reason to be too scared of them... Okay, they're sadistic and strong, but they're also not the brightest guys around. Or really the sanest..." The 'sanest' part was added thoughtfully as she looked up at the ceiling, thinking about whether that was the right word. "Well, no, not sanest exactly but...they're not really..logical. That's the word I want." After she found the word she wanted, she nodded. The younger girl couldn't help but glance toward the cell door, though, just in case a Desian would be able to hear.
Katherine managed a laugh, her fatigue somewhat lessened from relaxing and the 'food,' "You got that right." 'Cept I can't really say it's because the designs of these ranches make absolutely no sense... "So, Lucille, what's your story? How'd you end up in here?"
Lucille just smiled sadly and gave a little shrug. "I don't have much of a story. Like a lot of the people here, I was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. The Desians came to get some new workers from town, and I just so happened to be in their way." She shook her head slightly, looking a little upset. Not that the girls could really blame her.
"Oh. I'm sorry. At least you weren't as stupid as we were. Although it really was all Caitlin's fault. I just follow her around to make sure she doesn't get in trouble." Katherine ignored Caitlin's protests and continued. "But don't worry, I'm sure the Chosen will be here soon, and then we'll be able to escape for real!"
Lucille, instead of looking hopeful, just closed her eyes and shook her head. "Girls, I don't know why you're so optimistic, but the Chosen's not coming. He never does."
A moment of silence passed as Caitlin and Katherine stared at each other. "He?" Katherine asked.
"Do you mean the last Chosen? 'Cause Colette is most definitely female," Caitlin asked, and Lucille looked slightly confused as to what the girls meant. "Oh...I bet the Chosen position was passed on while you were here... And Colette is probably loads different from the last Chosen! She'll want to come and help us as soon as she can." The younger girl's voice was a little more cheerful than it had been before, though it was slightly forced to try and convince Lucille of their imminent rescue.
"Not if she's anything like the last Chosen. Aiden was...indifferent, like he didn't care about anything but regeneration. Which is fine, of course, but it means that us in the ranches get forgotten until the regeneration actually happens. And it hasn't yet. I saw him, once. It looked like all he wanted was to get it over with. I'm sure your new Chosen is no different." Lucille stood up, ready to leave the girls. "I wouldn't go telling too many people about this Colette. You don't want to get their hopes up." And she walked away, leaving Caitlin and Katherine on their own again.
Caitlin sighed and slumped down against the wall so that she was stretched out on the floor. Some of her recent injuries stung from the movement and the dirty floor, but she ignored it for the moment. "Well, I think convincing her Colette is good went well," she said sarcastically, watching Lucille going to speak to another prisoner. "Imagine their shock when the group actually comes, though..." Then, without waiting for a response, the girl slid all the way to the floor so she was laying down. "I'm gonna get some sleep now," she said, curling up facing away from her friend. Katherine nodded and laid down as well to try and get a little rest before they had to work the next day.
Curling into a tighter ball, Caitlin closed her eyes tightly to keep some stray tears at bay and muttered to herself, "Please get here soon guys... Please..." Then she forced herself to relax enough to fall asleep, trying to keep her tears hidden from everyone else.