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 Posted: Wed Dec 17, 2008 9:35 pm
((For the sole purpose of reminding forgetful me, this took place before Misery and after Low Profile))
Glowering at everything and nothing, Mikaril found himself storming into the marketplace, feeling none of the nostalgia that he might have felt under any other circumstances. His recent bout with cold hard realization seemed to have left him numb to many other feelings, and at the moment, Mikaril really didn't care if those feelings ever came back. He only half knew why he was there instead of in his own city; he was being ordered to stay away until House Torlyl was above blame for a mishap that had been entirely his doing. He was taking a risk coming here; Matron Dilayne had been very clear when she had told him to stay away from places that he had been at before, lest a vengeful drow seek him out for answers. He supposed his reason for breaking so clear an order was the same as the one for feeling no nostalgia; he simply didn't care.
He wasn't even paying enough attention to feel his usual discomfort about being so close to the surface world. He might have remembered how he had felt when he first came here; the fresher air smelling strange, the mere thought that not too far away was an empty and endless sky, with nothing preventing the beings crawling up on top from falling away and cartwheeling across the sky like random sparks from a fire. Still, he managed to keep his wits about him enough to be on high alert for any thieving opportunities. Just because he had traveled so long a ways in the foulest of moods, he shouldn't have to be destitute.
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Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2008 1:11 pm
Ka'dairihn was in a rather foul mood as well. He strode through the marketplace a scowl settling on his face, as he passed through the small crowds of people, deftly avoiding them. Once again, he had been sent on a wild goose chase by his sisters. Every now and then they would pull this on him, making him go to and from the House to gather unrelated items for them. And...they to make themselves even more annoying they would conveniently forget one or two items and then send him out again..blaming it on him for not listening the first time.
It grated on him how his sisters took him for granted and messed around with him without a second thought. He really didn't need this. He was supposed to be meeting with an informant, and their childish antics were going to make him late. Gritting his teeth, he came to a stop once more in front of the herbalist's tent and barked out his order. The herbalist of course, not sensing his urgency, took his time moving slowly as he filled the order for him.
The herbalist finally wrapped up the wormroot and held his hand out to Ka'da for his payment. Cursing under his breath, Ka'da flipped the coins at the herbalist and grabbed the bag from the table and turned and angrily stomped away. Normally if one showed anger in public in Llurth Dreir there would be thieves all over them, knowing that their guard was down. Though..unlike most drow, Ka'da tended to be even more alert when he was angry. So when a thief tried to snatch the gold pouch from his belt, Ka'da was already going for the thief's neck.
They both made contact at the same time, the thief's hand was on the coin purse, and Ka'da's hand was clutched around the thief's neck. The thief looked up with wide shocked eyes at him, already gasping for air.
"I'd let go if I were you." Ka'da warned in a steely tone. "Cause I'm not. And since I'm in a bad mood, I don't really care if I kill someone today or not."
The thief gulped pitifully, and his hand dropped down to his side. Ka'da snarled, and threw the thief away with him with enough force to cause the would be thief to fly several feet in the air until he fell like a rag doll into a trash bin with a loud clang. Ka'da flexed his shoulders, and then went on his way.
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Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 11:04 pm
Mikaril was still brooding when he heard a loud clang and as he looked toward the source he was just in time to witness a hapless drow fly straight into a trash bin. Watching with amusement, he noticed a drow walking away from the area looking as though someone had pissed into his morning coffee. Wouldn't want to be that bin-rat, he thought wryly. Stupid fool was probably going for the other's purse; he could just make it out as the angry drow marched past.
He wondered momentarily if he would be able to succeed where the petty thief failed. Then again, the drow HAD tossed another drow into a trash bin, and even though he himself had armor, he was sure that it probably wouldn't make too big a difference, especially since his new armor was lighter. Still, it seemed a shame to let him go on his way; there really wasn't much else Mikaril could do in this place. He was certainly too angry himself to do too terribly much. Perhaps what he needed was a distraction.
