Vearan

"Well, come on then." Talon gave Alaric a brotherly pat on his upper shoulders. He then turned his attention, as void of emotion as possible, to the man in the shadows again. "You sound like you've found something, have you?" Talon asked him with concern and hope. "A way out, water, anything? There is safety in numbers." He felt like his words were fake, for some reason. Like he was trying to... bribe this man, lure him into a sense of false security, despite how genuine he seemed. But if he knew something, the last thing he wanted was for him to leave.
"You're bleeding, anyway. If you pass out with us, I'll carry you to safety. If you leave us and pass out from exhaustion or blood loss, your chances of death will be significantly greater." This time his words came more naturally, but he still felt the... repulsion? disbelief? radiating from him. Talon wondered if they had a history.

Chain thought he heard a voice from behind him, but he guessed that it was his imagination. For some reason, he felt like that happened often, but it didn't. Cause why wouldn't he remember his own thoughts? Apparently he couldn't. He slouched his shoulders forward, a sulken look on his face. The chains around his wrists weren't even bothering him, which made him very nervous. Chain didn't know where they came from, or why he would even have them shackled to his wrists. Maybe he was a convict in his past life? He shuddered at the thought, which gave him hope that he wasn't.

He thought of possibly returning to that little pool of water he left a while ago. He could probably retrace his steps and go find it if he needed to, but it didn't worry him. All he wanted was to get out, like his sole purpose on the earth was to leave it. Thing was, to Chain that didn't make much sense. What was the point of being somewhere if you didn't want to be there in the first place? Chain stopped, and stared at the wall to his left. It was very rugged, almost to the point of being brittle, but he couldn't just bust that down. He knew that his physic probably couldn't even handle punching a man, let alone a wall. He put his hands down in despair. He would probably die here. Why am I constantly thinking such dark and dismal thoughts? Is it because I can forsee the future, or is it just because I'm right?

The worst part about his thoughts were that even when he was trying to get past the pessimistic ones, more just sat behind them. He turned around, his chains now battering against the wall. He was certain he heard something this time, but he was unsure if he should even bother approaching.

Roku's eyes narrowed at this person. He wasn't even about to admit his weakness to himself, let alone someone else. Even if it were true that he didn't have much energy left. "First off, I don't need any help. I'm fine," He said in his usual quiet tone, mostly trying to convince himself of what he was saying.

"But i haven't found much. I heard a shit load of noise coming from this way, so i figured i would take a look. But i did come here from a side path off of what seems like a main hallway. It comes off of a huge staircase. the staircase is too difficult to pass, but there might be a chance of finding the exit if we travel down the main hall."

He tried to focus, trying to remember what way he'd come from. And suddenly it hit him... He was bleeding, wasn't he? Roku's eyes trailed the ground. yes, he'd left a blood trail right back to the main hallway. He smirked, looking back at the group; this one man in particular.

"Well, It's you're lucky day. I left a perfect path back to that main hallway," Roku said confidently. Perhaps just a little proof that he was handling himself just fine. He had a possible way out, though there was still the chance that it would be just another dead end. But it was better than nothing.

He pushed away from the wall, begining to follow the trail of blood. Roku's walk began to waver occasionally, him tripping over his own feet and stumbling, or just not being able to walk a straight line. Blood still dripped from a drenched-through no-longer-white shirt. He tried to figure out the type of wound by amount of pain, but he still wasn't sure. It just felt raw, fresh. It felt like it was throbbing. It could have been gashes or a scrape... He wasn't sure. He just hoped it would stop bleeding. If not, he'd need - as much as he, for some reason, hated the word - help. He nearly shuddered at the thought.

Alaric's eyes widened. The man before them had supplies! "Well, It's you're lucky day. I left a perfect path back to that main hallway," That was a relief. Hopefully he had some medical supplies as well. The man pushed off the wall and began to follow a trail of blood that was obviously his. He looked like was about to fall over and just die, but surprisingly he kept walking. Alaric followed with the girl still in his arms. He nodded for the little one to follow and he began to follow the mysterious wounded man. "C'mon, Talon."

