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[indent]There was a stranger in his midst.[/indent]
[indent] His fingers gripped the cold, rusted steel of the dagger. As he shifted position, the thrum of power burst through him, shielding him from potential assault. Not that he was expecting the woman to attack him, but it never hurt to be careful.[/indent]
[indent]"Easy, girl, easy," the woman put her hands up in an attempt to placate him. She was frightened. Good. That meant she wouldn't try anything. Evidently he slipped aboard the wrong cart, and found himself in the hands of some kind of lesbian trio. Not a bad choice considering the other options.[/indent]
[indent]"Wha are ye!? Whit d'ye want!?"[/indent]
[indent]"I could ask you the same thing," the girl put her hands on her hips. "After all, you're the one who's asleep in our cart."[/indent]
[indent]Bonnie's grip tightened hard enough to make the skin go white. If she reported him to the guard, that meant meant fines he couldn't pay, that meant prison, that meant being stuck in a tight spot surrounded by people twice his height and quadruple his mass. What choice did he have?[/indent]
[indent]"I'm nae in trouble, am ah, Miss?" Bonnie fluttered his eyelashes, but never dropped out of his defensive stance. If she would only relax a little! Maybe he could get past her, just for a moment, he was sure he could outrun her. No way could she move as fast as him with that heavy jacket on her shoulders.[/indent]
[indent] The ruse seemed to work, and the woman's expression softened. "It's okay, Sweetie, you've got nothing to worry about," she sighed. "Just put the knife down, and we can talk about this."[/indent]
[indent]Bonnie had no intention of letting go of his weapon. Battered and old though it was, it was the only thing keeping him safe at this point. If he let go of that, he might as well scream "here I am, alone and vulnerable, at the whims of whoever may take me!". The woman saw the resolve in his eyes, and her face hardened.[/indent]
[indent]"I can't let you out if you're going to stab me, sweetie. Put the knife down."[/indent]
[indent]"Ah cannae dae that, Miss. Ye ken ah cannae."[/indent]
[indent]The woman sighed. Very well, it seemed to say, we'll do this the hard way. Suddenly, there was a crack and a smell like burning cordite, like when you let off a firework in a small garden, and a flame blossomed in the girls hands. Quickly, Bonnie thrust his free hand out. But the woman wasn't throwing a fireball at him. Instead, the fire seemed to solidify and harden in her hands, changing and forming into a long, sharp beam. A few seconds later, and it had cooled into a deadly spear, black and glistening like glass at midnight.[/indent]
[indent]"Will you come out now?" The girl smiled, sweet as honey, while pointing ten foot of obsidian at the poor boy's chest.[/indent]
[indent]Bonnie was stubborn, but he wasn't thick. He knew when he was beat. A spear like could gut him before he got anywhere near her. Bitterly, he dropped the knife.[/indent]
[indent]"Good girl. Come on, out you come."[/indent]
[indent]His heart was in his throat as he took a tentative step towards her. Was this it? Had he done so far and fought so hard, just to end up enslaved by... Whoever this was? It was hardly bearable to even think about. His bare foot slipped out of the cart and onto the grass, under the watchful eye of his captor. Once he was bathed in sunlight, however, the woman gasped.[/indent]
[indent]"Oh my god..." Bonnie looked utterly skeletal. His clothes had long since come away threadbare, and he'd covered the gaps with long strips of bandage-like cloth. His ribs poked through his chest hideously and his legs trembled under even his tiny weight; Siiga didn't doubt for a second that if he was to carry anything heavier they would snap like the twigs they resembled. What wasn't white as snow was a bruised purple, mostly up his arms and his chest. Even the blue of his wings and his horns looked dull. If it wasn't for the fire burning passionately in his eyes, Siiga would have sworn that she was looking at a corpse come back to life somehow. And yet, despite his starved, broken appearance, he retained some degree of cuteness. Maybe it was how fragile he looked, or the short white mess on his head that looked more like feathers than hair, or the full lips and big, bright eyes. Maybe it was the combination of it all together. Who knew?[/indent]
[indent]"You got a name, sweetheart?" She asked. Even Bonnie was shocked by her sincerity.[/indent]
[indent]"Bonnie... Ma... Ma name is Bonnie..."[/indent]
[indent]Bonnie. What a sweet name. A sweet name, for a sweet little girl. "You got a home, Bonnie? A family?"[/indent]
[indent]She suspected the answer before he said it. "No..."[/indent]
[indent]Poor thing. All alone in the world, no one to look after him, no one to care about him. Siiga felt her heart clench just looking at the poor thing. "Well, for what it's worth, I'm Siiga. I'm going to be looking after you from now on, okay? Let's get you something proper to eat, and then you can tell me why you were hiding in the back of the cart."[/indent]
[indent]Something to eat... Bonnie felt like he hadn't eaten in days. Desperate as he was to run away, he needed the food. And yet, as Siiga took his hand and brought him close to her side, he couldn't help but feel like he'd made a huge mistake not fleeing when he could...[/indent]