The Tainted Victory After many weeks of drunken venting at the pub, marking maps, searching old scent trails, and mulling over plans until their eyes grew bloodshot and sunken, Lieutenant Corrus and Colonel Bartosz had finally secured a substantial set of leads in the form of blubbering Saoran smugglers. An utterly sloshed fool, more liquor in his veins than blood or sense in his brain, practically fell over himself to snitch on a new 'catch' he'd heard of within Iverness. "Real beaut'ful dames they was if ye' ask me - pair o' red-assed babes," he croaked before chugging back his glass and ordering another, "'S wand'ah how Dry shacked 'em up... 'ear ones even got a bump in price, the fuck'ah! Why ye' blokes asking, huh? You thinkin' o' buyin'? "It'd taken some work—enough alcohol to kill a country - but eventually, the scrawny male agreed to setting up a meeting between this Dry and two potential buyers. Granted, they were walking into dangerous territory, trusting a man who lied for a living to not double cross them, and the added risk of Jacob's forces catching wind of two Imperials so close to their fortress. Sylvain had outlined as such to Obsidian on their way to, but the determination in his eyes was enough to wipe doubt from her aching heart: They would bring both of the girls back, dead or alive. It was worth it. As they neared the meeting place, Sylvain's eyes canvassed every bit of rubble and forest before them. This site was a long way from the rest of civilization, surrounded by dense forestry and tangling shrubbery. It'd been a long and dreadfully quiet journey, aside from the occasional discussion of their plan... But this felt like the best time to say her final words to him before they'd be forced to play the part of malicious clients. "
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N He had been mentally preparing himself for what this meeting would mean to them all. He told himself tha5 he would be cordial to the dealer, or whatever he was called. He would act cool and reserved, but if and when he saw Badari - if she was wounded in a way that seemed torture had taken place - he would lose his shit and kill the bastard right there on the spot. He didn't know the other female that Sylvain had mentioned, but he was going to save her too. Any and all soldiers needed to come home. He could not stop himself from thinking that if he and Leoric would have switched places, she never would have been taken. It ate at him. Wanting to keep in a calmer mindset, he gave a nod to his female partner. He took steady breathes and made sure he was not showing any outward emotions.
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How long had it been...
Badari had lost count of the days as they passed but she knew winter had come from the chill in the air. Her hope had run out, she expected she would die here eventually when no buyers came to claim her. Maybe her captor had been too expectant of her; he claimed she would sell for a high price but she'd not seen a single face in this place save for him and his guards. And Beatrix. That fiery woman was her saving grace when it came down to it, without her here she might have very well lost it by now. A traumatic bond had formed between them, at least on her side, and she felt drawn to her in a way she could not imagine being drawn to anyone else. Only Beatrix knew what this had been like. Only Beatrix knew what they had gone through. Nobody else. She shifted her gaunt figure, the feeling of her too-heavy skin a burden against her body. She was exhausted in every way possible. Her mind, body and soul ached for freedom and sadly she was beginning to think that her last day of that had been on the battlefield. What would happen to her, to Beatrix, if someone actually showed up to 'buy' them. She could only imagine all the horrible things she might be forced to do and it began sending her into a spiral just as she heard paw steps in the distance. The familiar clicking of claws and that voice. That voice she'd come to hate filled the air. A low rumble vibrated in her chest as she nudged Beatrix with her paw. "He's coming. And he's not alone," she warned. This might be it... She was emaciated, weak, and her spirit had been broken in a way she'd never thought possible but she was still ready to fight the moment that door opened. She would not let this bastard sell her to some other monster. She would rather die. And that was where her resolve settled before two familiar faces walked through that door. "What the fuck?" she nearly whispered. Her eyes were round as saucers as she looked Obsidian and Sylvain up and down, as if she were seeing them for the first time in her life. Her heart shuddered in her chest and her gaze flickered to Drystan. Hope. Hope filled her for the first time in weeks and she nearly broke. It took everything in her not to. "Badari Tiamat speaking." |
TABLE BY AMPHI |