At Odds: A 1x1 RP with Kichiro and Suikakitten

Status
Not open for further replies.
S

Suikakitten

Guest
Original poster
The last fortnight seemed to last a life time. Time must have gone on vacation to a nicer, brighter place, full of sunshine and the song of wind in the leaves. As for Vulpa, he could do nothing but sit in the frigid confines of his dirty hole of a prison cell, and wait for some sort of relief. The only interesting thing about the unforgiving space was the finger sized slit in the wall through which he could tell time. Besides that, the cell had nothing but a stale pile of straw. Vulpa had tried to keep himself busy, but found little he could do. He didn't even have enough space to properly exercise his svelte frame. All that he had was his thoughts, which, after he arrived here, had been anything but positive.

He remembered every mistake, every clue that it was a trap. He had led 150 elves to their deaths. It was his fault that he was here. His naivete and bullheaded ambition had done this. The weakness in the enemy defenses had been too good to resist. Vulpa, the Apprentice to the Head Chieftain to all of Sylthea would have stopped the eternal conflict between the two nations and brought peace to the land. A grand, but stupid idea. Now the images of his tribes people dying, the sounds of steel tearing through leather, flesh, and bone, and the screams that came with it. 'Why was I such a fool? Head Chieftain Kava would never have fallen for such an easy trick. She is an actual leader, unlike me.' He cursed himself and curled into a little ball. The only possible salvation from this nightmare was in sleep where he sometimes dreamed of anything but what happened in the last fortnight.

A noise came from down the echoing hallway. Vulpa couldn't tell exactly how much time had passed, but it was still dark, so it couldn't have been too long. The noise was too quiet to identify and could have just as easily been paranoia creeping in. Still, he waited and listened, and surely enough it came closer and he now knew it to be a voice and the clicking of footsteps on the stone floor. He tensed, scared that it might be the guards coming to take him some place worse. They had threatened as much, saying that any time now they would take him to the torture chambers and squeeze out bit of useful information he had. He took a deep breath and sat up, instinctively holding his long orange hair close to his chest. Vulpa closed his eyes, knowing that they would reflect the light of the torch and appear to glow. Its what happens when your spirit animal is nocturnal, like the red fox. He wanted as little attention brought to himself as possible.
 
Life was getting a bit more exciting around the lowest, darkest areas of the capital. Words about having captured the Chieftain's apprentice and having him brought into interrogation in a few weeks had hit Iyari's ears. It wasn't unlike the Unethlian to be interested in such rumors, it kept the nobles busy and not to mention how interesting the Syltheans were. Peaceful though they could apparently fight on equal grounds with his own kind.

Fre~aks, he hummed to himself, balancing a tray in one hand with the sparest of scraps to keep their prisoner alive until they had to cart him off somewhere. As he trodded down the hall, Iyari considered the state of the Sylthean. Not only would the success of such an obvious trap be a wound to someone's pride for falling for it, but the guilt of having led his people to their deaths would also weigh heavily on him. Truly it was a sad state of mind to be in...

"Which makes him even easier to work with," Iyari grinned, twirling the tray in his hand as he turned down the last hallway where the Sylthean was being kept. He slid the small hole for the food tray open and peeked in curiously. A pout rose to his lips at the closed eyes, though at least it was a bit amusing to see him holding his hair in such a way. Then again there was nothing fun to do if he was asleep, so he gave few hard knocks to the door, "Dinner is served!" He announced, sliding the tray in a bit roughly.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
It was more than difficult to appear like he was sleeping. His instincts told him to tense up and get ready to protect himself. His attempts seemed to work, though it was hard to tell. Vulpa's heart leapt into his throat as the elf on the other side of the bars knocked on the door. He opened his eyes calmly, despite the blood rushing through his ears, and looked up at the Unethlian. He was small and quite thin, probably due to lack of a proper diet. Vulpa stood up and looked down at the elf, who was a fair bit shorter than himself.

"Thank you for the food," He said in a hoarse voice. It had been at least a few days since he had spoken and he had to turn away to clear his throat. "and may the gods without senses bless your path." He recited the thanks, but they felt hollow and, for once, he didn't feel like he meant it.

