A Game of Lies [Lunafang]

[Levi Athan]

91st of Spring, AV 512

This was such a rare occasion. It was so rare that Levi honestly couldn't claim to have ever had such a chance as this to get into business. There was a Zith in town! A true, lone, and nonviolent Zith! This was some kind of miracle, surely. A female Zith would fetch such a beautiful prize in Ravok for certain, anywhere else it would still be a good deal. Levi first found out about Lunafang via word of rumor. You simply weren't a Zith and not spoken about in a city like this. This was a home of humans, with a slim margin for everything else. Zith, they weren't even a portion of the minority. They were rare, and tales of their brutal nature always exploded as the freshest of gossip and wicked of tales when they were around. Yet, there was a very large problem here. She was a Zith. This meant she had claws that could reach right into his heart and bleed him dry in moment. This meant she could fly, and forever be beyond his grasp. Above all, she was a Zith, she heard so very well. Her vision was poor during the day, a small advantage that Levi would have, but still, she was going to be one hell of a challenge to claim. This would take planning. Luckily, he was a genius. A plan was already forming, and only because he had heard a similar story only hours ago. Ziths were murderers, every fearful human would agree. Levi only needed to make everyone see this, even if it was a lie for this particular Zith, to get everyone's support to take her and get her the hell out of Zeltiva. Levi's next three hours consisted of two primary objectives. First, was to watch the Zith as much as possible to make sure nothing was out of the ordinary. He couldn't have her flying away or being particularly special with some trait that'd make it impossible to capture. Second, he was looking for a victim, not the Zith, but someone else to be the victim of the Zith. Yes, it was a cruel, horrible, truly wicked thing to do, but it had to be done. This Zith was just much too valuable to let go, no matter the cost. As part of his plan, an innocent had to die. His chosen innocent was a thin older man who, even with the rations from Syliras, had been inadequately nourished. It was simple really, just to act like he was generous enough to share his own food with this man. The desperation in him was more than enough to trust Levi for just a moment. Levi only had to lead him into an alleyway. In one swift, crude motion he reached up, grabbing the weak old man by the throat, and with his other hand he drew his axe from his belt, and drove it into his chest. Once, twice, three times. Then, once he was dead (or at least unconscious), he drove the axe into his neck. He had to make it brutal, he had to make it look like a Zith was going crazy. Overall, he couldn't let the old man identify him. That's why he had to kill him. He simply needed to capture this Zith woman. "Help! Help! The Zith has attacked! Help!" Levi tossed the axe to the side before running with all his might from the alleyway, screaming at the top of his lungs for anyone and everyone to gather around him. It wouldn't take long for the people to gather around. Curiosity was one hell of a audience-gatherer. "There! In that alley, I saw it! That Zith, the winged monster killed a man! I... I was passing by when I heard him hacking at the body with some crude weapon, I don't know! I saw that bitch! She just killed him! She flew off after she heard me scream! We need to find her!" Perhaps the story was weak and easily proven false, but not a single soul in that small mob even considered Levi to be a liar. A few ventured into the alley and confirmed the story, which only gave Levi's word strength. Yes, he was gaining trust by these people. "Spread out! Find the Zith! She must be captured! Find her!" It didn't take much to excite the men of the group into a frenzy. Something like this, a murdering monster in their city, the home of their wives and sons, it would not stand. They exploded into roars of violence and anger as they split up into groups, scouring through the city in search of the Zith, wherever she was. Levi, well he was just in one of these groups, searching for the Zith that only he knew was innocent. Well, no matter. She was worth too much to be considered anything but the merchandise she was.

