Completed Fish Bait (Yoona)

[Inoadar]

52nd Day of Summer, 514 They still surfaced from time to time. The poisoner grit his teeth, telling himself they were coming from some citizen, or group of citizens, that spoke too loudly, and to someone else. He had thought them gone after his release from the Black Hole, along with the madness that had nearly consumed him. But the voices persisted. He still felt shame over his breakdown in front of the group he'd found in his shop, 'Ino Vations'. He was not sure from what quarter this shame arose, however. He had been entertaining gloriously bloody and savage images of retribution against them, for a betrayal he had lain at their collective feet, as he left the prison grounds. Only his determination to believe in Vera's loyalty had made him question the legitimacy of this conviction. The voices told him what he a fool he was to resist the truth. By the time he arrived at the door, his mind was in turmoil. He had stopped outside and listened at the door, hearing only honest appraisals of his skill, and the regret of his strange disappearance. There was no undermining of his esteem in their eyes. He had tasked Verin to withhold the news of his arrest, and the fellow had been true to his word! There was no indication of stigma attached to his name by treasonous gossip. No words of loathing about the low vermin they had come to realize him to be. Only plain-spoken prayer to his god to bring him home safe someday. But still the voices told him he was beguiled. That he was fooled by syrupy words. That he would not know the truth until he looked in their scheming faces. He'd opened the door then, expecting white-faces and stammering excuses for some scene plainly denoting a greedy takeover of his property. But instead, there had been joy, cheers, tears and hugs. Gladness and relief that the master was home! He'd fallen apart right before their eyes. The shame of his unspoken accusations a shard of glass in his guts. They thought him simply glad to tears to see them all again after what HAD to have been some ghastly ordeal in the wild. Verin quickly crafted inventive details to lend credence to this hypothesis. Telling the others not to trouble Inoadar with details so soon. Inoadar hadn't known what to say. In some ways, this had been a harder restraint of information than his ordeal in the Hole. How could he tell them what he had been thinking just a chime before? But how could he NOT? How could he betray Verin's quick tale supporting him, right after the realization that his friend had stayed true to his word? But still the voice slithered and preached possible collusion with the Warden of the Prison. He could have sent word of Inoadar's release ahead of him. So they could act the part of loyal friends. It was blessedly less and less frequent that these words found purchase in his mind, but purchase they DID still find. This morning they returned to haunt him again. The ghost of failure, possessing him with thoughts of having been too much a fool to see the plot, and too weak a fool to punish his betrayers. This apparition had been powerful in the blackness of The Hole. And it did not give up its hold on his confidence easily. Borne of his own insecurity, It always found an angle to suggest duplicity. And to anchor the notion that his weakness was the root of his refusal to believe it completely. But this day it backfired on the black rot of this fractured shard of his soul. He knew of "The Fish". Who in Ravok did not? And of the new group of vigilantes, targeting the unworthy, those unfit to be citizens of Ravok, to send to the depths to appease it. The "Fish Feeders" they called themselves. They had the support of The Black Sun, and by extension, The Ebonstryfe. This much was more obvious to Inoadar this morning than any other. For there they were, victims in hand, someone reading some soliloquy of devotion, a plea of protection, at the expense of the poor fools' lives. A collective muttering of "in Rhysol's name we pray it be so," and in they went with a wail and a splash.

[Yoona]

A white sun, impaled by an ink-black blade.

Yoona watched in silence as Issac donned his brigandine shoulder-pads, the symbol of the organization that he'd given his loyalties to engraved into the tough, black leather. It wasn't often that he wore his armor; the Chaktawe woman had grown used to seeing it hung up in his sleeping quarters, never seeming to gather dust. Special occasions, business occasions, demanded that he dress himself in the proper attire. As the man stood in front of the full-length mirror, adjusting straps and buckles all the while keeping his chin raised, Yoona assumed that today was going to be one of those occasions.

White sun, black blade...the dark piercing the light?

The Ebonstryfe. A collection of powerful beings who instilled fear in the hearts of men and strove to serve their almighty lord, Rhysol. Did they see themselves as blades of darkness, spearing the hearts of their enemies who dwelled within the light? Yoona wasn't sure. She had no interest in politics, and her "master" never bothered to explain the Stryfe's dealings with her, convinced that they were matters that went beyond her realm of understanding. Frankly, she didn't care to learn much about it, anyway. It was just interesting to think about when she was bored.

"Today is a big day for you," Isaac muttered, sounding distracted as he continued to look himself over. The Chaktawe woman assumed, at first, that he was talking to himself, but noticed that his eyes had fallen on her when she raised her head a moment later. Yoona blinked, not knowing what to say. It wasn't until ticks later that she replied, using the word that she had come to know as a "safe" word.