He sat down and crossed his legs. Vulpa was already used to the poor quality of the food, so it didn't surprise him when he saw scraps on the plate. At first he had refused the food because there was meat on the plate and he was a vegetarian. He hated the taste of meat, even though his spirit animal was a carnivore, but when you receive so little food, in the end you have to take what you can get. So, he closed his eyes and mumbled a prayer. He opened his eyes and started eating with his hands, feeling self conscious due to the fact that he probably looked like a wild animal. His eyes didn't help, he knew.

His eyes were an orange-brown and were definitely not human. It was clear that inside him was a predacious, untamed creature, not present in most Unethlians. There were quite a few differences between the two races, and the fact that the spirit animal arose more in appearance was one of the more contrasting discrepancies, that, and magic. Unethlians had never had the ability to use magic. This was largely believed because of their lack of religion. It didn't matter though, because right now, Vulpa couldn't use magic either. They had managed to place some sort of werd metal collar around his throat that inhibited his use of magic. If they hadn't have done that he would have fought until he had nothing left in him. Most Slytheans would, so it was probably the only way to capture one. Now that he was thinking about it, he tugged at the collar, frowning when it was just as strong as before.
 
Iyari almost felt another pout coming on at how much taller the Sylthean was. His height already seemed staggering when he was seated, but as he stood it became even more apparent. He barely even reached his chin from where he stood. He leaned against the bars nonchalantly with a fake grin set on his face. "You're very welcome," he murmured, stifling a snort at the second part. Any possible thoughts of a god actually existing to him had long since vanished from his mind. He questioned why so many of the Syltheans would begin praying to some god or another when it was heard they'd be executed or if their treatment was too much to stand. Honestly if he was a god he wouldn't bother himself with such needy people, and if these sort of beings existed surely they would think the same.

He observed the Apprentice as he ate and tilted his head curiously. He was used to seeing many of the prisoners revert to such barbaric ways to eat, he didn't even blame them really, they weren't given any utensils to use. What really drew his attention, however, were his eyes. He has never seen such a color and they drew some sort of fear from within him. He hadn't really felt anything like it compared to some of the other Syltheans he'd seen in his years of slavery, though his mind rationalized that compared to them he was of some importance.

"Is that making you uncomfortable at all?" he teased, carefully hiding away any visible hints of fear he felt. He came here with more purpose than simply serving food after all.
 
Vulpa heard the other speak and looked up at him with mild surprise. He didn't think the other would actually try to start some conversation. He smiled, showing his teeth and pointed fangs. "Why no, I have never had a more comfortable place to stay in my life." he said sarcastically and shook his head. "What could compare to a cramped dark hole full of hay as old as I and droppings. Not to mention the clothes I was given. I shall have to wear burlap for the rest of my life I love it so much. Not to mention that utensils only slowed down my intake of food. Give my thanks to all of the Unethlians you see. You have done such a wonderful job of making my visit so pleasant."

He set down the piece of food in his hand, suddenly realizing just how disgusting everything around him was. It made him want to vomit. Instead, Vulpa just pushed the plate over to the far side of the cage and sat down in the opposite corner. His mood, which before had just been mild melancholy, turned even worse. Now he just felt hatred, boiling inside of him like simmering kettle. "If you have other business, just get on with it. I wouldn't want to keep you from the rest of your duties." He whispered angrily, just loud enough to be heard. At this point he cared little about being polite, even if this particular elf had done nothing wrong. Later he might regret it however.
 
He flinched slightly, both at the sight of his fangs and his scathing words, before the grin slowly fixed itself to his face again. "Amazing," he laughed softly, barely holding himself up by the bars, "you still have such fire within yourself even after all that's happened to you! I expected you to be some sniveling, pathetic little thing ready to give himself to death for his sins or some ridiculous reason such as that." His laughter slowly died down as he pushed himself up to his full meager height. This was proving to be more interesting than anything he had expected or dealt with.

"I'd say my duties can wait but you bring up a good point," he murmured as he remembered they'd needed some extra hands for some grand banquet being held. That and Iyari also did know a bit better than to anger someone with such ferocity still within themselves. He gave him one more quick look before giving a short wave to him, "I'll return eventually," he stated, knowing that his words probably fell on deaf ears, "hopefully before you're dragged off for whatever interrogation they have planned for you." He added with another smile as he left him to his own thoughts with the slightest skip in his step as he headed down the hall giving a shout to answer to his name being called.
 
