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Post by itsherfault on Apr 22, 2015 23:14:13 GMT -5
"I'll be back," I whispered to Xan, feeling a cold, empty feeling inside me, one that demands that I stay, one that screams out in protest against any thought of leaving Xan alone here in harm's way. "For you, I'll be back. Nothing will stop me from getting you out of here and taking you back hom with me, I promise."
Then I turned and followed after Nah.
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Post by mesmu on Apr 23, 2015 1:35:49 GMT -5
Together the two take the back way up and out of the cell block. The elder exhales once they get past the patrol, shaking his head at the drunken laughter. Nah leads Jaryn back to his room when a voice calls out to him, "Nah!" The male stiffens as he pushes Jaryn into his room and mostly shuts his door. "What are you doing here?" What looks like a demon, dragonis cross bred walks up with a stern look.
Nah's head ducks as he almost curtsies in greeting, "Master." The man stands tall, but keeps his gaze down as he speaks. "New boy mate fight. Nah comfort." The giver in front of the bearer glares down at him before shaking his head.
"You're sick," The tone used is a "don't test me" one, laced with dark concern. "You said you would be in bed all of tonight." Nah shifts in front of mostly closed door and causes the door to take his weight when his body is pushed against it, but the male pushes back.
"Master, please. Boy sad. Nah no want boy upset..." Nah's voice drops into a more alluring one. "Does Master want Nah punish here? Nah think not. Nah will see Master in bed." And, with that, the weight on Jaryn's door disappears.
The giver humphs and walks off, "Fine. Be there by the time I get back." Nah nods.
"Yes, Master." Nah then directs his attention towards the door. "Jaryn? Nah go bed now. Nah wish Jaryn good dreams. Good night." He does wait though, just in case Jaryn wishes to ask him anything.
---
Xandyr growls lowly and Bracken raises his head in question. The elder Zercan cocks his head to the side before snorting, "You've gotta be kidding me." He then sits up and gives a low roar. "Enough kitten. Your mate won't go after another. Not while he has the strength and resolve otherwise." The tiger growls lowly.
"Besides. Nah would knock him on his ass if he tried anything," Bracken gives a toothy, cat grin. "He's always been independent regardless of his sex... I'm glad you're strong enough though, most bearers wouldn't have made it nearly this far... Especially ones that are from Earth." He then sighs.
"So... Good job, kitten."
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Post by itsherfault on Apr 23, 2015 1:47:28 GMT -5
I heard what Nah's "master" said to him, the tone Nah used when asking for punishment, and felt vaguely ill. I didn't know much about givers or bearers or Zercans, but I thought I could sympathize with what the fighters were going through. I knew the mate bond was strong, but the very idea of someone talking to Xan like that... I felt my fists clench on their own.
"Do what you have to do," I said. "Good luck, Nah. And good night."
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Post by mesmu on Apr 23, 2015 2:08:47 GMT -5
Nah's voice has a smile in it as he calls back as he walks, "Tomorrow. Nah teach. Jaryn learn." And then he was gone.
---
Xan growls, "I'm not a bearer."
"Oh?" Bracken purrs, amused. "Are you not someone who should be loved? Are you not someone who should be cherished? Are you not someone who is worthy of being protected?"
Xan shifts around, uncertain how to answer.
Bracken growls, "The answers are yes, kitten. And you best well remember that." He then settles down on his paws and yawns. "Now. Get some sleep. Food will be here in a few hours..."
It takes Xandyr a little bit, but he does manage to go to sleep. Although embarrassed as he does since it took thinking of Jaryn's earlier petting to soothe him into his slumber.
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Post by itsherfault on Apr 23, 2015 2:16:24 GMT -5
It was strange... I could almost feel Xan starting to drift off to sleep. I knew that he was... knew that he was somehow alright. Not completely, but a little bit, at least. And with the feeling of his soft fur under my fingertips fresh in my memory, I felt myself able to drift off as well.
----
The next morning started like most in this awful place - wake up, then meet Nah, who helped me get ready for the day with his soft brush and expert advice, delivered in his strange, broken English that was getting easier and easier to understand.