"Why?"

"Why?" The man repeated, fully turning to her, now. "Well, I've been thinking on it for a long time, now, and...I think I've finally realized your purpose."

'Purpose...? What in the name of...'

Was the man feeling ill? Isaac was a normally irritable person, managing to find problems in every little thing, but at the current moment he seemed...calm. Unusually so. Should she be worried?

"Really...?" Yoona ventured, though her tone was less than enthused. The Chaktawe was cautious, now, her mind on high alert.

Isaac fiddled with his boots, his back to her, once again. There were thin rays of sunlight streaming through the windows, but the coal-black armor seemed to absorb it all, overpowering the light, itself. A black blade piercing a white sun... "Oh yes. It's truly a great purpose. Up until this point, I must admit that I've been feeling a bit...doubtful about your place, here. Worried for your future, as well. But Rhysol showed me a vision."

'I should be worried, then.'

"He showed me your purpose. And now I know what you and I both must do."

Satisfied with his explanation, all the while ignoring the mild-flustered look on Yoona's face, the Ebonstryfe soldier walked over to the front door and opened it, beckoning to the woman with a motion of his head. And after a moment's hesitation, she got up from the stairwell that she'd been sitting on and followed him out.

What followed seemed like a simple stroll through town. They passed by The Bazaar with its many wagons and tents, each housing a different assortment of fruits or meats. Rows of shops and the like were passed over, too, and it took a while for Yoona to figure out that they were headed towards the Docks. It wasn't an easy conclusion to deduce; she'd only been in this part of the town once, on a whim and on the run until her current "master" had managed to catch her. The many shops and pubs that she was seeing now were foreign to her, but there was no mistaking the tinge of the lake's signature smell in the air, nor could the increasing number of boat-faring men be overlooked. By now, the Chaktawe woman had learned to distinguish the sailors from the others by looking at how they were dressed; sea-farers all seemed to dress alike.

The Docks seemed to have become an unfavorable place as of late. Yoona had heard plenty of tales during her occasional excursions to markets and trading posts. People told of some sort of fish-beast that made its home within Lake Ravok. She'd heard fisherman who'd claimed to have seen it, telling how the beast had rows and rows of teeth that were as strong as iron, and cut just as easily. She'd heard citizens go on about how the creature had been capsizing boats. She'd also heard that the beast had developed a taste for human flesh, and how it consumed anything unlucky enough to fall into its waters. And the so-called "Fish Feeders"...

A scowl formed on Yoona's face, just from thinking about them. As far as she was concerned, they were nothing more than a group of desperate extremists who thought that feeding the monstrosity would keep it satiated. And feeding it people, of all things! Just how cold-hearted could one group of people be?

A hand gripped her arm. Instinctively the Chaktawe woman flinched, the muscles in the rest of her limbs going rigid as her eyes flicked over to the culprit; Isaac, of course, with his stupid, opaque armor and disturbingly-calm demeanor. He ignored her, though if he had noticed the look, he didn't comment on it, choosing instead to continue to pull her along. Turning her head a little, Yoona looked ahead and blinked in confusion. The lake sat a few yards away, flanked by rickety wooden docks and a few, stray fishing boats.

She'd been in the city for a good while, now, but Yoona doubted that she'd ever stop being surprised at such a large body of water. Even with the fish-beast lurking beneath its surface, the sight was still an awe-inspiring one.

Another hand gripping her arm. Yoona whipped her head around, sending a glare her "master's" way. He had both her arms, now, and was holding them behind her back, though nothing about the situation made her think that she was going to be shackled. Then all of a sudden, she was surrounded by men. Scruffy men with gaunt-looking faces, both tall and short, dressed in tunics and boots and belts and sordid undershirts. 'What the...? What, more members of the Ebonstryfe? No...no, they aren't soldiers.'

Indeed they weren't, and the Chaktawe woman had no idea just how far from the truth she actually was.

Most of them moved to the side, save for one who actually drew close to her and gave her a sharp shove in the back once he'd walked around. Yoona stumbled forward, her teeth clenched in the beginnings of a threatening growl, just as Isaac seemed to be starting to push her forward. Confused and furious, Yoona fought his grip, bucking back against his hold and trying her hardest to wrench her arms free from his hands. It was no good; the man seemed hellbent on driving her forward, and the surrounding men were doing more spectating than they were participating.

"What in the hell is going on?! Where you taking me!? Let go, let go!" Yoona thrashed about and yowled, her short raven-hued hair flying this way and that across her face as she fought against her aggressors.