Vulpa watched as the slave cowered away from him. It was subtle, but he caught it. Not that he blamed him, though. If he were on the other side of these bars, collar or not, he could have easily torn the little elf to shreds. Despite their desire for peace, the Syltheans were great fighters. At this point nobody really thought there ever could be a lasting truce between the two nations, so they had long ago given up on being passive. He huffed at the assumption that he would be a miserable little animal left to die.

There was nothing to say to the other since he seemed to understand that Vulpa was not just some elf, stuck in a prison. No, before his life came to a close he would prove to all of Unethlia that he was more than that. They knew he had information, and he would resist as hard as he could. Vulpa had even contemplated biting his own tongue off. That wouldn't be easy though, the only teeth he had that were sharp were placed away from the tongue.

He watched the slave smile at him and skip away as if nothing had even happened. Vulpa had no idea what to make of the slave. He appeared to have acted pleasant, but he wasn't sure if that was sarcastic, or if it was genuine. Somehow, he doubted it though. In a place like this, one couldn't expect to be treated anything but poorly. Sure, the guards had taunted and spat slander at him, but they weren't intelligent insults by any means and did little to affect him. His sister had done and said a thousand times worse, so he could survive these slow witted gaolers.

Even if the elf hadn't meant to be nice, it was still refreshing to have some sort of company. So, he waited patiently for the other to return, not knowing when that might be. In his spare time, Vulpa did his best to keep himself from thinking too much. He ate the rest of his food, did what exercises he could, and meditated. Meditation was hard in the space, but it took a good chunk of his time anyways. It wasn't an easy thing to do in the first place and even in the best of situations rarely actually managed to clear his mind. Even though he didn't succeed in doing so, he felt better knowing that he had at least tried. After all, it was the only way to communicate to the gods. So, he stayed sitting with his eyes closed and taking deep breaths for much longer than he cared to think about. Every time he seemed to be making some progress it was ruined by a drop of water splashing on his nose, or someone screaming somewhere down the hall, or even just a breeze coming from the slit in the wall. It was all very frustrating.
 
There were few duties that Iyari abhorred beyond all else. After all his main job was just to serve food and occasionally treat wounds that were caused by "accidents" the guards caused. But at the top of his list of despised duties was helping at the ridiculous banquets. They were nothing more than the higher ups bragging off about recent conquests and accomplishments while being waited on hand and foot. The humiliation they forced upon their servants for their own twisted amusement was disgusting in itself. However, there was nothing really worse than when they got drunk on their wine.

He felt a shudder rise out of him and the fresh bruises throb on his arms and legs. He was already far too used to the words that left them when the filters between their mouths and brains were loosened by alcohol. Their words meant little to him due to that and that was something Iyari prided himself on. The physical pain on the other hand was the worst for him. It was a bother for his duties and he didn't even want to consider their disgusting reasoning for it.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts as he looked at the tray he was to bring. It still had the usual though he picked the meat off and placed it onto another tray, trading off for its roll. He supposed the only upside was learning that the Sylthean didn't eat meat and how much "suffering" the Apprentice must've been going through. May as well spite them, he nodded to himself and headed off down the hall with the slightest limp.
 
After what seemed like an eternity, but what actually turned out to be no more than half a day, he gave up on meditating. When he went to stand up, he found that his muscles and joints were too stiff. Only before stretching out, as best he could, and slowly working the blood back into his legs, could he find his strength. He finished just in time to hear someone approaching. It was a good thing too since any sign of weakness would give his jailers the upper hand. Instead of finding a guard though, the slave from earlier approached his cage.

"Those bruises look painful. Its too bad this collar prevents me from doing magic. I could have made them disappear like magic." He said with false sorrow and a dramatic flourish of his hand. He hadn't had that great of day and right now he was in the mood for some sarcasm and ridicule. "Oh, but your higher ups are much too scared of a recalcitrant little fox like me. They think I would burn down their precious hierarchical society with my ideals about equality and righteousness." Vulpa crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, a scowl on his face.

He normally wouldn't have acted so rude, but being locked up in a cell with nothing to do was making him anxious. He knew that he shouldn't lash out like this, but it felt good getting some of his anger out, even if the recipient didn't deserve it. He didn't realize that the elf had done something nice for him and gave him a vegetarian plate of food.
 
