The Kidnapping :: [Whisper / Closed]

[SilverSugar]

Secretly...the bill was posted.

Mark: Prince Elt Glyndwr of Laughing Falls Kingdom:
Order: Kidnapping.
Order date: Hidden by magic from those Unworthy.
Poster: ----------.

Details: Seeking an individual loyal to Prince Elt, not the crown. Take him far from the lands of Laughing Falls. A team of at least three will be needed to carry out the task or be a proven and skilled master of battle, thievery, and integrity. All preparations within’ the Castle and the Prince’s room will be covered by the Bill-Poster and the way will be clear. Transport from the grounds will also be covered. All further information regarding this matter and the Prince will be explained upon answer of the bill…

Payment: One tenth of the Royal Treasury to be given during the order date as discussed. Additionally, upon completion of the task a great magic will be bestowed upon the party accepting of the bill...also to be discussed.

In further secrecy and at great length, the bill was answered, discussed, and approved…

Within the thick stone walls of Castle Glyndwr Prince Elt readied himself for sleep. The day had been long and tedious… His teacher had given him many long and boring lessons about the world and had insisted he practice fighting and magics until his body was nearly sapped of all strength. He was mood was further sullied when he should find upon returning to his room that his father had left him a “present” of yet another voluptuous woman of the night for his pleasure. “What was the point in wasting your life like this, you disgusting whore?! Go home to your mother!” the prince had yelled with contempt; sending the woman flying out his quarters in a fit. Only his own nerves were more shot…

Ordering his bed to be remade from the mere touch of that woman, Elt took himself to the showers and bathed. Fortunately, he had managed to sooth his tension away by working the last of his magics with the water. Calm the Prince wrapped his bare frame within the folds of his favorite grey cloak comforted further by the soft otter pelt against his skin… Slipping under the thick clean quilts of his bed Elt rested his head down upon the goose-feathered pillow. A moment later his old nursemaid arrived to give him a small glass of water and to bid him fair sleeping in that his dreams would not be plagued by nightmares. The woman was so kind to him, Elt mused drowsily as he drank from the glass, she’d been more a mother to him than the Queen...but that was to be expected. Still he was grateful she was around, the elderly woman was one of the few people to which he held any respect for. It was probably the only reason she still lived within the castle walls even though he was a young man of nineteen. Hardly in need of any nursemaid at his age, but he loved her still…

It wasn’t long before Elt found himself in darkness then slowly colors began swimming lazily before his eyes. A simple dream.

With that the deed had begun…

Prince Glyndwr felt as though he were floating upon clouds, but then… Something changed and a fierce fire raged under his skin! Terror gripped him and he tried to force his eyes open as he struggled against the pain but found to his horror he was unable to move! This peculiar pain seemed to last for an eternity until finally it just…stopped. With a jarring force he felt his body slam against a hard surface. And then his eyes were free, opening them he saw only pitch black.

The cowl of his cloak had been drawn over his head. Unknowing of what had befallen him the prince tried to lower the hood but found his body bound, ropes were twisted around his frame securely, fortunately they were outside of his cloak and did not cut into his fair skin. However this was of little reassurance given the situation… Then movement rocked him and he could hear the rattling of wooden wheels below him and the clatter of hooves before him. It was a horse-drawn carriage, the young prince assumed, taking him forcibly from his home...

And then he fell victim to the call of sleep again. Hours later he came awake hoping vainly the events of the night had been nothing but a dream. And yet when his eyes came open he discovered himself not in his bed but instead lying on the cold hard earth! He forced down the urge to vomit at being surrounded by such filth…there were more important things to worry about. Fearfully Elt scanned his surroundings, the ropes previously binding him gone. He was in the clearing of a forest.

Unfortunately he did not recognize this place as being anywhere within his Kingdom! All was quiet, the sun just now starting to filter down through the trees. Had this been any other situation the view would have taken his breath away. So clean was the air here, despite it being wild, so fresh and good were the elements. He could feel the hand of evil had not touched this place for many generations. Still he was alarmed and on high alert. Seeing no sign of his captors Elt feared the worst. Had he been left in this place to fend for himself? He had no clue how to survive in the wilds unarmed and, good heavens! ...He was unclothed safe for his cloak!