"You said you were going to teach me something today," I said as I felt the rhythmic strokes of the brush through my hair and realized, oddly, that I had an irrational wish for Xandyr to be holding the brush. Not so irrational, if what everyone kept saying was true, but I was beginning to accept that it was.
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Post by mesmu on Apr 23, 2015 13:17:22 GMT -5
Nah pauses mid brush before finishing the whole process, "Nah did say, yes." He then stands, slowly and deliberately, to grab for Jaryn's clothes to hand to him. "After lunch Nah teach. Jaryn must serve lunch... Nah will... Be... Nah entertain. After lunch Jaryn free. Jaryn must work dinner. Nah help Jaryn. Jaryn be..." The male frowns for the first time his demeanor has dropped, confidence slipping as his fists clench. But he shakes his head as if banishing unwanted thoughts and waves his un-clenched hands through the air dismissively.
"Jaryn get master," Nah sighs as he heads for the door. "Jaryn no worry. Nah meddle. Jaryn be fine." He then slips out the door and holds up five fingers signalling that Jaryn has five minutes to get ready while Nah is out. Something that Nah hasn't really done, but has seen other bearers do and adapts it as need be.
---
The pelting of a small stone into his flank awakens Xan. A low growl leaves him as he lifts his head. A slab of meat is dropped before him. Bloody and reeking to the sensitive nose of his. He shuffles back and the man who had "served" him breakfast laughs, "Oh, what? Not fancy enough for you? Ah-hah!" He tosses a slab of meat, a little larger and healthier looking, into Bracken's cell. "Eat up boys. Both of you are going to be in the show tonight." With that he walks off to the next couple of cages for the morning wake up call.
Xan wrinkles his nose and sits as far from the meat as he could. He was seriously thinking of pushing it out when Bracken's small roar is given. Xandyr ducks his head as he looks at the angry male, "Eat." The tiger gives that one word alone before he rips apart his own meal. The young lion pouts, but, when his stomach rumbles, he gives in. The first bite is the worst. But the second awakens something in him and... well... Its not so bad as long as he doesn't think about it.
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Post by itsherfault on Apr 23, 2015 13:34:26 GMT -5
Master. I was going to be sold. Well... it wasn't exactly something I hadn't been expecting, to be honest. I gave a small shiver as Nah flashed me a sign - five? Five mintues, then. I nodded, forced my mind into a certain track. I had to do this - had to keep going. For Xan. He was awake, I realized - were we getting closer? Our bond seemed to be growing stronger.
I felt that dark, seething pool of anger focus into the determination I would need. Do what you have to do, so that Xan can be safe. I got dressed, putting a bit more effort into presentation than usual. Nah said he would interfere, to make sure that I was fine, but I wanted to make sure to do everything I could to assist him.
Xan, hang on, I thought to myself.
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Post by mesmu on Apr 23, 2015 13:58:03 GMT -5
Nah is waiting for Xan a crossed the hall, a much younger looking bearer in his arms, no more than fourteen at tops. He smiles at Jaryn and nods in approval. Then he literally gathers the smaller bearer into his arms and carries him off, the child looks like he's sleeping, although his body is lightly covered in bruising. Nah pauses half way down the hall and looks back, "Jaryn no miss food. Come, come. Nah hear food good." And then he's moving quickly along, keeping his cold gaze ahead of him and turned up away from the slumbering child.
---
Xandyr had finished his food a while ago and is now listening to Bracken stories of his adventures before meeting Nah. "I had been such a wild, young giver. I would follow anything as long as it was pretty. And that got me into a lot of trouble as you learned from the incubus encounter from earlier." He purrs deeply. "But then. In one of the driest places I've ever been. I met an angel. He tempered me and taught me responsibility, well, sort of. I would of done anything just to see him smile like he did at the others at me. He was more than beautiful. He was my sun, he was my air, he was the missing part of me, my mate. I had sworn I would do anything to free him from his sorrows... I did. But then I..."
The tiger's claws dig into crumbling stone, pain wracking his body. Xan frowns at him before sighing and shaking his head. He huffs.
"You sound like me," Xandyr sighs. "You messed up. I messed up. Just because of who and what we are... We got them... Now they're..." For the first time since he lead Jaryn on Xan feels more than a welling of sadness. He can feel tears almost slip free. But Lion's don't cry over sadness.