Something wasn't right. Talon watched the lanky guy in front of him struggle to walk, but felt no compulsion to help him. The woman dying in Alaric's arms raised serious concern to him, Alaric himself raised concern and the loss of Anne raised concern, and goodness knew little Nanase holding his hand raised concern. But for this guy leading them- presumably to safety- Talon felt nothing.
Finally, they came to a stop. The passage here was more dim, even to Talon, and too quiet for his liking. Stepping in front of Roku, Talon peeked around the wall and saw a guard standing in front of a door.
He was young looking- Strong, agile. You'll have to watch out, the younger they are, the more vitally they fight. Wearing heavy armor- Guard. He's protecting something, something important. Had a longsword- Defense and offence. Finesse. Avoid giving him openings. A dagger- For close range, in case he loses his sword. In easy reach. He'll fight to the death.
All of that gathered in a few seconds, Talon moved back out of sight.
First and foremost, Nanase. She had to hide. He wouldn't have her in such a dangerous situation. Scanning around the little room they were in, he found a little cranny that was a little big larger than her. He walked her over to it and gently instructed her to get inside and hide. She listened. "Don't come out until I come and get you, or until the fighting is done." She nodded.
Roku was in absolutely no position to fight. He would have to stay as well. After looking over at Alaric and the dying woman, Talon realized he might very well be on his own for this one. He wanted Alaric to come, two against one was always better odds. And Alaric was more lean than him, Talon could take the brute strength of the man, while Alaric could harass him until he was weak enough.
"Alaric, we can take him." Talon whispered, handing him Nanase's dagger. "Two of us against one of him will go faster. I can keep his attention while you can strike at him from behind." It was the most logical plan Talon could think of.

Roku hung at the corner, giving himself just enough room in order to asses the situation at hand. Yes, he'd been correct. The main hall he'd discovered earlier was in fact a rout to at least something important. There would be no reason for a guard if whatever was in the room behind him was useless.

He leaned against the stone wall, half-listening to the man moving about and making assessments with the other man, of whom had all of a sudden been called 'Alaric.' Well, now Roku was a little jealous. He hadn't established anything to call himself as of yet. He couldn't even pretend like he knew his own name at this point.

He gave an almost unnoticeable shake of the head, ridding the thoughts from his head. He could make up something later.

Roku watched the guard, listening for the movement.

limited movement, he noted. just one guard.

Roku noted a sigh from the guard that the average person, at this distance, would not have noticed.

He's not expecting us, Roku thought with a slight grin.

He turned and retreated from the corner to look back to the man and the person he'd called Alaric. From what the man had been saying, it seemed that the man and Alaric were the ones going out there, though, even in his condition, Roku would have gone to take down this guard himself. And since his fighting style required little to no force, he probably could have done it, too. But his thought patter figured that the position of sitting back might also be nice to observe his new companions' fighting skills. Without knowing them at all, something in the back of his mind told him that he would need to know what kinds of weaknesses they had. Just in case he needed to confront them.

"There's just one guard," Roku said, even quieter than his regular speaking voice. "So its your lucky day. He's also not expecting us. You're best chance is to come at him with surprise." He didn't elaborate on the subject. The best bet would be to be as quiet as possible, and too much talking would give them away. Not to mention, it wasn't really crossing his mind how odd it sounded that he could tell all of that.

Roku leaned back against the stone wall casually, looking - for the moment - as if he were in no pain at all. He felt no issue in sitting back and watching. But, of course, he would step up if the decided to fail.

Alaric held up his hand. "I don't know. I just don't feel comfortable with a weapon. I'll just use it to finish him off." Taking the dagger, Alaric slipped it into his belt. "Ok. You distract him will I go in from behind." Alaric gently set the girl in his arms at the foot of a large pillar making sure that she was not positioned akwardly. Before going back, he took one last look at her. I hope she'll be ok. If anything, that guard could be hiding something useful. Hopefully water. Comming back to Talon he nodded. "I'm ready."

Talon nodded, gripping his longsword in his dominant hand. With his free hand, he found a rock with substantial weight. He had to catch the guard while he wasn't fully paying attention, otherwise they'd lose the element of surprise. From the shadows, he hurled the rock with as much force as he could- which, unsurprisingly, was a lot- toward the uninterested guard.
Unfortunately, he spotted the rock before it could hit him, and moved so it shattered against the door he was securing. Without a moment to ponder his loss, Talon ran from the shadows, his sword pointed toward the enemy with intent to kill.
Your brute strength is your gift. The voice whispered to him. This time, it filled him with vigor. Embrace it. Harness it. Learn it. Use it. Each instruction sent pulses of violent need through him. These are your people. If they fall, you fall. Do not let them. Talon finally reached the guard, his sword held low and jutting up for what he intended to look like a fatal blow, but only planned to disarm.
If you fail them... Talon raised the long sword... You will die. then quickly turned the blade so the flat side of it struck the guard's hands, intending to disarm him.