Weakly for his limbs seemed as though they were leaded in a perpetual sleep he struggled to his feet. The moment he stood Elt instantly regretted it; his head exploded in pain. Reeling from the shock, he fell to his knees as the invisible flames licked across his flesh. "Magic!" he thought through watery eyes. Elt clenching his fingers into his fist to fight off crying out in pain, but it was in vain...Too harsh was the spell for him to bear and a muted cry escaped his lips. Truly a work of art this spell--it was meant to bind him from fleeing and only the most powerful of fire spells could best a water demon!

Panting he gave in and collapsed to the ground to wait out the magic. What good were ropes when this dirty trick could hold better him after all? Eventually the pain passed and he was able to come back into his full senses... Rolling over onto his back Elt gazed up at the tree tops cursing his misfortune. What a miserable position to find himself in. With his breath and nerves steady at last the Prince gingerly turned to his knees and crawled to the nearest tree. If he could not flee on foot he would at least not suffer the indignity of lying on dirt! Once at the base of the tree Elt made himself as a babe, pulling his cloak around him as though it would be enough to hide his fear and shame. His fingertips traced the scars at his breast absently as he waited for any sign to tell him what to do next. His brain and body were too numb by fear to be of any good to him however. “How could this have happened to me? Where were the guards, the mages stationed to protect me?! How could this happen, where am I, what is going on?” a racketing sob took him, “Am I to die here alone?!”

Shaking something fierce; the Prince wept…

[WHISPER]

The sun's rays had barely reached past the canopy of branches above the heads of sleeping men, when a soft white bird broke from the mismatch leaves and landed on the forest floor. Small curls of smoke rose from the burnt wood and rocks, which had been a blazing fire last night, to keep those sleeping warm. Now, it fit right along with the rest of the forest floor, and as the small bird hopped and fluttered over towards it one lone figure rose with a yawn. The bird froze in surprise, it's head moving erratically as his black eyes inspected this large, dark, bulky form.

Dexter's eyes were still closed as she straghtened her back, stretching her arms above her head and letting out a small, pleasurable groan. She had slept quite well last night, despite the fact she was sleeping on the ground, and there were about ten men surrounding her, cramping her space, but at least it was warm. With a small smile on her pink lips, Dex threw the hood covering her head and part of her face off and glanced around their area. Besides the white bird hopping towards the fire pit, it seemed perfectly quiet and safe. Instead of crawling over the bodies, and causing some men to wake up grumpy, Dex closed her eyes, focused, and was soon levitating above their bodies.

She smirked thoughtfully to herself, sticking her tongue out at the men below her as she floated over them. Haha! Now, I'll be able to do a few things without you following me around all morning. Turning over, so that her stomach was facing the ground, Dex floated over the bird, the fire pit, twigs, red and yellowed leaves, and even a few upturned roots before she got to a patch of grass. Knowing she wouldn't make noise here, the young elementalist dropped to her feet, and danced lightly side to side in triumph.

Everytime Dexter tried to go anywhere, or even tried to do anything by herself, there was guards, and her parents at her side every step of the way. She despised it. Hated the fact that she could never do anything herself, besides going to the bathroom, or taking a shower. With a sigh, and a frown, Dexter turned from the clearing and walked silently away.

She didn't have her sword, her bow, or really anything to protect her except her own two hands. But, it would have to work for now. She'd have to deal with being alone, being unprotected- Oh hell, she found all this quite exciting. She didn't have someone to tell her what to do, where to go, what to wea- "What the..." Dex stood at the edge of a path, before her were foot prints, a few sets, not from her own group, the size was too small to be from her guards clunky boots, but what caught her attention was the drag marks between the footprints. Dex couldn't quite place what the marks were, it seemed as though they had simply dragged someone along the path without much regard for their well-being.