[Lunafang]

Luna was in dire need of rest. All day had she been hunting. Ever since that blasted bandit had come, and run off with her rations, she had to work all say with nothing to actually work on. A pain, it was, meaning she'd have to scour the forest until her stock was full again. She was angry about the loss of food but determined. It was a long, tiring day, but.. It happens. Luna took a deep breath, and took off into the air with a few beats of her wings.  Luna noticed that something was... Different. Things felt different. Even as she landed, because she spotted a deer, nothing felt normal.  Luna shrugged it off, and deep toward the deer, hiding behind a tree. Her nose told her that it could hear her. In the blink of an eye, she lunged, and extended her flaws into  it's heart. Luna, at first, expected to miss. Her eys hurt from the blazig sun practically burning them. But, It fell to the ground quickly. So, it did happen to be a good hunt. Luna had barely gotten to examine it, when she heard the sound of yelling men. Luna panicked. The yells were very close by and could not have just been there out of a game. This was angry yells. Luna, on the other hand, got suddenly curious. What were these men yelli about? She had seen them yell before, but never this angry.  Completely forgetting her deer, she flew up into the sky onc more. She flew speedily this time, not taking her time. The curiosity was killing her. Soon afterwards, she hovered over them, though still high in the sky. Hopefully they couldnt see her, they would surely one, kill her or two, enslave her. Luna shuddered at the thought of being strangled onto a human floor, and being poked, experimented on, and touched by humans. Vile creatures they were, so selfish.  Luna continued to slowly descend in large circles, until the huge army o men came into view. This worried Luna. A corpse of an old man was in front of them, apparently killed by some murderer. Luna, almost in view of them, hastefully dove behind a tree, to see them all at eye level. Her eyes widened in horror, as they shrieked about a Zith. This Zith. "Spread out! Find the Zith! She must be captured! Find her!" She realized that drops of tears were forming in her eyes. Not because they wanted to kill her, but because she hadn't done anything. What could she have possibly done in the past season to harm them? Steal their prey, maybe, but Luna always steered clear of the ones who weren't in her forest, or the ones who werent feeble and helpless. She enslaved those ones. So, then what could it be? Then she knew. All the pieces of the puzzle came together. Her emotions changed once more to anger. Who would want to take Luna down? What did she do to them?

[Levi Athan]

The question wasn't whether Levi was wrong in attempting to capture Lunafang. He was obviously cruel for the murder he committed for the sake of exposing her. Yet, was she really innocent? Zith were known to be very primal, primitively violent, even in their love making they were known to cause severe injuries to each other. Was it so hard to believe that Lunafang was more predator than prey in this city? The answer was no, it was not hard to believe. To be honest, the idea crossed Levi's mind that she just might be good and kind and one-in-a-thousand of the Zith race, but then again, he had taken more innocent, and done far worse. Really, he was the monster, regardless if Lunafang was or not. Yet, Levi wasn't surprised to find that the Zith was nowhere to be found. She was either busy somewhere else, or running. Hell, she might even be defending herself somewhere, killing some enraged mob that was so desperately trying to capture. If not yet, she probably would be soon. As Lunafang watched a group of angered Zeltivans, a man snuck up behind her and grabbed her on the shoulders with the strength that a life as a sailor gave a grown man. "I found the bitch-Zith!" The man hollered and screamed as he tried to take her down, wrestle her to the ground, and submit her before she tore his guts out. The man's voice carried well too, people all around heard it, then saw it, then began to scream and yell in response. Before long, every frenzied Zeltivan was hauling ass straight towards where Lunafang was found, Levi was among them. Levi could only hope for now that the man managed to detain her long enough for backup, that way this chase would be over swiftly and easily. He didn't want to spend all day chasing a flying bat with a wicked bloodlust.