"Hadn't I told you before?" Isaac said, gazing calmly at her despite how fevered her thrashings were growing. All of a sudden, cuffs were clamped down onto her arms. And though the desperation was slowly mounting inside of her chest, sending her heart hammering against her ribcage, Yoona managed to meet his eyes and stare back into them with a look of pure horror.

"This is your purpose. In Rhysol's name we pray it be so."

"Wait, wait!! Stop, stop, STOP!!!"

The Chaktawe woman's yells were shrill, now, the near-palpable fury stained with anxiety and fear as she slipped into a bout of native swears and insults. She was fighting her hardest and screaming her loudest, a cornered beast giving its assailants pure Hell as it fought its final fight. But before long they'd managed to get her foot over the edge. Then another foot, and, without a smidgeon of hesitation, the men bowled Yoona over, sending the enraged slave tumbling into the lake.

She had barely hit the water when her mind went haywire.

'Petching brutes vile wretches they want to kill me they're condemning me to death here I'll be a meal for that hellish spawn unless I can get out of this...how dare they, how dare they?! Can I swim? A little bit not really I'll drown they'll drown me—'

'—wait, you can't panic, if you panic you'll drown, if you panic you're dead before the beast can get to you—'

Too late. That panic had manifested itself in her limbs and in her brain, and Yoona was already clawing at the water, feeling her heart practically sink into her stomach as she realized that her feet couldn't touch the floor.

"Tawna" | "Common" | 'Thoughts' | Ruki

[Inoadar]

'The girl! Who was that girl?' his sudden suspicion spoke to his mind. His neurosis flashed back to his misadventure in the north woods. The beast, the Balicani, the death of his horse, the chase to decoy it from the corpse, the woman he met only that day, putting his poison in the corpse while the monster chased him. The beast falling for the ruse, and eventually giving up the chase to go back and eat its fill of poisoned horse flesh. Victory and vengeance! 'What was her name? Kah-something...no...Kee...KAIE...that was it...Kaie!' He looked again but it was too late, she was in the water...under water...she'd been shackled by those pathetic 'Fish Feeders'. Inoadar scowled as the surface of the lake began to return to its smooth look. The voice suddenly took on feminine traits. 'Didn't you recognize me, poisoner? Why do you suppose that should be?' the soft voice caressed his ears. 'Why would they want me disguised?...drowned?...want me...silenced? And why do they lure the fish here to the town with these feedings? Is it possible I spoke out against this foolishness? Can they really be so stupid as to think that feeding the monster will make it leave?' Even as his thoughts wound their way down paths of treachery and manipulation, his instincts began directing his gaze at nearby scenery, subconsciously finding items he knew he'd need. 'Yes, this is Kaie, and I tried to stop them, so they made me their next victim. This is why the Warden released you...this is why he focused on the fish...He needs you...To stop this foolishness...But does not know who is a traitor...Clearly there are some among the Stryfe that do not have the benefit of the city as their goal...And these so-called "Fish Feeders"...these mad citizens...they want the monster to target the CITY...not just random boats...The Warden knew this was coming...must have gotten a tip from one of his informants...tested you...found you worthy...Most would quail at the loss of a finger and many days spent in darkness...but you persevered...He knows you loyal...trustworthy...capable.' It all made mad sense to him now...They'd caught her trying to stop these "Fish Feeders" luring the monster to the docks with offers of flesh. They'd caught her, the voice told him, disguised her, knowing there may be loyal citizens that would recognize her as a worthy and true warrior that honored strength and courage...like him...But all they'd done was rub some sort of color on her dark skin to change its hue to a more reddish color...and cut her hair, but they did not bleach it...such fools as to engage in this folly were also fools to think their feeble disguise would fool HIM. In the seconds it took his thoughts to travel this corridor, he'd gathered two empty jugs, several bricks and a burlap sack. He tossed the bricks in the sack and clenched the open end in his teeth. He put his thumbs over the end of the jugs, took a deep breath and lowered himself into the water, taking care to make less noise than the laughter of the 'Fish Feeders' on the dock's edge. He swam in the direction the girl would be sinking. The bricks slightly overcoming the buoyancy of the jugs. He would rescue Kaie, and find out what she knew...

[Yoona]

In the vast deserts of Eyktol, water was scarce, and though the occasional oases did tend to show up due to Makutsi's generous blessings, finding anything other than a dried riverbed was impossible. Swimming was a further impossibility, unless one could find a way to swim through seas of sand. From the ghostly, empty streets of Eloab to the jagged Redstones, the Chaktawe savored every source of moisture that they could come across.

It only stood to reason that Yoona would be overwhelmed by such an abundance of water, though the lake itself seemed to be doing most of the overwhelming. She'd fallen in, and right away the water seemed to take her, engulfing her legs and then her torso, sucking her in. Instinct told the Chaktawe woman to fight against the force, despite some deeper instinct warning her against it. Yowling, Yoona thrashed about, her limbs mercilessly beating the stillness of the water's surface as she battled, in vain, to keep herself afloat.

