Connection

[Red Raven Witch]

To be lucky is one thing, Enya believed this wasn't luck- it was fate. What a strange and bitter fate it was, but in the end she was alive. Breathing heavily she looked back at the closed off area she was in. It seemed to be a sort of garden, a greenhouse in the sky, which was now just grass and rubble from the explosion about a mile away. It had shaken the structure, though thankfully it all didn't come down. A part of the wall had blocked the exit from the room she and many others had been in only a few minutes ago.

It was still sort of fuzzy to her, it had just all happened so quickly she couldn't think strait. Then, when the ground started to shake and the room fell apart a bit she was sure she would be crushed by something, and in that moment everything just became a blur as she only thought about the people she would miss and never be able to say goodbye to. Now, in this strange turn of events, she was in the small garden room with no way for her captures to get to her quickly.

With the dust settling she coughed, laying down to calm down as well. Her heart was still beating so quickly and she was out of breath. The sun shown brightly though the cloud of settling dust, off in the distance alarms were going off, but they were muffled by the stone and steal. Laying her arm across her eyes to shield out the sun she realized she was holding something tightly in her hand. Lifting it up she remembered what she had done. The explosion had set everyone into a frenzy, yet while many were trying to escape, people who hadn't been branded into slavery yet, she grabbed a few devices. Putting many little things into her pockets then seeing this, which he held in her hand now- a slave headband. It gleamed in the sun and her reflection looked back at her within the small band of polished metal. Her pale skin, now covered in dust, dirt, and sweat seemed to go a bit paler. Her long red hair stuck to her face and neck while her blue eyes widened.

She had seen the codes to hook up to one before, had watched the one or two people who had sadly gotten theres on before the explosion took place, she knew how to use it but she still wasn't sure what to do with it. It had just felt right to grab it, but now she wasn't sure what to do with it. Right now it felt evil in her hands and she threw it on the ground, quickly sitting up and watching it fly away from her.
The mettle clinked and clacked across the tile walkway though the garden until it hit something. With the dust now gone she saw it had stopped when it hit a body.
Without a second thought Enya got up, running over to see one of the very few Luric people she had seen. It was the first time seeing one, and if she hadn't been in this terrifying situation she might have been excited. It was rare to see them and survive, seeing as how they weren't the most friendliest beings on the face of the planet. They were described to her once as animals, not thinking and rather fighting to survive. Savages compared to her kind, to everyone's kind; some of the lowest beings of the low, yet she didn't picture them to look so human.

In her mind she pictured primates, really hairy and ugly, but he wasn't either, even though he was much larger than her. Much, much larger! Even Enya, the smallest in her village, had never felt so small before in her life. And as she gazed upon the large being she saw he was breathing, he was alive! Some relief washed over her until she realized that she might have a beast on her hands, more life threatening than the ones who kidnapped her.

Stepping away from him she started to look for a way out, finding one on the other side of the room. It was a large door, yet when she tried to push the button to open it the door wouldn't budge. The power supply must have been cut off when the explosion happened...but it was her only way out! Looking around she saw metal rods from the fallen structure, and when taking them she tried to pry the door open, which ended in sore hands and no real results.
It was then the headband came back into mind. After thinking about it she pushed aside morals, any that were left at this moment in time, and picked it up from beside the fallen Luric. Only a few minutes later did she finally have it on and a slight guilt was having to be swallowed at this point. She didn't like the thought of enslaving someone, but she wanted to get home and she didn't want to die. He probably didn't either! No, he wouldn't dare hurt her and he could help. He could pry the doors open, he could fight whatever may come her way, she needed him- no guilt was going to ruin her chances of living.

Taking a deep breath she checked to see that he wasn't hurt anywhere, and when she realized a rock or something must have just him on the head she sighed. "Alright. . .Wake up." Her commanding voice shook and she sounded more hesitant than commanding, as if she was rather asking him to wake up than telling him to. When he didn't do it the first time she frowned and said in a louder, now more harsh voice- "Wake up!"

[Inara]

Ketak's eyes shot open, as suddenly his mind seemed to become stimulated. There was a numbing pain from the gigantic stone that had smacked him in the back of the head in the explosion, but this was something different. It had an odd sharpness to it. It subsided quickly as he awakened, but neither of these painful sensations were of much concern to the Luric warrior. He had been taught to see pain as merely the body's warning system. It was important, but one was to take it as the warning that it was and overcome it. To give in to pain was a sign of weakness.