Blinking, and smiling, Dexter decided to follow the footprints. To hunt down the story that was laid out before her. "It's now or never, Dexter. Don't be like your brother. Go out there and show them what you're worth." With a confident air about her, and a slight skip to her step, the curious little elemental strode out along the path. She didn't have to travel long, only about an hour, before she came to a make shift camp site. There were ropes, branches, a dying fire, even some scraps of fabric lying about the ground, and when Dex stepped forwards to completely put out the fire she noticed the still figure snuggling against a bare tree.

Blinking, unsure, and with a racing pulse, Dex froze in her step. The overly long sleeves, of a quite heavy shirt she had on over her usual clothes, slipped past her wrist and caught itself in the small flames of the fire. "Oh. Darn it all!" She half whispered, half yelped as she pulled her arm back and flailed it, trying idiotically to put out the flames. After a few moments she figured that the other individual in the clearing knew she was there, so instead of approaching them, she called to him from her position, a good ten feet to the left of his tree.

"E-Excuse me!" She paused, awaiting an answer. "H-Hello! Hello? Uhm..." She was a bit worried, noticing that his breathing wasn't the normal, so, against everything she had been taught, Dexter approached him slowly and quietly. "Are you alright? Hello..."

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[SilverSugar]

So deep in thought was poor miserable Elt that he almost missed the commotion going on around him.

"Are you alright? Hello..." a woman's voice addressed him softly.

Startled the young prince raised his head, his long brown hair crackled at the sudden the movement before settling back down upon his shoulders in a disheveled mess. Upon seeing the woman at his right, Elt's eyes widened like that of a doe at the point of a hunter's arrow. For a moment the young Prince didn't know what to do, or what to make of the young woman, her appearance had seemed so sudden to him. He didn't have even a moment to wipe away the tears from his cheeks, or even prevent them from still falling...

Twice he tried to open his mouth to speak, but alas he could form no words and so left his mouth agape. His lip trembled. What could she want with him? She asked of his well-being, but what a stupid question that was! Shouldn't she know? Was she not a part of the kidnapping? Why else would a woman be in such a forest? And even if she wasn't a part of the kidnapping she surely wasn't alone in the wood for no woman would be so foolish as to go into the world alone... Could this not have been a trap to seduce her? What was she thinking?!

What was...

What was she doing coming closer to him?!

The young prince felt his heart leap into his mouth, so unaccustomed he was to being so physically near strange people. And she was suspect after all, such a curious a thing she was... So subtle were her rose tinted lips, and the way she stared at him with those beautiful green eyes...

No! What was he thinking?!

She must be a part of the kidnapping, she must be!

Finally words came to him, he wanted nothing more than to sound brave, powerful... "S-stay away from me!" he wailed between sobs. He choked on his words and fell into silence as his hands grasped tightly on his cloak, heaven forbid she see his nakedness!

It was hopeless.

Fury welled up within him at his own worthlessness, but it served no purpose. He could do nothing to keep the woman, nor any other foe, away. So weak he was against the magics that bound him, and even if he were free of it he had not yet restored his magical powers from the day before... Inwardly Elt wished he had listened to the advice of his teachers and practiced close combat. What a fool he was, what an utter fool he was. He was unworthy of the title Prince Glyndwr!

Shaking his head, his grey eyes unseeing past the fright, Elt retreated further into the folds of his cloak. Elt shrank back as far as the tree at his back would allow, cowering. He shuddered violently. Praying to all that was and ever would be Elt wished that the more he hid himself within the depths of the grey otter lined cloak, the less likely the strange woman would be able to see his misery and shame. Ah but it was to no avail; he could still feel her presence! Shock. Confusion. Worry...devolving into...pity?! Why must he had been cursed with such an ability?!

Women should not pity men!

He wanted to be angry, he wanted to feel disgust towards that strange woman, but something within the young water demon would not let it happen...