Isaac...this was all Isaac's doing...that scheming, petching son of a bitch...

The Chaktawe woman was more frightened than she'd like to admit, fearing for her life as the lake continued to try and drag her body down, fearing that, at any given moment, the horrendous fish-beast would appear and swallow her whole or tear her to pieces and dye the waters with her blood. But at the same moment, the fury that had bubbled up within her continued to grow. Yoona vanished under the surface, a geyser of bubbles left behind in her wake, before reappearing and gasping for as much breath as she could before she was sucked under, again. Still standing on the nearby dock, a few of the Fish Feeders laughed at her plight. Others simply stood there and waited for her struggles to cease, or for the fish-beast to appear and claim its next offering. Isaac was one of those waiting few, muttering prayers to his lord under his breath as he watched his former slave thrash about.

After a chime or two, it was becoming more and more difficult for Yoona to keep her head above the water. Her struggles had tired her limbs out, and the accidental gulps of water were forcing her to cough and splutter. Her lungs were aching, her muscles were screaming...she was able to think clearly enough to close her translucent, secondary eyelids, but now her vision was clouded, muddled. She could barely see. Soon, she wouldn't be able to breathe...

Movement. Yoona could feel the sudden change in her submerged fingertips.

Was it the fish-beast...? Was it coming for her?

'It's over.'

Such a clear, accepting thought, as though she were coming to terms with a long-present truth. A truth...she was giving up, wasn't she? Could she?

Pulled under, again. The lake gripped her body with crushing force and consumed her, taking her energy along with it.

"Tawna" | "Common" | 'Thoughts' | Ruki

[Inoadar]

A different awareness suddenly struck Inoadar as the water closed around him. He had been convinced that the voices tormenting him for so long now were the ghosts that had possessed him at the site of the ancient Alahean ruins last season. He did not know if there had been only one or several. But recently, a new encounter with a different ghost had yielded a boon. He had allowed this ghost to possess him, after many days of resistance, thinking if this new ghost possessed him, then the monstrous malignance from the ruins would be kept at bay. This new ghost, Mirko, naturally had a few odd obsessions of its own, but Inoadar felt his sanity climbing steadily as he submitted to this new visitation. More than once, he'd found himself chuckling over the irony that being possessed was turning out to be good for his mental stability. But Mirko did not tell him to murder his friends in their sleep, that all his problems had been their malignant intentions. He found that he did not mind this current nutcase sharing his consciousness. It had no ill-intent toward him or his friends, it was simply a clingy nuisance, that had begrudgingly come to terms with him. But the most important thing he'd discovered, working with Mirko, was that a sudden, dramatic dowsing in water could shake a ghost loose from its hold on you. Apparently, the shock to the owner's nerves reestablished their connection with their body's sensory capabilities enough to dislodge the ghost. Temporarily, at least, and if the ghost was not one of great possessing power. Every detail of delusion dispersed suddenly in this submersion, and every detail of his neurosis stood forth in stark depravity. While he did not know that the initial violation of his sanity had been the result of a Chaon curse, it became clear it was some powerful manipulation by the Warden of the Black Hole. Ematho himself may not have realized how strongly his chaon had embedded itself in the poisoner's psyche. The ghost at the ruins had been real, but it had not followed him out. The only ghost currently interacting with him was Mirko, and he was not with him now. The voices in his mind had been his own, his own insecurities, his own paranoia. But they were gone now. He did not know how he knew, but he did. He just DID. The support of his friends, their willingness to put up with his brooding and volatility, had sustained him thus far. A surge of pride and gratitude enveloped him as he realized that they would have no further need. He had prevailed...He was free! '...The girl!...' His own realization speaking...not a ghost...He almost laughed. 'Okay, it is obviously not Kaie after all...But who?...If not for her predicament, and my insanity, I would not have gotten in the water...I would still be wallowing in wretchedness...There must be a reason....Rhysol must have a reason.' He began to consider the possibility that the logic his inner voices had put forth was NOT preposterous. It stood to reason that Rhysol would find a path to triumph through that which might seem like madness to a mere mortal. This fish beast was a threat, and these "Fish feeders" were escalating its presence by drawing it here with their ill-conceived feedings. 'Did my god place me here to rescue this woman so she could identify these fools? So I could punish, or at least, expose them?' He had to know. All this came to him in a flash, of course. But it had still been an alarming lapse of time for a shackled woman to remain underwater and still hope to avoid drowning. Inoadar kicked in her direction, feeling a certainty that Rhysol was smiling on his efforts, giving him a boost of adrenaline. He got beneath her, relieved to find that she was nearer the surface than he would have guessed. 'She must be quite a good swimmer.' he thought to himself, knowing nothing of the webbed toes that Chaktawe possessed. He released the bag of bricks he held in his teeth, the upended jugs of air now propelling him upwards. He turned one of them the other way, and air bubbles poured to the surface. He hoped this would mimic the dying desperation of a drowning victim to those viewing from above. He let go of that jug and grabbed the girl with his now free hand. She thrashed wildly. 'She probably imagines some giant fish maw about to crush and consume her.' Inoadar told himself. It appeared so, as the girl quickly calmed upon seeing him. He put the second jug to her mouth and turned it so air began to leak out. He hoped she would have the sense to take a breath from it. In the meantime, he put his finger over his mouth in the classic "quiet" signal, pointed up with a shake of his head, and then pointed toward the docks, where there would be a gap between the water's surface and the underside of the wooden construction. He began to kick in that direction, tugging her with him. They would get there much faster if she applied her efforts toward the same goal.

