(Would someone be willing to RP as the redheaded teenager that Grayza bought? Right now, it looks as though the only slave I'll be owning is... myself. O_o)

Grayza smiled thinly at the boy and his father; there was something off about them, but she could not detect what... "Oh, no large thing, just some shares in your business. After all, I like to spread my roots out to many different things. And, if you're feeling artsy today, you can trade me more shares for this musician here. She looks like an excellent one, don't you think?"

Daena was apathetic as to which one of the two would be her master. The only difference was that with Graya, she would probably perform her music quite a bit more, and with the man, there was more of a risk that her use could become... other things. It had with her last master. "Maybe, maybe not. Perhaps this will turn out okay either way." She hoped so; she enjoyed Akira's company, at least. She wished that it was under better circumstances.

((Note: SweetCat, the name of the character is Etelka, not Enki, and music, don’t worry, I’m about to bring in a little twist, I hope you don’t mind.))

Still hidden in complete darkness, Etelka listened to the short battle that took place, ending with two guards on the ground. A soft smile crept to her face as she slid the bandana off her eyes and stepped out so that Adam could at least see her. “Well that seems to have…” her sentence went unfinished as one of the guards spoke.

The cell they had been in moved, inch by inch and startled the woman. All that work she had put into saving herself the night before washed down the drain, for once again Etelka was trapped in a cell and being shipped off to a master’s house. A sigh escaped her lips as they were loaded onto an odd platform to be taken away. “Great, just great!” she threw her hands up in frustration and paced around the cell, moving this way and that way. The gears in her head moved faster than she could walk: eyes darting this way and that, examining every little nook and cranny, and lastly putting everything together with a masterpiece plan that shouldn’t go wrong, but something always went wrong. With all her thinking, Etelka had forgotten that she even had company in a cell that was not hers to begin with.

Akira, staring at the cell which had just been taken out of the area, sat down with his hands over his knees. The woman who had just bought him and Deana was now planning on trading the with another master, which the new master did not seem like a very… nice. Then he noticed a group of guards walking towards them, one guard being the owner of this particular ‘slave bank’.

“Pardon me,” the owner stated, “Which one of you is… Grayza?” he questioned. The guards seemed to flank out around the small group of masters. The look in the owner’s eyes was that of amusement, something that only happened once and a while.

Daena watched grimly as the two masters bartered her life. She was used to being treated as a thing, sometimes as a toy, but mostly just as an object. But then something changed. She had spent her entire life observing people, so one of her most useful skills was detecting group dynamics. So she instantly noticed that the group of guards that approached both Grayza and the other man was hostile, and seemed to be under the command of the central figure.

Grayza, always on her toes about anyone who approached her, was instantly suspicious of the guards that approached her. The four guards under her command moved their hands unconsciously toward their weapons. No matter, though; if the owner of the slave bank intended Grayza hard, it would be a simple matter to take everyone out. So she smiled at the guard, wrapping her fur coat a bit more tightly around herself. "That would be me. How is it I can assist you?"

The guard ignored the fact that there was another master right next to Grayza; instead he pulled a document out of his back pocket. Simply clearing his voice, the guard began to speak again. “Your brother and the business you share have been sold,” he stated in a clear voice. “I’m afraid to say that this man here, his younger sister bought out your business today, with some force, I may add…” he placed the document in his back pocket and then gave a half-hearted smile.
“I was sent here,” he took out another parchment, “to inform you, Miss that your status as ‘Master’ has now been changed. You are now a servant in the house of Miss Riesa Montgomery,” he stated and waved his hands to the men with their hands on their hilts. They were also now protecting the wrong woman, for they too now belong to this woman who had bought their entire business.
~*~*~*~
Etelka, even though she had lost her balance a couple of times, continued to pace around the cell. Adam’s first question didn’t seem to register, and the second time had knocked her out of her own concentration. “What?” she turned on her heels, her emerald eyes blaring at him with such intensity that if they were black holes they would claim universes, not just planets. Then she realized his question and shook her head.
“Informalities, I should say. We don’t need to know each other’s name, but sense I know your name so fair is fair.” She shrugged her shoulders, finally collapsing to her butt as well, sitting Indian-style on the wooden flooring. “The name is DeCross, Etelka DeCross. And I was about to save my brother till you attracted my attention.” She said that last part a little bitterly.

Grayza stared in horror at the man who had approached her. "What!??! That's impossible! My restaurant chains were doing excellently. It would have taken a fortune to pay for such an enormous enterprise." She watched as the guards that had once been loyal to her turned inward and grabbed her wrists. Struggling, she attempted to break their hold, but it was of no use; she was dragged mercilessly to be chained in the cell next to Daena's, where she was prepared to be moved to Riesa Montgomery's home, along with all the slaves she had just purchased.

Daena laughed quietly as the woman who had so indecently purchased and sold slaves was now among their faithful ranks. She would be difficult to assimilate... especially as she cried out, her fur coat being taken from her by the same men who had once faithfully served her. It belonged now to her new master.