Meanwhile Bracken curses, "Shit. Sorry, kitten. I keep forgetting. You're more sensitive." He sighs and tries to reach a paw out to Xan. But the distance is too far. He sighs again as he pulls back, unable to offer any form of comfort. "I'm sorry, kitten. But please. Don't cry. Its going to be alright. We have to trust our mates." Silence follows for a moment before the tiger sees the lion look at him with the most pathetic look he's ever given, but it has something else in it, it has a fire.
"I trust Jaryn... But he's not my mate."
Bracken sighs. He's already given up on arguing this with the stubborn child. So he just nods, "And I trust Nah..."
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Post by itsherfault on Apr 23, 2015 14:18:28 GMT -5
That poor kid. I'd seen others like him in the past... I wondered, for a moment, if that would be my eventual fate, but Nah had told me he'd interfere.
"Alright," I said to him. "I'll be glad to have something to eat."
I was starting to follow him when I stumbled, slightly, a harsh wave of intense feeling and emotion seeming to pour through every corner of me. Not my sadness - I could tell that, it had almost a flavor to it, came with a sensation that told me that this was something that was coming from Xan. He was hurt, sad, scared...
That dark, welling, boiling flow of anger welled up through the cracks in my armor like lava from a volcano. It was willing to wait, maybe, but something had just hurt Xan. Hurt...
...my mate. Yes. Screw denying, screw this doubt inside me, screw everything. It wasn't likeI didn't love him, and it was time for me to stop pretending that I didn't. Mate had more connotations than that, but I hadn't exactly been denying it, been refusing Zeke's teachings. I just hadn't internalized it yet.
But Xan's sadness, his hopelessness, his despair, the way he blamed himself... all it did was make me angry.
Quickly, I shut that anger back up. It wouldn't do me any good. Let the boiling heat fuel my will to survive. Anger was useful and I needed it to be where it could do me some good, not where it would make me stupid.
"Nah," I said, trying to cover up my stumble and momentary loss of control, "thank you for what you've done for me. I don't know if I'd have made it this far without you."
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Post by mesmu on Apr 23, 2015 14:52:47 GMT -5
When Nah looks to Jaryn his gaze hold concern, but he smiles at him brightly, "Nah glad. Jaryn good friend, yes?" He then shifts the slumbering bearer in his arms in order to pat Jaryn on the arm. "Nah proud. Jaryn strong. Nah happy." He then gathers the little one in both his hands again, the little one shifting and stirring a little, but doesn't wake yet.
---
Xandyr had been working on calming himself down. He could feel the depression oozing from him. But then a burn flairs through his body. Its confusing and he roars with out consent. Bracken tilts his head as he watches the young lion struggle with whatever is ailing him. Finally Xan digs his claws into the ground.
What had that been?
That wasn't anger, at least, that wasn't his anger. Its fading now. A ghost of it remaining. No. It had been there before he realizes. It's been there for a while now. Since... since...
"No." His voice trembles. "It can't be... Why... WHY?!" Bracken sighs as Xandyr's panic raises, uncontrollable. The giver is tempted to wonder what Nah would do in this moment... He banishes the thought because he couldn't hit this young one, no matter if it would help him.
"Calm down. You'll only make it worse... Be calm and he will be," Bracken, since putting two and two together, has been careful and pushing only when necessary. "Do you want your... Do you want Jaryn to hurt someone? No. Now calm down."
Xandyr frowns. Why would... No, no, no, no- "I'm trying... But... He was... Why would he have been?" Fear courses through his body, cruelly biting into his sanity and taking a large chunk. "Was he hurt? Was he attacked? Is he okay? WHAT HAPPENED?" The panic is driving him nearly over the edge, scared growls leaving him as he paces the small length of his cage. Jaryn, Jaryn, Jaryn, JARYN! If they made people kill each other... What did they do to those who they knew can't fight back? Oh god. Oh my fucking god... Jaryn...