[Yoona]

'Dammit, dammit, dammit!'

The Chaktawe woman felt as though her body was suddenly filled with stones as she sunk beneath the surface, forcing every bit of energy that she could spare into her legs as she kicked and kicked. Her arms were useless to her, bound somewhat loosely at the elbows, and the more aware that Yoona became of the lack of solid ground beneath her feet, the more she was convinced that what awaited her below was a gaping, bottomless abyss. And she was sinking, the lake itself hellbent on dragging her down into its muddled, unseen depths.

If the fish-beast didn't get to her first, that was.

The beast...where was it lurking about, right now? Had it noticed her, yet? Could it see her struggling, see her trying in vain to keep herself near the surface? Perhaps it had, and was drawing near. There was definitely something coming towards her; the tiny, extra currents piqued the sensory bits in her fingers, and Yoona found herself twisting her body in the direction of the approaching thing, her heart thumping hard enough to burst out of her chest. The creature was oddly shaped, with bulbous things floating at its side and something long seemingly clenched in its teeth. With her secondary eyelids closed, Yoona couldn't recognize the face of a would-be savior, nor could she tell that the creature was, actually, a human.

All of a sudden she felt something grab her. Alarmed, Yoona started to thrash about, again, though with more desperation than before. It was the fish-beast. It had to be. The flesh-eating monster had finally found her and was preparing to rip her apart!

'Not yet. I'm not dead yet,' Yoona mused, twisting and kicking with all of her might. 'I've still got some strength left. If I'm to die, I might as well go out fighting...I'll make the vile thing regret ever making a meal out of me!'

Just then, she cleared her eyes, opening them fully to be able to see her assailant. Lo and behold, it turned out to be a man that had grabbed onto her, not a beast. The fear and wildness that had settled into Yoona quickly ebbed, leaving her relieved and...incredibly confused.

He was...saving her...?

'...Why...?'

Shocked as she was, the Chaktawe woman wasn't one to turn away from a miracle. She flinched away a bit when the man pressed the jug to her lips, but it didn't take long for her to realize that he was helping, and she took a deep, slow breath. Then he gestured for her to stay silent, and directed her attention towards a spot underneath the dock. Within ticks the man was paddling along, pulling her as he went. Yoona, her mind clear enough to use common sense, kicked along with him while holding her breath as much as she could. The sound of water sloshing around in her ears muffled all other sounds, but she thought that she could just make out the laughter of the men on the docks. It'd quieted down considerably; some of them had probably left. Was Isaac still there?

And if someone happened to see them, what would happen next? Would they slay the man and force her back into the lake to drown?

They were disturbing thoughts, but Yoona couldn't help it as she and the man made their way over to the space underneath the rickety dock. Shackled arms aside, she resisted the urge to cling to him.

"Tawna" | "Common" | 'Thoughts' | Ruki

[Inoadar]