Alaric watched as Talon attacked the guard. Swiftly, he ran around the pillars so quietly that his footsteps made no noise on the ground. Talon looked as if he was about to land the final blow but at the very last second, he turned his blade. The flat side of the sword hit the guard's hands and his sword fell from his hands. Now's my chance! Alaric rushed towards the guard. He was already behind him, but as soon as Alaric was about to slip out the knife, the guard regained his balance and turned. Did he spot him before? The guard slipped out a hidden knife at his belt and sliced at Alaric. "Crap!" Alaric fell backwards to dodge the blade and the guard's hand missed Alaric's face by inches. He was under the huge man now and he kicked his feet out from under him. The guard fell with a thud but he still had a hold of his knife. Alaric rolled to his feet and kicked the knife out of his hand. Taking his own knife, Alaric lunged for the man's throat. The guard caught his wrist and brought his foot up and kicked Alaric in the side, sending him flying sideways. Alaric lost grip of the knife and hit the far wall hard. Why the hell was he so strong? I need to focus. The guard ran for him and thrusted the knife at Alaric's middle. Letting out a relaxed breath, Alaric closed his eyes and launched himself over both the man, and the deadly blade. Landing smoothly, he spun around and kicked him into the wall. Jumping towards the guard, Alaric brought his foot up to kick the knife out of the man's hand. His foot hit the knife but the guard didn't let go. "What the?" Like lightning, the guard landed a punch to Alaric's side and he lost his balance. He brought the blade up and slashed at Alaric. Alaric felt the cold tip of the knife slice his chest as intense pain shot through him. The wound wasn't that deep but the guard spun and trust the knife back at his bleeding chest for the final blow. I can't dodge like this! Is this it?

Before the guard could land what he intended as his final blow, Talon, with deadly, silent swiftness lashed his sword at the man's neck. There wasn't a sound, besides the sudden eruption of blood spattering into the air, followed by the dull thunk of the guard's head landing on the cobblestone floor.
Talon's face was red with rage, the fact that he had killed someone in such a gruesome fashion without hesitation gave him pause. The voice was gone, and how hard he tried did not seem to call it back. Despite being around people, and when he woke up in this damnable place, Talon felt truly alone for the first time. As if this action silenced the voice inside his head forever. He felt like he had... evolved, somehow.
Immediately after the guard fell, bleeding on to the floor, Talon reached over and steadied Alaric.
"Keep pressure on it." He instructed, moving one of Alaric's hands over the wound.
Now, more than ever, he prayed for there to be something useful beyond that door. If there was just more labyrinth beyond it... they were doomed.
They were already doomed.

Keeping an arm around Alaric, Talon did the most obvious option available: tried the door handle. He wanted to make sure that the door would open and no one was inside before letting the others come out of the safety of the shadows. To his amazement- and immediate distrust- the door handle opened with hardly a click and swung loosely open.
He held his breath.
In the center of the room- or maybe it just seemed to be in the center because of how fast it drew his attention- was a set of armor so blackened, it seemed to suck all of the light right out of the room. It was not shiny, but dull and smoothly engraved to prevent reflection. Around the joints, there was leather- also black- to silence whatever grating of metal might occur. Behind it, clasped around the torso piece, was a heavy solid black cloak.
It could have been because of the size, but he didn't think so. Of all the people he had found, Talon was the largest and simply, there was no way it could have belonged to any one else. Still, there was something else that told him it was his. Something internal and less deniable.

He tore his eyes away from the armor and returned to get the others. He thought about yelling, but if there were more guards around, that wouldn't help. He also noticed the more recent fellow they had picked up did not like noise. Still balancing Alaric, Talon poked his head around the corner.
"Come on... I think we found something. Maybe some bandages and water, too. I'm not good with finding that sort of stuff."