[WHISPER]

There was a small uplift in Dex's lips as she watched the man before her. His hair crackled once he realized she was there, and reminded the young elementalist of her twin brother. Though, normally, Raydon's hair would turn to dancing flames, awesome to look at, but dangerous to be around. But behind that smirk, Dex was anything but happy. She was scared, first and foremost, she didn't know who this man was, or what he was capable of, and it seemed as though he was a bit unpredictable. The figure was weeping, shaking, quite a pityful creature, but Dex wasn't pitying him, she was more worried for his well being.

Leaning closer, she raised a hand, reaching across to pull back his hood and get a good look at him, but, instead, she was barked at. "S-stay away from me!" His voice came out more powerful then she was expecting, and although he was sobbing and sniffling it made her jump back a couple of feet.

How rude. Dexter's soft features scrunched into a small frown, her eyebrows furrowing in annoyance as she stared at the man curling and grasping at the side of a tree. Of course, she understood that he must have been scared... Or something, and she was a stranger to him, so expecting him to fully accept her sudden appearance in the wooded area was simply silly. Yet, Dex was only there to help him, more out of curiosity, but also because that was what she did, she was someone who cared whole-heartedly for the wellfare of others, even those she had never met. And this thin, horrified man before him was anything but fine.

Blinking, and still frowning, the young earth elementalist turned and stepped lightly back to the dying fire pit. Ignoring the stray curls of white smoke that were still rising, Dex grabbed two rocks and began to smack them together. And a few minutes later she was still attempting to get a spark or something, with only managing to make more noise then she first intended. Damn things... Were they wet, not the right kind? Too smooth? Too rough? "I watched them start a fire last night... Dammit. Where's Ray when you need him?" Dex was grumbling to herself, throwing the rocks off to the side and resorting to her own magick to start a fire. All she wanted was some warmth for the shaking man in the corner.

Finally, after a few more tries, Dex was able to create a spark with her fingers and set a few twigs and leaves aflame. With a smug smile on her face she giggled to herself. Ha! I don't need those street-smart men after all. With her acheivment still swimming in her head, the green eyed beauty tended to the fire for a few minutes, every so often glancing up at the hooded figure and frowning.

When she figured that the fire wouldn't go out if she stood up, Dex removed the extra large wool shirt one of the burly guards forced on her, walked straight up to her new friend and dropped it down on top of him. "I'll admit, it's not much. But, it should help you stay a bit warm till it heats up later. If you want, you can come sit by the fire." Without waiting for a reply, Dex spun on the ball of her left foot and hurried back to the warmth of the small fire. Facing away from him, so she wouldn't be tempted to look up and see if he accepted her gift or not.

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[SilverSugar]

A silence fell over the clearing, but it was quickly broken by the clatter of stone striking stone.

Elt looked up with yet another panicked jolt. Eying the woman suspiciously from within his dark cocoon he saw her bent over the dying embers of a fire. "Is she trying to build it back up?" Elt mused the moment his heart calmed enough for rational thought. The Prince knew little of such mundane tasks, but he was getting the feeling she was going about it all wrong...

And then without warning the woman tossed the stones asunder frustration radiating from her form. She then snapped her fingers and the fire started coming back to life. Victory. For a moment Elt basked in her joy, but that feeling was quickly replaced by his own familiar fears. If she was able to call forth flame, she very well could have been the one to cast that monstrous spell keeping him from his feet! But...no. Such a spell was a work of a true master and clearly she had struggled to create that flame. It was impossible for her to have ensnared him with the invisible flame.

After feeding the flames the woman then turned and left the clearing, returning after a moment with something in her arms. Lowering his gaze on what could only have been instinct and trying to will everything away Elt was surprised as the woman dropped her load into his lap. Blinking through his tears at last Elt realized she had brought him clothing... "I'll admit, it's not much," she said lightly, "But, it should help you stay a bit warm till it heats up later. If you want, you can come sit by the fire."

Lifting his head, the hood of his cloak falling to his shoulders, Elt watched the young woman hurry back to her now roaring fire. The Prince looked back down at the woolen shirt and grasped it lightly in his fingers as a huge weight of regret fell upon his shoulders. How could he have doubted her kind eyes? It wasn't pity she had felt towards him, it was compassion!

