[color=green][u][b]Nettle[/b][/u][/color]

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Such a strange, frightening world that laid beyond the mire. There she sat, hands cuffed in metal with all her belongings save her robe stripped from her. Her cell was closely guarded, not that she was able to cast much without her tools let alone with her hands bound. What little she could do wouldn't help here. She was stuck.

In her misery she sat until the rough two-legged beasts threw open the hatch on this underground cage. They came clad in strange hides and metal scales bound together with leather.

[b]"Up, you ??? ???, Time to stand before the ???!"[/b] The man beast barked at her. She recoiled slightly from the unpleasant thing but it reached down and lifted her up from the ground, dragging her with all the grace a Rodent of Unusual Size drags it's fallen prey back to it's burrow. She walked if only so that she wouldn't be dragged as their grip hurt her thin arm enough as it was.

It was a strange world. The building was a mix of grandeur and stuffy, illogical designs. It was like an elaborate cave, such a hut made of so much stone. It held many strange hides dyed many colors to form pictures of many sorts. These hides weren't like any she was familiar with.

The people themselves were a strange bunch too. They all looked very similar with what hides they adorned themselves with along with many different stones, some which glitter. Though they all dressed in one or two similar manners they came in many different shapes and sizes too. It was the one thing that reminded her of her siblings back in the shadowy swamps. No two really looked the same beneath all these bright, threatening patterns. With how fat many of them were she was reminded of the more dangerous caterpillars to call her swamp home.

_
There she stood, wrists dragged low by her heavy manacles giving her a hunched down posture as this [i]Kang[/i] loomed over her short little body. Her large, wary eyes peered up through her mop of messy mossy hair at the imposing figure before her.

[color=Green]"Hhhh... Hhapologhees. I hh I hapohligize. Hno Punhish plhease. Pahy? Hhh, I p-pahy. J-just nho punhish."[/color]
*
Her voice was wispy, breathy and light. Her accent was thick, drawing out words creating strange pronunciations. She seemed fairly confused in general but especially in regards to payment. She was never taught the arts of the market in the swamp for there was no need. The siblings all shared what they owned so there was nary a need to pay or owe debt.

_
The king scowled. [b]"You are as odd as I was led to believe."[/b] He shook his head, hesitating as another thought occurred to him, perhaps, but opting not to give it voice. [b]"And no, girl, I'm not looking to punish anyone. You have broken a rule that we have out here: a rather important one, but you are very clearly ignorant of our ways and I am nothing if not a merciful and prudent ruler."[/b] He nodded, satisfied with his own answer. [b]"However, I doubt you have much in the way of money, so you may instead pay with your skills."[/b] He scowled for a moment before softened his expression. She was but a child - and one of mixed blood - innocent in her own way despite her obvious talent with The Gift. Otto had a daughter of roughly an age with her and they were worlds apart. [b]"There are some very bad people who wish to hurt some friends of ours. Help us protect them. Then, you shall owe me nothing and have gained a very powerful friend."[/b] More carrot, less stick. He was... oddly intrigued by this strange little creature. For all that she was a weapon and a potentially very useful one, a degree of fatherly instinct couldn't help but rear its head.
_
She nodded vigorously, trying her hardest to keep up with what the man was saying. It seemed closely approximate to the idea that she wasn't going to be punished which was good.

[color=Green]"Yehs! Yehs... Prot-hect frehinds. I- I wihll prot hect."[/color]
*2
She agreed eagerly, keen on not upsetting the man beasts surrounding her. The idea he conveyed was simple enough for her to understand. They wanted her to protect their own from other beasts. The Mother-Father had told them that these men would gather in herds and slay one another in territorial disputes, like ants from different colonies fighting to extinguish the other. This must of been it.

She didn't hold any of her prior belongings but she was so nervous being in a crowd of such violent creatures, all of them surrounding her with their gazes fixed on herself along with the other ones next to her, that she found her voice caught in her throat. She would do little aside from placating them until they left her alone.

_
[b]"Very good then,"[/b] declared the king. [b]"It is settled."[/b] He smiled comfortingly at the strange girl, hiding any further evidence of being both unnerved and sympathetic. 

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[u][i]Later, in the Relouse encampment...[/i][/u]
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It had been a long voyage. She had never been on a ship before nor on such a long voyage. It reminded her of the logs that would float in the mire of the swamp, only larger and somehow filthier. Still, they had given her back her belongings and thus she made do, eating the clouds to chase away the rain and tempting fish to the surface with conjured lures that bob along atop the water. The fish she fished up made for good eating indeed. Otherwise it was a fairly calm trip, albeit she still felt like a creature in a cage being looked in at from outside as she had been stranded aboard the vessel with many of these strange man beasts.

On shore things did not improve, not at all. Guided along by the other help the Kang had sent along she was taken to what they called a [i]camp[/i]. Many of these creatures stayed in tents, great big hides held up with sticks. They reminded her of some makeshift hideaways she had made back home, useful spots to tuck away from predators and rest the while.

There were a lot of these creatures. Way too many for her to be anywhere near comfortable. Like a swarm of ants there were just so many of them, popping in and out of places as they went about their business. There were far more of the metal shelled ones too, like the ones the Kang ordered about.

Gathered as they stood she felt well and truly small amidst this crowd, so many man-beasts herded together as they called up prayers to their gods in preparation for their upcoming conflict. There was little she could do but dwell upon her own discomfort as she attempted to make herself small and unnoteworthy. Luckily for her they were so caught up in their Pranse's prayers even a creature like of her went by with only scant comments and glares.

She stuck to the metal hides Kang Otto had dispatched along with her and whoever was was along for the ride like a shy child to their mother's leg, keeping low and letting them handle all the fast word exchanges. Her Drudgunzean might of been rusty but her Parrencian was non-existent. Needless to say as she followed low along those from the boat she was unlikely to initiate introductions herself.

[color=green]"Hhhhh... Hwhen do hwe prot-hect? A- An from who?"[/color]
*3
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Present in post: [@Force and Fury], [@jasbraq], [@Siber].

*:(Translation: "Uhh... Apologies. I uh, I apologize. No punish please. Pay? Uh, I pay. J-Just no punish.")
*2:(Translation: "Yes! Yes... Protect friends. I- I will protect.")
*3:(Translation: "When do we protect? And from who?")