Alaric surely thought that he was going to die. He closed his eyes and waited for that blade to pierce him through the stomach. But it didn't come. Blinking his eyes open, he saw that Talon had decapitated the guard before the final blow wa made. "T-thanks." Alaric's voice was shaky. Talon didn't look to well either. But there was something about him that.... changed.
"Keep pressure on it." Talon moved Alaric's hand over the wound and he winced as he applied pressure.
"Thanks. It's not to bad. I'll be fine."
Even so, Talon insisted that Alaric hold onto him for balance which the boy was very much grateful for. The room. What was that guard guarding? Alaric watched as Talon tried the door handle.
"Do you really think that it would just open like-" Alaric stopped short. It opened. It seemed a bit too easy but there it was.
"What's inside?" Alaric saw how Talon's attention was grabbed instantly by the strange suit of armor in the room. It was black, but not the normal black you see everyday. The black of this armor seemed more.... well more than your average color. This was no ordinary suit of armor. Something caught Alaric's attention. But before he could get a glimpse of what it was, Talon tugged him back out of the room.
'He probably wants to get the others.'
As the two neared the place where Rina and the other man were waiting, Talon called out to them.
"Come on... I think we found something. Maybe some bandages and water, too. I'm not good with finding that sort of stuff."
Water. Alaric's mouth watered at the thought of a drink. And Rina, they would be able to help her finally. Would she wake up?
Alaric lightly pushed himself off of Talon.
"I'll be alright on my own now. I think the bleeding's stopped. Hopefully theres something to bandage this with."

Roku had watched the fight intently, making a note of each one's strength in combat. But the single guard had hardly been too much of a challenge for two men. He held back a moment, watching as the two defeated the guard and proceeded to go through the door that the guard had been standing in front of. The man had poked back out after a short while, inviting them to come along. Roku swiftly and quietly made his way around the corner and over to the door, making no sound with his footsteps and swaying a little less on his feet. After all, he'd taken a nice break just hanging at that corner quietly. Though, of course, the heavy sounds of the combat had been a little much. He wondered what his own fighting style was like, but assumed that it was as silent as any of his other actions were.

He slipped past the both of them into the room, and quickly noticed all the stuff. Something in the back his mind told him that the items missing from his person were among them somewhere. He waltzed into the midst of the room, and a glint of polished metal caught his eye. He immediately gravitated to a pile of supplies and weapons gathered near the corner, lasily dropped half on a wooden shelf, and half fallen to the ground.

Roku's fingers ran along the flat edge of one of two sharp katanas. Something about the two weapons seemed so familiar, despite his lack of memory. A blade meant for a deadly swipe with the least amount of force.

He quickly analyzed the rest of the items in the pile; a black cloak full of small hand weapons, a small, old leather pack with supplies, some odds and ends of some high-end clothing, a wrist band with a hidden blade, and.... His eyes were drawn to a crumpled paper that had been sitting below the cloak. Roku unfolded it slowly, and his eyes widened at the contents of the page -

It was a wanted poster. He studied it. It was him, no? He looked at everything on the page, and sighed. No name.... Roku tried to assess the information he saw. Just some general things; distinguishing features, wanted dead or alive, and some massive reward.

Roku gave a nervous glance around the room at the others a moment, the folded the paper back up and shoved it into his back pocket before investigating the other items. the first to be investigated was the leather sack. He was nearly positive this was his - as it bore the same number as the back of his hand. He opened it and inspected the contents; an extra shirt, some gauze, a couple extra daggers, and very few, stale food rations wrapped in a cloth. Not much.

But the shirt would be handy for now, as well as the gauze. It crossed Roku's mind what he might possible be wanted for as he tore off his bloodied shirt and lay it on the ground. He would clean it at earliest convenience. But the thought about what he could have been doing worried him. Almost frightened him. After all, the majority of what he believed to be his was weapons. The kind meant for a quiet, unknown kill. And the wanted poster was definitely a sign that he wasn't using those weapons for the benefit of mankind.

He tried to get a better look at his back, to trying to see what kind of wound it was... from what he could see of his shoulder alone, it seemed that both of his suspicions were confirmed; there was quite a few diagonal lashes across his back, but they were paired scrapes as well. From the feel of his back, he figured that the wounds coated his back... Perhaps he had been tortured or something.