The young Luric sat up and smiled a little to himself. Not bad for a bunch of 'degenerates,' or whatever it was the traders called us, he thought smugly. He had been bought from the slave market that very day. But a small group of the slaves had found a tiny explosive device. They had set it off at the perfect time, right when those spoiled Riumthans had least expected it, right before they were to be sold and branded by their new owners.

Ketak glared at the scene around him, taking in every detail, every possible escape route. It was clear there were none. But there was a more pressing problem. His hand touched his forehead and felt something that seemed to be cloth. No. Madak! How could I have been so careless?! How? I.. The Luric warrior remembered the tiny female he had seen as he took in his surroundings. She had seemed so insignificant. But now he looked at her again, and the small matching color on her arm. The formidable man jumped to his feet, towering above the girl. He stood at around 203 centimeters (6 feet, 8 inches), while this strange diminutive female appeared to just barely touch 150.

"What have you done! You petaQ! How dare you!" he screamed, as his hand reached out towards her neck, preparing to slam her against the stone wall, to somehow take that controller from her.

[Red Raven Witch]

Enya had watched him, watched him smile a bit but never even notice her. Confused she watched him in curiosity, that is, until he did notice her and went to reach for her. If there was one thing Enya was good at when it came to physical things it was evading. Running away, hiding, dodging- her body type was light, small and rather flexible. So as she was about to be grabbed she bent back, dodging his hand and stepping away from him, all the while yelling "STOP! Don't move!" Out of arms reach she stared at him, trying to get into a mind set of authority despite being afraid of him on a whole new level.

"You know what I put on you right?" She asked, hiding her arm with the data on it. The whole band looked nothing more than an accessory when just sitting there, but when active it was like a small computer. It could only do so much, and the one important thing was connect the two of them.
"I put that headband on you so you wouldn't get any ideas. Now you listen! We are going to help each other get out of here. You are going to help me home and I'll take that thing off of you. And don't you get any wise ideas either! If I die you die too. If you don't listen to me you die, and if try and run away your life will end as well." She just wanted to get into his head that she was his life source now. Did she feel happy about it? Of course not, she was freaked out now that he had just tried to grab her. And what did a petaQ mean anyway? Whatever it was Enya guessed it wasn't a good thing to be called.

Looking up at him she held her ground, letting what she said sink in for him before saying once more- "You can't kill me. I want to survive as much as you do, but we need to work together now....I'm the only one who can take that off of you so just work with me. We can find a transporter and get to land, but we need those doors open." Pointing to the metal doors with the rod sticking in the two of them where she had tried so desperatly to get out by herself.

[Inara]

The warrior's movement did not stop immediately, though it did immediately began to feel restricted, as though he were moving through water. What he did feel, however, was a searing pain when he tried to move towards the female again. He stood up straight and stopped moving, and almost immediately the pain subsided. He already knew all of the information she told him about it. The traders had already told them this from the beginning. He and two other slaves had plotted this whole explosion to avoid having these things placed on them. Did she really assume he was so stupid as not to remember? Well, yes, probably. They all did. Their arrogance was part of their weakness. But he said nothing. Talking required moving, you see, and the headband was not keen on letting him do that. Besides, he listened, for perhaps this girl would reveal something he did not already know.

For one thing, It was obvious from her body language that she was afraid of him, as well she should be. His dark-brown eyes glowed with a white-hot hatred for this tiny female, whose neck he could have easily snapped, were it not for this damned Riumthan device. He was not afraid of a little pain. Luric boys and girls experienced great pain in the Gersa, a coming of age ritual in which children became men and women, honorable warriors for their clan. However, he was ashamed at the prospect of dying a prisoner of this tiny girl. And he knew that's what he was now; her prisoner, her slave, the one thing he had been trying to avoid. The funny thing was, had she asked to work with him as an equal, he would have been happy to help her escape this cursed city. No one deserved the dishonorable life of a slave. What infuriated him was not that she wanted his help, but that she was willing to steal his freedom, and his honor; that she was willing to take his help by force, instead of merely asking for it.