She thought briefly about what that meant for her and Akira. She supposed that, since the trade to the other man had not been completed, they would have techinically belonged to Grayza... which meant that they would all now belong to the woman who had bought out Grayza's restaurant business.

The cell, which was actually hooked to a strong wagon, was moved straight to Serengi's house, where it was left in the back for the servants to take care of, with the advice that no one should enter. The servants noticed the sign that was still on the cell block and a few of them shuddered. "I'm sorry for you, Adam," said one small man. He had a weathered circle of leather covering his eye and his body looked as though there wasn't a single inch of it what wasn't scarred. His remaining eye looked at Adam through the razors with pity, and something that was not quite sane, as if he'd been broken long ago, and many times over. "I'm Braken," he said, "Though I doubt you'll remember that when you get out of this. The boy, Master's son--" He was interrupted by the crack of a wooden pole against his back and an order to keep moving. Instantly, he faced the way he was supposed to and finished hooking the cell on its two wheeled cart to a pair of large horses, and then it began to move again.
~~~~~~~~~~
Serengi blinked at the woman as she was carried into the cell, then turned to the group. "Perhaps I can buy these two slaves, then?" he asked the owner. "She had only marked them down to purchase, but had not yet paid." His own man was waiting with money to pay for every slave as soon as he put them on the list. Much easier when it came down to things.

“Of course you can,” the owner of the slave bank stated, nodding his head with a small smile on his features, “for they are no longer sold.” He had one of the guards next to him write the two names down. “There you are sir.” He then turned to walk away. “Oh…” he stopped and then glanced over his shoulder. “Your sister asks you not to spoil the kid too much, for she just bought out Grayza’s company, so he has plenty of slaves now…”
~*~*~*~
Noticing that he had gone numb, Etelka turned her back to him. “You’re just gonna give up?” she asked as she pulled out a few more picks and started towards different parts of the cage. She would not give up now, never ever. “You’re just like everyone else, giving up when everything seems lost, a weakling. Maybe you’ll be better off as a freaking slave…” she announced, slamming her fists into the cage when the picks did not work.

((Fist I must say that my computer is down, completely down, and it will be a while until it's fixed. So my replies might be far and few between, it all depends on how often I can get to the library, or if I have access to a friend's computer, like I do right now. Sorry if this puts a damper on things, I know there are more than a few characters going here. I'll do my best.))


The boy seemed excited with the owner's news, and his eyes seemed to darken as he clearly thought of the slaves that were soon to be his. Of course, everyone knew that Serengi spoiled his son. No one, however, knew what happened within the man's house. Serengi had always been extremely secretive about his comings and goings, only showing up in public when he came to the slave quarter or for his occasional appearance at the market, where his slaves did all the fetch and carry. All of the slaves that left the house looked in good health and were clearly well taken care of, but there were whispers among the slaves themselves. Rumors that to go to Serengi's house meant that your life was at an end. Serengi never sold his slaves, yet he was in almost constant need of new ones. It made many of them fearful of who he would choose.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The household slaves heard Adam yelling and frowned at each other. Most of those nearby thought the man was mad, but a few had seen Etelka moving around in there and knew he was talking to a woman, not himself.

A woman entered the slave bank, her lovely chocolate brown waves swirled around her porcelain white skin. Her lavender dress skimmed the ground and swayed around like making her seem almost cat-like when she walked. She approached Serengi, “Brother,” Riesa gave him a light tap before glancing down at the boy, she then bent down slightly to be eye level with boy. “Guess what? I bought you a new company, the second one this week…” she gave a little ruffle of his hair and stood up.

“oh,” she glanced over at Grayza and gave a light chuckle. “Sorry about that… you being a slave an all now… “Bag her please and send her to my estate,” she stated, flipping her hair over her shoulder as a guard went in and put a collar around the ex-master’s neck. “Come on…” the same happened to Akira and Daena. They were pulled out of the cells and their leashes handed to the little boy.
The golden haired man stumbled to his feet as his chain was yanked on, pulling him to his feet.
~*~*~*~*~
Etelka stared at Adam in amazement, realizing that some of the servants noticed her in the cell. “You are an idiot…” she added in a soft tone. Her observation realized that there was metal around the sides of the cage, above seemed too high up for anyone to consider a cellmate to reach the top, especially, a large bruit man who gave up so easily, who would expect him to stand up on his two feet and escape through the wood top.

Staring at him for a little longer with her emerald eyes, she turned her attention to the side of the cage. “You know what, I feel sorry for you, allowing a woman to show you up. A woman…” she added, in this day in age, men hated being showed up by woman, it was uncommon for a woman to have such a high amount of pride and confidence that Etelka held with her now. Once she felt that her point had sunk into the man, the woman disappeared into a shadow again, swinging herself up the side of the cell and now hung from the top of the cell, a small dagger in her mouth, one she had on her even in the slave bank. Once again the bank thought very little of woman, leaving her completely free to keep most of her small unnoticeable weapons. She sliced at the wood, making little grunt noises as her other arm held all her weight. Soon she had cut the wood through, making a small exit so that she could squeeze through. Placing the dagger above the cell, she placed both her hands on either side and lifted herself out of the cell.

A back-flip landed Etelka on her feet on the ground, just opposite of the cage. “I bid you farewell, Adam,” she smiled bowing lightly, though she was still a little hard to see, seeing as she landed in another dark shadow. Some assassin she was, keeping herself well hidden.

With all the transactions going on, Daena had resigned herself; one way or another, she was a slave. The boy creeped her out a little, though.

As the guards put a collar on her, she barely resisted spitting in his face. That would be stupid; she was no prisoner of war, she had no great cause to stand for. She would be better off if she just went along with it for now. If her primary function was as a musician, she would be well-treated and allowed to practice, which would keep her alive.

She watched as Grayza too received a collar. Hearing Riesa's snide comment to the woman who had just lost everything but her life, she couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for her. As the guards tried to chain her, she broke free of their hold on her and snapped shut the slender metal ring herself, brushing her curly black hair over her shoulders. Daena admired her act of defiance, however small, and wished that she could do something bold for once.

As the guards led the three slaves to the boy, Daena heard Grayza mutter softly, looking at Riesa's back as she walked away, "And courtesy to you too, Riesa. You must be very pleased with yourself now." The smirk she wore could have curdled sour milk.

The boy smiled as he held the ends of the bindings for the three new slaves. He beamed at Riesa, and whispered a 'thank you' in her ear. Then he gently swung his father's hand. He looked up at the younger woman, and his voice when he spoke had a tone that would make angels weep. Its smooth nature almost soothed the ears, and the happiness in it almost made the guards themselves smile. "Will you play pretty music for me?" he asked the young lady.
~~~~~~~~~~~
As Etelka and Adam escaped, the slaves were all gone. No one stood in the fields, no one making noises from the house. They were just vanished. And the farther Adam got from the house, the thicker the foliage became. Trees began to grow to immense sizes, ferns and jungle plants grew so thickly that in places the path was completely obscured. It was definitely not the same path that was used to take them to the house.