There was a foot deep gap below the planks. And as usual, there were ropes hanging from the posts on the docks. Inoadar grabbed one that he'd found with enough slack to hang below the waterline. He grabbed it and pulled it underneath the platform, looping his wrist in it for leverage to brace himself against the piling with his head above water. He pulled the woman over to him. "Don't fight me, woman!" he hissed, his eyes panning quickly around as he cringed slightly at his unintended volume. "I'm not your enemy. At least, I see no reason to be. So don't give me one." He held his forefinger to his lips as the planks above their heads creaked from men walking overhead. He met her eyes and matched her scowl at their coarse laughter and their comments about "females making the best fish bait". When they'd gone, he relaxed his hold somewhat. "So, you are a slave." it was a statement, not a question. He did not wait for a reaction, "Don't get me wrong, I have no issue with weak men taking slaves that are weaker. Nor with the strong demanding obedience from the weak. But slavery of the strong, BY the strong, benefits neither owner nor slave, except in the social status that the slaves enjoy. The slave is weakened by being broken, and the owner is weakened by his dependence." He could see that she was about to protest this "enjoyable status" she had just been experiencing when he rescued her. He pulled hard on her arm and cut her off. "You owe me your life! Now shut up and listen!" he growled. She looked as if this was at the peak of what rudeness she could endure, but had to acknowledge a sufficient measure of truth to justify hearing him out. "This is Ravok. The city of the god, Rhysol, god of strength, who is Lord Above All. As the strongest god, he is forever beset by the weakling lesser gods, who envy him, and conspire to besmirch his name. He rewards strength and loyalty, but those who heed the words of other gods, speak of him with insults and blasphemies, calling him "Defiler" and "Betrayer". I have been a victim of several events that these weaklings would cite as evidence of their heresies, yet I have always come through stronger as a result of these trials." He caught himself getting off track with his sermonizing and shook his head. "But as a slave, you no doubt think yourself opposed to him. Well, you may suit yourself, I don't really care. What I DO care about is these men who are throwing slaves and foreigners into the lake. They say they are trying to "appease" the monster that dwells within the water, but all they accomplish is to keep it near the city, where it causes us greater harm. I believe this to be their intent. I believe them to be traitors, and I intend to see them stopped." Now his glare became intense as he looked her directly in the eyes. "Who are you, and how did you come to this end?" before she could answer, he added, "You see, these men now think you dead. if you help me, I will keep you from being discovered. In time, you may even find you like the doctrines of our temple." he gave her an appraising look. "You have a strength about you. I would not see it wasted in slavery, yet it is currently your only option, as you are clearly not a native. Those who accept Rhysol may become his citizens, regardless of race...What race are you?"

[Yoona]

"Don't fight me, woman!"

The man's tone of voice more or less snapped her out of her bout of desperation, right then, forcing the Chaktawe woman to calm herself and let her muscles go slack, save for the ones that she was using to keep herself from sinking. He led her to the space underneath the dock, grabbing at a nearby rope for support.

Despite everything, Yoona found herself glaring at him for a moment. Enemy? No, of course he wasn't. He had very well risked his own life to save hers from certain destruction, something that she wouldn't have expected of anyone given her, well...appointed societal status. So she had nothing against him. Then again, it wasn't her fault that suddenly being grabbed and tugged along by a total stranger made her jumpy. Sure, she was grateful to him, but that didn't mean that all of the touching wouldn't bother her.

Another signal for silence. Yoona obeyed, staring up at the dock's somewhat-moldy underside as the wooden boards creaked and the heartless men above laughed. Scowling up at their voices, she suddenly found herself wishing that the dock caved in on itself, sending the bastards and Isaac into the beast-infested lake in her place. They'd find plenty to laugh at, then. Her savior began to talk, a moment later, and Yoona roused herself out of her vengeful thoughts to turn her attention to him. The blunt "slave" comment merely elicited a frown out of the woman; she fought down her words in favor of listening to him speak, but was forced to open her mouth once the dominance-spiel began spewing forth from his lips. He was quick to shut her up.

'Damned pushy, isn't he?' Yoona mused, wincing a little at the man's grip on her arm.

Then he seemed to slip into some sentimental, religious banter—'I'm seeing the trend in this city, already.'—and Yoona had to use all of her willpower to avoid rolling her eyes right then and there. He could preach to her later; right now they needed to work on getting the hell out of this water, didn't they?

"They say they are trying to "appease" the monster that dwells within the water, but all they accomplish is to keep it near the city, where it causes us greater harm."

Now here was a concept that no one else seemed to be considering. All animals were drawn to sources of food, and tended to lurk around areas that were especially fruitful. Were these "Fish Feeders" so ignorant that they couldn't see the problems within their own work? Defied morals aside, the idiots were attracting the fish-beast to the lake by keeping it fed. And there it would stay, as long as the slaves were continually dumped. They were only succeeding in worsening a problem that they sought to remedy.

...Or maybe they weren't. Maybe this man was right in that the renegade group had darker intentions for their work. Maybe, just maybe, they wanted to draw the beast nearer...

The man looked her in the eyes, and Yoona met the near-searing gaze with a steady one of her own, despite the soaked locks of hair that were currently sticking to her face. He said that he'd help her, keep her from being found out...was it true? Could she trust this stranger?

She figured that she had to. He'd spared her from a terrible fate, after all. For the moment, at least, Yoona would have to put aside her initial distrust.

