Flashback Mistaken Reputation(Kaie)

[Duce Hazimari]

Fall 23 Riverfall 511AV Riverfall was now pulling into the middle of fall as Duce walked down the street watching as the leaves changed color and fell to the ground. He was always fascinated by nature, the calmness and quiet sound that it continually made. Today though he had to focus on something else far more important than the leaves and the tree. He was going to train for the Zith hunt that he would be accompanying when he finally turned thirty years of age that he would kill with his Lakan. The word echoed through his mind sending good vibrations through out his body. "Hey there baby fox!" He heard someone call out. He hated that nickname with a burning passion. Duce Hazimari ;Born into the Hazimari family tree which was known for their superb fighting skill among the Akalak. That was what most of the elder Akalak, Konti, and anyone esle old enough knew him by. To everyone else he was known as ;Baby fox, son of the most notorious con artist in Riverfall.Not wanting to be rude, Duce nodded his head signalling that he noticed them, Turning a corner and continuing his journey to a Sellssword that he heard was intown. To think that he had been in Riverfall, and had never heard or seen the name of the store that was spreading around faster than an arrow. He hopped that they were still open. Finally getting around to the location of the business, Duce started to walk toward the owner but soon got turned away by the look upon the faces of men that stood with the owner. "Excuse me miss? Do you know if that is the Sellsword? Duce asked a young girl standing not too far from where he first stopped.He glance back over to the business to see that the owner had left and the men were now giving him more intense glares. He didn't know who they were, but they were starting to freak him out. It was two years until he would make his Lakan, couldn't they wait until then to try and gang up on him? He tapped the girl on the shoulder and asked his question again now that he felt he had her attention. He didn't know what it was, maybe it was the glares that he was getting, but something was making him uncomfortable and he didn't like it.

[Kaie]

Petch was she tired! It seemed that just as she got off the damn boat, Keritan was already dragging her through the city streets of Riverfall. Far more adept to the nature of unpredictable seas and the unsettling rocking of the ship, her father hardly seemed phased by the journey. Kaie on the other hand had found her stomach lurching on several occasions. She had gotten to the point where even the salty smell of the water in the air could make her feel sick. So quickly was she finding herself longing for the perilous Kanduktu Basin. More so she had never been so overjoyed to see land.

For what it was worth, the city itself was beautiful. The waterfall was a towering beast, loud with rushing water from city to sea. It was awe-spiring really and for once she didn't loathe the idea of a barbarian city. She remembered how quickly she was taken aback with the completely new style of architecture. Yet what really stunned her the most were Riverfall's inhabitants. Towering men of blues, greens, purples, and reds strolling about the land. Keritan had told her once of the stoic and disciplined colored men of Riverfall. Those were just stories and nothing could compare to the striking reality. Kaie was for once speechless. Following her father closely like a lost puppy, gazing about like she could see for the first time in her life. Never had she felt so out of place.

Eventually her father had paused along the busy street and turned to her. Keritan eyed her sternly, commanding her to wait right where she stood until his return. As soon as she agreed he was gone. Entering some nearby building with a more serious look on his face. When they first arrived, Keritan had made a bee line for one of his old friends. Though the Akalak's name did escape her, she could recall the friendly, joyful expression on the blue man's face. The way he hugged her father and clapped him over the back as old comrades do. Was that the connection he had left her today to meet? If it was, it was an awfully different mood than before.

Kaie sighed and leaned against a nearby wall, trying to ignore the curious glances at her. It was hard for her not to pay attention to the eyes that stared at her. She felt like some sort of object on display. The fifteen year old sighed deeply, arms folded across her chest. Then suddenly she heard a voice. The Myrian girl almost jumped a bit at the sound. She hadn't expected anyone to really approach her. Especially no one who would inquire about such a person so openly. Kaie cocked her head and quirked a brow at the man. Her expression was a mix of forced boredom and suspicion.