He changed his pace until he was in step with the drow ahead of him, and he was soon following at a reasonable distance, continuing to maintain his own cranky appearance, as though he just happened to be going the same way and he couldn't care less who else was taking the same route. He had done this many times before; he had actually done this quite recently with a female in another city, but he had been nervous and clumsy and had been found out. Hopefully he would be more careful in this vaguely familiar place.
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Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 4:42 pm
Ka'da stormed through the backstreets of Llurth Dreir, towards where he was to meet his informant. Due to the nature of the meeting, he was rather wary of people following him, so every couple of minutes he would glance over his shoulder to make sure he wasn't being followed. After about twenty minutes or so, he calmed down and stopped checking his shadow as frequently. Probably not such a good idea...since he had gained a second shadow from the marketplace who was doing a great job of keeping out of his line of sight.
Ka'da had decided that his sisters could wait for their wormroot while he took care of some business pertaining to an upcoming trip out of town. His matron was going to be sending him on an excursion into the Underdark to protect several magical items to his Aunt. Ka'da having no idea what it was he was going to be guarding had decided to find out exactly what it was, and why the Matron was going to so much trouble to keep them from falling into the wrong hands. It had to be something that was quite priceless and deemed very rare or Ka'da would never have been included in the trip.
He paused at a low thatched hut, wiped his feet off on the rug at the front door, stooped down and entered the run down building. He was met by the a very foul smell which caused him to almost gag. He grabbed his cloak, and covered his nostrils and mouth with it to try and keep the stench out, and breathed as shallowly as he could. Meanwhile his eyes quickly took in the surroundings, trying to find the source of the smell.
He closed his eyes when he saw the broken body laying amongst rags and boards in one corner of the small building. Careful not to touch anything and leave traces of himself behind, he moved over to the body, and nudged it over with the tip of his boot. The angst filled face of his informant stared up at him in silent pain. Ka'da swore under his breath, and gripped the handle of his sword tightly as he adverted his eyes from the body.
After a few moments, he stood up, nudged the body back over where it had fallen and hurriedly departed the building. His mind was racing, not to mention his heart. Somehow...someone in the House had found out he had been prying in the secret dealings of the Matron and had taken care of his informant before he could find anything out. He cursed again, the rage coursing inside of him as he settled on the only individual of the Ja'lithur House that could have done such a thing. Min'hyvair.
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Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2009 7:14 pm
As the minutes passed, Mikaril contemplated more than once just breaking the following off and letting the drow go on his way after all. Many of the drow he had followed in all of his previous endeavors he had singled out mainly because they had looked interesting. This one he was only following because he welcomed the distraction. For all he knew, this drow might just be heading to his House.
He noticed the other enter a hut, and his thoughts flew to an encounter that had been just like this one. Remembering too what happened when he had gotten too close, he kept to the shadows, though he wished that he could see what was happening inside the hut. He let his thoughts fabricate the scenes inside. Was the drow preparing to spend the night there? Having a clandestine meeting with an informant? Writing in a journal, like he sometimes did in moments of rare tranquility?
He saw the other leave the hut suddenly, faster than before. He drew nearer to the hut once it was safe to do so, and one good whiff told him the reason for the other's hasty departure. So much for growing boredom; now fully intrigued, he sped off in the same direction the other had gone, hoping to learn more.
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Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 3:16 pm
Ka'da raced almost blindly, his sole focus on his rage towards Min'hyvair.
He seethed with anger, despite the nagging thought that Min never acted on her own, but on the orders of their Matron. Of his six sisters, Min was the only one that actually followed the Matron's orders. Which should have caused him to slow, and mull over his options.
However, Ka'da was so full of rage and hatred that his logical thinking didn't kick in right away. He stormed back through the marketplace, causing quite a stir among those gathered around the tents. Most of the drow, avoided bringing any sort of complaint against his rude jostling seeing the rage etched on his features.
That was until he jostled the wrong individual. Almost immediately following being pushed aside by Ka'da, the rather tall female grabbed Ka'da by the shoulder and spun him around to face her.
"Apologyze male." The female snarled at him, towering over him by a good eight inches.