Moving on from the subject, he grabbed the gauze from the leather pack and began wrapping it around his torso, starting at the waste. But between blood loss and not seeing the wounds, he had a bit of trouble... Roku studied the rest of the room, and took note of a new, narrow hallway.

"That hall might be a way out," He noted in his usual quiet tone. "I guess this stuff is ours, and if it isn't, well... It is now. We should try going that way after going through the stuff."

"Alright." Talon let Alaric go. His mind was already elsewhere. On that armor. It was permeating his mind. Absentmindedly, he left Alaric to Reina and went back to the room.

The armor was there still, still engrossing all of his attention. Talon wasn't entirely sure why, but he thought it had something to do with the voice in his head being lost. Maybe. Talon reached out with one of his callused large hands and pressed it to the torso piece. The surface of the black dull metal was smooth, and filled him with some kind of comfort. A source of belonging. It was unlike any armor Talon could comprehend. Armies in shiny silver armor carried themselves with justice and glorified war. But this set brought silence and suffocating comfort.

Talon let his eyes wander over it one last time before he reached for the plated boots. As he slid one on, there was soft fabric inside, the voice returned to him. You have trained your whole life. It was different now. It spoke to him with respect. Talon slid the other boot on. It felt only natural to continue, so he began fastening the shin plates on. You have made us very proud. A stirring of pride crept up his chest. Without much difficulty, he finished his leg armor.

It felt only right to leave the torso piece for last, so Talon slid his huge arms into those plates. You are our warrior. He buckled on the dark gloves. For the first time, he noticed something shiny. It was under the depths of the cloak. Gently, he moved it out of the way. There, attached in its holder to the belt of his main plate, was an axe.

The very edge of the blade was shiny, but the rest of it was the same dull black as the rest of his armor. It was fairly large, but the size fit him well. Even the handle was black. You will protect us from those who wish us harm. Talon unhooked the double-bladed battleaxe and held it in both of his hands. It was beautifully crafted, and when he held it, it felt like his. Talon unclipped the girdle and put it on himself, then hooked the axe in its proper location. Finally, Talon undid the torso piece.

You have no further need of instruction. Talon expected it to be heavy, but it wasn't. He lifted it easily off of the armor rack. It was layered, which Talon thought was very unusual for the weight of it. A thin layer of chain mail (also dull black) was attached to a layer of leather, which was attached to the plate metal that made up the outside. There was a part that hung down over his thighs, like scale mail. The whole arrangement was unique. He put it on, then fastened the cloak around his neck.

Something was off. He felt like the voice should have said something more, but it was only muffled silence. Coming back to reality, as though the act of putting on the armor had him in his own little world, Talon heard Roku.

"That hall might be a way out, I guess this stuff is ours, and if it isn't, well... It is now. We should try going that way after going through the stuff."

"If there is stuff here that's not ours, we should leave it in case anyone else is here." Talon said firmly. He looked over the materials that Roku had gathered. "These things, however trivial they may be, connect me to whatever it is I don't remember. If anyone else manages to come through here, we should leave their things here."

Chain was sulking again. He knew that it wasn't a good thing, possibly even hazardous to his health, but he didn't know how to change his thought pattern. When he finished a thought, it either ended in his death or something abysmal and dull. He was starting to hunch forward, his back not being able to support his extremely thin body. That was another thing that Chain questioned: Who in there right mind let him get so small? He wasn't very tall to begin with, but just looking at his stature, it showed that he wasn't healthy in any sense. If his past life did this to him, he didn't want to know. Somebody could come up and kick him in the ribs and they would probably all break.

He rounded a corner, and was going to continue when he heard voices. People were ahead. He quickly went back around the corner, his breath starting to quicken. They could be searching for him, possibly wanting to kill him. Or maybe they are just like me, you know? Not everything ends in a depressing thought, ya know! Chain retorted against his own thoughts, but it didn't help his anxiety. He was scared of them, and he didn't know why. Was it because he cautious, or was it because he was just a scared rabbit who shook at the sight of anybody?

He quickly turned around, wanting to get away as fast as possible. It was then that he realized his grave mistake: His hands whipped around, and made a deafening clang against the rocks, disturbing the peace in the air around him. His other hand quickly grabbed the vibrating chain, but the damaged had been done. He was starting to shake, and prayed that they didn't hear anything. He wouldn't know what to do if they came over, he would probably die of worry. The wound on his thigh wasn't helping, as his increased heart rate caused him to start bleeding a little faster than before.

this wasn't good.

