Completed The Slave Girl (Shiresss)

[Gad]

Summer 8th 505AV, 23rd Bell, Near the Slave Market Gad leaned back against the bars of the cart he was in. Things could've been worse. He wasn't sure how, but certainly, things could've been worse. What series of vile conspiracies and unfortunate events had led the young urchin to bondage was not immediately relevant to his freedom, so the young man pushed these thoughts out of his head. He had to focus on the matter at hand. Tonight the moon was a sliver, and not enough to see much from, and though torches dotted the street here and there, it wasn't enough for the boy to tell where he was. His only indication was the briny smell of Baroque Bay and the sounds of waves crashing. That, and the fact that everyone in town knew where slaves where taken. So, he figured, he must be somewhere near Slaver's Row, and the Slave Market. He wouldn't have much time to contemplate and escape plan however. The car coasted to a stop, and Gad and the other three or four slaves in there with him (it was dark and he was tired) were yanked out and lined up. When they got outside, a man with a torch came and inspected them, looking them over by the light of the torch, and Gad could see that there was four others. All of them were chained in manacles that were linked together by a single chain. The man with the torch looked through their hair, seeing which ones had lice, forced them to open their mouths and counted their teeth, and tightly gripped their arms, chests, and necks to gauge their strength. Finally, he waved his hands and instructed them to taken off of the chain gang, according to the results of their inspection. Gad was taken to an outdoor cage in the market, which was mostly unoccupied at this time of night, and thrown in with other slaves. All of the dozen or more slaves packed into the cage with him looked to be around his age, of various genders. He heard the slaver say that they'd be sold come sunrise. Gad asked if they were going to be sold to people in the city and the man responded that none of them would fetch a price to justify the expenses of moving their bodies out of town. Gad sighed relief and squeezed into a place between two smaller boys who were sleeping. He didn't understand how they could do such a thing. He didn't have time to sleep. He need to stay up and plan his freedom. As he pondered in the midnight dark, the clouds obscuring the slice of white moon dissipated and his eyes could make out a little more of his surroundings. Across from him, there was another who was awake. A girl, with reddish brown hair. He whispered to her, and reached out and tugged her long locks to get her attention. "Girl." He said. "Psst, girl. Hey, didja see where they put the key to this cage?"

[Shiress]

The distinct sound of keys jingling at the lock, followed by a click and the metal door swung open and a shadowed figure stepped through, his face barely lit by the flickering torchlight that hung on surrounding posts nearby. Shiress' eyes remained locked against her hands lying chained in the center of her bent legs, giving no notice to a young man's voice as it rang out in question. After the boy received his answer, the door clanged shut and silence again fell amongst the crowded surroundings of the metal enclosure. The night was hot, there was no breeze to give relief from the stench of one's own filth. Clothed in a mans ripped and sleeveless shirt, pants cut off at the knees and no shoes, Shiress was miserable to look at. Her clothes, tattered and torn, barely covered her tiny frame. Even more miserable was how she felt. Dehydrated, hungry and weak, sometimes even injured is how she spent most days, long days in the punishment of the heat from the sun, only to spend longer nights locked in a cage with other miserable souls. This was no life for a 15 year old girl, but this was her life, her existence for nearly 5 seasons. A tug at her hair followed by a whisper caused the girls face to slowly lift, the pale moonlight catching her upturned green eyes as they locked against the one speaking. "Around his waist, snapped to his belt." She said in the slightest whisper. Her eyes slid passed the boy, watching a guard as he moved close then lowered them again once he stepped away. "Mind yourself to shut that hole in your face, else, you'll get beat good." The girls eyes lingered a chime on the boy before finally falling back to her lap. Because he was just now going on the slave line, She knew he was newly captured, probably thirsty and half starved also. Her bound hands lowered to her side bringing up a small lump of bread wrapped in a dirty cloth napkin. She unwrapped it and leaned forward and placed the bread in front of the boy. Her chains pulled across the dirt again before stretching out a small skin of water and placed it too in front of the boy beside the bread. The girl sat straight, peering around before tilting forward again. "I would eat before you go to the line. It's not much, but you'll get nothing up there, maybe for days, depending on your new master." She gave an encouraging nod of her head and glance toward her offering. Her chained hands lifted and pushed away lingering hair from her face, her eyes again glancing around before settling back on the boy. "They'll not beat you too bad, to keep you looking good for the buyers." The girl leaned closer, quieting her voice even further. "I have seen few escape, but those that manage, do so before they have their place in line, cause once you have a new master, he'll whip you near death to make sure you are good and afraid of him. Mine did." The girl gave a final nod toward the bread, attempted but failed at a soft smile and then shifted back into her spot and became silent, leaving the boy to his own thoughts.

