Questions

"Ow, hey! Stop twisting down there, ack! Mmph!"

"Oh quit yer jabbin'! I've had worse without making a fuss like you."

Raz grumbled as the dwarf formed another knot and pulled tight, keeping his wrist tied. Both his arms were bound above his head at opposite sides, it looked like he was forming the letter V. A select few tents had survived the battle with the Elemental, including Alma's personal tent where they had decided to keep Raz in where Alma herself could keep a close watch after her wounds were treated. That and it was away from the pool by several meters, so it felt safer to the others. Only a select few members were present here; Nyitzcha, Dimyri, Spi'Reto, Janette and Raz.

"Make sure he can't tug them loose, he needs both hands to perform his magic." Janette mentioned, reading from her book.

Dimyri slipped to the front, carefully studying the knots around his wrists. "Maybe we should tie up his arms too, just to be safe."

Spi'Reto shrugged. "Eh the more restricted, the better."

"What!" Raz barked, glaring his eyes at the cursed Nekomata facing him.

"Well look at that, I think I see some fire in those eyes. Cute." Dimyri smiled, grabbing some rope and getting on her toes to pass them over to the dwarf above the crates behind them. Raz leaned back as Dimyri's chest drew near his face, averting his eyes with a red hue forming in his cheeks. The elven unform she wore was rather skin tight, he could almost see the outlines of her breasts as he glanced one more time.

Nyitzcha reached for the rope and Dimyri pulled back just as Raz looked away, she noticed his blush and raised a brow before looking down and blushing herself. Walking away with an arm covering her breasts, she stepped over to Spi'Reto and leaned in.

"Your mother didn't tell me this stuff is see through when wet!"

Spi'Reto glanced to her body and chuckled. "Oh I forgot to mention, this gear is see through when soaked, like paper."

Dimyri huffed and covered her chest, sitting down as Nyitzcha went to work on his arms. Once finished, she clapped her hands and hopped off, adjusting her large twin pony tails and goggles before stepping out, flaunting her look with Raz taking notice.

"G'Luck, I be checkin' me goodies. If ye need me fer anythin', ask someone else." She snorted, leaving the tent.

Spi'Reto tapped his foot impatiently before standing up, stretching his back. "Well, this is boring. Guessing now we interrogate, do we have to hit him? Because I owe this one for keeping me out of the action today."

Spi'Reto stepped in, facing their prisoner. "Do you know how boring it is to just jump from tree to tree, hoping for something to happen? The second I get my wish and you freeze me out of it!"

Raz rolled his eyes. "If it's any consolation, you and your mother were a risk I would prefer to avoid."

"I will take that as a consideration, pal!" He scowled back, crossing his arms as his pointy ears twitched in frustration.

Janette cleared her throat, waving her book at him. "You're asking the wrong guy, we don't need him to talk anymore when we have the answers ourselves."

Spi'Reto snatched the book from her hands, anxious and filled with excitement. "You mean this thing really does copy our knowledge? Hey book, between this guy and I who would win in a fight?"

He bit his lip, hands trembling as everyone present waiting for it to respond.

Between you and him, it's no contest. Ten times out of ten, you lose. Now quit shaking, you're making me dizzy.

Seething with steam errupting from his ears, the elf furiously shook the book in the air, spinning and juggling it until its owner snatched it away from him.

"Would you cut it out? This isn't a toy, and if you mistreat it then don't expect it to want to help us!"

T~ha Nky~ou~.

Raz gave the elf boy a cocky grin, with him lifting his middle finger in response before walking away. "Lousy book doesn't know a darn thing."

Would you like me to share some of his secrets, like which of you he fantasizes about when he is masturbating?

"No, gross. Wait, who are we talking about here? Nevermind, just... give me a moment, I need to think." Janette sighed, sitting down and rubbing her temple. Dimyri stood up, slowly approaching Raz and standing before him.

"Why did you do it?"

Raz looked up and frowned. "What do you care? Ask that silly magic book of yours, it knows what I know."

"I'm asking you, you could have killed yourself just to catch us. Why didn't you bring in your friends, those metal men."

"The knights? They're not mine, they obey Father's command."

Dimyri tilted her head. "They don't listen to you?"

"Not unless he is present, no."

"Your dad sent you on a suicide mission, what kind of father is that?" She asked. Raz kept silent, watching the ground to avoid eye contact. "Janette, could you ask him that?"

"Don't." He whispered, closing his eyes. "Just... don't ask. Please."

Her eyes stared into his pained face, he was suffering inside, she could tell. Their was a pain inside, an invisible scar coursing through his heart as he hung his head in a look of shame. It filled her with so many questions, this man who attacked them alone, who refused to retreat without retrieving them as he was told.

There was something different in this boy which separated him from the others, she couldn't describe it but he felt different, he smelled different... huh. That's odd, for a moment she attempted to smell the air and the scent had gone away, almost as if the spell trapping her in human form suffered a brief hiccup just then.

Spi'Reto yawned loudly, fiddling with his bow. "We have to ask him something, it's what Mother would want."

"Mothers, Fathers." Janette muttered, "It all sounds the same sometimes. We do need something to work with here."

"We already have an advantage, him." Dimyri pointed to Raz.

"Yea I know. We can use him to bargain with them, negotiate. We have his son, he has our friends. Who wouldn't make that trade, right?" Janette asked.

Raz groaned and looked away.

"I didn't mean a negotiation, I don't want to ask for our friends back. I want to save them, all of them." Dimyri argued.

Janette leaned back. "We can do that, just one step at a time."

"No. I don't want to delay this, I'm tired of this game of cat and mouse. I want to finish it, I want to end it so we can be free of this once and for all. I'm not stopping until our family is safe and he is done for."

Janette stood quiet, pondering what to say back.

Dimyri continued. "If we could just get our people to work with us, they still don't want to fight. I can't blame them, I'm scared too. But I would rather fight today than to risk being afraid for tomorrow every day now."

"Well, you're in luck. They might have changed their vote." Spi'Reto grinned. "When I was free, a lot of them were cheering for your guy friend. He seems to be quite popular now, I'm guessing they wouldn't be so hesitant to help this time."

Dimyri looked shocked. "You think they'll help this time?"

"Doesn't hurt to ask. Man has a few fans now, they should be around the medic with Zimi. Want to pay them a visit?"

Dimyri rubbed her chin, wondering what her mother would do before looking back to Raz before deciding. "Not yet, I have some more questions to ask here."