"The Eye of the Storm"
The day dawned silent and peaceful for but a golden moment in time. It happened right after the last of the night creatures settled down to sleep another day away. And it was right before the first of the morning creatures roused from the warm beds to greet the suns first rays. The predawn light cast a misty hue over the forest like a blanket. Tall silent trees stood towering in the mist like ghost sentinels. It was this time that Blade liked the most. She liked the fact she could drift through the misty forest like a silent shadow herself. She could actually relax for one moment in time, not completely, but enough to let the forest majesty drift over her and wrap around her like a cloak.
Something was different this morning though. Something she couldn't quite name, but made her uneasy none the less. It put her on edge, and was dampening her normally coveted morning walk. She had just relaxed again, admonishing her paranoia for attempting to ruin her walk, when she caught a scent on the crisp morning air. For a moment she froze completely, her heart thudding erratically in her chest and pumping adrenaline to the far reaches of her body. One word said it all....
Cyrus..... He was in the forest, searching for her. Every nerve in her body screamed out to run. But to where? Very few times had she ever been able to escape him once he set his mind to catching her. And never has it been when she was taken unawares, like this. He always seemed to find her, despite the fact she was silent and upwind, she had the suspicion he was getting help or using magic.
She had no weapon to defend herself and could only run. By now it seemed just a motion in a long line of idiocy. A useless attempt, just as useless to struggle when she felt him tackle her hard. Her face was slammed into the ground hard while he drove a knee into her back. He grabbed her wrists and forced them up behind her back as far as they would go before he bound them there tightly.
"It must be my lucky day Blade. Why not just make this easy on yourself and not fight me. I can give you such pleasure," he spoke while nipping at her neck and trailing up to kiss her ear's thin skin.
"Le' me go ye fucking Bastard!!" Of course she knew he wouldn't he never did right away. Once again he proved her thoughts true as he jerked her wrists painfully higher, forcing her to cry out with pain.
"The only thing that will get a fucking is you my little slut," he fairly purred into one of her ears as he nibbled upon the edge. His other hand slid from her back around to her front, lifting enough so he could get it around one of her breasts and grip it painfully.
A low hiss was given, followed closely by words spat into the cold unyielding ground. "Ye could nae even get yer shriveled, little, wannabe dick up tae attempt it!" With that said she jerked her head back to slam into his mouth. She had just enough time to smell the faint coppery scent of his blood before his hand came from her breast and took hold of one ear. He slammed her face down and grounded it into the loam as he jerked her arms almost to the point of breaking., All while twisting her poor ear.
"Wrong answer Slut," He hissed into unabused ear. Yeah, yeah she knew that. And she knew that he enjoyed toying with her. The Bastard.
"Then go get one of yer little sluts tae come play with ye. Or d'ye only feel big and strong when ye force yerself on 'elpless girls? 'm sure yer collection of sluts just love when ye beat on them and try tae screw them with yer shriveled little dick." This whole morning was wrong already, why not just complete the bloody thing.
"But Blade, you are one of my little sluts, and I've come to play with you," He chuckled as he released her ear and sent his hand to paw and grope at her breasts again. He did have it in his head that he owned her. She'd rather be dipped in metal than owned by him. It wasn't that he was ugly, but the way he acted made even looking at him unbearable. He was immortal, a vampire she thought, he smelled like one any ways. He seemed completely taken with the way she fought him, yet she couldn't do anything but. They both knew he could force her body into submission, yet she never gave up the struggle.
"Cyrus, yer nae only stupid, yer blind. I've never been yer's and I never will be. 'm owned by another. Now get off me!" It must of been the last thing she said, or the fact the suns first rays where tinting the mists rosy. Because after she said that he gave her arms a fearsome twist, doing well to crack the bone in one. He loosened his hold and stood over her, glaring down at her form.
"Kneel slut!" And he knew she couldn't being bound as she was. So he kicked her in the side. Again and again until she finally made it into a kneel like position. She glared up at him hatefully and he back handed her, hard enough that it cracked her jaw bone. A hiss of pain was given as she spat blood on his feet and he kicked her in the stomach.
It all ended so quickly that she didn't even realize she was alone until the full light of the morning sun was upon her. Damned night dweller, couldn't he just stick to it? She of course was still tied, luckily she had a lot of training on getting out of even the tightest bindings, especially when they where leather. It took all of an hour before she was free and heading for a pond. She dropped to her knees before it and peered into it's mirror like surface. She was a mess. Blood and dirt caked her face and body. Where he had hit and kicked her was already turning black and blue. With a sigh she checked for how many ribs suffered. She counted three, two on one side and one on the other, that where definitely broke. The rest where probably just bruised or cracked.