BAM! The sound of someone falling on the floor woke Rina up. She carefully opened her eyes just enough to see the shades of the people around her. For others it would still look like her eyes where closed because she didn't fully open them yet. For some reason she was lying on the foot of a large pillar. "Someone must have carried me here." She though while she tried to open her eyes a little further, but she needed some time to adjust her eyes to the darkness again. When she finally could see in this darkness again, she could see a body lying on the floor. Later she noticed that there around where a few men standing around the body. Rina could remember those people again. It where the people who she met up earlier and who helped her. "I wonder what happened." Rina thought and not much later one of the men entered the room behind them. Rina didn't actually notice the room before one of them went in and once the first person entered the room the others followed. "Maybe they found something." Rina thought while she slowly tried to stand. Unfortunately for her that is when she noticed her huge wound again still she ignored the pain and stood up. Her vision became a little blurry because of the pain but she couldn't care. For now the only thing she could think of was entering that room. If she could not even do that, then she would see herself as a total failure. Then she set her first step towards the room followed by the second step but by the third step she fell on the ground. The pain became her too much for a moment but Rina wasn't a girl who would just give up on anything she set her head to. She could only think of one thing: "I must reach that room!" while she placed her hand on the ground to get up again. This time she took more time to take steps and after a few moments, she finally reached the room.

Alaric turned his head. Something behind him was moving. Was it another ene-..... Alaric's eyes widened with surprise. The girl that had been unconscious all this time was awake and was walking towards the room. She looked like she was in pain but she was determined to get there. He had to help her. Alaric got up where he was tending to his chest wound and staggered towards the girl. The girl fell to the ground and Alaric tried to quicken his pace. He winced and fell to his knees. Crap. His wound burned and blood oozed out of the open scar. He probably made it worse and he struggled to get back up. Alaric reached her, but she was already at the door of the room. His breath came out in labored rasps and he fell on his knees beside her. "A-are you... Okay?"

Blurry... mostly gray clouds and puffs floated in her eyes. Her temples throbbed in pain. Her body ached... Darkness consumed her again.

Then the light came back- a very tiny bit of light. But enough to add a little more focus to those gray clouds. She heard some distant, echoing yells and screams... even some talking voices, but she couldn't find her muscles. She couldn't even figure out what to say. Or how to say it or what- her head felt like it was being stabbed... could more sleep hurt? No...

GET OUT OF HERE!

She sprang up and instinctively reached for her... hair? A black lock appearing in her trembling hand. She frowned, confused and sore, and let her dark strands go. Her eyes were half-open while her hand reached out and felt for a... wall. A wall. There was a wall there. She gripped at it to stand up. Her legs responded, but only before shooting pain up to her hips. The act of pulling her body up by only her arms took a tremendous amount of power... she stopped to catch her breath.

After a moment, her eyelids widened as she realized she had no idea of who she was, or the most recent events that happened to her. How she got here, why she was here and what she was doing here.

Her head cleared up quickly, and she found her footing. She spun around and gasped at the floor. Someone had written in the dust that settled.

you're going to pay for this, you twisted vixen.

It seemed as though the threat should have scared her, but it didn't. It was definitely directed at her. Why would she have to be punished for someone putting her in this damn... labyrinth? Her head throbbed again at the sound of a very distant crash. She closed her eyes and leaned against the wall for several minutes.

She opened her eyes, wide this time. All of her internal aches were suddenly gone. Vixen pulled herself off of the wall, happy to see that she could stand on her own. Her hands instinctively went to her hips, but only gripped at tight cloth. She looked down and saw she was wearing a rather... revealing outfit. A dirty and torn long, once elaborate skirt covered her legs and she wore a tight-fitting mossy-green blouse under a corset.

She felt like it should make her blush, but it didn't. This won't do. You need something lighter. The shirt wasn't bad, it was thin material and only one layer- besides the corset-type thing that pushed up her bust. Skirt, that skirt weighs half as much as you do. She thought, before pulling up the bottom of it to count how many layers it had and how thin they were. It was exceedingly thin, to her joy, and Vixen sat down to start tearing it away. It was hot, anyways.