[Lunafang]

Luna watched scornfully as the citizens mocked and scoffed, and couldn't help but feel a pang of anger. Those rabid monsters were trying to kill her, maybe even worse. Capture her? Yes, that would be worse then dying. The sun heated her vision and fogged it heavily, so as the crowd spotted her and charged, she could no longer see. She was next to blind. She tried swinging her claws out at the predators, but missed several times as she had no aim, and was simply swinging at the blurring blobs around her. She hissed and cursed, but they kept going. Some of them were scratched deeply across the chest, but only about 3. After they had huddled around her, the world went black. It was all she could do but not pass out. Her head bobbed, and the excitement was too much. She was tired, starving, and practically blind. What could she do? Nothing. All she did do was watch helplessly as they did whatever they wanted to her. oocFeel free to do a bit of power playing, meaning you can pick her up and what not. It's a slavery thread!

[Levi Athan]

One man howled in pain, clenched his chest and flung himself backwards as the claws of Lunafang tore through his flesh. It wasn't lethal, but he'd be damned if it didn't hurt like hell. Lunafang herself fought hard and well, one man dispatched, another clawed deep in the thigh, dropping him to the ground, and a third nicked across the arm, though that was about all she managed to do until she was outnumbered, overwhelmed, and taken down. Once, twice, men beat her, large thick calloused fists pounded against her head as if trying to punch the very thing off its pedestal, the shoulders that is. Hell, if Levi didn't intervene, she probably would have been beaten to death and her limbs would have been torn from her body. "Stop!" Levi stepped up and grabbed at a man's fist, which was cocked back and prepared to travel, destination Lunafang's eye. He glared back, obviously drunk from some sort of blood lust, vengeance, anger, whatever it was, he was almost enjoying himself to be beating the Zith like this. That look, it frightened Levi considerably as he realized he might be dancing a more dangerous game than he initially thought. "Easy there, just hear me out." Levi nodded, speaking as soothingly as possible and the man, thankfully, lowered his hands, and allowed Luna's neck drop from his grasp. She fell to the ground, dazed, probably confused, possibly unconscious. Disorientation was promised by the pummeling she received. The small mob muttered and rambled among itself as they anticipated just what Levi was going to say. Already he had some credibility with them, since he was the one that found the Zith's victim and supposedly saw her fly off, so they did give him his moment to speak. "I don't think we should kill her." That might have been the wrong choice of words, because the people, comprised mostly of men who wanted nothing more than to murder the Zith right then and there, only thought 'eye for an eye' was true justice. It took quite some time before they quieted down again for Levi to speak. "Listen, please. I don't think we should kill her, because she can help compensate for the one she slew." The voices of the crowd faded as many of them were, to be honest, confused. Where was Levi going with this? How could the Zith not dying help solve the issue of her killing someone? They wanted to know. "I know this may sound strange, but she deserves nothing but the worst of fates." There were utterances of agreements among the people, only the worst was best for her. "Death, I don't think that's deserving of her actions. She could pay back those who she stole his life from. This Zith, could make money for his family." The talk of money somewhat tore the people in half. Yes, money was valuable, but then again, it was also something that skewed justice. Some might have even been onto his little plot, but listened anyway. Everyone, regardless of their stance on the issue, was still quite intrigued in what Levi had left to say. "I plan on making a trip into the wild soon enough, to travel across Sylira and see all the cities. I plan to hunt bears, to seek creatures I've never seen, and to make a living off of this. What if I were to take this Zith to Ravok or Sunberth and sell her, and return the profits to the city? To help rebuild, to buy food, to support those who lost that man. Slavery, I don't support it, except when it's only a too-suitable punishment for this monster." Levi watched the crowd intently. Again their voiced lifted up, arguing among themselves, arguing with Levi, strongly supporting his suggestion. Everyone had something to say. Levi stood over Lunafang as he vaguely listened to the crowd debating. He did not smile, did not frown, only stared at her, watching for any sign of movement. He had to admit, she played her part almost perfectly. Fighting back, clawing the people. She had no idea she was playing herself right into Levi's hand. She never had a chance.