Wrestling with the unfamiliar feeling of guilt Elt gingerly slipped the shirt over his shoulders. It was absolutely humongous and covered his entire frame. As long as he kept his cloak wrapped tightly around him, as he always did, there would be no chance of the girl seeing his disgusting body. So grateful for the honest kindness she had shown him, Elt resisted the urge to begin crying anew.

Softly he called out to her, hesitating for only a moment to finally be rid of the grip of fear and sorrow in his voice, "I...I would be honored to join you if I could my Lady." If his father heard him speaking like that towards such a woman the King would have been livid. And yet, it felt right to say given the circumstances. "But I am afraid that I am bound by magics and cannot rise to my feet... And pardon my language, but I'd rather not crawl like a dog to join you..."

It took everything he had in him not to make mention of the fact he'd suspected her of bringing him to this situation. That or bring up his natural aversions to fire. If she was not a part of the kidnapping there was a chance she did not know who he was. The Glyndwr's were rather hated by commoners, even amongst their fellow demonic kin, so it would do him no good to drop his name either. Better to just trust that this would work out. Somehow...

[WHISPER]

The sound of rustling cloth reached her perked ears, and Dex only allowed herself one quick glance over her shoulder to make sure he was putting on the wool shirt. The way his body was shivering was making her want to tremble in her own clothes. Her lips upturned into a small, somewhat smug, smile as she returned her attention to the small fire. Dexter was sure the man would want his privacy from her prying eyes, though her natural curiousity begged for some answers.

Just what was this man doing out here? In the middle of a forest crowded with demons and creatures of an evil sort. Shivering and snuggling a tree. Perhaps he had the misfortune to be mugged on his way from one place to another. But that didn't explain the fire pit. If he had been mugged, he wouldn't have had the strength or want to make a fire, and he wouldn't have been so far away from it when she showed up.

Sighing, Dexter lifted a hand to her head, shoving at the wealth of brown hair cascading over her shoulders and falling unnervingly close to the licking flames of the fire. She poked it rhymically with a stick, wondering if he would take her up on the offer of sitting beside her at the fire. She wouldn't have minded sharing conversation with someone who wasn't a brute, or with only an elementary education. But he made no move to come closer, and absently she sniffed at her clothing, wondering if she smelled... She probably did.

"I...I would be honored to join you if I could my Lady." At first she didn't recognize his voice, it wasn't full of terror as it had been a few moments ago, it was calmer, but she could still sense the uneasiness in the tone. The nervous fear that boiled up just under the surface of his features. She turned toward him then. Taking in his full form once more, and resting her eyes on his face.

The one she could now fully see. His eyes were a bright grey, they caught the light of the early morning sun and seemed to sparkle like pale gems. His skin was fair, soft in appearance, and Dex had the odd urge to reach out and touch him, just one touch. Shaking the thought from her mind, Dex focused on his features. He wasn't necessarily handsome, his face was more rounded, soft, like a woman's, contrasting to the usual hard planes and angles most men had. He wasn't ugly though. Far from it.

Feeling heat touch at her cheeks, she immediately turned away from him, glaring at the fire and blaming the flames. "But I am afraid that I am bound by magics and cannot rise to my feet... And pardon my language, but I'd rather not crawl like a dog to join you..." Dexter hadn't noticed before, but looking back at him, his body was caught in an odd position. For a moment, she was perfectly still as she assessed what he said. She wasn't that far along in her magick studies as her brother was, and for all she knew, Dex could make his current perdicament worse should she try to help him.

So, with no other choice, she sighed and stood up. "I see..." She moved swiftly to one side of the clearing, disappearing into the trees, and emerging from the other side a few minutes later with an armful of sticks. She dropped them close to her new friend, turning once more to gather a few rocks, before dropping to her knees. Rolling up her sleeves, Dexter used her hands to dig a small, yet wide, hole in the ground as close to him as she dared. And situated the sticks in a triangular fashion, putting her rocks around the sticks in a circular design.

