Chapter 11

Misty's POV

Misty

 

Chapter 11

                She dreamt that she had woken up in her little Hollow to find the slaver looking down at her, ready to snatch her up and beat her for running away. In her dream she had attacked, feeling no other choice, speeding out of the Hollow and racing toward him, but something had been wrong. The slavers eyes were a different color, once blood red, now an icy, piercing blue, and he no longer had his sword. In fact, this looked to be a completely different boy, except for the uncanny similarities between the two. So she had stopped her attack, for he looked very frightened and it wasn’t the Glorian way to attack any adversary who held nothing in his own defense, and had been about to question him as to why he stalked her so, when he chucked a rock at her head and she had fallen unconscious. What a strange dream to have, except to the fact that as she came to and felt her surroundings, she no longer believed it a dream.

                She lay on her back, arms and legs strapped down to a roughly made mattress. Opening her eyes she saw not the blue-eyed man nor any other Sapien, just a quaint little hut, one roomed and holding little more than the bed on which she lay and a little table next to it. Out the window she saw that it was midday, and a cool breeze filtered through across the room to a doorway with an open door. She sighed and looked down, seeing that her captor had only strapped her down with thin, neatly hand woven ropes, only just strong enough to hold her down. When would these men stop underestimating her? What would her fate be here? Perhaps he was a mad doctor using her for spare parts to study, thinking she would die of her wounds soon, or better yet preparing to kill her. Maybe he worked with the slavers and was waiting for them to pick her up and pay. Yes, this would not do, and he must have been as much if not more of an idiot than the last one, for her had also left her with her blades.

                She supposed that it could all be out of good will and a desire to not frighten her, but in times such as these, she doubted it. Twisting her hand, she curled her fingers around the knot he had left in the perfect spot for her.  Working her fingers through it, it was an easy knot, and as soon as she had it undone she grabbed her knife and bent over, with a grimace, to cut free her feet. No, these people would have to do much better if they planned to capture her, She was Glorian royalty, not a weak noble’s daughter. She would not be messed around with.  Rising to her feet she stepped cautiously toward the door way, only delayed by creaking and cracked floor boards, and stepped out into the sunshine. She stood in the middle of an orchard of strange fruits sitting right next a river, most probably the one she had followed. She squinted as her eyes became more accustomed to the light, listening to the bird calls and the swift cascade of the river. The Sapien did not seem to be anywhere around and so she went forward to the river and drank her fill. She had to decide what to do. The most sensible thing to do would be to leave, but she was curious and he seemed weak enough that she could stay and figure out who he was. So she sat by the river and watched for his return, or the return of the slavers.

** ** ** ** **

                When the man finally did return it was a comical moment. He carried a basket piled high with the strange fruits of this planet and a few fish hung in a ling over his shoulder. His face was that of someone very pleased with themselves, that is, until he saw her sitting with her feet in the water staring up at him. Not only had his face gone white with surprise, his mouth agape like that of his fish, but he had dropped his basket and the fruit bounced and rolled around his feet. They stared at each other for a time until finally he seemed to regain himself, shutting his mouth and bending down to the fruit. As he gathered the fruit together, he spoke.

                “What are you doing out here? How did you get loose from the bed?” his voice was a whisper, yet held both anger and fear in it.

                “Well, to be honest, your knot skills are inadequate, you left me my knives, and I decided to come out and look for my captor. Which brings us to this point…” He glanced up at her with a nasty frown. “Who to HELL do you think YOU are?!” His head jerked up and he stared at her a moment, then set it in an angry grimace.

                “You ungrateful…” he couldn’t seem to form words properly in his anger. “No, no that’s okay! No need to thank me, or get on your knees with undying gratitude! I only SAVED YOUR LIFE. I even took you in, to the expense of my own chance of survival, after you TRIED TO KILL ME.” Misty glowered at him.

                “Excuse me, but I don’t need your help, I didn’t ASK for your help, and I SURE AS HELL don’t want your pity and sense of DUTY to take me in! I wouldn’t have tried to kill you if you hadn’t been STARING at me from above when I woke up! What the F**K were you even doing?! Oh, let me guess, the slavers are on their way, right? You’ve already called them in, and they are coming with whips and chains, correct?” he looked confused for a moment, then angry once again.

                “What the hell are you talking about? Yes I found you, BARELY alive, an inch from the end of your life, practically begging for help, and out of the goodness of my heart I took you in! I haven’t a clue what slavers you are talking about!”

                “BULL. S**T. Bullshit you don’t know what I’m talking about! What were the straps about then?!” At this point they were both on their feet, breathing heavily in each other’s faces, fists clenched to white knuckles.

                “YOU WERE MAD! INSANE! CRAZY! DELUSIONAL! You came at me like a Wight out of the gates of Hell! Knives blazing and eyes fiery with demonic rage!!  You think I was going to wait for you to WAKE UP to see if you were going to turn out to be some psychotic killer?!” They stared at each other for a time; Misty tried to find a valid argument. No, this fight was pointless, getting her nothing but a pounding headache and another enemy. If he wasn’t working for the slavers, then he could be a valuable ally, no matter how much she disliked him. Finally, she released her fists and, folding her arms across her chest, sighed.

                “Fighting will get us nowhere.  Thank you for trying to save my life, no matter that I wasn’t near death. Now, I think if you agree, we can at least exchange proper greetings.” She gave him a small, strained smile and he stared at her, face blank. Then, it flashed over angry again. He picked a red fruit up off the ground and rubbed it on his sleeve, then held it out to her.

                “Eat this.” Then he stormed back into the hut, slamming the door behind him. Misty stared down at the fruit with something like desperate hunger, and wondered vaguely what it was called as she dug her teeth into the smooth juicy delicacy. She sat back down by the river. No doubt this man was not used to Sapien contact, she would have to wait and be patient until he finished throwing his fit. Ignorance and arrogance were a demon that plagued him to his unawares. He was, she thought, like a child, in that he was confused and naïve. Yes, there was a possibility of an alliance between them, but how much could be offered to her by him except knowledge of the land, she could not tell.

Author's Note

The credit for this chapter goes to my partner, this is her character and her writing, I do not take credit for anything except minor editing and help in creating the plot line. My partner owns the rights to characters: Misty and Shade.

Reviews

[Rhianne Ney]

I like Shade and Shadow and Misty's cool so with Bella