Around Etelka, the trees were thinning, and a desert was quickly forming beneath her feet. Even while she stood still, the sand crept closer. Hard sand, that grew cacti like green gems scattered across the open space. The sky in the desert was darkening, while before it had simply been late afternoon. Soon, the house and the land it had stood on was completely gone, and Etelka was in a trackless, waterless wilderness.





((Okay, I just got the call today that my computer is fixed, so I should be able to pick it up tomorrow. I'm really sorry guys.))

Standing completely still and ridged, Akira ignored the soft tone of the young boy and any other comments made by the woman who had taken control of Grayza’s estate. His hair fell before his face casting shadows that would hide his facial expression all too well. Riesa crossed her arms over her chest as she took a light bow. “I should return to the estate, I will see you both there when you return,” she then bowed her head lightly to her brother and turned on her heels.

Akira turned just as she left, feeling her leave in a light breeze and then he realized the boy had spoken. What he has said did not register as he shook his head lightly.

~*~*~*~*~

Twirling around, gazing in all directions, Etelka found herself completely surrounded by sand. What the hell? What is going on? she questioned herself as she began to wonder from one direction to the other, the heat had not bothered her, not yet in the least. No, she was more in-tune to find her way back home. Then she stopped, becoming a statue in the middle of the desert trying to figure out where she was. “ADAM!!!” she shouted, she hadn’t gone very far, not far at all, in fact she had not moved from her previous spot before she was in the desert. “ADAM!!! ADAM!!!” she figured that she had been going west, she turned east and started to run back towards the house. “ADAM!!”

Daena, hearing the boy's voice, couldn't help but smile. The angel's treble soothed her and made her just a bit sleepy. Shaking the urge away, she told him, "Yes, that's what I'm good at, Sir. I can play piano music or that of a ukulele. So, Sir, if you want me to play music, you'll need one of those instruments." She was careful to use the utmost respect, not wanting to offend her new master. Especially considering how much he freaked her out.

Grayza, however, disagreed with Daena's outlook on the situation. Snorting in derision at Daena's politeness, she turned away, facing the older man who was the boy's father. "And I suppose that you know my duties now? As a master, my skills were varied and excellent, but now I'm a slave. Master. You don't know my talents." The word 'master' was almost a spit as Grayza displayed her feelings all over her face.

((I have my computer back!!!!!!!))


The sand around Etelka swirled, and a small whirlwind of dust began making its way across the sand. It was almost dancing as it flowed. Then, just as it was about to go out of sight, it paused, and seemed to give attention to her. It danced in place, whirling, as if waiting for her to follow it farther into the sandy waves.

For Adam, the trees began to grow around him as though they were living years in seconds. Soon, Etelka was hidden behind a veil of thick cover, and Adam was standing in the middle of a bare spot in the ground. The only bare spot left, because the wagon trail had been taken over by the trees.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Angelo," the boy's father said. "Would you like to look at more?"

The boy shook his head. "No thank you Father. I like this one. And we have a beautiful piano at home, you may play it for me. Do you know any of the wind instruments? The lute, or ocarina, perhaps?" He ignored the master turned slave, but his father did not. Frowning at Grayza, he spoke in a warning tone.

"We will simply have to find your skills then, slave."