Beaugro ~Memories~

[Redsparrow]

[Just putting some feelers out there:
How many of you are still interested/have time to continue this rp?
(It will determine what I do next, no pressure on choosing one way or the other just curious.)]

[Oriel]

Darius watched the girl struggle to free herself from Marion's ice trap, more animal than human even when in her human form. "Shackle her," he ordered. She didn't look much like a royal when she raged and hissed at them, but if they could use her to bring in the rest of her tribe it would be a worthwhile capture. Marion had gone still at the edge of the makeshift prison and would not meet his general's eyes.

"You may speak freely, Stillwater," Darius offered. Of all his staff, Marion was the most unpredictable and often the most valuable. Although he made his opinions well-known in the hospital tents, he had to be asked and encouraged when on the battlefield.

"I don't think the shackles are necessary in this case, General Keystone," Marion answered quietly. "I don't like what they do to the prisoners. With your permission, I could personally escort her back to the camp with little risk to myself or any guards."

Darius considered Stillwater's proposal with an ear for what the man had left unsaid. Marion had mentioned this to him once before, that because the shackles took away the will without dampening the shock and fear that dominated in the raids, it made some unmanageable as servants and permanently damaged others. "Granted," he said. "Take half the guard with you."

He turned next to Ren. "Prince Frances, please accompany General Stillwater back to the camp. The raid is for naught if she escapes and there may be others searching for her in the woods."

Behind them, Marion had approached close to the shifter and was dulling her claws with a layer of ice. Although it would not damage her skin, it would keep her from slashing at them while they bound her with normal cuffs and rope ties. "Be still," he murmured to Anita. "Please. You'll hurt yourself if you keep struggling." Although his water affinity was most obvious in the layer of ice that held her, he could also sense vital signs in the pulse of blood as it coursed through the body. Her panic thrummed so strongly in his mind that it was making him dizzy.

"You won't have any strength left to escape if you keep this up," he added. "You're better off trying later, when we've all grown careless."

[1.21 gigawatts]

Anita Belle Gunthner
At the mention of shackles, Anita froze. Her eyes widened and her breathing hastened. The vision of the man she saw kill himself under the control of those shackles raided her mind and she couldn't imagine being caught under their control. She didn't want to be a slave to the elementals and despised the idea of controlling others.

Hearing another voice speak, Anita's head flung around and she stared right into the man's eyes. He was actually sparing her from the horrors of the shackles? Why would he do something like that? He was an elemental. Weren't they all monsters>

When the air elemental turned away from her, she felt a presence beside her and she swung her head around to see the same man who had saved her from the binds of the terrible magic. She was about to lash out in fear when she felt something cold encase her hands and looked to realize he had frozen her claws in ice.

Anita didn't hear Darius speak to the young man present. Instead, her hearing was focused on Marion. "Why do you care?" She spat at the same volume he spoke. When he spoke of escaping, Anita stopped struggling. Why would he want her to escape? Didn't he come here to enslave her? Whatever the reason, it had caused her to stop. She wouldn't trust the man with her life, but he did have a point. Struggling would only make her death more painful.

[Redsparrow]

Ren gladly followed Marion, the thought of watching Darius work much longer was hard to stomach. Still he kept his distance from the cat girl and all other newly captured slaves. He was armed only with his fire and while that was plenty he didn't feel a need to temp fate.

Despite not being able to hear what Marion said to the girl, Ren noticed her relax, such were the power of words. Grim had always told him that words, when used correctly, were more effective then even the best spells. Aspiring to be like his father who could summon armies with an elegant speech or woo even the most hostile of enemies, Ren longed for the power of persuasive speech. Perhaps he would get a chance at practicing his skills with this new batch of slaves.

[Oriel]

Marion continued to work without answering the shifter's question. One of his lieutenants brought him the ordinary iron cuffs he'd requested. They lacked the faint shimmer of Grim's creations and did nothing more than snap into place around the captive's wrists. In the end he was forced to weave the rope in next to her hands in order to keep the bonds from slipping off and dangling over her arms.

He could feel Darius watching him over the heads of the scouts. Gale wasn't among them, but it was easy to tell from their expressions that the raid had been more successful than they had hoped. Once their reports had been delivered they disappeared back into the pine forest. If he looked far enough in the distance he could still see downed trees and the pieces of the houses that had been ravaged by the whirlwind.

Although most tallies still counted him among the fighting elementals, Marion had long ago exchanged commanding field troops for tending the wounded behind the front lines. If at first he'd been apprehensive about including himself among Darius' guard and missing his rounds in the hospital tents, he was now glad of the chance to shield the shifter girl from a worse capture. It would have been better for both of them if he had not recognized her from the reports and stammered out her identity in his surprise.