Iyari rose an eyebrow at the display with a quiet scoff. "Please do so, they need to learn of such ideals because they know nothing of them in the first place," he muttered, sliding the tray in and leaning against the opposite wall carefully. The war had its ups and downs from what he'd heard, and the slave was at the point where either side winning would be a blessing to him. Less prisoners to deal with and less work in general or the thought of his higher ups getting what they deserved were both things he could be happy with. He wasn't even feeling much of his usual bite today, though it was observed by some acquaintances that he wasn't usually at his "best" after dealing with the nobility. Although...

"It's a pity you couldn't have used such powerful magic to help your own kind," Iyari hummed with a closed eye smile, "how many died again? 200 elves lead to their deaths for some rumor if I heard right." He pretended to muse innocently as he fingered at the feathers fastened to his hair by a bead. He was honestly feeling some sort of curiosity towards the healing magic. His hand dropped and he gingerly felt for the bruises left on his upper arm with a slight wince. It'd be useful to have some sort help with them other than just letting them fade with time.
 
Vulpa shook at the other's suggestion. "We've been trying to teach your people how to be civil for thousands of years. What makes you think it will ever work?" He asked as he knelt down to retrieve the tray. He saw that there was no meat on the plate, but before he could thank the elf, he was already speaking. Vulpa froze as he heard what he had said. Did he just imply that I hadn't done everything in my power to save them? He knew that if he didn't set the tray down right away that it would go flying at the bars.

He hid his face for a moment, trying to reign his anger in. "You don't understand how magic works." He said in a barely contained whisper, his eyes slowly raising to look at the slave. "I can't bring the dead back to life or see into the future. Only certain elves who have studied for hundreds of years can even attempt things like that. I can heal bruises and minor cuts, but beyond that I am useless and I can only do that much because I have spent my 44 years of life studying and practicing." He took a deep breath and the anger seeped out of him and turned into weariness. "This is why Unethlians will never do magic. You all think its something you can just do and it fixes everything."

Vulpa sighed and sat down on the pile of straw. He just wished these people would at least try to understand their ways. Instead they were just seen as religious savages who were ripe for the conquering. It was just so difficult to reason with a whole nation why saw yours as a pile of resources with a ridiculous society. Slythea was more than that, but how could he ever describe it to someone who has never seen it?
 
He swallowed thickly at the once again palpable anger coming off the other and gripped his arm a bit tighter, "My apologies for not knowing of your full capabilities on a subject uncared for in my country." He murmured, bowing his head. He meant it for the most part at least, if not only to calm his anger the smallest bit. His head rose when he heard him sit and sighed quietly. Now he was apologizing to prisoners, how much lower could he get?

Iyari blinked as he thought back to his first statement and gave a bitter smile, "My people think that allowing such horrid treatment to their own people and having these classes is civil. Most down here even believe such a farce and do all they can to serve our grand and simply fantastic country," he spat, waving his arm with a huff, "I doubt any sort of teachings would work. I'm ready to watch all those in this country burn for the things they've done." True what he was saying could be called rebellion but in the end it didn't even matter to him. No one besides someone who was against them was listening and he'd long since lost the bonds of loyalty he felt for his country. All he honestly cared for was staying alive in his twisted society and even that was becoming a dull ideal life to live in.
 
Vulpa nodded numbly at the apology. It wasn't the other's fault that he was born in this place, he hadn't chosen any of this for himself and yet he still got this unfair treatment. The slave had meant what he had said and really did seem to regret his words. The red-head closed his eyes, feeling horrible for what he had said to this poor elf. How did expect to one day become the Head Chieftain if he acted in such a thoughtless and irrational manner? Well, I guess I won't be becoming Head Chieftain while I am stuck in here, so what does it matter?.

He looked up as he heard the other speak again. His eyebrows raised as he listened and he found himself more interested in this elf with each word. There weren't many slaves who even thought such things, never mind voice them aloud. If he wasn't mistaken, such words could warrant a tongue being cut out or maybe even death. Vulpa knew little of the justice system here, but he had heard enough stories. "You were saying that I had fire in my veins. What about you? I could say whatever I wish in here and the most the guards would do is hit me, if they had the courage to even come in here. But you, they could kill you and nobody would bat an eye." He shook his head and huffed out a laugh.