"Yoona. My name is Yoona," She replied, her tone tinged with caution and a bit of hoarseness from her still-ailing lungs. "My people are Chaktawe...here, there aren't many of us. Too far north."

The Chaktawe woman paused for a tick, sending a few nervous glances around before returning her attention to the man. "We talk later, yes? I'll tell you plenty of things. Plenty. But first, getting out of water is important...the beast might be nearby. We go, before it finds us."

"Tawna" | "Common" | 'Thoughts' | Ruki

[Inoadar]

Inoadar had to agree that leaving the docks was a good idea. As they made their way to a spot where there was access to a Ravosala platform. They climbed up and started into the city proper. Ideas began to form in his mind. Ideas to help the city with this fish problem; ideas to help himself with his own problem. Several seasons ago, he'd had a run-in with a volatile mage named Clyde Sullins. The mage's connections with the Ebonstryfe made him nigh untouchable, and the arrogant bastard had used his position to implant a trio of devastating fire scrolls in his shop. They were glyphed with delicate wording that made it impossible to remove them, and there were several other triggers that could be initiated by this Sullins without requiring his presence. Needless to say, this situation did not sit well with the poisoner. But he'd come to accept that in the right situation he could make use this destructive power. He needed to do it before the mage ever got it in his head to rid himself of one 'Nolan Parnell', nuisance and poisoner. At the time of their run-in, Inoadar had been much more of a novice to his craft than he was now. The poisoner had to appreciate the fact that as time went on, the mage would recognize him as a growing threat. It stood to reason that they would both come to the conclusion that their grudge could only end one of two ways. The presence of these scrolls grew to intimidating proportions whenever Inoadar was in the shop, making it difficult to focus on his work. He could picture the mage, stopping in the middle of a piss, a thousand miles away, and saying "Enough's enough...Goodbye, Mr. Parnell." and setting it off with a satisfied smile on his face. Inoadar didn't know if distance made any difference or not, but he was truly tired of having to worry about it. And now he thought he could bring the djed-crafting creep down. AND rid the city of these damned "Fish Feeders" at the same time. The lab equipment in the new NMSS was much better than what he had in his little shop. So, if the shop was lost, it was not such a great setback to him. Financially, he knew he could get a new shop on the arm from the city, it would only mean he was in debt longer. But if some great catastrophe resulted from the unintentional discharge of these scrolls, Mr. Sullins may just figure to be liable. Deaths, damage...treason? After all, Inoadar himself had absolutely no control over their eruption. Sullins would be at fault for making them impossible to remove, yet endlessly active. By Inoadar's reasoning, even mentioning their existence might constitute an "attempt to tamper with or remove" them, which was one of the triggers for ignition. It was not even a lie to say that this was why he'd kept them secret all this time. So it was a simple matter of getting these "Fish Feeders" to try to remove the scrolls from his shop when no one else was there. They would perish in the flames, there would be chaos and death, and Inoadar would be "compelled" to explain why it was all Clyde Sullins' fault. He would just be doing his duty as a loyal citizen by exposing this reckless mage to those that would be doing their duty to punish him...severely, he hoped. As these gears turned in his brain, he discussed the situation with this girl, Yoona. He could see that she was not terribly receptive to much that he had to say. But it was nothing short of the truth that if she expected to wake up tomorrow in something other than chains, she needed to act like she was HIS slave, at least for now. He explained how a Ravokian citizen's slave had a higher status than a non-citizen that was free. And how these free foreigners often ended UP as slaves. This was why it was important to become a citizen as soon as possible. This, however, was not done without swearing loyalty and devotion to Rhysol, a major stumbling block to idiots that could not understand the wisdom of His doctrines. He blamed this on the deluded minions of lesser gods, whose only strengths were the strength of their misguided convictions. "The strong are the obvious choice to rule the weak. It is the very nature of the weak that they NEED the strong to guide them. I find it laughable that these Syliran Knights oppose Rhysol, yet they themselves embody this same doctrine. They are the strongest in their city, and so they rule it. Yet they speak contradictory dogma against Rhysol for the same thing. It makes so much more sense to embrace the strength of Rhysol, recognizing its uncompromising purity, and to see the worshipers of these pretenders as the enemies they are. "They name him 'Defiler' and 'Betrayer', but he is more honest in his pursuit and reward of strength than they are. Rhysol does not hide his policy of rule by the strong behind confusing and false words. Nor dilute the purity of it with culturally weakening concepts of mercy and compassion. Why allow the weak to bring the rest of your culture down? Why elevate those with innate flaws to prominence? The gods made us unique. Some of us, sadly, are unique in flawed ways. But that is balance. We reap in this life what we earned in the last one. You are a slave now because you failed in some way in your last life. And if I did not make this attempt to bring you this understanding, I would be failing as well. "Now by my own words, I do not care if you believe me or heed me. But your situation is not changed. You are a foreigner in a town that is foolishly tossing them into the lake to supposedly appease a monstrous creature. You have one thing going for you now, however. Two things actually...First, your former master thinks you dead, which gives you a degree of freedom. And second, I intend to stop these "Fish Feeders". And I know exactly how you can help me do it."