Ka'da had been rather stunned to find himself being pulled back, and when he caught sight of the female who had done so he couldn't help but stare up at her, his anger finally dissipating. He stared up at her, blinked and immediately bowed to her, murmuring in a low tone.
"I apologize for my rudeness, lady."
The female folded her arms over her chest and glowered down at him, the scowl on her face deepening as she eyed him.
"If I had the time I would teach you the lesson you well deserve. You should be thankful I'm on other business." Then she turned and left.
Ka'da stared after her, finally noticing the huge double headed axe hanging from her belt. He sighed, thankful that he had had the good fortune of the female having other business. He would not have wanted to have to fight her. She would have undoubtedly been too much for him.
Now somewhat cowed, and much more cautious, Ka'da continued on his way back to the Ja'lithur House. He still needed to confirm that the Matron had placed as hit on his informant and figure out a way to get back at her. He didn't like to lose informants, it always made it hard for him to obtain other drow to work for him. Not to mention, much more costly.
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Posted: Sun Feb 01, 2009 12:02 am
Mikaril watched his quarry with silent amusement as he caused enough of a ruckus to cause both merchants and customers alike to scramble out of his way. Not very inconspicuous, this one. The only problem it posed to him was that he had to wait for the gneral throng to mend itself after his passing and resume their activities, or it would become obvious to all that he was following the angry drow.
As he saw the drow jostle a female, he slipped into the entrance to an alleyway, where he still had a full view of what promised to be an interesting encounter. Luckily, the male seemed to gather enough of his senses to apologize, because the female released him and went on her way, the other continuing on in an obviously more careful fashion. Mikaril reemerged from the shadows and hurried along after him.
He found himself wondering how far his quarry had to go. If he vanished into a drow house, Mikaril doubted that he would follow him in; he wasn't THAT curious as to what he was about. If he was going to make any sort of pull, it would have to be soon, but judging by the interaction he had seen with the amateur thief, he figured it would be better to wait until he was in a more open area, the better to keep himself away from those strong, meaty hands that were capable of throwing a drow quite a distance.
As his surroundings became more remote, he quickened his pace until he was just a few yards away. Flexing his fingers, he began to move in.
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Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2009 7:12 pm
Ka'da was about halfway back to the House when another idea occurred to him. If Min'hyvair had been the one responsible for the death of his informant..it wasn't likely that she would have gone out on her own to make sure her potion worked. The matron kept Min on a tight leash, and would only allow her to go out if she had her bodyguards accompany her. If it had been her...the area surrounding the informant would have been much more disturbed. Her bodyguards after all, were not the brightest of the bunch and they wouldn't have been as careful as she was.
He closed his eyes, exhaled rather loudly, and rested his arms behind his head. trying to remember the scene from memory. When he resorted to this action, he would zone out on what was going on around him so that he could focus better on what he had seen. This unfortunately left him wide open for any sort of an attack. He really should have waited to do this when he was in a more secure area.
As it was..he didn't know that he had been followed by a thief and that said thief was now approaching with a calculating grin on his face.
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Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2009 7:08 pm
Ka'da's sudden pause and stretch was so unexpected that for an instant, Mikaril actually hesitated. Few would expose themselves so unless they were positive that they were safe wherever they were. Was he that sure of himself? If he was, then perhaps it would be a better idea to observe him more before he got too close. Then again, he may not get another chance, and being a thief meant taking all sorts of risks. Besides, if it turns out he was just stretching, it was his own fault for letting his guard down.
He turned his fast pace into a sprint. This sort of thing called for a quick approach instead of a stealthy one. One quick swipe and he would have the momentum to change direction and dash off into the streets, and he would spend the least amount of time close enough to the dangerous drow for him to snag him and hurl him through a wall. He felt just the balls of his feet touching the ground, and his cloak began to billow out behind him, the hood at least staying around his head.
