Chapter Three : Escape
Gruff and Longrunner give themselves another month before enacting their often thought about but yet to be enacted plan to get themselves free of the prison mine.
Miners, the two of them have found, eat much better than those that pull the carts. Especially mining crews adept at both spotting veins of iron ore and getting large chunks of it free quickly. Even weak as they are from the too long span of time where they were only barely fed Gruff and Longrunner have the strength to get through rock very fast. To compliment their strength the woman they've been given as their third member has the keenest eye that Gruff has ever seen. He wishes that he could see her in the crows nest of his ship.
Inia, she introduces herself as at the end of the first day when the guards have allowed the miners to sit - but only those who have pulled the unvoiced mysterious amount required to be fed.
However because Miners that get their jobs done get more food than Gruff and Longrunner have been given in much too long they give themselves a month to recuperate from pulling the cart they were originally assigned to. It's an easy decision to make. A look, a shrug, a nod is all it takes for the two of them to communicate the agreement. After so long of not being able to talk at all to each other they've learned how to speak without making sounds.
Inia looks at the two of them whenever Gruff and Longrunner do it as if she suspects what's happening but can't quite figure out what's being said.
Oh well. The plan benefits her regardless - she's chained to them.
Gruff and Longrunner take turns in furthering their unspoken plan. Twice a day, once per guard shift change, one of them hits just one little bit closer to the pin holding them all to the rock wall than they're strictly speaking supposed to. Inia sees it happen every single time but says nothing. She frowns, she scowls in disapproval, but she says nothing.
Hopefully it's because she wants freedom as much as Gruff and Longrunner do and not because she's biding her time before telling the guards on them. There's no way to know for certain.
They can't go and outright ask her after all, since that would then reveal their plan of escape to the very perceptive guards with ears like bats.
Gruff sends silent prayers up to Isur that Inia will keep her suspicions to herself.
Slowly but surely, day by day, Longrunner and Gruff whittle down the stability of the peg holding their section of chain to the wall.
None of the guards notice.
Inia stays quiet.
Finally the day comes.
Every time that Gruff or Longrunner or Inia moves the chain just a little too much in just the wrong way the peg shifts with it. None of the few guards watching them notice. Neither the group of prisoners chained to Gruffs left nor the group stationed to Inia's right notice either.
They wait until what passes for night time underground, when the guards swap out and the prisoners get to sleep for a few hours under the new shifts ever watchful eye. There's only three guards on this new shift, freshly awake and ready to stay that way for however many hours the wardens have decided to give the prisoners today.
Neither Gruff nor Longrunner fully sleep. They exchange a look, a shrug towards Inia, a nod towards the guards, some fingers twitched, and the plan is set.
As they rest and wait for the other prisoners to fall asleep Gruff wonders if Longrunner will be willing to join him. Mom always loves getting another strong back on board her ship. Until he manages to track down where she's sailing out of most recently he also wouldn't say no to having a travelling companion who he can trust to have his back in a fight.
Nothing teaches you who you can trust quite like prison does, no matter where the prison is located.
Finally, f i n a l l y, the sounds of breathing coming from all around this newer pit evens out. The guards are evenly spread throughout the area as they walk but the pit was a big space even before the prisoners got to work at expanding it. There's a span of thirty full seconds where all three of them are too far away from where Gruff and Longrunner and Inia are attached to the wall to do any good.
The moment that the guards are in position Gruff sits up, playing at standing in order to relieve himself. He's never been more happy to have been born with typically male parts below his belt than he is when he's in prison. He stumbles to the bucket that serves as the head which, conveniently, allows him to stand in just such a way that the guards can't see behind him. Behind him where Longrunner is ever so slowly sitting up so that she doesn't rattle the chains. Where the half-giant is quietly tugging the peg keeping their small mining crew out of the wall.
As soon as the peg is out they're all three of them running.
The prisoners nearest the guards try and grab at them, slow them down, hooting and hollering and cheering the three of them on. Inia seems like she's only just woken up. She stumbles and blinks blearily but Longrunner and Gruff keep her up. Keep her moving forward with them.
Sounds of more guards running towards them echo down the mineshafts as they run up and down them in patterns they barely remember after endless months of work in the mine. Gruff leads them down one, Longrunner pulls them across two others and into a third with a steep incline that has all three of them barely keeping themselves and each other from falling and sliding all the way back down.
All the while is a gasped drone of Inia mumbling to herself. Gruff wants to tell her to save her breath. He can see in Longrunners face that she's having similar thoughts but neither of them have the breath to say anything themselves.
Noises from the other prisoners seep up the mineshaft corridors. Calls of encouragement. Laughter at the guards still not being able to capture the three of them.
The guards are getting closer, though. Their own calls to coordinate search patterns and movements quickly become easier to hear – there's less distance between them.
And then Inia is engulfed in light.
Gruff tries to keep her moving forward regardless and she does but it's a blind movement. That's fine. So long as she keeps moving.
The light slips up the chain in either direction, up towards Gruff and down towards Longrunner until he can't see either -
– and then he can.
They're running down the centre aisle of a darkened and empty church building. No guards are in sight and neither can he hear anything other than the gasping breaths of himself, Inia, and Longrunner.
“What did you do?” Gruff spins to look at Inia as Longrunner speaks.
Inia is grinning, her hands clasped joyfully in front of her chest. She laughs and it's high pitched in a way that speaks of hysteria and madness – but she isn't crazy. The tears falling from her eyes say she's relieved.