"You'd have to be more specific," She answered in a detached manner, still taken aback someone had paid her much mind at all. Bold brown eyes watched his as they darted about the room. Something about him was odd though. Why in the void was he looking around so much? Kaie could tell something was wrong here, but what?

[Duce Hazimari]

"You have to be more specific." The girls said as she turned around to face him. How could he be anymore specific. "Oh um I was told that there was a new place to buy things and I was looking for it. I went over ther-" Duce looked back over to where he first stood and was instantly filled with fear. The men that were just there only a chime ago were no longer standing there. It could have just been his paranoia, but he felt as if they were watching him for some unknown reason. He looked up and down the street hoping to see them standing talking with friends or other citizens of Riverfall but to no avail. "Something isn't right here" he said aloud as he turned around and began to slowly walk away. The city had gotten quiet, and all of the bustling people of Riverfall began to empty the streets. Doors were being closed and businesses where closing shop. "What is happening here?" Duce turned to ask the girl now thinking that she may have something to do with the odd behavior of the town. "Hey Fox!" Duce heard someone call from behind him. Fox? no one has ever called him fox. Most people that knew his father called him baby fox or fox cub never the actual name. "Where is the stash?" the person demanded. "Stash? What stash? I think you have the wrong person." Duce suggested making sure that he kept his distance away from the large man standing before him. "Just stop petching around and tell us where the stash is." Another man said stepping out from behind a building with two other companions. Great now there were four of them. Seeing that he had no other choice, Duce ran. Or at least tried to run but was grabbed by one of the accusers who surprisingly had a very strong grip. The others jumped in trying and succeeding to take hold of the fighting Akalak. "Enough of this!" were the last things Duce heard before everything went black.

[Kaie]

Oh! Had he meant the Sellsword was an actual store rather than a person? Kaie thought, suddenly realizing her mistake. Of course it all made sense now. She had been so confused as to why an Akalak would inquire with her about such business when it was clear she was as foreign as could be. She almost laughed out loud at her mistake, the tension of the new location escaping her for but a moment. Yet quickly did that moment of calm and looseness fade, apprehension and distrust quickly replacing it. The speaking blue man had quit his talking so suddenly in mid sentence. She could see his eyes. The way they lit up with a fear she could not identify.

He voiced his own feeling of foreboding and they were beginning to rub off on her too. They were standing close. Too close for strangers to stand in almost complete silence for a tick or two. From the outside they might've looked like two friends. That's if they hadn't looked so awkward at the time. She scanned the area, brow arched in confusion. Naturally she hadn't a clue what to look for anyways. All was new to her so how could she tell anything wrong apart from the usual antics of the city? All she could do was look at him with wide eyes and shrug.

That's when the voice came. Loud and sharp, addressing the man with an accusation rather than a greeting. It was unexpected and angry, causing the Myrian girl to stare at the stranger in question. It appeared to her that he was in some sort of trouble. Whether he had stolen or neglected something of importance, she didn't know. What Kaie could see though was that it held some significance. Judging by the aggression of the newer Akalak, Kaie could only hope this guy wasn't the "Fox" he was labeled as. Of course it had no bearing on her though. No consequences either way and more importantly, no repercussions on her end whatever went down. And so Kaie remained, leaned against the wall with her arms crossed and doing her best to ignore them all together. Just wait for her father like a good girl. Apparently, she wasn't exempt from the situation after all.

"Hey! I bet you thought you were all slick back there didn't you? Thought we'd forget!"

It took the Myrian a moment for her to realize the Tukant words were for her. She turned to the man and arched a brow, not comprehending a word he had said to her. Instead she answered in her best Common, hoping it would suffice to expand on her lack of understanding.

"What you say? Not know you tongue." She said in broken Common, hoping he'd catch on and switch to the more familiar language. What she didn't expect was for him to reply with a language she was far more familiar with but one she'd never conversed in with such people. The fist was universal. And it hit her square in the face, bringing a dark curtain of sleep across her world.