He rushed up behind the male and the instant he felt his fingers close around the coin purse, he reversed his momentum and pushed his body away from the drow, feeling the purse come away in his hand. Spinning on his heel, he whirled around and dashed toward the nearest alley, noticing as he did that they were not too far from the outskirts of the city. So much the better; if he could make it that far, the no-doubt furious male would never catch him. Beaming, he continued to sprint, listening for the angry shouts and pounding feet that were sure to follow.
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Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2009 8:35 pm
Ka'da's eyes shot open the instant the thief's fingers touched his pouch. Shock, and outrage coursed through him, as he spun anger flashing in his eyes getting a fix on the fleeing thief's form. Instead of crying out in rage he kept deathly silent, and gave pursuit.
A growl did manage to escape seconds later...one that was deep, guttural and almost neanderthal in essence. No one stole from him and got away scott free! Who the hell did this thief think he was?! Of course at the same time Ka'da was furiously chiding himself for not taking in his surroundings and not noticing that he had been followed before. It was pretty much is fault. However..he wasn't going to allow the thief to get away just because he had been stupid enough to let his guard down.
Ka'da flew over the ground quickly catching up with the scrawny thief, his feet almost sounding like a horde of lizard's feet pounding away. He wondered if the thief would look back in concern when he heard the sound. He rather hoped so..for the thief would probably be very surprised to see how close Ka'da was to catching him.
Unlike most warriors who mainly focused on building up their muscles to look imposing, Ka'da had trained his whole body so that it worked like a well oiled machine. He knew how to run so that he wouldn't tire out..unlike the thief he was chasing. He had stamina and endurance. He wasn't so sure that the thief did. Which would play to his advantage.
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Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2009 10:04 pm
Though Mikaril was covered in armor, thanks to the enchantment it had on it, it weighed little more than a heavy shirt; so much lighter than the previous set he had started his profession out with. Still, even the lightest armor had its own weight to be carried, and though Mikaril was fast, he was nowhere near being the fastest there was. He glanced back as he heard the thunderous footsteps, and was genuinely surprised to see how much ground the other had gained.
Mumbling a curse out of admiration, Mikaril began to run harder, dodging through alleys and scrambling over fences, trying hard to put some distance between him and the obviously very much pissed off drow. He spotted the outskirts of the city and smiled wide; once he was out in the wilds, he could find as many hiding places as there were hairs on his head, and by the time his pursuer had searched half of them, he would be paddling his boat along the Glimmersea and laughing at the whole thing.
He took a slightly longer look this time and before he could return his gaze forward, he found himself jarred from head to toe as he crashed headlong into something solid. He fell flat on his backside just in time to see another drow mimic him from the opposite direction. In a flash, the drow was up and pointing a sword just inches from Mikaril's eye. "What have we here, then?" the drow said in a rough drawl, the voice female despite its roughness. More females seem to appear like magic, and they collectively gathered about and sneered down at him. One of them began gesturing in drow sign. There's another one coming.
As one, the females vanished into the scenery, leaving the last one, the one that Mikkaril had crashed headlong into, to haul him to his feet and drag him off of the path, stuffing a faoul-smelling gag into his mouth to keep him from warning the other male. If of course he had wanted to.
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Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2009 12:13 pm
Well, it looked as though he might not catch the thief as easily as he had thought. This one was of the wily breed. He actually chuckled when he caught the surprised expression on the other's face when the thief had cast a look over his face. And..as he expected the other put on a burst of speed and veered off through the alleyway. Ka'da sped up, now only a few feet behind the other. He was able to keep the thief in sight, despite the thief's attempts at loosing him by nimbly scrambling over fences and down other alleyways. Ka'da actually sighed, not in frustration but at the thief's stupidity as he followed. It was inevitable that Ka'da was going to catch him, and the thief was just delaying it momentarily.
For a moment..a brief one Ka'da almost went down the wrong alley. Until he heard a thud, and turned towards the sound. He almost turned back around and left when he noticed the backwater area of Llurth Dreir that the thief had led him into. He had heard too many stories of how a noble was led off into a trap in such areas, and he almost followed his good sense. But when the annoyance, and frustration of going home without anything to speak for, after the chase the thief had led him on he ignored it and proceeded towards the area he had heard the noise.