[Gad]

Gad's eyes adjusted further and he could see just what a pitiable state the girl was in. He heard her voice, like a mouse, a beaten breeze across dry lips. He almost continued his line of inquiry, despite the girl's instruction, but a guard approached the cage and the girl fell silent. He could tell she'd been in here a long time. Her condition, her mannerisms, it all gave her slave status away. Gad couldn't bear it. He'd never be like that. He wouldn't allow. As if he really had any say in the matter. His eyes lit up with a maniacal glee when the girl produced the bit of stale bread and water. He nearly choked himself to death scoffing the bread down, and then nearly drowned himself in the small amount of water he had to wash it down. As he peeled every crumb from his face and the dirt floor that he could, her heard the girl give him instruction on what to do when he got to the 'line', and a scowl grew on his face. "I am my own master." He said lowly in the dark. "I will escape. I'm not afraid." He said the words as a child would, not truly understanding what his predicament meant, or fully comprehending how difficult it would be. This girl was older, and she had obviously been a slave for longer, so Gad was keen to take her advice. However, he was still wary. She'd been broken, but had she been turned? Would she rat him out for better treatment? A slave willing to foil the plans of their brothers and sisters in binds would probably be treated a little better, or get sold for a higher price. He'd never been a slave, but was born and raised in Sunberth, and he knew the schemes people played. Being acutely (if justly) paranoid, and not especially smart, he made his thoughts known. "Well, if you've seen it done before then why haven't you escaped?" His tone, as low as it was, had an accusing edge to it. At about that time, the guard who'd orbited near their cage before marched up behind Gad and kicked him through the bars. "Shut up in there.'' He said. "You don't need a tongue to hold a hoe." Gad let out a yelp as sharp pain shot through his lower vertebrae where the man's heavy boot connected. Still much too prideful to give them the satisfaction, the boy writhed in silent pain for just a moment before righting himself and staring daggers at the man. The grimace on Gad's face held enough venom to kill an elephant, but unfortunately (or probably most fortunately) for him the man couldn't see it in the dark. The guard made a 'shushing' sound, and walked away. Gad stared at him until he could see nothing but the man's torchlight glow in the distance. The boy turned around and leaned back up against the bars of the cage. Through his slits of eyes he looked at the girl and watched her, until he fell asleep.

[Shiress]

The deep night fell quiet on the encampment, or, prison rather. Many of the guards had shuffled off to their nightly abode, save two, who milled about a fire pit. Bright, orange flames flicked and curled its light around manly features, giving the guards faces a distorted, possessed look. Well suited for the duty they served. Distant soft rumbles had started to echo through the area, sending most of the occupants of the cage shifting toward the back, piling together beneath the only portion of the wooden roof that might provide some shelter from rain. Shiress moved to a corner, where her head rested against the side of the cage, watching the new comer as he watched her. The sliver of light coming from the white of the boys eyes left and a chime later his body eased and Shiress guessed him to be asleep. How can he sleep? The girl glared at the boy's face in the failing light, she wondered if he knew exactly what was going to become of him at first light, if he knew that whatever he was or even thought he was would soon be beaten out of him. Grown men cower like beaten puppies within a day or so and this new comer was no man, he was so very young, even younger than herself it seemed from what the little light would allow her to see. A flash of light sliced across the night sky followed by another low growl of thunder. A guard yelled a warning to the other and Shiress quickly sat up straight. She twisted and stretched herself until the two men came into view and just as she thought they would be, they were scurrying around gathering their belongings ready to seek shelter. Her sight settled again on the boy as she pondered a deep thought. Helping one escape enslavement might save their life, but it could surely take the life of the one helping. Finally, she sighed reluctantly. If I can help, I'm going to help. I'm better dead then living like this anyhow. Shiress quickly shifted around to her knees and slid herself to the boys side. "Hey, boy." She said as her bound hands gave the boys leg a good shake. "The guards, they don't like these loud storms, they'll leave until it's passed. If you want to run, you best have the mind now to do it and be quiet, very quiet. You get them others going and riled, the guards will hear." She gave a quick glance to the guards before continuing. "A while ago, a man got his way outta this cage. He only made it a day, but the guards, they never found the way he escaped, but I did and you are sitting on it."

