Please forgive me for this post. I was bored, it had been over two weeks and I did warn you that this was going to happen.
The point is I got us where we were going. And a frozen Caesara is funny.
Drei trod along the main road, grumbling to herself. She was struggling to walk - although she had been for many miles - and was almost about to give up. At last, she lost her footing and fell flat on her face – Caesara on top of her. Caesara was tied to her back by the same rope Drei had used to yank her kill into the air and was positioned to be piggy-back riding Drei, but she wasn't aware of that. Or anything. Drei moaned and rolled on her back, not caring about Caesara beneath her.
Drei was still standing, hands on her hips. waiting for an answer. Caesara wasn't giving her one. Nothing could be heard but the awkward rustling of leaves in the wind and one twittering bird. Drei growled and stepped forward, snapping her fingers beneath the slaver's nose.
“Oy, I said what now, Caesara? Caesara?!”
She needed to get up. The nearest city couldn't be that far away, she's sure despite neither her or Caesara being in possession of a map. She knew that because she had checked – she had sprawled all of Caesara's belongings in front of her and counted up their value, just to check if tearing up the contract and selling the slaver's things on the black market would be a better deal, but it wasn't. The stuff hardly added up to what Caesara had promised her, so here she was. Giving her frozen employer a piggy-back ride. It had to be the most humiliating thing that nobody was there to see.
Drei walked a full circle around her. Her tail was frozen in a curl, her ears pointing in different directions and, when she observed her face more closely, it looked like she was half-blinking. Drei forced down any uneasiness about this she had and instead flicked her ponytail agitatedly.
“I know what this is,” she said with her nose up in the air, “You just don't want to answer me until I call you 'boss', is that it? Well, forgive me, YOUR MAJESTY,” Drei spoke her words dripping with venom and sarcasm as she dropped down into a low, childish mock curtsey. “I'm aware that I'm not the most preferable companion but if you take 2 months to tell me what the plan is, then this is a waste of both of our time!” Drei spat out the last sentence, glaring up at Caesara with her teeth bared in a cat like fashion. Still, Caesara did not answer nor flinch. Drei's eyes flashed and she struck out at the woman's face.
Drei screwed up her face in distaste. It wasn't that the neko was that dirty and it wasn't like she smelt that bad besides the damp earth and scent of scorched flesh that hung on her clothes. In fact, she was much more appealing to look at and to be near when she wasn't speaking or sneering, but that was beside the point. Drei's lean muscle was simply not cut out for carrying larger loads over very long distances.
“Alright,” Drei said determinedly and rolled back onto her stomach. She pushed herself up from the ground and stood, securing Caesara's legs by looping her arms around them. “It's just a challenge. You like a challenge. On the count of three, you put one foot in front of the other and start walking again. If I fall down once more, I'll jog the rest of the way. One...” As soon as Drei made her way up to three she began hurriedly walking down the path once more. She didn't know how much further she had to walk, and she needed to get her employer into some place safe before night fall, which appeared to be soon. As she continued to walk, she spotted four figures walking towards her which made her heart leap. Perhaps she could ask them how far the city was? Her optimism died down and she stepped off the path and hid in the shadows. She couldn't go just asking anyone. Her eyes scanned through the small group as they approached near her.
“Slavers are bullies,” Drei whispered to herself, “They pick on the weak to insure that they won't fight back – against themselves and against the monsters they sell them to. At least... that's the case with female slaves. Monsters like their women submissive.” She mused, remembering that the slave she was looking for was a girl. Her eyes darted between the silver-clad spear woman and the small, nervous looking blonde girl. She looked human from where Drei could see her. Drei clicked her tongue and locked her gaze onto her. “Got 'cha... ugh...” A painful ringing sounded in her ears and something flickered in her mind. Her hands immediately went up to her temples and she rubbed them, trying to calm her throbbing head. She could see something in front of her, she just had to reach for it, try a little harder to unlock it... a memory? Drei's vision went blinding white and she inhaled sharply as the memory started to play.
