[Flashback] What's New Pussycat? (Ren)

[Kye Rivers]

The girl appeared to be considering her answer very carefully, so Kye was prepared to hear more lies. It was no matter, though. She could have said elephant or hummingbird and he still wasn’t going to relax his guard more than he already had. Her answer, when it came in a calm voice, seemed refreshingly truthful. It certainly would account for Gem’s overt hostility. She was holding his eyes as she spoke, but in that cat like way of seeming to stare through you more than at you. Kye returned the look with his own, still frank gaze. Whatever he had to say, his eyes sent a clear message that he wasn’t messing around. He was dead serious. He didn’t care what spin she wanted to put on this. He just wanted to make sure that she understood, and hopefully would see the wisdom of compliance. “Lies have a shitty way of getting you killed,” he said matter-of-factly. “Best be careful who you tell them to.” For a moment, a shadow of some memory darkened his eyes and hardened the lines of his face. But he moved on quickly. “I’m going to tell the rest of this party what you are, and to watch you carefully, but not to mess with you. I won’t put up with that sort of thing in any of my caravans - I tell my clients that right up front. You have permission to rip the face off of any bastard that tries anything stupid along those lines.” He paused, and his expression became speculative. “Against your will, this is. What you choose to do, as far as that goes, is your business. I’m only concerned about making sure we all have an uneventful night. You’re smart. I’m sure you get my meaning.” Kye nodded to one of the tents. “That one’s mine. You’re welcome to use it. Wherever you end up, I’m not going to be too far away. I don’t trust you. Don’t take it personally. It’s just business as usual, for me.” Once more he gave her a look as if he was taking some mental inventory of her. Whatever he was looking for, it seemed he wasn’t finding it, and he quickly finished up with, “Food’ll be ready soonish. If you prefer yours raw, help yourself. Someone’ll be happy to hack you off a chunk.” He nodded at the knife on her belt. “I’m going to have to ask you to give that to me, for now.” Reaching for the pouch at his belt, he withdrew a strip of braided rawhide. “Come here and hold your hair up.”

[Renalee]

The evening which had so rapidly deteriorated for the young Kelvic, didn’t seem to be looking any better despite her first actually honest statement. Kye didn’t appear to be any more impressed than he had been with anything else she had told him so far. Either she was really bad at lying and gaining trust and sympathy or the man simply didn’t care at all. The girl couldn’t think of anything else to do so she resigned herself to sticking to the most recently chosen course of action - honesty.

Ren listened carefully as he continued giving his instructions and explaining how their arrangement was going to work in the same even, uninterested tone of voice he had spoken for most of the evening in. The only time she looked away from Kye’s face was when her eyes sought out his tent. Well, if she was forced to spend the night in his camp she might as well be comfortable. The man could sleep under the stars for all she cared, if he had offered his tent she was going to take it.

The tent and the food - that was as far as good news went. From then on things quickly deteriorated. One moment Kye had been talking about her freely going around the camp (ok, he’d be following her, but she could just as easily ignore him) and the next he was demanding she give up her dagger. Spitefully Ren noted he wasn’t making any move to drop off his own weapon. Her hand flew towards the sheath of her knife and she would have told him in what way exactly he could hope to get its blade if her eyes hadn’t fallen on what Kye had pulled out of his pouch.

“Come here and hold your hair up.”

Emerald orbs widened as she took a quick step back and away from the man. Her back arched a little, her expression turning stormy. Her whole posture was reminiscent that of a bristling cat whose tale had just be stepped on. Did this Human really think... how dare he! Her small frame shook with barely contained anger. He had escorted her with an arrow aimed at her back like some sort of criminal. He had humiliated her, had been rude and unreasonable and all of that without any of her own actions towards him having merited such treatment.

“If you think that I will let you collar me like some sort of pet you’re sorely mistaken, Human.” His race was spat out, as if an insult, Ren’s eyes attempting to drill holes in the man’s skull. “I have done nothing, but what you have asked of me and showed no hostility towards you or your company and you’ve treated me like a murderer and now - something less than you. I’m not some unintelligent beast you can tie up and leave by your tent. Don’t think that I won’t fight you, if I have to! Your men will take me down eventually, but not before I’ve made you pay for my life with your own.” It felt like the more she spoke the angrier she got and by the end of it the words were coming out as barely understandable hisses.

Ren had never been one to really wish a human harm. Standing in the middle of this hostile camp, one hand clutching her dagger’s sheath and the other its hilt, she wouldn’t mind at all if she could see Kye’s blood spill on the fresh snow.

[Kye Rivers]

Kye gave her an annoyed look. “Calm down. I’m not going to tie you up. I just don’t want you shifting. Not until my party is safely on its way. And that won’t be til tomorrow. So, until then . . . “ With a jerk of his chin, he indicated what she seemed to have lost track of – the other men who were, to a one, now watching the proceedings with avid interest. Men who were all well armed. He then held the strip of leather out a bit. “Your choice,” he said, giving her a very pointed look. If she shifted in that instant, he figured her clothes would give her at least some minor problems, and hinder her movements, as a beast. Hopefully enough to give him time to loose an arrow into her. If not, well, the others would surely bring her down quickly. That wasn’t what he wanted. But if she was going to act like a brainless cub, well, it wouldn’t be the first time he’d had to do something unpalatable just because someone else made a bad decision. For a moment it seemed they were at a stand off. Kye kept watching her, and he saw the alarm underlying the anger. He wasn’t happy about any of this either. But life wasn’t always pleasant, was it? “Look,” he said, his tone still even. “I don’t think you’re a murderer. You’d be dead already if I truly thought that. But I can’t afford to take the chance that I’m wrong. And, I don’t think of you as a lesser being.” He paused and considered telling her. If this was some trust issue, as it sure seemed to be, what could it hurt? He’d never see her again after tomorrow. If establishing some small patch of common ground would help, what was there to lose, in the telling? “My father was a kelvic. My brother too. And they were both murdered, by a hunter.” He was careful to keep his voice neutral, regardless of what he felt, inside, at the sound of that simple, bald statement. “So I really do not want to hurt you. Just let me put this on you, and on my father and brother’s souls, I promise you, I’ll let you go tomorrow, unharmed – as long as you behave yourself.”