[Gad]

Cool air brushed Gad's cheeks and he awoke to the uncanny sensation of being watch. He must've nodded off, he figured, and it was the slave girl who'd roused him. Her hushed voice broke over his weary ears as he pushed his grogginess back into the depths. Unfortunately his brief nap only served to inoculate his mind with more tiredness. At first he was cranky, but as he realized the girl was offering up some important information, he held his biting tongue. He rubbed his eyes and sat up straight as she spoke. The air was turning quick and frigid and he could smell on it the sea and the scents of a storm. The dull roars of thunder in the distance drew near. Once he registered the advice she'd given him, he became even more thoroughly suspicious of her motives than he had been before. Gad had never once in his life met a person with entirely altruistic goals, at least not directed towards him. It was weird, in his mind, that this girl would offer him aid like this. He heard her mention he was sitting on it, and he did his best to wriggle and hop off of it, whatever it was. It was difficult to do with his hands bound behind him. But, he figured, things would get more difficult than that pretty soon, so he best get used to the idea of discomfort. It wasn't that foreign to him actually. Realizing that he'd probably soon need the ability to manipulate things, which he couldn't do with his hands bound, Gad began to focus his djed down from his wrists to his finger tips. Slowly and surely he worked to dislodge his manipulators from their meaty shells, and after a few chimes of deliberate work and focus, he was able to release his astral hands from his physical body. He had them levitate at about his head's height as he asked the girl. "What is it? How is this supposed to help me escape?"

[Shiress]

Shiress waited nervously as Gad fully awoke and became aware of what she was telling him, but just as she thought she had his full attention it seemed he wondered away again in thought or maybe sheer exhaustion. Just as her bound hands moved to shake him again to regain his attention, he spoke.

"Shhhh." She said glancing back over her shoulder. "If you want to get out of here, the others can't hear you. Here....scoot over just a bit." As soon as Gad had moved enough, the girls fingers began pawing away at the dirt just in front of the cage door. She gave a hesitant look behind her at the sleeping pile of fellow prisoners before sliding her green eyes back to Gad.

"If you get caught..." Her voice fell away as a sorrowful expression spread across her face. Shiress had seen the end result of a failed escape and to those who had no master, the light of day was never seen again. "I'm to scared to attempt it" She continued in a low voice, her eyes drifting away to the darkening clouds above them. " I don't even know where I am, what city or even what day it is. I'd be killed in a chime if I tried." She quickly dismissed the thought and placed her attention back to uncovering what it was that would free the boy.

She became very still, peering into the small hole before reaching in with her bound wrist and lifting out a long, thin piece of metal with a curved end. "This is what will help you." She said as she lifted the metal up. "The end fits into the lock, one twist and the door will come open." Just as she spoke a streak of light licked across the sky followed closely by a rolling thunder clap. The storm was now over them and soon would pass. "You have to hurry." Her hands moved quickly to the boys back where her fingers began to pull against the ropes that bound his hands. "My payment is my name, Shiress. Tell everyone you meet this name and where you left me."
OOCYou are the epitome of patience! Im so sorry I took so long with a reply!