An elf woman loomed over her. She was beautiful, with fine lime green hair with gold woven through her braids. Her eyes were hazel and glassy, with no warmth nor light reflecting in them – her fire had long since died out. Her clothes were kept to the bare minimum and though she was tall, her posture made her seem smaller, more insignificant like she had been defeated. Her body was illuminated by a single torch, but despite that her surrounding were pure darkness. The elf held a large silver goblet in her slender, scarred hands. She bent over and brought the goblet to meet Drei's lips, at first gently, but as Drei reclined the woman suddenly grabbed the hair tied into a thick bun at the back of Drei's head and yanked her head back with surprising strength. She forced her mouth open with the goblet and tipped it, pouring its contents into Drei's throat. Drei choked on the thick, slimy liquid as it clogged up her throat and squirmed inside of her mouth. Her small hands clenched into fist as she thrashed, swinging an arm at the goblet.
It was smacked from the woman's hand and clattered onto the ground. Drei immediately dropped down to her knees and lurched over, retching. The bile splattered on the ground and she stood up shakily, staring down at the thick black worms writhing and screeching in her vomit. With her small, child-like bare feet she stomped down on them, mashing them into the ground until they were they were black and yellow paste. She turned her head to see the elf woman cowering on the floor, picking up the goblet with her shaking hands. Drei walked over to her and shouted something in drow, and despite the words being aggressive they were trembling, afraid. A drow man had stepped out from the darkness and Drei immediately pointed to the slave woman accusingly, speaking desperate words so fast they melded into one another. The drow paid no heed to her words as his iron-clad hand rammed into her cheekbone and her tiny body slammed into the wall.
The memory changed. She could no longer see. In a hand that felt bigger from before she held a knife, and in her other hand she was feeling a face. A face she could recognise from touch, however, this time the face was wet from tears. Drei could feel the cold wind against her skin and sensed her city's eyes on her and heard the beautiful sound of a melodic voice pleading. She could 'see' her face, see the fear in her eyes as she neared her end. Drei kept herself composed as she tilted the elf's head back to expose the woman's throat. She grit her teeth as she brought the knife to rest beneath her chin.
“Torturer,” she hissed for only her victim to hear and slit her throat.
The crowd cheered.
Drei's eyes snapped open. She felt queasy, like she was about to throw up again, but she swallowed her breakfast down.
“What the heck was that?!” She whisper-yelled to herself, horrified at the twisted things she had just witnessed. That could not have been her memory. It had to not be. She glanced back over at the possible slave-girl candidate and shook her head. There was no way to tell if it really was the one that Caesara had described in an incredibly loose fashion and besides – Drei thought as she sized up the giant rock golem tagging along – it wouldn't be the best time to try anything if she was. Not with Caesara in the state she was. Drei impatiently waited for the four travellers to leave before she stepped out onto the path to continue her journey. Her journey didn't take long. Before she knew it, she was outside the gates of Brainde.
Here we go, Drei thought sarcastically as she entered the gates and passed a merchant with his wares, Oooh, look out for the big scary drow, everybody. Hey drow, what you doing out from under your rock? Stop drow, we're adventurering heroes and we thought we'd might march up to you and ask for your life story while we size you up and figure out whether you're here to bury our fair city beneath an earthquake. Oh no a drow, hide the elves before she runs rampage and murders everyone because drows have absolutely no self control over that! Oh shit a drow, keep your chickens cooped or- Drei's mind continued like this as she walked through the streets ignoring the looks she was getting. A concerned looking red haired man passed her and Drei raised an eyebrow, pausing shortly and looking after him. He seemed familiar to her, or at least his hair did. At that exact moment, a stray chicken strode past her and her eyes widened. She stormed up behind the man and kicked him gently in the back of his legs.
"Bird feed?"