What other protection or distractions he could have managed in the course of a normal raid were not now available to them.

Marion knew that Darius trusted his king and that the two were longtime friends, but still he could not see how loyalty to the realm justified what was being done to some of the prisoners. Some of them had been twisted by a force he could not identify, their minds warped into unfamiliar pathways and their bodies shot through with lines of power where none should have been.

Normal shifters looked to him as this feline girl still did, frightened but still whole and healthy. She was not one of the docile slaves that were so prized in the kingdom, neither was she wrapped by strange lines of elemental energy. Wherever the change had originated it had not -- or at least, he thought it had not -- spread among the palace servants and their families. Whatever ailment had taken hold of the prisoners seemed to prefer them to the other potential victims.

Marion checked the girl's cuffs and the other restraints before thawing the ice that still closed over her foot. He put a hand on her shoulder and steered them both toward the main army encampment. He nodded once to Ren to make sure that the prince knew that he was expected to follow before setting himself a walking pace in the direction he remembered as leading to the nearest road. Patrols and regular watch shifts the whole length of the thoroughfare allowed him to be less cautious of attack.

The guards spread out to their left and right flank as they walked, which left Marion considerably more opportunity to speak to the prisoner without being overheard.

"My name's Marion," he said. "They still call me 'General,' though I don't fight anymore."

Much to Darius Keystone's disappointment.

"I'm a kind of healer for the army."

[1.21 gigawatts]

Anita Belle Gunthner
As the man began cuffing her hands, Anita waited for his previous words to be only a lie. That he was applying the magical cuffs that enslaved her out of her own will. She braced herself for the worst but was surprised to see that he stayed true to his words. She didn't feel any different. Her mind wasn't lost to her, her mouth wasn't saying foreign words, she was still sane.

The girl didn't bother resisting, knowing her attempts were futile, and allowed the man to secure her hands with rope. She knew she was captured. There was no escaping the elementals that surrounded her. And there was always a chance to run when their senses had dulled...Was she actually listening to the elemental? What was she thinking! They were all monsters who only cared about themselves! How could she possibly trust a man's words when he was an elemental, let alone just met him. While most kids were told not to talk to strangers, Anita was told not to talk to elementals. She had kept that promise for thirteen years.

Anita was thankful when the man released her foot from the ice encasing, finally bringing feeling back to it. The once paw shifted to match the rest of her body, changing form into a human foot. Her two bare feet pushed the girl up into a standing position as the man began leading her to assumably the rest of the army. Anita noticed the few men around them disperse and leave the two lots of space. Looking behind them, she saw the young male follow them and narrowed her eyes. That boy had looked at her as if she was simply trash. A person who wasn't worth saving or even acknowledging. She sure hoped he was near when she escaped. Either to swipe her claws against his face, or just let him watch as the useless beast escaped the high and mighty elemental army. Anita's thoughts had turned from defeat to determination. It wasn't, "What will be the quickest way to die" anymore, it was, "Where will I go once I'm out?"

Hearing the man introduce himself, Anita wasn't about to shake his hand and be all open with him. Instead, she just kept her eyes on the trail ahead, not even acknowledging his words. When the caravans came into view and all the cages were visible, Anita took a deep breath, trying to steady her heart rate. It was actually happening. She was being captured by the elementals while her tribe suffered from the destruction.

[Redsparrow]

The cat girl's glare made Ren nervous, causing him to linger farther away from Marion and the captive. He longed for the comfort of home and friends. Reza was somewhere back at camp and all Ren could think was how badly he wanted to be out hunting with Reza or pretty much anywhere but here. The feline tribe was extremely powerful and he feared for the lives of his friends on the battle field.

The face of the dying man worked into Ren's mind, it bothered him in a way he didn't think possible. Why did Darius do it? Ren pushed the thought back and forth of weather or not the man some how deserved it. True he was a shifter, there for less then human but still... The fear Ren saw was real. The same fear he had seen in his mother's eyes when his youngest sister had been struck with fever, a battle she lost in the end. Distracted by his thought he was surprised to find that they had arrived at camp so quickly. First thing first, Ren sought Marion to dismiss him so he could mull things over with Reza.

[Oriel]

Marion had no further reassurance to offer the girl. The truth blinked at them through the trees as they approached the army camp. Worse, he didn't recognize either of the men on the sentry lines.

"A bit young for you, isn't she?" The younger of the pair eyed Marion with open suspicion, but reserved a look of distaste for Anita.

His partner turned to look at the new arrivals, blanched, and managed to execute a formal salute at attention with as much aplomb as his surprise allowed. "General Stillwater, sir!"