[Duce Hazimari]

Duce awaken to what he hoped was water splashing his face. He didn't know where he was let alone how or why he got there, or even why he was hanging from the ceiling with hands a feet bound. He looked around the room to see if he could get a clue or hint of where he possibly could be when a sign reading "Welcome to Riverfall" caught his eye. Well at least he knew that he was still in the city. He moved his wrist first, then his feet to see if he could get any of them loose to no avail, frustrating him, and making him thrash about as if he were a man hanging with a loose around his neck. There was no point. Who ever tied him up, wanted him to be there. He sighed and looked over to his left finally noticing the girl from before tied up just as he was and still unconscious. "Hey. Wake up. Hey you can you hear me? He whispered as loud as he could without bringing any attention to what ever room they were in. He looked up to see what he was suspended on, which seemed to be some sort of hook placed into the ceiling. Using his body weight, Duce swung himself in a wide arc gaining enough momentum to bump into the girl trying to wake her up with no affect. "You're finally awake. About petching time." He heard a voice call out from the shadows. He squinted his eyes to see who or what was there talking to him as an over muscular Drykas stepped into the light with a menacing grin on his face. "18 year...18 petching years!" the man shouted dealing a rock cracking punch to his stomach causing him to cringe. "For 18 years you have been taking money out of our pockets and vanished. Why are you back? Why would you come back? Do...do you have a stash? Of course. That would be the only reason. Tell me Fox! Where is your stash? " Finally catching the air that was knocked out of him, Duce took the time to listen to what the man had actually said. "I don't know what you're talking about." he panted which got him another punch to the gut. "Stop playing games! Ok..ok. you just woke up, probably tired. I'm going to leave, but when I come back I want answers, or you are going to wish you never came back." Watching the man leave, Duce struggled to get free once again still with no success. He closed his eyes trying to think things through before the Drykas returned.

[Kaie]

Black. It was everywhere. It was in her dreams, her thoughts, her mind, and her body. All was dark and there was no light. She could feel nothing. No cold, stone floor like the one she had been standing on some time ago. She could not hear the voice of her father or the mysterious language the residents called Tukant. Kaie was alone in the darkness that encircled her entire being. It was eternal. And she had nothing in her power to reverse it. Yet then came the voice.

Though thick, she felt the waters of darkness starting to slowly recede. With every passing moment, her world was sluggishly becoming clearer. First came the sound. A voice that was familiar but belonging to someone she did not know. Someone who's face she couldn't even conjure in her mind when she tried to place it. It sounded like an Akalak's but other than that she was lost. Then came some sort of rustling like a rope being manipulated. But how and who was doing it?

Kaie felt a burning around her wrists. Like rope tied tightly to bind her hands. Something was restricting her feet too and she could only guess it was by the same method. Her torso was feeling stretched. Like gravity itself was pulling her, stretching her like some sort of clay. It was wildly uncomfortable to say the least. Her brain registered the evidence and manufactured facts for her to take into account. By the same the other voice came, Kaie was just beginning to find her bearings again. Her head was unfogging and her eyes were slowly opening like some heavy sleeper torn from their rest. Her head hurt like hell, but at least she knew all appeared to be functioning correctly.

When one of the voices seemed to have left the room, Kaie finally managed to open her eyes. She blinked several times, adjusting to the light before she stared down at herself. Just as she had suspected, she was hanging. As if she didn't actually believe it, Kaie rocked her body a bit. Let her legs sway in a subtle manner just to see her feet hover left to right over the floor. Muddy brown eyes shot up to look at her hands. She yanked at them, but to no avail did anything loosen.

Petch this! What in the name of the Goddess Queen was going on? Why was she here? How did she get here?