“I didn't know if that would work, if he had forsaken me,” Inia says, laughing. Crying. “I should have known better than to doubt him.”
Longrunner looks even more confused but Gruff sighs in relieved understanding.
“You're one of a gods chosen,” he says.
“Eulydill,” Inia nods. “He came to me when I was young and gave me his gifts. I would have used them to escape sooner but I couldn't. Either there were too many others connected to me or I was connected to the rock itself.”
Gruff nods, understanding. Longrunner still looks lost, though, shaking her head and mumbling something in Giant. Probably something to do with crazy southern religions.
Oh well. That's what you get for having a belief system that revolves around trees and rocks and other things from nature having spirits. Confusion towards other religions that actually make sense.
None of that is important however. What is important is that they're so close to being free that it's making Gruffs mouth water. All they need to do is get themselves out of the chains attaching them together and they'll be able to go about their separate ways.
“Eulydill give you anything to cut metal with?” Gruff asks while looking around himself for just such an object. Anything at all that he can use himself since going to a blacksmith is out of the question.
Inia shakes her head. “Nothing that won't blast us apart too,” she says.
“Hard way it is, then.” Gruff shrugs.
This is something that Longrunner seemed to understand. The half-giant sighs in slight disappointment before shrugging and grabbing her end of their chains. Gruff nods, understanding without anything needing to be said, and grabs his own end.
And then they start pulling.
Gruff pulls away from Longrunner, Longrunner pulls away from Gruff. The chains are sturdy and very well made but every chain has a weak link to exploit and that's exactly what they do. It takes a long few minutes of pulling with every ounce of strength that the two of them have. It's difficult.
However it's not impossible and soon enough one of the chains weaker links pulls apart enough that it's a simple thing to unlink it entirely, freeing them from being looped together for the rest of their lives. They've still all got the bands around their waists but the chains linking the women's feet are just as easily dealt with – Gruff having been left unshackled other than from his waist. It's due to the guards not being able to figure out how to shackle a wooden leg without making it completely impossible for him to walk in the process.
Gruff knows a way, of course.He wasn't going to tell the guards that though.
“Thank you so much for the help,” Inia says once they're all relatively more free to move around. “Do you have anywhere to go?”
Longrunner hums thoughtfully for a moment before answering. “Have person to find, need answers for prison,” she eventually says. She sounds angry. Offended.
“Got someone I was trying to find before I got waylaid,” Gruff nods in understanding. “Gonna get back on his trail now that I'm free.”
“Good luck with those searches to the both of you,” Inia says. She sounds like she honestly means it and it's a sentiment that Gruff appreciates even if he has very little experience with receiving it. “If either of you are ever in Crystalkeep come to the Dead Eye Tavern. My friends and I own it so it's where we spend our time when we're not solving the city's problems for them.”
Longrunner nods with a small smile but Gruff just shrugs non-committally. He doubts that he'll ever need to go to the large port city. It's too big a place for someone with wanted posters to go to without a dire need and Gruff's seen his face posted around on more Wanted boards than he hasn't.
It's not worth the risk.
Inia nods and stands up, adjusting her clothes as she does to make them sit more comfortably, make them look slightly more presentable. “It's been quite nice getting to meet you and I really do wish it had been under better circumstances but I must return home. My friends are absolutely hopeless at staying out of trouble and I need to have some words with one of them for letting me be implicated in his wrongdoing.”
With those very quickly spoken words Inia walks out of the door of the church, closing it softly behind her as she does.
“Want to search together?” Gruff turns to ask Longrunner as the half-giant stands and stretches her limbs out. Making her even taller than him than when she's standing normally.
Why does he want her along again?
Good in a fight. It's also nice to have someone to talk to on a trip even if she's not the most talkative person he's met. Not by a very long shot. Even so – having her to talk to is better than wandering around talking to himself and ending up looking crazy.
Mom would never let him hear the end of it. Not to mention other people Gruff knows.
“Got any idea where the people you're looking for are?” Gruff asks while opening up the alms box by the door to see if there's any offerings worth taking. A handful of coppers and two whole golden Queens. More than enough for someone to get by on for a few days with careful rationing.
“Between Mistfall and Redbarrow,” Longrunner says from directly over Gruffs shoulder, causing him to jump in surprise. He only barely gets his hand out of the way as she snaps the alms box shut again before he can take the coins. “No thief-ing from poor. Mother Sun sees all, does not like evil people.”
“The church isn't poor!” Gruff scoffs but doesn't try again. There's other ways to make money … they're just harder.
“Box for poor not church,” Longrunner scowls, “No thief-ing.” She finishes by walking over to the large ornately carved double doors out of the building. Pauses just inside before opening one of them, her hand on the handle and looks back at him expectantly. Questioningly.
“Haven't looked in Mistfall yet for the bastard, it's as good a place as any to start,” Gruff says. Walks forward to join Longrunner.
She smiles. Just a small one but it's genuinely happy.Looks like he wasn't the only one hoping for some company.
The thought makes a small part of Gruff feel all warm inside from the thought that she wants to keep him around. A part that's quickly squashed with the knowledge that it's just practical to search for people with some help than on your own.
Oh well. He'll just have to try not to enjoy the company too much so that he doesn't miss Longrunner when she inevitably finds who she's looking for and leaves.