Marion returned the salute with a cold smile more reminiscent of his nickname. "Returning from the front lines, Corporal. By orders of General Keystone, I am charged to escort this prisoner and the Prince within the camp."

By this time the other sentry had skittered to attention as well, his face all but devoid of expression.

"You may pass, sir," the Corporal replied formally.

Marion lead the princess and the prince through the camp without further mishap beyond the occasional curious glance. His presence, combined with Ren's trailing him like a shadow, had the combined effect of keeping anyone from investigating the sight more than accomplishing their other duties allowed.

Although his path lead in the general direction of the prisoner holding area, he lead them instead to his personal quarters inside the building that served as a makeshift hospital within the garrison. Marion thought it had once been a gathering place for the people of the town, with its long halls and sanded floors, and it had all the privacy he could have wanted.

There was little in the way of paperwork or personal items, but the previous occupants had left him a bed, a pair of wooden chairs, and a washstand. Marion cleared away the field dispatches he'd been reading that morning, tucked the whole sheaf of papers under his arm with some impatience, and motioned to Anita to take the chair not occupied with bottles of medical remedies too delicate to be left in the infirmary at large.

"My ice trick wouldn't last an hour in a room this warm," he said conversationally. "So I'm going to put you on your honor not to run as soon as I've turned my back."

He was at the point of saying more, either explaining the rules of the camp or hinting at the possibility of escape, when Ren turned up at his door. It was too good an opportunity to secure a guard while also keeping the both of them out of harm's way and returning to the injured men he could sense nearby.

"Ah, Prince Frances! Just the man I wanted to see," Marion beamed. "They'll be needing me in the infirmary, so I'm leaving the princess in your care. Don't let anyone else in the room until I return. I don't think I'll need to add it, but -- be sure she doesn't leave, either."

And then he was gone, too quickly for Ren to protest.

[Redsparrow]

Ren who was seeking Marion's dismissal was stunned to find himself now guarding the feline captive. Why not just take her to the slave cages? It dawned on Ren that she must be important and therefor was royalty. Looking her up and down he racked his brain trying to remember the royal families age and names.

She looked younger then him, but this didn't help him much, both the Feline royal daughters were younger then him. One was a leopard and the other was a tiger shifter, with a little more thinking he was able to narrow it down to Anita, the youngest Daughter of the Royal tribal leaders. The eldest daughter had a memorable changer flaw, her claws. Looking at Anita's hands had given away her identity just by narrowing it down.

"Anita am I correct?" Ren asked just to check his guess. Grim had drilled note worthy names and identities into his mind for months before this venture. Ren was pleased to try out his knowledge and was midly interested in the girl. Despite her fear she seemed very strong and willing to fight. If she chose a battle now, it would be her last. He didn't think she would make that move, better to wait for a chance to escape with less resistance.

While waiting for her reaction he made himself at home, looking for something to eat and drink, the place was surprisingly sterol, leaving Ren to turn his back to her momentarily.

[1.21 gigawatts]

Anita Belle Gunthner
As they reached the camp, Anita tried to keep a calm and vicious look but her eyes screamed in terror. She didn't know what was going to happen to her. Sure Marion had saved her life and spared her sanity but she couldn't trust the others. Not even the prince that seemed more intimidated by her than she was of him.

What the men at the sentry lines said about the two and the look they gave her, Anita narrowed her eyes at them. She sure hoped she would have a chance to run by them when she escaped. Let them know they were outsmarted by a 13 year olf shifter.

Marion led her farther into the camp and the closer they got to the cages, the faster Anita's heart raced. She was certain she was going to be enclosed in a small cage in a matter of minutes, but Marion took an unexpected turn into a building.

Anita noticed Marion's casual motion for her to take a seat in the one unoccupied chair. It was odd he was showing her such kindness but he had shown he was different from the others from the start. Anita cautiously sat where he wanted and studied him as he talked. She could tell he was about to add more but thought otherwise when the young boy entered the room.

While the two were talking, Anita scanned every inch of the room, not hearing a single word the two were saying. Footsteps leaving the building brought her attention back to the door though.

When Marion exited the building, Anita moved her eyes to stare at the boy. A mocking purr escaped her throat, hoping to scare him even more. If she was going to be their prisoner, might as well have a little fun with it.

Seeing the boy study her up and down, Anita wondered what he was thinking. Where he weak spot was? How he was going to break her? Whatever it was, she wasn't going to show it.

"Airhead, right?" she mocked, not excited for the boy to talk to her. "...What is it to you?" Anita snapped at his question. The boy seemed extremely stuck up and she knew she would be tortured by just him talking. "Where is my family? If you killed them, I swear on my life you will feel my pain," she growled. "Even if it is the last thing I do."