She remembered the punch. The shouts and the other Akalak who had stood beside her once before. Head swiveled to find the same man in a similar situation off to her side. Naturally she was useless to the language and hardly good at Common to begin with. Considering the fact she'd hardly said a word all day (if it was even still that day) she was clueless to how she was forced into her situation. Had she defiled some sort of city law or code? Where was her father? Was he hanging like she was too? Immediately she could only come to grip the idea the blue man beside her had something to do with her capture. And she demanded answers.

"You. What do to me? Why I here?" She demanded with venom in her butchered Common words. Her eyes narrowed into slits and a fire blazed in her intense expression. Animosity burned inside her like wildfire.

[Duce Hazimari]

"What did I do?! Duce shot back but then calmed himself down realizing that if they both started arguing they would get no where. "I did nothing to you. Do you know who those men where?" He motioned with his hands and face the best he could considering that this girl knew very little Common and he didn't even want to guess how good she was in Tukant. His head hurt from what ever they hit him with. He hoped it was not their fist for he would be in a world of pain. He gave another failed attempt in breaking free of what ever was hold him like a freshly slain animal hung out to let the blood run from it's body. "Look, we don't have much time before those men return. We need to find a way ou-" "Well well well. Look who else decided to join the party." Duce's head shot up to see the man from before coming out of the room that he exited into and walk toward the girl. "Leave her alone!" he demanded thrashing about trying to get the man's attention. "Silence!" the man shouted before giving Duce another hard fist to the abdomen. Yep his fist hurt. Duce let out a small whimper as the pain of the strike exploded throughout his body."Now I will ask you again and then her. Where is the stash?" Duce swallowed the pain and looked up into the man's eyes."I have no idea what you are tal-" another punch caught him by surprise making him vomit a little in his mouth. "Where is the stash little girl?" Duce laughed. He could help it. Here he was trapped in who knew where being tortured for information on something he knew nothing about. "Good luck with that one, she speaks Common just about the same as how you look...Horrible" Duce watched as the man's face got red and made his way back to the hung up Akalak giving two punches this time. Duce didn't care at this point. He was sure that he had at least two broken ribs if not bruised. He let his head fall down as he tried to shake the pain off. Hopefully this girl won't say anything to get herself hurt.

[Kaie]

The furious little Myrian growled at his denial. Muddy brown eyes studied him in their steely glare, searching his face for his guilt. After a moment she found none. With no present person to direct her indignance, Kaie's body drooped with a silent sigh. Listening carefully to his next question, however, she took a moment to hear his words. When understanding came she simply shook her head.

No. No idea who they are.

She blinked hard a few times to clear her head. Luckily the pain had dulled some and it was just an annoyance. Certainly whoever had punched her could not compare to the brutality she'd experienced at home. It was part of her survival and culture to become accustomed to combat related pain. A punch to the head was just standard training. Don't get it wrong, though, whoever knocked her out had pretty good form by her standards.

The blue man was talking again. Something about them coming back and finding something. Whatever he was about to say escaped them both when a new voice broke in. More words. Words she did not know. Another Akalak strolled in arrogantly with a purpose to his walk. If he wanted something, he was pretty sure of what it was and how to get it. What did they have to do with her though?

The blue man to her side thrashed and shouted at the newcomer, who in turn yelled back. Kaie could do nothing but hang there, all but deaf to their sounds. She flexed her tanned fingers and gripped at the rope running to the ceiling. Kaie clasped it, giving it a nonchalant tug or two while the Akalaks fought. There was no give though. No fraying ends. No escape. Her fingers unwrapped and she slunk back down under gravity's force yet again. There was nothing else she could do but hang there and listen to a conversation she did not comprehend. Watch one brethren beat the other for reasons she couldn't possibly know.

Then it was her turn. The man turned her way then with the same expression as before. He made some demand of her but she remained silent. Her expression, however, was far too loud. Her interrogator couldn't ignore the fire that spread across such a young face. Her amber eyes practically ignited by suppressed fury, lip curled in a feral snarl yet to come. Kaie had the expression of a savage killer. If anyone made the mistake of setting her free, that's exactly what she'd become. The laugh of her fellow captive cause the man to turn from her before he could do anything to put out the flames.

