The Wrong Person

Raz tugged at his arms and wrists, his face showing discomfort and annoyance from the awkward manner of which he was tied. Quietly tinkering with his bow, Spi'Reto sat nearby as he reached for a sharpened rock, carefully selecting the arrows from his quiver and sharpening the pointed arrowhead on each one. He glanced up when he heard a sigh from their prisoner, observing him as he turned his head around left and right.

"What's gotten into your britches?"

Raz scowled back. "Do you lot expect me to have a nights rest while my arms are beginning to cramp?"

"Is it uncomfortable?"

"Very."

"Good. Untying the hands of an elemental? I may as well just let you go free, and that's not likely to happen after what you've done. Don't think I've forgotten what you did to my mother." He answered crudely, his hand tightening around the shaft of his bow.

Raz stared back as he came to recognize his words. "I had no intention of fulfilling that, it was merely to force the boy to drop his weapon and let me through."

"And it worked, but you don't mess with another man's family, ever. I'm no killer, but I know more than enough to deal with you and no magic book's predictions are going to stop me from trying."

"Sounds like our cue to step in." Both men looked toward the entrance to see Janette and Dimyri arrive, with Dimyri locking eyes with Raz. Raz quickly looked away, Janette stepped in between him and their elven friend. "You can threaten all you like but no physical contact."

"I wasn't going to, even if it would feel good. There's no honor in attacking someone incapable of fighting back." Spi'Reto looked up at Raz before retrieving his cluster of arrows. As he swung his bow over his shoulder, he raised his hands high and began to stretch, yawning loudly as he did so. "Permission to get some rest myself for a few hours?"

Janette shrugged. "I'm not your boss, go right ahead."

"He was referring to me." Dimyri sheepishly held her arm and smiled. "Get some sleep Reto, I'll call for you when it's my turn okay?"

"Of course." He nodded, looking at Janette and smiling. "I wouldn't mind taking orders from you either, just so you know."

Dimyri giggled as Janette smiled back with her hands on her waist. "I happen to have a mate, just so you know."

"Worth a shot. Thanks Dimyri! Call for me if he becomes a nuisance to you." He waved, running outside with an energetic step to him.

Janette shook her head and snickered to herself. "Was he hitting on me? It's been a while, I almost forgot what that's like."

"I think so." Dimyri looked up watching Raz. "Janette, you can take a break too if you need to. Go check on my sister, she worries for you."

Janette raised her brow, beginning to ask why when she caught the look on her face. That determination in her eyes, it reminded her of KuliKuli when they planned on heading to Kershin Market to rescue her. Funny how fate flipped their roles somehow, as now it's Dimyri looking to return the favor.

She wasn't one who liked being told what to do, in fact she was ready to ask him several questions of her own as it so happens so being told to leave annoyed her. However, it was clear that there was something cooking up in the Nekomata's brain, a curiosity demanding fulfillment. She liked that, for a second she felt this wasn't a girl anymore shyly asking for assistance.

"Yea, sure thing. Better not keep her waiting, she gets awful stressed when she worries."

"Thank you." Dimyri closed her eyes, smiling inside as Janette nodded back and walked away, leaving the two alone and together.

Raz shifted as much as he was allowed, clearing his throat and leaning back onto the post he was tied against. Dimyri slowly pulled over a nearby crate, placing it to face him several feet apart before sitting atop to face him. He kept turning his head, looking from side to side as her eyes settled on him.

"It's just us now, no one should be in here or nearby. So tell me."

"Tell you what?" He grumbled.

Dimyri lifted her leg over, crossing it as she leaned back. "You didn't want me to look into you and your dad the priest. He's not the nicest dad is he?"

Raz remained quiet, predictably so. No reaction, he maintained a calm face as he stared at the ground. She decided to play into his silence, daring him to respond first. It was awkward but she remained strong, impatiently tapping her foot in the meanwhile.

At last he gave in and released a defeated sigh as his head remained looking down, almost as if he was staring at her shoes. "You don't need me to talk, unless you have torture in mind you should get it over with and not waste our time."

"We don't have much time, and I doubt you're in a hurry to go anywhere." She answered quickly, crossing her arms. "We don't plan on taking a life, we are not like you. Even if it's the easiest way of freeing ourselves from you."

Raz simply scoffed in return. "None of us are free, we're all slaves to one thing or another. You're bound to becoming the leader of your clutter, there is no fighting that."

"I'm not fighting it, right now I'm wanting to save my family and my girls. If you wish for privacy, I ask you one last time to give me the answers."

"What answers?"

"How do I stop him? How do I make sure he doesn't come back again? How do I do that and save my family from his spooky tower?"

Raz locked eyes with her. "You can't. I've been trying to change him for a long time, I've been trying to change myself. He's devoted... that's all I wish to say."

"Really? You're not expecting a sort of rescue from him?"

"It is nightfall, it is likely he believes I am dead."

"I'm thinking of negotiation, your life for our own."

Raz shook his head. "He'd rather take my life if it comes to that."

"Is your blood that disgusting and selfish that he refuses to save his own kin?"

Raz slowly looked away, busying his mind with painful thoughts. "I saw you looking after them in the carriage. Tucking your sister in, keeping her safe. Displaying maternal instincts through acts of compassion. Yet you're Monsters..."

His breathing began to pick up as his voice cracked, ruining his speech as his eyes shut tight and he forced a rather large lump down his throat. He sucked in his breath and held it until his face began to turn red before releasing it, his fingers flexing and cramping. He swallowed his pain and opened his eyes, forcing his original serious composure to return.

"As if he would lower himself to help the likes of me. Bugger off and leave me to my solitude so I alone may grovel in disgrace. I am nothing but a broken tool to him, don't expect any value from me. I didn't want this, I had no desire for any of this. Only the compassion from my blood, only to receive neglect. His faith is his drive, his goal, his saving grace. And I am but an obstacle to his faith, a stain to his pride and a product of sin. He won't weep for me or care for me, no one has. I cannot help you because I cannot help myself, I... I'm not well." He muttered, staring at the dirt between them and silently cursing himself.

Dimyri had stood by with an awed expression, a look of shock as he was sharing. Looking back, it was naive to expect an enemy to willfully betray their camp for their own safety. But he feels he has no camp, no family. No one to weep for his presence and fight for his return.

"And I thought I have daddy issues." She walked up to him until she was all he could see, staring face to face with an iron stare in her eyes. "I'm sorry to know that, and I'm sorry to have to dig deeper. My faith, my goal is to rescue my loved ones and be rid of that Monster pursuing us. Whatever it takes to save my clutter, I can't take your words in faith and feel sympathy for you. I feel your pain, but you tried apprehending my sister earlier. I need to ensure your words are true and your pain is real."

She paused, her eyes turning back as she struggled to choose the right words. What do you say when you have hundreds of lives depending on you, and you're compassion to a prisoner is met with resistance? It's nightfall, tonight may be the last opportunity to rest comfortably.

"Nothing personal Raz, but you're fighting for the wrong person. I hope you know that."

She turned her back on him, approaching the exit and abiding to his wish of solitude. Raz watched her leave, wondering what to do next, what should his move be? He turned to study the rope around his limbs before sighing and lowering his head, his spirit crushed and waning.

"It's all I ever known."

Dimyri pushed the tent flap away as she exited, finding Janette waiting for her by the fire with a book in hand and a cat on her lap. "I told you to find my sister."

Janette pointed to the feline resting on her legs. "She's snoring happily, cute girl. Learn of anything?"

"A lot actually, but I need your book for verification. I have questions."

Janette opened her book and shrugged. "We have answers, shoot."