Mallory White's Story

Kianna walked along the streets of Lochcrest, nestled within the thick folds of her crimson robes. Her hands were folded loosely into her sleeves and her steps were slow and lingering as she passed through the slave markets. The air was frigid, but her combat suit kept her relatively insulated against the subzero temperatures.

The main auction house was situated at the heart of the slave markets, and it was here that Kianna found herself. She didn't enter at the front though, where she knew there would be thick crowds gathering. As the Empress, she was afforded certain privileges even on a backwater planet like Cryo. She would be received in the back, and permitted to view and purchase from the stock before it was put up for auction.

As she entered she was met with rows of people being herded by Cryon slavers. Most of them were downtrodden and filthy, and the more dangerous ones had been caged like animals. The regulations for humane treatment of slaves clearly failed to hold much sway this far from the core Aschen worlds, but Kianna wasn't here to shut down their operations. She was keen to acquire new recruits for her division.

One girl caught her eye in particular, huddled in one of the cages alongside the more volatile and dangerous captives. Cowering there though, she didn't look particularly dangerous.

Kianna raised an eye to the Cryon slaver that was escorting her along.

"Why's this one caged?" she asked.

"Ah, that one was picked up during a raid on Ellesmere. She came in with some other exotics they found. It's a primitive planet, and the natives sell well on the markets."

"Yes, but why is she caged. Is she dangerous?"

"Not exactly. You girl, show her what you can do," the slaver said as he kicked the bars of the cage to startle her.

Mallory’s blue eyes stared out from behind the strands of her blonde hair that was in massive need of a wash. Her entire body although fair skinned was covered in dirt, mostly thanks to being caged for such a long time. Well, that and being shoved into a small enclosure on a vessel, that definitely didn’t help matters one bit. Still, she still kept a slight air of innocence to her, although the slavers knew better. Thanks to her attempts to escape, something she did the minute she was brought onto the cold bastard of a planet, Mallory had been put into a cage. Her small hands grasped the bars as she sat there and watched everyone moving about in silence. They were getting ready for another auction and she had heard the horror stories and wanted nothing to do with it all.

Like she had a choice. Shaking her head, the ten-year-old studied the slavers, trying to find someone she could trust to help her out of this hellhole. Once a voracious young girl, Mallory had withdrawn from things, falling silent and shy for the most part. But, she was almost always watching and studying, looking for a way back to Ellesmere. Her gaze soon fell upon a woman, a blonde and she wondered why she was walking around in the back. Just who was this woman? Unfortunately, the stranger’s eyes had fallen upon her and she shrank back a little in the cage, wishing she could become invisible. When the slaver kicked the bar and demanded that she show what she could do, Mallory yelped and slid back even further. Without even realizing what was happening, Mallory’s flesh seemed to shimmer before it seemed to give way to fur as she shifted into a small creature that appeared to be a like feline in nature, though it was obvious that it was an exotic variety that dwelled only on Ellesmere.

The Empress watched the spectacle curiously enough as the child turned into a cub. Unfortunately the girl was rather young to serve as a special projects candidate. It would take years before the she would be old enough to prove herself useful, and shapeshifters weren't particularly rare enough to expend the resources on her.

Kianna had nearly turned away to continue on before she gave pause and threw the child a second look. There was purpose another use for her Kianna mused.

"Can she shift into anything else?" Kianna asked.

"Seems to be able to, but we're not sure what all she's capable of."

Kianna's eyes lingered a moment longer before she finally moved on. She had seemingly put the matter from her mind as she and the Cryon slaver continued on their way to examine the other 'merchandise'.

Mallory returned to her human form, breathing heavily due to being malnourished and extremely exhausted. It wasn’t easy to sleep in such cramped conditions and unfortunately, the cage wasn’t any better. She focused in on the woman, wondering if she was going to be purchased. The thought of being owned by someone made her sick to her stomach, but the thought of being stuck here for any longer also made her sick, so she was stuck between a rock and hard place. She listened to the adults carefully, wondering why the female wanted to know whether or not she could shift into anything else. Just about to speak up to say that she could shift into other things, Mal kept her mouth shut and slid back against the bars, her knees tugging up against her chest.

She wanted to go home and be with her family. Why did the slavers take her away from Ellesmere? Anytime she asked, it only ended up in her being shouted at or worse, so she kept her mouth closed. Now, she had a chance to get out of here, but that scared her more than staying locked up in the cage. Tugging a little on her hair, she frowned when the female walked away, leaving her once again alone with the others that had been caged up.

“…Someone please save me from this fate…” She muttered to no one in particular, her head dropping down against her knees as she hugged her legs against her body.