Two punches straight to the Akalak. By the man's reaction, he might've actually deserved that one. Of course anyone could make the argument he was entitled to do and say what he wished in retaliation to their situation. The fifteen year old certainly would when her time came.

Watching the man's head slump down, recovering, Kaie knew there was no one else to buffer her own punishment. So as the man stepped in a dignified manner toward her, she let her focus fall upon him. Wrath still clear as day on her face. He stood before her, watching her clench her teeth, listening to an animalistic snarl slip from her. Defiant to the death. He couldn't help but laugh to himself, eyeing her up in amusement. The Akalak said something she did not understand, and when no reply came, he turned irritably back toward the hanging man. It was as if whatever he was told about the Myrian girl was true. What fact was verified was insignificant to Kaie.

"Alright. Common it is."

Fair enough.

"So let me cut you a break, kid. All you have to do is tell me where you buddy put the stash, and I'll let you free. Sound good?"

"Ma'khan'um, Deyhan," Kaie replied in her own brutal Myrian tongue, practically snarling the words like the tigress she was. She clicked her teeth together in a hiss mimicking that of a panther in the jungle. Then she went silent. Staring at her with flames dancing in her eyes.

"Listen, you little! The Akalak retorted angrily with a clenched fist, a single finger pointing at her chest. Kaie had no idea what was intended to accompany "little." Before he got the chance to finish she had spat right in his face. Her half grin at the disbelief on his face probably didn't do much for her.

The slap came across her face faster than she expected, though she had expected one to come. He practically put his whole body into it. Needless to say, her cheek turned with it without much choice. A burning spread across the side of her face as fervidly as the red mark following it. Kaie licked along her bottom lip masochistically in an effort to spite him.

"Not know you want. No care. Kaie? No have you want. Sorry not sorry. I go now," She claimed in very rough Common. In fact it was probably the most of the language she'd spoken all at once. Maybe not. Either way she thought she got the point across. Whatever he wanted, she didn't have. Why keep her?

[Duce Hazimari]

Duce showed pain on his face, but inside his head he was having a ball. He continued to chuckle to himself as their prosecutor questioned the girl only to get no results and giving him a cold stare when he realized that Duce was right. Duce closed his eyes and listened to the Akalak try and finish his interrogation in common which didn't go any better if not worse as the young female spit in the Akalak's face which got her a well place slap in the face. Duce was impressed with how tough the girl was, but now upset that the Akalak dare put his hands on a woman..A young one at that. "Coward! How dare you strike a woman! You wait until I beak free of my restraints, I will kill you!" Duce watched in rage as the Akalak walked back to his hanging body and leaned on his injured ribs watching Duce wince in pain. "Haha you are in no shape to fight me." the Akalak said giving Duce an even harder slap than he did the girl. "And the only way your getting down from here is when you finally confess and I kill you with my bare hands." The Akalak put his rough hands around Duce's neck squeezing it and cutting off his circulation stopping him from breathing. Duce held his breath. If he managed to hold it long enough for the man's hands to give way, the he just may stay conscious. The Akalak squeezed tighter and Duce could feel his lungs running out of air as the burned in his chest. He couldn't do it anymore. He struggled and twisted his body trying to break free and managed to bite a finger thus getting his neck free and a few gasps of air in before the Akalak punched them all back out in a flurry of strikes to the chest and abs. "Is that the best you got? I didn't even feel that one." Duce said gaining himself more punches as his prize. It was true, due to all the punches, choking, and pain he barely felt the strikes anymore. The pain that he felt was the ones that had already sank in. He hung there as the Akalak finished using his dead chest as a punching bag and stepped back as another person entered the room. "Enough! Did they not talk? No? Fine then it is my turn." It was a female. Drykas and very pretty. Struggling to pull his head up so he could see the women, Duce smiled when she stopped in front of him. "I see that you have survived the Akalak's form of torture,. Now it is my turn to make you scream and cry until you can no longer speak." He heaved for the pain in his chest made it hard fro him to breath. "Be careful....I might like it." Duce said winking at the woman which must have caught her off guard by the expression on her face that was soon replaced by a menacing look. He didn't feel it until it happened, her hands swiftly shot out from by her side as she grabbed hold of his scrotum squeezed, twisted, and pulled. He shouted. He shouted to the top of his hurting lungs, to the world, to the heavens until she let go and gave him a hard knee before taking steps back to get a good look at the two. "You look like you can take a few punches. Your body is strong, but how strong is your will?" The woman disappeared into the door and soon returned with a whip in her hand. "Ok so this is how we are going to play. I am going to ask you where did you hide your stash. For each time you don't answer or I feel that you are lying, the girl will feel the wrath of Sasha. Ok? So...Where is the stash?" Duce was between a rock and a hard place. He didn't know what she was talking about, but he knew if he were to say that. He looked over to the girl who was still awake with the red hue of the slap dealt to her starting to show on her cheek. He hopped he could by time to think of something. If he could come up with a good enough lie then they could have enough time to think. "Well...." He said still giving a blank stare at the whip holding woman. She began to twirl the whip. Was she about to strike? Thought's races through his mind but nothing emerged. All he was thinking about was trying to survive this so that they could escape.

