Capture

Cathlinn sat on the hound's back as she followed the few council men ever and their soldiers down the road. The ocean hadn't left their left and the breeze that came off of it was almost refreshing. Cathlinn shivered and pulled the cloak around her tighter as she watched their backs. "You're uneasy," the hound hummed.

"Of course I am," she muttered. "I'm alone with strangers."

"I am here with you," he stated.

"And you know exactly what I want you to do if something happens," she patted its neck and it flicked its skin a bit.

"To run to your guards and tell them," it replied. "You don't trust these people so why travel with them."

"To show good faith," Cathlinn replied. "It's what matters."

"You're speaking time the air again," Briskebar asked.

Cathlinn looked over and motioned to the hound lazy, "These creatures create a mental link with their riders. I tactfully acquired him after an assassination attempt."

"Or I chose you as my new rider," it snorted and Briskebar flinched.

"You should have rode a horse. Such a beastly creature doesn't compliment the elegance of women," he sniffed.

"I don't look for elegance," Cathlinn rolled her eyes and faced forward. "I look for something that moves easily. It's just a bonus that it can fight as well."

"A woman doesn't-"

"Tell me what a woman should and shouldn't do again," Cathlinn snarled. The hound growled with her and dig up clumps of earth with every step. "I may be smaller and weaker but I have the experience and mind to keep up."

"Yet you'll break in silence," the hound chortled. Cathlinn lightly slapped its shoulder and glared down at it.

"We shall see," Briskebar pulled ahead, the horse refusing to get closer than two feet to the hound.

Trees and cliffs greeted them and Cathlinn looked around curiously. These trees were purpled and blues, not the normal greens she had seen before. The hound stopped and snorted, pulling her attention. "They've sped up unreasonably," he noted. Cathlinn stiffened and put her hand on the hilt of her blade.

"Keep an eye," she cried out, reaching and grabbing at her back. There had been no noise, no sign of aggression and yet there was a knife in her side.

"I'm sorry," Cathlinn stared at the younger council member, her eyes widening. She drew the blade as the hound roared and twisted, hitting the man back with its tail. She looked around quickly and held the blade up as a chain wrapped around it and wrenched it from her hands. The hound grabbed the chain and slammed the sword into the ground as it crouched down.

"The saddle will throw you off," it snarled. "I need you off." Cathlinn didn't hesitate to slide down, grabbing the sword and standing up quickly. A second knife met her side, connecting blade tip to blade tip inside her body. She grunted and stabbed down. The man slid from her sword, leaving the knife where it was.

He was shabby in dress, his face masked by cloth. Cathlinn was pulled to the side by the hound, another man dressed just like the first landing where she had been.

"You know the drill," she snapped. The hound hesitated and glanced at her blindly before taking off. Cathlinn blocked the man's path as more stepped from around the trees behind him. "Come at me fuckers."

"Such vulgar language for such a fine lady," a man launched at her and she stepped into his space, slamming her forehead to his nose and making him stumble. Her blade stopped another from digging its business end into her and she angled her blade. It slid across the man's throat and she flinched from the warmth that splattered her face. A chain wrapped around her, pinning her arms to her side and forcing the tip of the blade against her throat. Cathlinn tried to focus, her hands shaking as the men closed in.

One produced iron cuffs and another an iron collar. It had her freeze as her eyes widened to twice their size. Slavers were a thing here she had to remind herself. Mei had even said so in her statement against the man she was working with. It was how she had been forced into the business she was in.

Her heart began to race and she couldn't even cry out as the pressure built. It gave the the room they needed as her hands were cuffed and the collar was locked in place. The panic sparked her adrenaline and she pushed her body forward, slamming her head into one of them. Her knee came up and hit another. She was shoved off balance, her face meeting the dirt as the blade sliced into her a bit.

"Fiery," one snickered. "She'll be fun to break don't you think?"

"Keep it down," Cathlinn was lifted up and the blade was thrown from her hands. She kicked out at them, gasping for air as her mind went blank in fear.

Water was thrown over her head and she gasped, lurching forward and stumbling from the pain in her side. "Wake up, 507," a voice sang. "We have buyers interested in you. I have to clean you up again."

"Don't fucking touch me," Cathlinn croaked and it only made the man laugh. He was dressed in vibrant purples, his whole attire gaudy and meaning to make him look larger. The coat hung past his knees and his top hat had a lush peacock feather in it.

"Such a tongue," he cooed as he knelt. He grabbed her face, pulling her forward. A sharp sting came from her throat and she struggled to scream, the taste of copper and the liquid that produced it bubbling up into her mouth. "It'd be better if you didn't speak, I would hate to have to send you to an early grave."

Cathlinn's hand shot to her throat as he stepped away and she held the wound closed, spitting out what blood bubbles up there. Her chest was squeezing, making it hard for her to breath as she tried to figure out what to do. The man just watched as she tore a piece of her shirt off, tying it around the wound as tightly as she could without choking herself. "My, what a quick one," he hummed. "You won't die, I can't have my best product keeling over before the auction now can I?"

Cathlinn glared up at him, wanting to trip him up and beat the light out of his eyes. If she did she'd only get hurt again. Not only that, but she'd lose more blood and she knew that would just make her pass out. "Let's be smart about this now, hm? We can even edit each other," the man sang. "You're from Cavidiar and I have so many questions. My ring there was wiped out thanks to some new policy and I want to know what sparked it."

Cathlinn couldn't help but laugh nervously at the man. His eyebrow rose and he lifted her face by her chin. "You know something, dearest?"

Cathlinn wheezed and grinned in a bravado she didn't have, "I sparked that." The knife in his hand slid across her cheek, leaving a deep gash as his smile fell. Cathlinn kept her mouth shut, looking the man in the eyes and taking in the violet ringed gray. Red hair, skin seeming to flutter underneath the surface, this man wasn't human and it just took one glance.

"Cheeky," he sniffed. "A mere peasant girl sparked a whole investigation and upheaval of a business."

"Go sit on a dick," Cathlinn grimaced at her throat and the man's smile returned, surrounded by dimples and excess smile lines.

"Vulgar women are sent to do vulgar things. All it takes is a small push," he mused. She blinked and her face paled as he let go of her and stood again. He turned and ordered a few solemn looking women to do something in another language. Cathlinn stared at the ground and grit her teeth as they forced her up and began cutting her clothes away from her body.