[Yoona]

Yoona let out an inward sigh of relief as they made their way out of the lake, swimming towards a shallow area near the docks that seemed surrounded by some sort of cushioned boats. She had seen them before on her occasional excursion into the markets and such; people seemed to enjoy using them to go on tours of the city or get to places they normally couldn't reach by foot. Not waiting for any assistance to be offered—she had a feeling that this man had reached his personal limits as far as helping her went, anyway—Yoona ignored her metal handicap and wormed her way onto the docks, clawing her way up the mildewed boards. Her waterlogged body was weighing her down, so it took a lot more effort than it needed to, and she slipped more than she would have liked, but after a while the Chaktawe woman managed to drag herself up.

Greedily taking in gulps of air, Yoona stayed on the ground for a moment, beads of water dripping from her chin and locks of her crow-black hair sticking along the contours of her face, like a helmet. Her clothes were just as plastered to her skin; uncomfortably so. A hand drifted up towards her head, and Yoona was despondent to realize that her feathered headband was gone. The lake had claimed it, no doubt, with her panicked thrashings to help it along. Luckily, she still had the wreath of feathers that hung around her neck.

The man seemed to wait for her to get her bearings. Once she did, they were headed into the city. Ignoring the discomfort of her soaked clothes, Yoona trotted alongside him and listened to him speak. It was nothing short of a lecture, but she forced herself to listen, anyway, figuring that she owed as much to her rescuer. But oh, if only the majority of his speech didn't revolve around religious banter...

So, she needed to act like his slave? In order to avoid going back to being an actual slave? Yoona raised an eyebrow at this, a seed of doubt planting itself in her head. Had she been saved from a terrible fate only to get forced back into the life she'd been trying to escape from? No...no, that wasn't it. Though the man was unnerving her a bit with all of his Rhysol-preaching and idealism, she didn't get a vibe of ill-will from his words. He wanted her help in exchange for his random act of kindness.

The Chaktawe woman continued to listen as he explained his plan to her. It seemed as though she'd be playing a pivotal part in it; whether or not this new role should've elicited pride on Yoona's part, she wasn't sure, but she did feel a bit pleased to be helping him in his efforts. Getting revenge on the heartless wretches who'd cast her into the lake to drown was too wonderful of an opportunity to pass up. If there was any chance that Isaac was still around...well, even more of a reason to help.

Just imagining the look on his face when he saw that she was still alive brought a devious smirk to her face.

'He'll think of me as a ghoul, maybe, come back from the dead...I'll scare the daylights out of him!'

When the man had finished explaining, Yoona nodded to show that she understood, and set off back towards the docks to initiate the first part of the plot. 'You got all that, didn't you, Ruki?'

The hyena in question materialized beside her, at that moment, as if on cue. "You'll be leading as many of the bastards as possible to the spot the man told you about. Is that right?"

'Right.'

"Welp, I'll be watching out for trouble, I guess," Ruki replied, continuing to trot at her side as his form started to fade.

Yoona went on, inwardly grumbling about her bound elbows. At some point, those shackles would need to be removed...but for now she supposed that she could deal with them. At least her legs were free.

Lo and behold, the "Fish Feeders" were still crowding the docks when she arrived. Isaac, to her dismay, was nowhere in sight, but the men were busy with something, a frightful-looking slave girl squirming in the arms of one. Yoona narrowed her eyes, watching as the men forced the girl over to the edge of one of the docks; the same exact edge where she'd been forced over, with the men muttering prayers and her ex-master looking at her with cold indifference in his eyes. 'Vile filth...disguising themselves as men...'

A man turned his head in that moment, noticing her within a few ticks. Gradually the others turned, too, at the man's fervent nudging. Standing her ground and flashing them a smirk, Yoona waited until she spotted one make his way towards her. Then she twisted around and started to run. A few shouts went up, some sounding as though they came from the slave girl while others clearly belonged to the men. Swears were made, orders were given, and before she knew it she had a good half of the original group on her tail. Three of them, if the occasional glances over her shoulders told her much.

Ruki was running ahead of her, weaving his way around approaching shops and stands. "This way!" He shouted as his paws hit the pavement.

Yoona kept her pace, huffing as she ran. 'I know, I know!'

"Tawna" | "Common" | 'Thoughts' | Ruki