After throwing up some blood and cleaning herself up the best she could she rose and headed towards town. The rest of the walk was event less and she reached one of the slave places un harassed. Delicate nostrils flared to take in the lingering scents and two things where noted. Cyrus wasn't here. Her good friend Truth was inside. Well what's the odds of that happening? Probably pretty good. A slight shrug was given before she slunk in, silent and trying to keep out of sight. The smell of the place assaulted her nose now, causing her to wrinkle it in disgust. It was the strong smells of alcohol, unwashed bodies, and sex. A combination she still couldn't get used to, no matter how many times she came here.
Even before spotting her, Blade knew where Truth would be. On the furs, kneeling like the good girl that Blade herself never seemed to be. Perhaps she should of been jealous of her friend. But she wasn't, not really. She made her way to the furs and the spot where Truth knelt. A ginger flop took her down beside her friend and she gave a lopsided smile. Of course Truth wanted to know what happened. All that needed to be said was "Cyrus" And they both glanced around nervously, as if the mere mention of the name would bring him back to abuse them both. After that they both tried to ignore Blade's hurts and keep the conversation light. It worked until a couple of Truth's friends showed up.
One was a girl, nothing more then a child. She was a skinny little thing, wearing a dress too large for her. She and Truth seemed very close, so Blade only fell silent and listened to the buzz of activity in the place. Next came a were-ferret. One that Blade had a run in with before. He had silvery brown fur and needle sharp teeth. His claws seemed stained red in the darkened interior of the slave place. He moved over to Truth and started to bug her a bit. He hadn't noticed Blade, well not until Truth made mention to her. Then beady red eyes turned to her and she gave a cringe.
He gave a toothy grin before he spoke. "Ah it's the rabbit! We have some unfinished business to attuned to don't we? Like Me ripping your ears off!" HE cackled as he lunged for her. Rational thought fled like startled pigeons at the mere fact a natural predator was after her, and she bolted across the floor towards the door. She was hurt, and already the loss of adrenaline from with Cyrus was slowing her. No matter where she went he was there, either right on her tail or blocking her escape. He was half toying with her, half trying to tire her. Even in this state she was a smidgen faster then him. Fast enough that she still had both her ears intact on her head. She didn't know how much longer she could take this her ribs where screaming at the exertion. Her stomach throbbed, and she knew she was losing consciousness. Everything took on a fuzzy quality.
She was just making her last ditch effort, running towards the couch then swerving towards a corner to finally bolt out the servery door. She was running towards the corner, leaving the were-ferret to scramble and wheel after her, when out stepped a monster of an animal. She didn't quite see what it was right then, something just whispered to her to hide beneath it. So she scrambled and skidded beneath it, stopping right beneath it's stomach. Paws where on either side of her as she cowered and sobbed for breath. A furry head poked between the front legs, quite upside down as it peered at her. She looked back, terrified, and would of bolted if it hadn't been for the were-ferrets approach.
It hissed and lunged, trying to reach her beneath the massive black creature. She had only a moment to think that the protective barrier would be removed when suddenly it growled. She had no way of knowing what it said to the ferret, since it had used mind speech, but it backed away grumbling and went back over to where Truth was. Relief flooded through her as she slumped beneath the creature. Once more it's furry head poked between it's front legs, to peer at her. This time she realized just what she hid under....
A Wolf.... It's fur was blacker then the shadows and streaked with silver in place, which is why she hadn't seen him earlier. Like all wolfs, he had the ability to become perfectly still and hidden. He was a huge wolf, big enough that she could crouch beneath his stomach. That was also a surprise, that he let her crouch there beneath him, where she could of hurt him if she had vicious intent. But he was a wolf, and she was a rabbit. He looked more curious then hungry, maybe that counted for something? Probably not... She just started cowering back, when she felt a touch on her mind. She could feel his voice in her head. A soothing deep voice, one that belonged to a warrior.
~Have no fear little one. I'll not hurt you, and I'll protect you from all harm this day for as long as your here.~ Now normally she would of thought him just tricking her, but there was something about him. An odd stirring deep within her, one that she had never felt before started. She banished the feeling, yet she relaxed there beneath him. As much as her hurts would let her that is.
Her mind send was quite tentative, as much as her voice would of been. ~Th..thank ye fer yer 'elp. A..and yer offer.~ For the longest time they remained like that, until she started coughing up blood. She didn't feel so good now. He backed up so she was in front of him instead of beneath and nudged her lightly before he laid down.
~You should rest Bunny, you can use me as a pillow.~ What a great idea. And with that she yawned and snuggled down against him, half on him, and curled up to rest.
~Thank ye again... Mah name's Blade, wot's yer's?~ She wasn't so tenative now, warming up to the monster of a wolf, and oddly feeling like she knew him forever.
~I'm Shadow, it's a pleasure to meet you Blade~ The spoke little that first day, despite they where there together for most of it. It was a comfortable silence, half of which she was asleep for.