[Gad]

Gad was bewildered. He just couldn't wrap his mind around the idea that some sap would willingly help him, for basically nothing. But when he saw the trepidation in those jade mirrors of hers he knew she was the real deal. "Don't be stupid. Come with me. If you really cared about me, you'd come. We stand a better chance together than alone." That probably wasn't true, but Gad was feeling something. What it was he couldn't put to words but he knew, he couldn't leave her behind. "If you're afraid of what they might do with you if they catch you escaping, imagine what'll happen when they find out you helped me. I know these streets, Shiress, like the back of my hand, if anyone can help you escape, if there was ever a time to get out of here, it's me, the time is now." He extended his hand, a bolt of lightning cracked overhead, illuminating the slave market in a brief second of monochromic contrast. The black sea against the white sky, but order was returned in an instant and the night seeped in to reclaim her domain. Leth, the sliver of him that hung in the sky, now hovered above the bay adorned in a black cowl of storm clouds. The slave girl was reluctant. Her spirit had been broken by slave masters before, people who had tried to make her afraid of freedom. It filled Gad with disgust. So Gad snatched her in that instant. He jammed the lock pick in the door and twisted it with his other hand, and it swung open just as she had said. It produced a loud creaking noise as the un-oiled and rusty hinges were ground together. Gad cringed with anxiety, they had stepped out of the cage only to sound an alarm to the location. Luckily, the clouds started pummeling the ground with fat drops of cold rain that roared over the sound. Gad noticed a number of torches go out around the slave market, meaning the guards would now be blind. The wizard in-training yanked Shiress along with him into the cold rain. Immediately, he heard plodding feet behind him. He felt a massive left hand cup around the back of his neck. In between flashes of lightning and through the cover of blinding rain Gad could see it was one of the slavers. The boy felt a violent yank at his neck that straightened him up, then felt a fist slam into his face. All of a sudden everything was bright, the world was full of stars that sparkled every time Gad blinked. Another fist to the face. Another. His nose bleed down his chin, watered down crimson mixed with cold Summer rain. The leathery mitt of the guard abraded the skin off of the back of Gad's neck, as he dragged the boy away from from the cage Shiress was in. He slammed the door shut and locked it on her before he led Gad to another cage. Before throwing him in he grumbled with an odd satisfaction "Ye think bein' a slave in Sunberth is rough? Wait till ye get to Ravok." The goon tossed him in. Gad landed on his chest, and struggled to get to his feet, but the pounding in his head wouldn't let him. He laid there, with the steady drumming in his brain and the percussion of the rain as his lullaby, he was soon asleep. The last thoughts in his mind before he nodded off were of Shiress, and the kindness she'd shown him. Before everything went black, he did a quiet prayer for the slave girl. THE END.

[Matthew]

Gad

Experience Points:

• 1 Larceny
• 2 Observation
• 1 Persuasion
• 1 Projection
• 1 Socialization
• 1 Stealth
• 1 Tactics

Lores:

• Brawling: Being Almost Beaten to Death
• Shiress: Kind Strength
• Slave: Something Gad Could Never Be
• Tactics: Using Small Details to Understand Your Surroundings
• Tactics: Hiding Your Pain
• Tactics: Using Weather to Your Advantage
• Trust: Sometimes You Know Just By Their Eyes

Shiress

Experience Points:

• 1 Leadership
• 1 Observation
• 3 Planning
• 1 Socialization
• 1 Stealth
• 1 Tactics

Lores:

• Captivity: An Experience Shiress Won't Soon Forget
• Captivity: Knowing What a Slave Should Be
• Death: Sometimes a Better Choice
• Gad: Boldly Defiant
• Leadership: Initiating a Calculated Plan
• Leadership: Sometimes a Plan Fails

If you have any questions or concerns relevant to your grade, don't be afraid to send me a private message so that we can work it all out! Please remember to mark your Grading Request as Graded.

A shout-out to Ollic Rimesage, who was kind enough to make this template for me.