Nah, just,, Felt a lil' lonely. There ain't much ta do up here, and I've already play all of Parker's board games at least ten times (and he's sick of me winning at Sorry). Anything goin on with yer muse? (please don't tell Parker that I took a piece from Sorry, he'll flip his lid,, I 'promise' to put it back)
Mhm...Well, outside of the typical there hasn't been much to write home about...
[Hector seems to pause thinking his words over for a moment]
Would you perhaps...Like to hear some stories? I have some writing I've been doing, if that's something you'd be interested in to pass time.
Two thralls, huddled together in a heap of a tight embrace, sobbing and wailing gut wrenching sounds that mauled her insides with pity. Such horrid noises of sorrow had never before graced her ears, shivering her insides tight. They’d been stuck in such a horrid state for at least an hour.
The group was forced to stand about idly and wait for them to calm from their hysterics, a point drawing near. Everyone’s bellies bubbled with anxiousness, praying they would make it back before dark.
Months she’d been readying for such a moment. Weeks, days, so very many hours of training and preparing her mind and body to hunt disgustingly wretched creatures of the night and save their captives, working for the good of the people.
How could one ever be prepared for this?
“We…” Eli started, studying the two souls with teary eyes. Her guts clenched with dreary sickness, disgust dripping from her tensing chest. “We need to get the bodies out of here.”
“We’ve tried five times already.” Jude stood back with a mix of horrifying disinterest. “We can maybe grab the orange one with the little guy not attacking us again, but the other is in that one’s arms. We’re never getting that away from him.” He pointed to the bigger thrall, the one hunched over who had been the source of the worst of the shrieks. Eli had suppressed the urge to wrap him in the warmest of hugs when she’d failed to calm him earlier.
“They’re… so upset.” Too upset, and she detested it. Seeing them so distraught over monsters who had stolen their lives and minds with no remorse, feeding off of them like leeches. Grinding them down to dust under their shoes and priding themselves on it, forcing them to continue their blind worship even after their long deserved deaths.
“No shit.”
Her nails were digging into the tense flesh of her fist. “I just don’t want to see them like this. I… hate it. Stop… stop acting like this is all okay.” How could everyone act so normal? It sickened her stomach.
“I’m not saying I like it either. I don’t.” Jude’s voice dropped soft for just a moment, expression genuine, which it rarely was. “You know what we have to do.”
She knew. She knew. They’d been arguing about it since before they even arrived. But she wouldn’t.
Gnawing on her lip Eli’s heart inched quicker, beating with increasing anxiousness. “We… need to get them out of here.” Outside she appeared calm and collected like the rest of them, the facade of fine, as if none of such horror had affected her. On the inside her cracks were creaking, nearly on the verge of crumbling.
Jude only chuckled, irritating to her ears. As if none of it affected him. “And where are they gonna go?”
“With… us…” Her heart was pounding out of her chest, filling her ears with a continuous buzz. Eli knew they couldn’t. She knew no one else would allow such an arrangement.
“Eli, you know we’ve got to do it.”
She cut in with trembling authority. “Shut up. This isn’t the time to joke.”
She was plenty aware he was not kidding.
“Eli. Look at them. We have to. It’s procedure.”
“Put the gun away. Now.” She commanded with booming authority, and he backed off, just a smidge, weapon dipping to the floor.
Deeply and through her chest, she took a breath. “Just… let me do something.” Fortunately, he failed to make any attempt to stop her as she began her venture toward the two intertwined men.
Eli stepped over one of the creatures, it’s corpse nearly spreading a grin over her lips. She so terribly wanted to step on it, squash its rotting face in until it no longer resembled a human. Instead she controlled herself, not wanting to put the victims through any more horrors.
“Excuse me.” Eli whispered, voice kept soft and honeyed as she descended to her knees beside one of the men. He was large and loud, in so much unimaginable anguish she would never so much as begin to comprehend. She very well knew that. “May I talk to you? Is that alright?”
He hiccuped and sniveled, mind boggled by despair. He supplied no response. The other one, tangled around his shoulder, gifted the worst and deepest of glares she had ever seen, burning a hole in her face.
“I’m not going to hurt you guys. I won’t touch you one bit if you don’t want me to. I’ll stay right here.” She soothed, the tips of her toes rocking against the floor with a calming grin. “I’m only here to help you, and to keep you safe. Okay? Will you let me do that?”
The louder of the two whimpered, a strangled whine slipping past his quivering lips.
“What do, do you want?” The fiery one spat in return, baring his teeth in offensive desperation.
He sounded so angry, yet so terribly frightened and timid all the same, picking away at her heart strings. “I want to help you. Is that okay?” Eli asked, giving him the most gentle of a tone she could muster.
“You’re lying. Don’t lie.” He insisted, voice cracking and wavering, clutching only tighter around his friend of which who nuzzled deeper into him.
“I promise I’m not.” She carefully held out her hand, pinky finger outstretched. “Pinky promise.”
“Don’t… don’t care.” He growled back, wavering with uneasiness and obviously inching sorrow, tugging his anger to shreds.
“I understand. I wouldn’t trust me either if I was in your situation.”
“Did, did…” With watering, tear pricking eyes he softened to pitiful mush under the weight of his despair. “You hurt master. You did, you did, I know you did.”
“I…” She was going to lie. What else could she do? What could she do? He had to trust her, or unknowingly he would wind up dead. “I never hurt your master. I swear on it. I’m only here to help you.”
“W- why?”
Eli’s calming grin only faltered for a second. “Because I want you two safe and happy.”
His face scrunched up at the flick of a wrist, gloopy tears beginning to fall at fast pace, choking his words and mind. “I, I was happy… with, with Master…”
She nodded. “I know, baby. I know.”
“I want Master! Want Master!” He cried, wiping his face over the shoulder of the other thrall, who in return sobbed into his.
She swallowed, thick and juicy and horridly guilty. “I’ll keep you safe… until your master comes back, okay? Is that alright?” She barely knew what stumbled from her mouth, the only goal to spark something from him. Whether that be an ounce of trust or hope, or whatever could get the two out of such a situation.
His face lit up quick, brightening with such a glimmer of hope she’d never expected. How could she be so terrible? “Master, Master’s coming, coming back? R- really?”
Eli hesitated. “Yeah, s- sure. They’ll come back nice and fine if you just come with us. We’ll keep you plenty safe while they’re gone.”
Thinking it over, her speech digesting and turning the wheels of his brain, he gradually agreed. “Oh… ‘kay… okay… I’m, I’m sorry, thank you… thank you, sir, thank you.”
Good. Good. If this one trusted her, she would have nothing to worry about. If she could just get them to safety, somehow find them some help and a place to stay, they would be fine. She could only hope. “Nothing to be sorry about, sweetheart. Everything is just fine.”
He met her gaze with those doe, pleading eyes of his, so eager for the safety and kindness he dearly deserved. She would do her best to provide it. “P- promise? Promise? Please?”
Hobbies...umm...not conformimg to social rules, stealing things and forgetting to feel guilty about it, swimming and fist fighting.
Her weapon of choice is her own two hands, but all the gang members have knives and guns so she and Eli have a (stolen) knife and gun each.
There's a lot of busking (performing for money on the streets) so The Alley is filled with music and dancers all the time. She vibes with all of it really, though the language in the songs people sing took her some time to get used to.
Her favourite thing in the world is her brother and her least favourite thing is The Army.
by the time the Cool Youth and Danko start interacting he’ll be teaching in a university (that will be where they meet) in the field of performance art! he’s a doctor too, so his lessons are quite... unconventional in terms of methods. either way, it’s fun and he’s now a part of VOLUME!