The layers weren't at all straight, but at least it didn't weight as much and let her move more freely. She stood up and started walking with purposeful grace, like a cat stalking its prey. She wove in and out of rooms until she caught the distinctive sounds of feet- someone was running towards her.

Vixen moved behind a wall, and when the person came through the entrance, she grabbed him by the hair and fluidly pinned him to the wall. He had dark hair and light eyes- he wasn't her enemy. She didn't know how she knew, but she just did. Immediately, she let him go and took a step away from him.

"Who are you?" She asked, hearing her dark voice for the first time.

Chain heard something flying through the air at the last second, and couldn't even react to the hand that grabbed him. He gave a wail of surprise as a lady grabbed him by the hair, tugging hard and pinning him against the wall. The second his head made contact with the cool, rocky wall he felt like this wasn't the first time this had happened to him. As if he was used to being smashed against surfaces in an aggressive, authoritative way. It scared him that he would be so familiar with this form of punishment, but what scared him more was the fact that this lady wasn't somebody he knew, and could probably kill him. His head began to throb as she immediately let go, and his head felt like a hammer had cracked it open. He moaned slightly, then quieted himself instantly out of sheet instinct, as he slid down the wall as he was unable to concentrate on standing upright, with his bleeding wound and pounding head.

When he hit the floor, he finally looked up at the lady. She was extremely scantily dressed - which made him blush slightly, but not enough to be noticeable - and he finally gave into his instincts and 'past' experiences. He made himself small, and he began to tremble slightly. She seemed to be very commanding for a lady. Especially when she asked Chain her question: Who are you? Her voice carried power, even if she didn't mean it to. Chain began to shake a little more than before, and then spoke as she had commanded him to

"I'm nobody of any concern to somebody like you Miss. I don't even know and I'm sorry if I have caused you any grief whatsoever in my clumsiness!" He quickly bowed his head, once again just listening to his instincts. He didn't know where these words were coming from, or who would say something like this, but he did anyway. He kept his eyes low, his extremely sobered look on his face as usual. "If you wish to punish me for my faults, please do so."

"A-are you... Okay?"

The voice of a young man echoed through Rina's thoughts. "Yes I am fine" She replied to him. Rina looked at the man’s face and tried to look politely. "Hello, my name is Rina and you must be one of the people who helped me." Rina started to smile and said: "I am very grateful for that. Thank you." Even though Rina said this, she was still pretty confused about what was happening. But everyone would probably be. Rina lost her memories and woke up outside some ruins but maybe the others knew more. "Say... Do you know where we are?" Rina asked with some hesitation. "And what is this room here where everyone went in just a moment ago?" Rina was noticing that she was probably asking too many questions and that this could maybe see rude. "I am sorry I don't mean to ask for so much questions but I am very confused right now... Please don't think rude of me now." Rina apologized with a gentle smile to the man.

Alaric smiled as he listened to the girl ramble on. He was glad she was ok and held his hand up after her apology. "Don't worry about it. I'm glad your alright. But I'm sorry, I probably don't know anymore than you. As for the others, we think that room might hold some supplies that might help us. We're in desperate need of water and most importantly," Alaric pointed to her wound, "we need to get you cleaned up." Something about her voice seemed strangely familiar, as if he had heard it more than once before. Why was she so familiar? It was strange. Alaric chuckled. They would worry about that later. "I'm Alaric by the way." Mabye his name would ring a bell. Did she know who he was? But was that even his real name?

"I'm nobody of any concern to somebody like you Miss. I don't even know and I'm sorry if I have caused you any grief whatsoever in my clumsiness!"

The man proceeded to bow his head down, humbling himself before her. Vixoria stared at him with wide, emotionless eyes. He listens to me. She thought, most of her consciousness still swimming around in the dark recesses of her mind. She still had no idea who she was or what in the world she was doing here. But she knew she didn't belong here.

"If you wish to punish me for my faults, please do so."

Vixoria raised an eyebrow in suspicion. After a quick moment, she decided that this man was not a familiar face to her, but so long as he remained on his knees and pledging his allegiance, Vixen would make quick and good use of him. Resources of any kind were a bad thing to waste. Especially human resources.