"I like you, so I will let you live little slave, but next you say such treasonous things its the rope for ya." He said, poorly imitating one of the guards that had threatened him in a similar way. Vulpa wasn't scared of the guards, so he found it fun to make fun of them. He would have to do that more often. "By the way, if you don't already know, my name is Vulpa. How about you?"
 
He tilted his head at his laugh before humming softly, "You do have some protection," he shrugged a bit, glancing at the end of the hall in a bit of paranoia. He'd never really known what would come about rebellion, though there were rumors about some elves being executed in private as to avoid attention to such thoughts. Rumor or not, Iyari did know the guards liked to go a bit overboard with their treatment of the slaves and prisoners alike. Certain prisoners especially didn't even make it through the week because of their words against the kingdom.

A genuine smile tugged at his lips at the imitation before he bit it back, "That sounds about right honestly," he reasoned, thinking back to some of the guards before shaking his head. He mouthed his name before blinking in surprise, "I didn't actually know your name..." he admitted, rubbing at his arm delicately, "they just kept calling you the Apprentice." Which was weird in itself. Iyari would've assumed they had gotten some information about who they were capturing. Then again when they made the plan they were so much more eager in getting the Head Chieftain herself captured that they probably didn't expect her apprentice.

Then his mind registered his question and there was some genuine confusion in his eyes before he gave a haughty grin, "I don't think my name should matter that much honestly, being a slave and all, but you can call me-"

"Iyari!"

He winced and groaned at his "boss's" call. So much for having some sort of fun with his name. "Actually, I suppose it does matter," he laughed, pushing up from the wall, "they need something to call me by. Slave is too generic for all the ones here." He gestured to the food, giving a wink to the other elf, "You'd better enjoy that because I may be getting in trouble for it now." With that, he left him to his own thoughts giving a short huff of "I'm coming" to the one calling him.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Vulpa shook his head when he heard that the slave didn't know his name. The guards probably hadn't either and they didn't care as long as they had something to call him by. He doubted that there were many people who did know his name. After all, he had only recently been named Apprentice and it probably didn't interest the Unethlians enough for them to find out such information. Nobody had asked him, to be sure. It might be interesting to find out the names of the guards so he could mess with them a bit. He would have to remind himself to ask later.

He couldn't help but snicker as Iyari's plan was sabotaged by the unknowing caller. Obviously he was going to mess with Vulpa and lie about his name, but it was too late now. "Oh, so close little bird. I probably would have believed you too." He grinned widely, once again showing his fangs, but in a playful manner this time.

The other elf walked away and Vulpa couldn't help but wish he would stay. After more than a week alone in this pit, it was so nice to have someone pleasant to talk to. Someone who didn't try to abuse him at every turn or even just plain ignore him. It was a dark and lonely habitat, but with Iyari there it was a little more bearable.

He sat down and looked at the plate of food. However unappetizing the food normally was, at least now it was vegetarian and he didn't have to choke down pieces of meat. Was it worth it though? Iyari had said that he was going to get in trouble for the deed he had done. What were they going to do to the slave? He hadn't seemed all that worried, so maybe they won't do anything. Even with this assurance Vulpa worried and he would continue to worry until his friend returned. There was nothing to keep him preoccupied and keep him from his thoughts. That was the one thing that he missed most, distractions. They were the best thing when you had too much time and if only he had a book or even just a quill and parchment, then he could stop his negative thoughts. All he had was brittle old straw though, and no matter how hard he tried, he could do nothing with it.
 
Turns out there was no issue with Iyari giving their 'special guest' a vegetarian plate. It was apparently him leaving three other trays alone and abandoning his duties to spend a few extra minutes with said prisoner. He got jeers from the other slaves and gave them a few choice words before going off to feed the other prisoners. After that, his duty of going around to patch up some wounds had come up for the day. It was one of the harder ones, yet at the same time strangely relaxing. He'd wait for guards to place some extra measures of safety, handcuffs and the sort, and would patch up the ones he was assigned.