As Ka'da neared the area where the thief had been abducted only moments before he felt a rush of unease go through him. Something was wrong here..if only he could figure out what it was. He frowned, and eyed the ground trying to depict what had happened by the shuffled dust and grim on the ground. He didn't like how the thief had just disappeared into thin air, and didn't like the feeling that was creeping over him. The feeling that he was being watched.
Had he not noticed a gleaming coin sparkle from under a piece of trash and bent down to pick it up he would have been unprepared for what happened next. The moment he bent down, he avoided a blow that came from behind from a hunk of rotten wood wielded by one of the females. The sudden whoosh going over his head and back caused him to snap into defense mode. Before the other female could try and club him again, his sword was out and he had disarmed her off her crude weapon.
The female looked up at him wide eyed, rather stunned by his sudden and unexpected affront. Ka'da glowered down at her, being a good head taller than her, and then noticed that he was surrounded by a good twenty to thirty females; all glowering silently at him their swords and knives brandished menacingly.
"What is this?" Ka'da demanded, quickly making the defenseless female his captive. The female struggled fiercely, biting, kicking, and twisting around in his engulfing arm. Ka'da held on tight, not loosening his grip in the least bit. "stop struggling..the more you do the tighter I'll squeeze," Ka'da retorted angrily at the female.
The females gathered around him were rather taken aback at how fast he had moved, leaving them in a dilemma in how to proceed. Finally, the female who had to have been the leader, pulled out a bow, notched an arrow and demanded fiercely. "Let her go or I will kill you. Fortunate for us, you make quite a big target."
Ka'da inwardly cursed, realizing she was right. However he didn't loosen his grip on the female saying instead. "If you kill me the House Ja'lithur's wrath will fall down on you."
The female eyed him for a moment, looking over at one of the other females for a moment. Then asked. "Drisa...do you think you could patch him up well enough for the slave market if I have to hurt him?"
"Oh I don't think that will be a problem Silya." The other smirked, her red eyes growing.
And then before Ka'da could even move he was hit from several sides by arrows. When his body went limp and he started shaking, Ka'da knew that the arrows had been laced with some sort of poison, and cursed his stupidity. He should have just gone quietly without a fight. These were his last thoughts as he convulsed on the ground and the world went dark around him.
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Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2009 7:01 pm
Watching the entire thing from his captor's hiding place, Mikaril saw the form of his former pursuer fall into the dirt, pierced by enough poisoned arrows to bring down a troll. His eyes widened as he saw the other male begin to convulse; he thought at first that they had used the sleeping poison that many drow with arrows favored. That spoke volumes of this particular band's ruthlessness. Noticing his wide-eyed expression, the female chose that moment to jab him in the ribs. "Like that, did you? Try to escape, and the same will befall you, but with twice the pain, since you got a fair warning."
Mikaril winced as the jabbing caused his armor to ping, which in turn reminded the female of it. "Hmm, that's a nice set of armor, boy; who'd you steal it from?" Mikaril glared at her, not bothering to try and speak through his gag. The female snapped her fingers, and three females armed with crossbows appeared from nowhere. "Cover him while he removes that armor; wouldn't want to fall victim to any sneaky little anti-tampering traps eh?" She laughed darkly and as Mikaril began to sullenly remove his leg guards, then his arm guards, until his armor lay in a pile around him and he stood there in his black and silver underclothes, feeling completely naked without his nice new armor.
He stood there for an instant, wondering why his captor made no move to re-subdue him. He got his answer; the female gestured to his head with her drawn sword. "The hood too, male; make it fast." A pained look etched with panic crossed his features, but he complied, his eyes burning with hate as they stayed fixed on the female. Nobody had ever taken his hood from him; not even his sister. When he got free, he would make her pay in a way that would even make Haellara cringe.