[Lunafang]

Luna was feeling confused, hazy, and awfully nauseous. She stared into the eyes of Levi, only her head bobbed and she found it impossible to look in one place. Her head waved up towards the chattering people, and the back at Levi. How could a man be so incredibly evil to do such a thing? She wanted to spit in his face, spit in it, but for now, she lay on the ground, patiently awaiting her destiny. Maybe even her final seconds. Her head throbbed, her bones ached. People everywhere she looked beat, shoved, and hurt Luna, physically and mentally. She was taking the first few steps of realizing that, humans were the dominant race, sadly. She held her breath, and waited for everything to fade. But it didn't. Instead, the people roared toward her like a wave, and stopped her up off the ground. She waved her hands in the air, trying to claw, but instead, it looked as though she was doing a wiggle with her arms. She could feel the hands pressed up against her back, and shivered. Human hands were touching her. But that no longer mattered. What did matter is that they were taking her someplace. An alleyway? Back to her den? The city? All the thoughts, except her den of course, made a shiver run up her spine.

[Levi Athan]

Suddenly, the crowd that was, Levi thought, swooning to his words and dancing to his rhetorical tune began to shift. There were those that followed Levi's idea simply because, thus far, he had been the one to expose Lunafang. Levi realized the situation was turning sour when several men started to grab at Luna. Some wanted to kill her right there, some wanted to save her for Levi's deceiving promise of bringing back spoils for her sale. It was almost like a game of tug-o-war was breaking out, and Lunafang's arms were the rope. Levi stepped in, just in time to see a man brandishing a simple, yet ever dangerous, dagger, and staring at Luna's chest. Surely, he was aiming his strike well, so that his thrust would not fail him. Moved towards the man and, without much of a second thought, threw a punch and hit the man in the forehead. It was a weak, pitiful excuse for a punch, but it brought people's attention to what was going on. The man, he was stunned more because he didn't expect the punch, less because of the damage it caused (though Levi's Pinkie was feeling mighty painful all of a sudden). "Stop right there! Hold your blade. We can kill her if you so wish, but I will not let the decision of one man decide the best fate for this creature, and more importantly, our fellow Zeltivans." Levi turn his head as the man put away the blade, though whether it was Levi's words, or the cautious stares of a few dozen men all around that coaxed this action, was unknown. "If all of you wish her dead, blood spilled for the blood spilled of the innocent, say so now, and I will gladly give her to any of you to kill her. If you think that two bodies will make justice, where one body is only lawlessness." Levi nodded as he scanned the crowd, everyone was looking so intense now. And it was that moment when Levi realized something, he made a grievous error. They wanted her dead... "I say you should spill her guts." A young man spoke up first, he couldn't have been more than fifteen years old, a faint hint of facial hair covered his jawline, the tone of muscle starting to develop, yet he was still timid. It was probably all the courage he could muster just to speak out in front of the people, yet, there were mutters, mumbles, and nods of approval that gave him a smile, and a small boost of confidence to strengthen his decision. Levi decided he had to force their hands, had to make them change their minds, or give up his prize to be slain. And what a waste that would be. Levi would have to gamble on Lunafang's life. Levi grabbed the nearly unconscious Zith and drug her up to the young boy. He then dropped the Zith on the ground, a slump of pitiful flesh she seemed now. Bleeding, fighting just to keep from passing out, she was defenseless. In that moment, she almost looked like a young woman, brutalized by thugs. Levi then took his own axe, the one he used to stage the murder, and thrust the weapon into that young lad's arms. "Then do it. Kill her. If you think you can live with killing her, just as she killed our fellow Zeltivan, then do it. Use her axe, and bury it in her head." Levi was staring at the boy now, but it wasn't a simple stare. No, his eyes were burning. He wanted the pseudo-adult to see his disgust in his choice, to feel the anger Levi felt and, most of all, to see that he was no better than the Zith if he killed her like this. Silently, Levi was praying to some unnamed goddess that this boy was as big a coward as he thought. If not, Luna was dead, and Levi was back to the drawing board. The axe lifted, the eyes targeted on Lunafang's neck, and the boy stood there for a long moment. His breathing was labored, fast, intense, he could envision himself decapitating the monstrous Zith, but his arms just wouldn't obey. He dropped the axe, not on Luna's head, but at Levi's feet. "I can't be like her. Sell her, bring back money for the burial. Bring food for the dead man's family." The boy then left, pushing his way through the crowd until he was out of that circle, and gone. Levi, if he truly cared about people, might have been bothered that he completely destroyed that young man's confidence in front of dozens of his own people. But Levi was a slaver. He'd done plenty worse. "Pick her up. I know a place to keep her. I will personally take her away, and I will personally return with whatever I can and help our city prosper. Zeltiva, you have my word." Levi didn't have to lie too much. It was always his plan to donate something to the city's reconstruction. How else would he make important friends? As commanded, several stronger of the crowd picked up Lunafang by her arms and legs, and together they carried Lunafang, following Levi, to his caravan not far into the wilderness. That's where the cage, the manacles, the rope, the locks and chains, they all waited there. Levi sighed with relief, knowing that he just barely managed to save Lunafang's life. Or, as he truly saw it, possibly saved himself a small fortune.