But seeing as they had the same goal, he would oblige her wishes... for now. Ketak nodded curtly and took a step towards the doors. But the device would not even let him have the freedom of those small motions. The last command it registered was "don't move." It had not registered her new implied request, that he move the debris from the doors, as a command, and therefore it would not let him move to do it. Gritting his teeth, Ketak glared at the female and spoke.

"If you want me to move the stones blocking the exit, then perhaps you should let this thing allow me to move, you idiot," the Luric mumbled, completely ignoring the pain that even moving to speak caused him. The young warrior made sure to phrase his words in this strange Ruimthan language, thanking the gods that he had secretly picked a lot of it up in his tribe's travels. He had heard for many years that the Ruimthan dogs might capture them, so he had learned their language as a precaution in case it ever happened. In any case, she would certainly understand the insult. But, he would not make any other comment on what she had said about controlling him. There was no point, and he knew it. Besides, as humiliating as it was, it was far more prudent to comply at least until they left this market garden.

[Red Raven Witch]

Enya wanted to glare, but felt that her glare would be like a baby throwing punches compared to his which burned into her and made her want to flench away. Of course she didn't, and instead gave him the order to move the blocks. Realizing this was going to be hard to remember she decided to think of it as a game. They were playing simon says or mother may I. She had to give different orders after ordering him around. If it was something like 'move the bricks' then once he did it he was free to just walk around and do as he wished. . .okay, not all that he wished, but the idea was still there.

"Move the bricks and open the door." She commanded, her voice now back to it's normal soft tone. Making sure she was out of his way she kept her eyes on him, watching him as he moved and did his work. While he worked she remembered a few things about the armband, but would wait until late to use it. Maybe she could do it while they slept. . .that is, if they would get out to have another night of rest.

"Once the bricks are moved we head down the right all, then left, and there should be a room with a transporter." She was now speaking more to herself than to him, remembering a small map she had seen only a few hours ago. She hadn't had anything better to do, and remembered landmarks near each transporter. Sadly she didn't know what else was around here.

[Inara]

Ketak did as he was told, though his face wore a cold scowl as he lifted the heavy blocks and threw them out of the way. He could only imagine doing the same to this arrogant female, who appeared much lighter than some of these stones. The warrior knew this needed to be done, but his fury was at being forced to do it, at being treated like a slave. One by one, he threw, or in some cases rolled, the gigantic stones and other debris out of the way of the door. Once they were off this blasted city, he would steal the bracelet from her and find a way disable it. To be held a prisoner by a piece of cloth! His clan high priest would likely advise him to commit ritual suicide if he knew. What had he done for the gods to fate him with such dishonor?

At one point in this long process, Ketak tried to stop and take a break to catch his breath for a moment. But as soon as he had stopped moving for even half a minute, the pain started again. This was infuriating. On the other hand, there could be a silver lining to this unfortunate situation. Ketak was well aware of the racism against the Luric people in the Ruimthan lands. It was impossible not to be, after the cruelty the new slaves had endured in the past few days. Someone who looked like him could never get through the city without being noticed. Perhaps this cursed headband would be a good disguise to avoid the authorities. But she didn't have to turn it on, he thought coldly, as another jolt of pain seared through him.

Finally, it was finished. Any normal man's muscles would have ached from that long work, but Ketak was no normal man. He was a Luric warrior, already starting to gain respect in his tribe despite his youth. Such minor fatigue was irrelevant to him. He pulled the doors open and began to walk through. Then he remembered the disguise point, and the minor problem of the device killing him if he strayed too far.

“Well, come on then. Let's get out of here,” he ordered, his voice absolutely frigid. with that, the Luric man walked through the doors and expected the young female to follow before he got too far. Even though he knew any sort of equality here was an illusion, Ketak was not going to just submit himself to be treated as a slave. He would act like they were partners until forced to do otherwise.

[Red Raven Witch]

Quickly following after him Enya kept out of arms reach of him but made sure to keep up so he wouldn't be in pain. Unsure of how far they could be apart she didn't want to take any chances. With every step he too Enya took about three, doing her best to keep her pace and distance the same.

"Turn left." She pointed, down the hall they turned, finding another door. "I have this one." pulling out her own little object she plugged it into the door, which lead out to a large open area and then to the transporter. This door needed a key card, yet her code breaking made the card unneeded.