"If you don't stop they'll shut you- shit." Bracken growls as the snapping sound of electricity comes to him. Then the guards have appeared. No mocking this time. Just an annoyed sigh. Xan backs away, but that doesn't stop the other guard coming from the other direction with a needle and syringe filled with a murky pastel blue color from getting to him. And then... his panic slips away... It fades as he hears the closer guard growl.
"Damn beasts! Would've been waste if we had to kill him..."
And then Xan was completely out. The only thing he could feel was his muted panic and the left overs of his own sadness. Otherwise than that... Sleep was... Pretty empty.
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Post by itsherfault on Apr 23, 2015 15:05:02 GMT -5
"Strong... I don't feel..."
Panic.
Xan's panic. Was it because of the anger? Had Xan started feeling my emotions too? I could almost feel him trying to call for me. I put a hand up to my head as I desperately tried to calm him, but I could feel that anger start to ooze out again. I wanted to stop whatever was making Xan feel afraid. I wanted to... wanted to...
These violent thoughts couldn't be mine. It was like the dark side to my manic muse, a side I'd never seen before. It had driven me froom place to place, the side of me capable of being casually cruel to those I'd once called friends.
And then, just like that, the space where Xan had been in the back of my mind, this whole time, was empty. He was still alive, I realized I would've known if he died, but... but...
"Nah," I asked desperately. "Nah, something's happened to Xan. I think it might be my fault, but I can't... I can't... think, can't think right."
It was like... like... I couldn't even describe it. It was even worse than when they'd made him fight. Or maybe, when they'd made him fight, I just wasn't this open to it. I didn't want to hurt anyone, but at the same time, I would hurt anyone I had to to make Xan okay again.
"What do I do?" I asked. I didn't know what else to do.
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Post by mesmu on Apr 23, 2015 15:45:21 GMT -5
Nah watches Jaryn closely, his eyes darkening as he listens to the male's words. It takes him a moment to respond, but, when he does, its calmly. "Nah need moment." Then he closes his eyes. Its silent for a few minutes before Nah opens his eyes and nods. "Bracken say Xan sleep. No worry. Xan fine... Nah, Jaryn eat. No think. Just eat. Okay?"
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Post by itsherfault on Apr 23, 2015 15:59:14 GMT -5
"Xan fine."
I could feel my anger calm slightly, especially as it listened to Nah's soothing voice. I took a deep breath, let it out again.
"Don't think. Just eat." I took another shaky breath. "I.... I can do that. I can do that."
I can do that, I told myself. I have to get through this. If I lash out, if I fight, they'll just hurt Xan more.
It might've been the wrong thing to think - it was like my mind and my emotions were going out of control. I took another deep breath to calm myself. He was alright for now. I would eat, and then I would serve lunch, and then Nah would teach me what he could. Then I would serve dinner, and then I would be sold. And I would work on a plan to get Xan, Nah, myself, and Nah's mate out of here - and everyone else, too, but the four of us were my top priority.
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Post by mesmu on Apr 23, 2015 16:11:50 GMT -5
Nah nods in approval and leads Jaryn to the servant's dinning room, its next to the kitchen which is bustling with bearers and young givers alike. Those are the hired staff, paid a little extra to keep their mouths shut. Nah sets the young bearer down and strokes his hair until he wakes, "Shhh... Boy okay. Boy Master no here." The little bearer looks up at Nah, tears in his eyes, but Nah points to the food. "Eat now." And the young bearer does as such. Nah sighs as he places a hand on Jaryn's shoulder and leads him away.
"Boy Master, no. Boy mate mean. Nah need time away," He shakes his head. "Nah want teach boy mate manners. But... Nah do. Boy cry. Nah no do... Boy cry less." Sitting at a table he smiles to Jaryn and point to food, mouthing "eat" as he grabs a piece of fruit and a little bit of a strange colored scrambled eggs. Other than that he doesn't eat, nor does he speak more while still present.
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Post by itsherfault on Apr 23, 2015 16:18:21 GMT -5
I, too, felt a sudden desire to teach "Boy's" mate some manners, if that were the reason that he had so many bruises on him. Still...
I took food and began to eat. It looked strange, but for all I knew, we were probably on another planet, and honestly, I didn't exactly have the right to be picky right now. I needed my strength. It was actually pretty good, for all of that.
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