[Kaie]

Kaie quirked a brow at the indignant Akalak, watching him shout at their abuser for hitting her. Keritan had once told her of the barbarian world, how their ethics and views were different. Across the Suvan, women were the inferior ones. They did all the dirty work, stayed at home, and most never dared touch a weapon maybe out of their own fears. It was unfathomable to her. Yet as she stared at the man defending her honor, she couldn't help but wonder: was he shaming the man because she deserved respect, or was it because she was of what they called the inferior gender?

Then one Akalak choked the other in a show of power. Obviously their torturer wasn't doing a very good job. She knew from experience a choke done right would make holding one's breath a futile action. Then suddenly the man was striking him again, only to be interrupted by another. It wasn't another Akalak, though. This one was...A woman. A woman with a lovely complexion at that. Though there was something there...Something the little Myrian girl couldn't quite name. Whatever it was, there was an element of wildness in this woman almost comparable to herself. Whoever this woman was, she was a survivor. That idea alone almost made Kaie sigh with relief, happy to find someone she could identify with. Someone who wasn't so hopelessly foreign looks aside. It was too bad all she had come to do was substitute to inflict Kaie pain.

For the most part, Kaie got the gist of what was being said. The woman was unhappy with the results of her predecessor. It was her turn now and she was determined to make someone talk. Her comrade's quip did make her smile in admiration. At least he was being a good sport about it all, while Kaie was about ready chop off her own hands to get at someone. It was easy to be focused on her violent fantasies when there was nothing else she could do.

Hah. There's another reason to be a woman.

The poor bastard was about to lose his lungs at the volume he was screaming. The human had him by his most sensitive area and the woman was surely enjoying herself. Now the savage was beginning to study the woman. She knew what torture was. She watched her own clan do it on a few occasions. Thus far she'd seen nothing special from their captors. This woman, however, was choosing something with actual tactic. For each time her Akalak "ally" failed to please her, "Sasha" would be unlease upon Kaie. Inhaling deeply and setting her teeth, Kaie prepared to face the whip. She'd trained for so long to endure. None of that would go down the drain now. Her father would find her eventually...


"Call that weapon? Thought this was torture. What you do? Tickle me?" Kaie jut in first with a tone of animosity, giving the Akalak time to improvise. Waiting for the woman to react, she sure hoped he'd think of something good. She could take a whip. Besides, like she said, the thing was a petching disgrace. It didn't inspire fear with its simplicity. If she wanted to make them terrified and talk, she should've added something destructive to the ends.