Standing up once more, she focused on the fire a few feet away and willed the flames to jump, from one fire to the new pit she had created. Once that was done, she looked at the man still laying against the tree and smiled. Bubbling up with happiness at her feat. "If you cannot get near the fire, I shall bring it to you." Offering him a small, clumsly curtsy, she dropped once more to bottom and laughed. Not entirely sure why, but she couldn't contain it.

After listening to the crackles of flames for a few minutes after her outburst, she glanced up at her friend and offered a smile. "My name is Dexter. Sorry for barging in on your... campsite, but I was worried at the first appearance, perhaps you can alleviate my fears with your story?"

[SilverSugar]

"I see," the soft voice of the strange woman regarded Elt's announcement with little pause to stand and sigh. She then unceremoniously disappeared into the thick of the wood yet again returning not long after with another stash of kindling. Coming close she laid out her find in a quickly made pit barricaded by a rough stone circle. A moment later Elt could feel the woman concentrating to coerce the elements...

She seemed to find it less difficult to work this time around, and it wasn't hard for Elt to see why. Working with a living flame was far easier than working one from a spark. Still, her magics were nowhere near his level. Well, had he not been drained and ensnared...at least he knew now that the spell coiling around him was not hers. Magic always left markers behind...traces of the caster and the original base elements.

A few seconds of silence passed before the flames happily took to their new source of food in the new pit. Giving off much exuberance the girl gave a laugh, "If you cannot get near the fire, I shall bring it to you."

Elt blinked stupidly for a moment at her. He couldn't tell if it was genuine pride for her small victory over the elements or gall that made her like that...

"How queer," Elt thought, forcing himself to not show contempt, "the way she seems to regard everything with such calm intellect and yet she finds humor in this?" Still, her resourcefulness impressed him; the more he was around her, the more her brand of kindness eased his fears of this place and the events that had brought him here...to her. Elt had to know... Who was she and what did she have to do with his fate?

For a while the only sounds came from the fire... Normally such a thing as cold would not trouble a water demon like Elt, and yet the warmth was soothing. And as if she had read him perfectly the girl spoke up with an introduction. "My name is Dexter. Sorry for barging in on your... campsite, but I was worried at the first appearance, perhaps you can alleviate my fears with your story?"

"Your fears?" Elt repeated as his mind wrapped around what her words fully meant. She was perfectly calm looking, her words unlaced with tricks. He didn't even need to ask about her involvement in the kidnapping. He could instantly tell she would not know a thing about it. She was a clueless as he to the events of the previous night. Somehow that, coupled with the essence of her soul that Elt could grasp, made her completely trustworthy to him. He could not say why for sure it was.

"I see," the young man said sullenly, knowing what he would have to do to set the scene. The fates were strong this day and the words poured out of him before he could rationalize them otherwise, "I am Elt of the royal Glyndwr family. Prince of the Laughing Falls Kingdom..."

With that Elt began telling Dexter that this clearing was no campsite of his... He hesitated only a moment during his kidnapping story to wonder what his parents would think of him then before letting the demon of himself slip away into the shadows of his being once more. Once he had told her everything he could remember of the previous night leading all the way up until she had come across him, still mysteriously spellbound.

It was his turn to play with fire.

"This is what we are dealing with Miss Dexter," he said steeling himself with gritted teeth. He rose to his knees--the best he could do against the pain of the spell, but it was more than enough to trigger it once more.

The invisible flames licked at his body for only a moment before unexpectedly mingling with the young woman's fire like an explosion. Crying out in surprise the water demon fell onto his back watching ribbons of fire letters swirled around him. It was the heart of the spell! It lasted for only a moment before disappearing.

Panting it took the young demon a few moments to steady himself. "D-did you see that?!" It had been more than he had expected. Indeed it was strong magic that did not wish to be exposed, and it would do it's job no matter the cost. Elt feared tripping it again. And yet the prince had a feeling Dexter might know what to make of it...