"Listen, there are macnos in there. They must have been put out here to catch any captors that escaped." Macnos were large robots, made for fighting and killing. Right now Enya believed they were used just to recapture them, though she wasn't planing on getting caught again. Looking up at the guy she asked "You can take them right?" Looking back down at what she was doing she continued. "Before I open this door we can stop and find weapons if you can't take them with your bare hands." Despite herself she smiled, thinking of the very idea that someone could destroy macnos with their bare hands. It would really be a sight to see.

[Inara]

Ketak looked down at the female as she mentioned the macnos. He had seen those beasts in action. They were cold, ruthlessly efficient, and nearly invincible. They might have been useful in battle, but it was most dishonorable to have mechanical beasts fight your battles for you. Where was the glory in that?! Though admittedly, he expected nothing better from these Ruimthan swine. And he had to admit, while there was no honor in having these beasts fight for you, there was also no honor in dying against them because one was too arrogant to get weapons. Besides, he would happily turn the gun on this female, the size of a Luric child, once they were out of the domain of the much larger wolves.

“Female, I assure you I could very likely take these beasts with my bare hands, but it would be downright foolish to try if weapons are so readily available. I hope you actually know where the weapons are stored around here.” He looked up at the corner and his excellent vision caught a tiny glint in the light. He was unsure what those were called, but he had heard they could record the happenings of the area around them. “We need to hurry. I'm sure their magic hunting devices are tracking us as we speak.”

[Red Raven Witch]

Enya almost giggled out loud when he said 'magic hunting devices' yet knew this was no time to giggle. "You have a very good point. We don't have much time to waste." Quickly stopping what she was doing she turned around, having him follow her down and to the right this time. It didn't take long until they were in a dimly lit room, filled with scraps of metal. Some rusted, some new, but all were not as powerful as whatever the Ruimthans had.

"Oh, my taser!" Running though the small rows she spotted the device her father had made her. It worked to stun such beings as macons if she could get close enough without killing them, or at least that's what it would have to be now for she couldn't fire it. The only way she would be able to stop them even for a moment or two was to get behind them. Macons were easily distracted, anything that moved or made sound they would attack or shoot at. Each one of them would join in, so in a way they weren't very bright at times. Seeing it that way, maybe she would have a chance to sneak up behind one. . .though she rather not try it out.

"Where are your weapons? I'll help you find them. What do they look like?" For the moment Enya had forgotten about how he tried to attack her and how she had pretty much made him her guard dog, not that she enjoyed thinking about it in the first place.

[Inara]

The Luric did not really have their own weapons, besides bows and arrows, and other things that could be made from wood, stone, and a small amount of metal. They were on the move too much to forge anything else. Knowing that their own weapons were too weak against most adversaries, they mostly pillaged, stole, traded, and bartered whatever they could from the settlements they passed. Thus, Ketak had used weapons ranging from the bow, to the sword, all the way up to some that were almost as strong as what the Ruimthans had. At the time he had been captured, the young warrior had owned something resembling a semi-automatic rifle, looted from a fallen enemy whom he had managed to shoot from behind with his arrow. Of course, to sneak and attack from behind, and for that matter, to use the more advanced weapons of the cowards they fought, had been considered dishonorable for many generations, and still was by some of the other clansmen, but against enemies with such greater technology, there was little else the once proud Luric could do if they wanted to survive. They had once numbered in the thousands, and now they were down to only a few hundred members. At some point, some of their former concepts of honor had been sacrificed for the sake of survival.

In any case, Ketak did not see his old prize here. But there were other interesting options. He eyed another rifle that looked like it worked similarly to his own, but appeared to be more advanced, including some different settings. I will have to try these ... strange switches later, he thought. Picking up the sleek black object, he conveniently found a cache of bullets that appeared to match tucked neatly under the gun. Slinging it over his shoulder without so much as a word, for quite frankly, while they had an uneasy alliance at the moment, he was still not eager to share his thoughts with this female who had chosen to brand him like an animal, he turned and left the armory, expecting the girl to follow. In his mind, she was as dishonorable as the Ruimthans were, except she was weaker, and for the moment, less dangerous, but that did not mean he would so easily accept this state once they were out of danger.