The instant his cloak and hood drifted to the ground, two females pounced on him like a pair of hounds, one kicking his legs out from under him and the other pinning him to the ground while she bound his hands, her knee pressing painfully into his back. He was fighting down panic, not because he failed to forsee a way out of this, but because without his hood, and with his mouth gagged and him being unable to renew the simple spell that hid the truth about his ears, they would surely be seen before he could make an escape.
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Posted: Sun Mar 08, 2009 3:49 pm
The female slavers gathered up the two males; at least five of them had to lug Ka'da between them as he was even heavier when he was unconscious. Grunting from the effort they carried him from the back alley to an abandoned warehouse and deposited him on a pile of blankets as carefully as they could. Which..wasn't that much. Ka'da fell to the floor with a loud thud, which caused the leader Silya to snap at the five who had carried him. They argued for several moments while another female hurried Mikaril into an corner, threw him some clothes to get into and then locked him up in leg irons which were connected to the wall.
"Don't try anything funny thief." The imposing female told him, frowning at him.
Then she left to help go over Ka'da and to inspect the items they had gotten off the thief.
The healer Drisna was already hovering over Ka'da checking his vitals, and trying to feed an antidote down his throat while he was out. several of the females seemed uneasy, gazing down at his large form. It wasn't long until a real argument broke out between one of the harder females and the healer.
"You don't have to dote on him that much. He'll be fine."
"The hell he will! He didn't need to get hit by all those arrows..two or three would have been enough. If I don't get this poison out of his system he could die! And that, won't be something Silya would want to happen." The healer practically snarled, rising up with fire in her eyes.
The other female went for her dagger but was stopped by a strong hand that gripped her left hand tightly. The warrior turned to look and was rather stunned to see the captain's second in command glowering at her.
"That will be enough. Why don't you go scout out a route to take to the ship? If you continue to start fights in concerns of our property, I will personally see to it that you never work with the crew again. Got it?"
"Yes." the other spoke with a look of anger on her face, and then stalked out of the room.
The healer Drisa sighed in relief and continued her work, as the second in command went over Ka'da's belongings. They were actually quite few, since Mikaril had filched his bag of gold earlier. The only other items he had on him were a dagger and his sword. The sword was added to a pile of weapons in the corner, while the dagger was pocketed by the second in command.
"If anything goes wrong, let me or Silya know immediately." the other told her in low tones. "He was being truthful before, he is a son of a high house. We could probably get a good ransom for him if his House wants him back. And if not, he will go for a high price on the slave market."
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Posted: Sun Mar 08, 2009 4:53 pm
Finding himself roughly hauled around, Mikaril let them pull him along to the warehouse. He couldn't help but notice that rough as they were, they did have a small measure of gentleness, as though they were afraid to leave marks. He had always beent reated extra roughly at his house, so any restraint was easy for him to notice. He sullenly kicked the clothes away; he didn't think the ones he had were as distasteful as that. They just served to keep his skin separate from the rougher interior of the armor. He'd probably get cuffed for it, but he didn't care; if his hunch was correct, it wouldn't be half as hard as it could be.
He watched the other females hunch over the other drow, trying to pick up any of the words. What he heard didn't encourage him much. Talk of a ship, the references to 'property', the mention of a ransom. These were either con artists or slavers. He would stake his armor on the latter, considering that they seemed to overly care about the condition of the ones they captured, and he seemed to be living proof that they didn't go for high-ranking members exclusively; just whomever was unlucky enough to fall into their clutches.
Hearing the last bit sent a mixed emotion through him; panic at what they might do to him if they found out that he was likewise a son of a high-ranking house, abeit a despised one and of a house clear on the other side of the Underdark; if they thought of him as more than mere riffraff, they would keep a much closer eye on him than normal, and would lessen his chances of escape. They had but to find his house insignia, which had been nestled in a small pocket of his chest guard. Well, maybe there was a small chance that they wouldn't recognize the house.....but then they would be in a perfect position to question him about it...maybe if they remived his gag to do so he could quickly renew the incantation that kept his ears looking normal.
Unsure whether or not he was allowed to move around, Mikaril settled for carefully stretching his legs out as far as they could go in the heavy and uncomfortable irons.
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