Arabella didn't know the man that held her, didn't know if she could truly trust him or if he would just turn around and betray her to save himself, he was a former slave by the looks of it but really, could she blame him if he did do such a thing? No, she couldn't because it was her own fault for involving him in the first place. If he turned her in in exchange for his own safety..well, she wouldn't exactly understand, but she wouldn't hate him for it. Couldn't hate someone she didn't really know. Even with such thoughts running through her head, she clung still to Erasmus, keeping herself steady and warm against him as his mule sprinted through the forest, almost as fast as Arabella was in her Tiger form or perhaps even faster. Fat snowflakes landed on Ara's cheek and nose, the snow drifting like beautiful god made lace. Of course she couldn't marvel at such beauty, her very life was on the line at the moment as was Erasmus'.
It had to be so wonderful to no longer be held in slavery, she admired the handsome man for being strong enough to some escape, since he mentioned how his freedom wasn't exactly purchased. She smiled, wondering if he had felt the way she had when he escaped, though she doubted he had trackers like Eck after him when he made his bid for freedom. She shivered, her chin quivering before she spoke again, her voice no louder then a whisper. "What is freedom like?" A silly question perhaps, but she wanted to know nonetheless. "How does it feel?" She wanted to ask if it was worth it, but that question she didn't need to ask, she knew it was worth it and she would do anything to get to that point.
The sound of hoofs striking against the frozen snow covered land reached her keen ears easily enough, hell they were loud enough for Erasmus to hear as well. Ara looked up at him, saw the look of frustration and fear on his face as he spurred his mule on harder, knowing that if they were caught...well, that wasn't an option. Arabella closed her eyes and prayed to Nysel, prayed that the God would protect his little dreamer and the man who was risking his life and his freedom for her. "Don't let him get hurt." She prayed softly, offering up a need for his safety moreso then her own, it wasn't his fault that he had gotten mixed up in all this.
Ara's ear pricked, as though tuned to Eck's voice, his slimy disgusting voice as he spoke claim on the slave girl. Had he been promised 'time' with her in exchange for tracking her down?! Oh gods...she was going to be sick to her stomach at just the thought, the motion of the mule most definitely did not help that feeling at all. She wasn't his! She was no ones! She needed that freedom, needed to be able to escape slavery and be her own person, but each time she tried...it just didn't really work. She wanted to scream at the little hunchback, tell him to just leave her be, but such would be a foolish act and waste energy that she didn't really even have. So she was silent, trying not to cry in fear for herself and Erasmus. The young man threatened his mule, seeking to get her to go faster, but Arabella could see that it wasn't going to happen, Jordie wasn't going to be able to get them away from those that pursued them...but was there another option? She hadn't saved up enough energy to really run off on her own, she'd drop not long after running and be overtaken rather quickly.
At this point there wasn't much that could be done, Ara was in a silent panic, her heart pounding as Erasmus tried thinking on what could be done. She was ready to give up in order to save Erasmus from being taken as well, she couldn't be the cause of another suffering, she couldn't. Before Ara could mention about giving up though, Erasmus announced that he actually had a plan. Relief hit like a wave of cold water, perhaps they weren't caught just yet. The mule came to a stop at the mouth of a cave and Ara was lifted down gently from the mule. She saw the look on his face and her heart broke with him as he sent the mule off into the woods. She sent a small prayer off with the mule, one for protection for her new 'friend's' animal.
Arabella curled up in Erasmus' arms, so ready to cry that she was barely choking back a sob, she was so scared, so tired, just physically and emotionally spent. She wanted to apologize a thousand times over for getting him into all this, even when he said he wasn't sorry. She hadn't meant for this to happen, hadn't meant for anyone else to get involved. She could smell Eck, his disgusting smell was hard to miss especially when it was so close to where she was. Would he fall for the trick or would he know what they had done and find them, find her? "I'm so sorry Erasmus." She said softly, a tear streaking down her cheek, her amber eyes filled with so many conflicting emotions, mostly regret and fear. "I didn't mean for anyone else to get pulled into this...I just...I had to escape."
Ara pulled at the chain with a sigh, she didn't know how to get the damnable collar off and the chain was a hindrance, even in her tiger form she couldn't get it off. She curled up closer to Erasmus, her only source of warm and even comfort, something she hadn't had in a long time, if ever really. She never really had a friend that she could trust and while she had only just met Erasmus, he had shown more kindness to her then she had ever been shone in her life.