If they could see Barrows in his bindings then these torturers would have seen a torrent of emotions play out across his face. The frustration of struggling against his bonds, which their mockery only encouraged him to go at even harder. The damn things had to be straining at this point! If Barrows could cut and rip through vines then this couldn't be too different. 

What finally got him to freeze was the sight of his bandana... and seeing it go up in flames. His first badge of honour. The closest thing he had to a uniform. The blood oath that bonded him with his Catachan brothers made real and these pieces of shit had the nerve to burn it! That stop him alright, and for a moment turned him into a sniveling kid in front of the drill sergeant all over again. It had been a long time since Barrows had felt anything close to shame but here it was, battering down his shoulders like a throne damned sledgehammer. How could he go back to the regiment now, what would he tell them? To admit that he'd been so weak...

NO! He had to calm down. A slither of logic cut its way through Barrows' raging emotions like a knife between two ribs, as years of training and conditioning forced him to try and think clearly. Most folks would lose their bandannas at some point, yeah a lot died trying to get it back but it wasn't unheard of. The bandanna was just a symbol, just 'cus the symbol was gone that didn't get rid of what it represented, right? Besides, everyone would forgive him once he came back with a new bandanna dyed red in THESE SHIT STAINS' BLOOD!

It was the sigh they gave that put a second stop to his escape attempts. Something about it sounds wrong. It was the kind of noise that demanded the attention of his primal instincts. It screamed murderous intent, like a sadist relishing the moment before they went to town on some poor bastard's face. Barrows knew because he'd made noises like that plenty of times himself.   

[b]“I have here a juvenile specimen of what your people call a 'Brainleaf', a rather queer name but not altogether incorrect. I have heard that they control your body, yes? This is something I would like to see, so please, keep refusing to talk and let me find out exactly how it works.”[/b]  

Well shit... that was a hard sell right there. Childhood conditioning was there to wrap Barrows in its warm embrace again and whisper those same comforting words in his ear. [i]'To be born on Catachan is to be born knowing you'll die in pain. Odds are you'll die screaming, howling in pain, probably with tears in your eyes. You can't control that but you can be the one to decide if you go down swinging.'[/i] And Throne help him Barrows would go down swinging. 

"Ha! Well there's an age old question for you! Which is worse to have kill you, brainleaf or a spiker. I was always on the spiker side of the argument myself so I guess the Emperor has a sick sense of humour!" Barrows laughed, throwing back his head and letting his voice echo through the room. All while his mind raced.

[i]'Think, think damn it, you're about to die!'[/i] His mind screamed as he desperately tried to think of ways to stall the people in the shadows. Quickly, and as subtly as he could manage, Barrows let his hands rest on the arms of his chair and set about feeling around for a weak point or a seam. If he could focus his strength instead of pulling wildly he might be able to slip out of this chair somehow. And if nothing else he could take some of them down with him.  

"I'm guessing you bought it then. That or the leaf would have taken half your lads before you managed to get a bud under control. It shoots its leaves out you know? Throws them like knives so you never find one mindleaf out of reach of another. And you'd know that once it's got someone then the leaf does with the host what it wants, not what you want. So go ahead and use it 'cus this ends one of two ways. Either I get out and I kill you slow or the leaf gets me, and I get out and kill you quick!"

All while the taunts went flying he went on testing the integrity of the chair he was strapped to in a more methodical way than before. Once Barrows zeroed in on a weakness then maybe he could get himself free and get to work.