[Lunafang]

Luna's body was suddenly shifted, it was grasped and thrown onto the ground. Why? Quivering, Luna opened her eyes, and had to grip the stone ground to keep from passing out. She had to stay alert for what would come next. She hadn't even realized her eyes were closed, she was worrying for her life. She sent a silent prayer to the gods, hoping this wouldn't be the end. She opened one eye. A man, young, stood well over her, giving her a deadly stare. She flinched, and closed he eyes once more. The scene was just too much to take in. The minutes were too much to take in. They ticked by, seconds seemed like hours. Luna was concentrating on the good mounts of her life, when she found her own den, her first prey, finding Crivus... all of them would be history soon. Luna would be history soon. She heard some talking, in which she didn't bother interpreting, and some noise of wind. And then again, there was the maddened chatter of people all around her... noises were too much to handle. And vision was useless to her now, the sun made it impossible to see. Luna relied on nothing but instinct and thinking now. And hope. When the thrill of something seemed over, she did not dare open her eyes. She lay sprawled out on the ground, enjoying the coolness on her wide wings and body. Her fate was in Levi's hands now.

[Levi Athan]

-- One Hour Later -- Levi reached through the bars of the steel cage and gently pat the Zith on the cheek, only just before withdrawing his hand back just in case she exploded into consciousness with a fury and rage that he wouldn't be able to resist. She was in manacles by now, her wings were firmly bound shut by rope (not that there was room in the cage for her wings to expand anyway), and the cage itself was locked, the key was, somewhere. Levi knew, and he sure as hell wasn't going to tell. "Wake up little one." Levi spoke in an almost soothing calm voice. It had been probably twenty minutes since everyone of the Zeltivan crowd left, and being outside of the city itself meant he was even less likely to be bothered by wandering eyes or curious onlookers. After the Zith woke up, regardless of how long it took, Levi would take a seat on the cart next to Lunafang's cage (and temporary home, if Levi's plans remained smooth) and smiled gently. He knew the Zith would hate him. If she hadn't figured out by now that it was he that created this entire situation, from scratch, she would at least realize he was the one that was keeping her locked up. Who knows what he had planned for her? Regardless of "what" it was, there was no doubt that it wasn't going to be in her favor. "I'm glad you're awake. I've been hoping to speak with you for a while now, in private of course. Too many people around would make things a bit awkward for me. I know you may not understand me, not being Human and all that, but I want you to know that what I am doing, it's nothing personal against you. I don't hate you. I don't want to make you miserable." Levi slowly turned his head so that he could face Lunafang, there was an eerie look in those eyes. A strange sadistic hunger was there, but for what? "I know I may seem to be a horrible person, and by many people's standards I'm sure that I am, but I want you to know that I'm actually very kind to those that don't try to contest me." Levi stood up again, though this time in his hand was the axe he planted on the corpse, the one he framed Lunafang for using, his own axe, and started to fiddle with it as if it was some harmless toy, rather than a bloodstained tool for deception and death. He pointed the weapon idly at Luna, who was behind the bars of the cage, but still painfully vulnerable to a swift vertical strike from Levi. Even a child would be able to slay the scary Zith in this situation. "Please, don't contest me. The more behaved you are, the simpler and more enjoyable things will be. Your fate is already decided, and it is inevitable. The gods have willed it by not interfering. The city of Zeltiva wills it by assisting