"Where are we?" She asked, not really giving him a clue about who she was or what she was doing here or if she knew him at all. She wanted things to stay that way. So long as he would be obedient, she'd be authoritative. Though... Vixen wondered how hard it was to take her seriously while she was dressed like a common folk courtesan. This man... whoever he was, didn't seem to differentiate.

A horrible, hysterical thought suddenly came to mind and she let out a sinister snicker.

She wanted to ask the man who he was, but decided against it. Such a question would tip him off that she did not know him.

After waiting for a while, scared to death the entire time but unsure as to why, he slowly began to raise his head. Even though it was beginning to hurt him more than his open wound on his thigh - which should probably be treated soon but Chain didn't care - he still lifted it. He had a flicker of horror that she wouldn't tell him what to do, that she would just leave him or worse, tell him to leave since she had no use for him. At the same time however, that emotion had a little bit of hope that the opposite of what he wanted would occur, that she would set him free and let him die in peace in these wretched tunnels. It would be a fitting end for somebody like him.

He caught her emotionless eyes, and they brought him a sense of ease, as sick as it sounds. He felt as if he knew what those eyes looked like all his life, ones that wouldn't care what happened to him as long as he did as he was told. It was probably the only thing he could recognize besides his own body. His chains rattled a little as he shifted his hands, and he looked back at them. They were starting to get slightly annoying, wishing he wasn't wearing them. But they are the only thing I know of... the only thing that belongs to me. He made a small, sad little smile before he gave the lady his full attention with her question. Without missing a beat he answered quickly and with assurance.

"I do not know Miss. As I have wandered, it seems to be a maze of tunnels, snaking their way through the ground. I have seen no escape, and I'm deeply sorry for not being able to." Gone was the little smile on his lips, his sombred look returning with full force. He dared to look up at her eyes once more, her dark brown eyes now holding an emotion that, once again, he seemed to be fairly well aquainted with. As she let out a small snicker, he began to tremble in fear once more and bowed his head back down to the ground. He was completely terrified, hoping that if she were to punish him that it be soon and quick. And not with a whip. God no.

"I do not know Miss. As I have wandered, it seems to be a maze of tunnels, snaking their way through the ground. I have seen no escape, and I'm deeply sorry for not being able to."

Voxoria raised an eyebrow at him, though his head was bowed and he could not see. She did not suspect, based on his behavior, that he was lying to her. If this was the case, she had been right. After already traveling through a number of rooms, she had suspected the whole... building, for lack of a better term, was like this. Large and confusing. She hated confusing.

"What about people, have you found any others?" She asked him.

"Don't worry about it. I'm glad you’re alright. But I'm sorry, I probably don't know any more than you. As for the others, we think that room might hold some supplies that might help us. We're in desperate need of water and most importantly," The man before Rina said and a moment later he pointed at her Rina's wound. "we need to get you cleaned up." And after s short pause he said. "I'm Alaric by the way." Rina looked at Alaric. It was rather strange that Rina seemed to recognize this person after taking a good look at him. Could it be that she once knew this person? But Rina seemed to shove those thoughts away. "I can't suspect anything until I really know what is going on." Rina looked at her wound where Alaric pointed to a moment ago. "Oh don't worry about it..." Rina said with a gentle tone in her voice. "It's just a scratch." After saying this she took another look to the room where others seemed to find supplies. Maybe there was something that could give her a hint of her past so Rina would love to search in the room a little. "Come one let's go." Rina said with a joyful smile to hide the real pain she was in.

What about people, have you found any others? Chain squrimed a little at the question. He supposed he had found some people, but they were probably gone by now. Nevertheless, he would answer truthfully. It was how he did things, never straying from the truth. Still.... He really didn't want to tell her. What if she left him behind for somebody more useful than himself? He shuddered slightly at the thought of uselessness, how terrible and scary it must be. He was caught in a bad place: Either tell the truth and risk abandonment - as he could tell it was his greatest fear - or go against his own personality and lie to her face.

He almost couldn't stand the indecision. It was starting to really eat away at him, until he finally blurted out "Yes! I have seen people." He shook a little, and quickly added, "Though, I am assuming that they have left already, and I haven't spoken to them. Nor do I believe they know you or I am here." He was glad he added that last part, hopefully making her choose to hold onto him for a little longer. He needed to be useful to somebody, or it would kill him.