Risky Business

[Moogle-Girl]

Silex Amoro looked over his recent capture with excitement in his eyes, no matter how much he tried to fight it. It had been too long since he last selected a specimen to perform his experiments on, and this was the first time he'd ever chosen someone who wasn't human. He already knew so much about the human soul, but so very little about the creatures living beyond the forbidden forests around his hometown. He'd heard rumors that they used some system of magic unique to each race. And if the rumors were true, the idea excited him. He had been worried that there wasn't anything else for him to learn.

Silex was a tall, pale-skinned man with all the time he spent inside. He was thirty-eight years old, yet his face was already starting to show further signs of age, although his nearly shoulder-length black hair, with its one white stripe running through, was still as thick and dark as ever. He wore simple, dark-colored clothes, his outfit of choice whenever he had a live specimen to experiment on, in case things got a little...messy.

He assumed this latest subject was liable to struggle when it saw that it had been captured by a human, so he had bound all of its limbs to the experimentation table with steel shackles. The concentrated sedative he'd used to knock the creature out would wear off any time now, however, and Silex's expression turned cold and calculating as his subject began to stir.

 

[Twitter-hikari]

Aville (Ay-vil) Senendoa groaned as the pain in her head came to the forefront of her thoughts. Reaching up to rub at her head, she was stopped by something tugging at her wrist. Pulling slightly harder, she realized that that there was a steel shackle on that wrist and on the other one and her ankles. Her tail had been hidden in her sub-space pocket as she had been looking for plants and fungi to help with her dyeing project. A pity that the fungus that the best red came from was limited closer to the humans. Stirring, Aville remembered being seen by a human, trying to flee and then...nothing.
The lack of memory made her throat tighten and, struggling to not hyperventilate, Aville opened her green eyes and shook her coppery, thickly curled hair out of her vision.
Standing over her was a human, dark in coloring and a cold and calculating look in his eyes. She shrank back into the table, her pale silvery-peach scales lining her cheeks darkened as her fear caused the scales inherent to her kind to thicken into a tougher armor.

 

[Moogle-Girl]

"It's alright," Silex said in a calm, soothing tone. He took a few steps back from the metal table, though there wasn't much space behind him anyway. His cottage was a small, humble home: just one room, with the table in the back corner, opposite the only exit. "I'm not going to hurt you unless it becomes absolutely necessary." It wasn't a lie, but there were a few rather crucial facts left out for the sake of Aville's comfort. "I am simply a man of knowledge, nothing more," he continued. "I've chosen you to help me further my cause." He studied her carefully, watching for any signs of struggle or violence. He only wished he knew whether the golden-haired girl could sense energy in the air; he felt defenseless when he didn't have any gathered about him in preparation for a spell.

He decided to start with small talk. Perhaps he could soothe her before any possible rage could surface, and learn important information sooner than usual. "I apologize for the binds, but it's simply a precaution. You understand, yes?" He flashed her a warm smile. "Why don't you tell me about yourself and satiate a poor man's curiosity?"

 

[Twitter-hikari]

Aville listened to the scholar. She was still disoriented and muzzy-headed, but if the lexicon was correct...
"You wish...to know about me? I don't understand." She reached to scrub her hands over her face, but the clinking of the manacles around her wrists pulled her up short. "Would you please?" She looked pointedly at the annoying things.
There was no reason for her to be held captive.

 

[Moogle-Girl]

Something cold flashed in his countenance. "Not yet," Silex said. "If you cooperate long enough, I will." He was relieved that she hadn't snapped at him yet, but the dark-haired man had dealt with his fair share of unpredictable subjects. He had to keep his guard up until he had an idea of what she could do. Anyone could turn violent if their life was endangered.

 

[Twitter-hikari]

Aville hesitated as the lexicon waved a red flag in the back of her mind, warning her that she was in deep trouble. She waved a mental hand at the lexicon and then went and gave the man a look. "What exactly is it that you would like to know?" She wove the most subtle thread of her magik into her voice, soothing the man's suspicions and lulling him into giving more information than he would normally.

 

[Moogle-Girl]

"Anything, really," Silex said, the smile returning. She seemed gentle enough. Perhaps she could be persuaded into chatting with him normally until he began the experiments. He loved learning about new things, especially nonhuman races; their culture and magic had always been shrouded in enticing mystery to him. "My name is Silex, and I live here in this village, learning all that there is to know about the fine art of magic. What about you?"

 

[Twitter-hikari]

Aville's frowned mentally. This man, Silex, was not a good man. There was a coldness in his eyes that his voice hid very well. "Well, I live in my community and am known as a Dye Mistress. Everyone comes to me if the need something dyed." Her voice trembled a bit at the end, already missing her home. She idly wondered if anyone had been sent out looking for her yet, or how long she had been gone.