in your capture and banishing you from the city. And, most importantly, I will it. So, you can make this easy, and maybe even an enjoyable journey in which we learn many interesting things about people, each other, and our fates, or you can be a dirty vile little creature, and I can kill you. I promise you, the latter option is not the one you want. But, as I am kind, I will let you decide your actions." Levi did not grin, no smile that told how pleased he was with himself. He was being deadly serious. If she made life a living hell for him, he would kill her. He killed an innocent man to capture her, what would make a dirty non-human like her have any true value if she threatened escape? Exactly. He wanted her to fear her, but more importantly, he wanted her to know she was going to die, should she so much as attempt to flee. It's not like the cage, manacles, and ropes made that even a viable option anyhow. "My name is Levi Morjack Athan. And I tell you this for two reasons. The first is, you will use my name, and my name alone, to speak to me. Secondly, if you find yourself in the future, free and hungry for vengeance on me, I'm making your task simpler. I invite your anger, because I do not fear you." Levi brought his face close to the cage and glared at Lunafang. "I'm much too smart to be slain by the likes of you."

[Lunafang]

Everything faded. Soon, Luna's vision came into view. Color came back. She sputtered out a cough, rasping for air. When all was settled, her ears adjusted, and she could hear the clip clop! of a horse, and the thud of wheel against cobble. She could see a blob in front of her... and then it started talking. Luna could barely hear. She caught little sentences, but every noise that came to her sounded like an echo. The world was too foggy to understand. What could Luna do, but stay where she was, waiting for it to all end. But soon, she could connect. Her hearing became crystal clear again, and she translated what the man was saying. But her vision remained blurry. "My name is Levi Morjack Athan. And I tell you this for two reasons. The first is, you will use my name, and my name alone, to speak to me. Secondly, if you find yourself in the future, free and hungry for vengeance on me, I'm making your task simpler. I invite your anger, because I do not fear you. I'm much too smart to be slain by the likes of you." Luna's alarm was raised. She strangled to get out, because... she was entrapped? Yes, she could feel it now, rope was tied around her wings and arms, and she was propped up on a corner. Her back could feel metal, cold, straight bars, and she glared, up, not down, on the man who had framed her. How she hated him now. But he was master now. Boss. Luna was lower than him. In fact, her could probably kill her on the spot right now. So it was best to just stay calm, and make no sudden movements. Humans were unpredictable, driven by killing. And this man was much more. Evil, and cruel, someone who could only think about himself. But then again, all humans did. IT was only about them. None of the other races, the Akalak, the Konti, the Zith... it was all about the humans. A horrible, but true fact. And now Luna was controlled by the humans. She had come in contact with them, and look what happened? She thrashed around, looking for a way for the rope to be undone and a way to escape. But the rope didn't budge, instead it constricted her more. It was no use. Instead, she stuttered, "Okay then, Levi Morjack Athan. Is there anything else you would like to tell me, before you start going on about how you could 'kill me?' Because you know, I'm the one with the claws. I'm the one with the good hearing. I can hear your heart beat right now." Luna could. His heart stood steady, a sure sign that Levi really wasn't afraid. He knew that he could kill Luna because he was human, and there was more of him than of Luna. She couldn't help but be her regular rude. This man was pissing her off, and Luna would never give respect to someone who angered her.