It was an occasional thing, due to little care for the prisoners, but he had enjoyed it. It was the only time he got some very rare praise and he'd have little conversation with them. He knew better than to have an attachment to them, as they usually were sent off within a week however. He let out a sigh as he left the last prisoner and handed the keys back to one of the guards before heading off to return the medical supplies. As he continued on and turned in the direction towards a certain prisoner's hall, he gave a little pat to the spare key he'd taken in his pocket. He wanted to reason that he could possibly trust Vulpa to not immediately kill him if he let him out to walk for a little while. Some prisoners he'd known couldn't stand the small spaces and gave into some sort of strange madness.

He even gave an innocent wave to the guards who were leaving their posts and a small smirk rose to his lips when he was out of their sight. Iyari turned down the last hall and grinned at the captive elf. "You're lucky," he huffed, the basket resting against his hip, "they decided not to punish me for giving you a decent meal."
 
The waiting was killing him and he was just beginning to fear he might never see Iyari again. It had been no more than half a day, but it didn't really matter. He was just about to give up on his friend when he heard someone coming. Vulpa went to the bars and tried his best to see who it was. When he saw the unpunished elf, he huffed and sat back down. "How'd you know I was worrying about you? Are you psychic or just that self centered that you assumed that I even cared what happened to you? I could have just been sitting here hoping you would die, but no, that would never happen to Iyari." He said, waving his hand in the air and pretending to be offended. It was impossible to keep the scowl on his face though and a moment later he was smiling back at him.

"Anyways, what brings you here? Are you on duty or is that you can't resist my handsome face?" He asked with a mischievous look on his face. He didn't know much about Iyari, but he was fairly sure that the elf had some sense of humour. Vulpa was a bit of a joker and didn't like taking things too seriously. Doing so often led him to outbursts of anger or tears. As a child he had been emotionally unstable when it came to social interactions. He had been able to mostly get over it, but only because he found out how to make jokes.
 
Red tinted the tips of his ears as he scoffed, "Maybe I'm just here to patch you up before they send you off where it'll be worse for you," he tossed his head before placing the basket down and crossing his arms with a smirk, "Though it's nice to know you were worrying about me," he teased, sticking his tongue at him. He truthfully didn't think that Vulpa would worry at all. The words earlier were just meant as a joke as he stayed on the good side of the head of the slaves for a reason. It was a comforting thought though.

He glanced at the end of the hall before he tugged the key out of his pocket. "I'm allowing the big bad fox the guards are scared of to walk around with a little more space." Iyari stated, leaning against the cage while giving him the firmest look he could muster, "If you promise to behave." Even if he did decide to try to escape there were guards still patrolling about further out, not to mention he wouldn't be able to make it out with all the unfamiliar halls which all looked the same to one who wasn't used to them.
 
Vulpa laughed and shook his head. "Well, that would be a good excuse if I were hurt. I received medical attention the moment they dragged me in here. They also knocked me out before I actually got hurt." He noted the redness of the other's ears, but chalked it up to being teased. Either way he was glad that he could take a joke. It was sometimes dreadfully boring when someone doesn't understand that you're not being serious. It could also be very entertaining, depending on the reaction.

The moment he saw the key, he perked up and his eyes widened. He had dreamed about getting out of his cage, but he had never expected to actually be allowed to come out. He guessed there was no way he could actually escape though. With no magic or weapons, the most he could do was kill one or two people before getting thrown back in. Vulpa nodded and gave him an innocent look that probably ended up looking far from innocent. "I promise to "behave"" He said, making quotation marks in the air and giving Iyari a big wink. "Only if you promise to behave though."
 
He gave the other a look and was almost tempted to just turn tail and say he was joking, but the look on his face before...whatever that was, was filled with far too much hope for him to do so. He gave an overdramatic sigh and went over to the door, "I suppose I'll take your word for it." He shoved the key in and with the softest click he swung the door open and gestured to the end of the hall, "This is all the space you're getting, any further than that is where someone might see you and we're both in trouble." He explained, leaving out the bit where he'd just get thrown back in and Iyari himself would most probably be executed.

"And try not to make too much noise," He added, leaning against the opposite wall of the cage, "I know beasts like to make noises when they get the slightest taste of freedom." He hummed, pushing the basket to the side with his foot. Iyari almost wanted to laugh at how he spoke. It felt a bit weird to give instructions to another person rather than taking them himself.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom
Back