[RP/ BATT] The Tiger's Cage (Regina x Byakko)

[amicableAggressor]

This vehicle does not stop at the Punishment Pits. It travels farther into the mountains, stopping at an older building that has, against all odds, managed to look even more menacing. The lone troll is pulled from her cage and a sack is thrown over her head, obscuring her vision. The chains she's placed in are ridiculous, far too much to be necessary, even for a fully grown adult, but are put on her instead to make her trip and stumble against the weight, to have to drag herself forward. She is lead down long tunnels and eventually, with the sack pulled off her head abruptly, thrown into a cell. The door slams shut and the guards retreat. There are no other trolls here, no patrol, no one.  

[melona-pan]

For the second time that night, Byakko had felt her vision begin to swim and speckle as she lost her grasp on consciousness. The last thing she took in before everything faded was the looming bunker launching a net at her with its unswerving, icy accuracy. As she struggled to open her heavy eyelids once more, Akko's waking thought was simple- why am I alive?

She could hear faint voices, some vaguely familiar, but the mutantblood remained silently hunched over in the corner of her lone cage, trembling. Alive, but captured. Even the ever introspective Akko wasn't sure if she didn't call out to the voices out of defiance for her captors, or fear of potential consequence. Perhaps both? Clearly, the Queen had something in store for the rebels. For her.

The mutantblood hadn't much time to brood before a team of imperial drones forcibly hauled her tiny prison onto a whirring vehicle, refusing to acknowledge their living cargo. Subsequently, she lost track of how much time was spent agonizing over the night's events on the endless, bumpy ride. Surely, no one had escaped. The sealed room had been a chaotic ******** for all but the calculated bunker, and Akko remained certain. How many were captured? How many had perished in battle? Faces of the various recruits flashed through through her mind, along with the last few fleeting and violent moments with her friends. Troll and lusus alike, they were all now in the unmerciful clutches of Regina. Where did she fail? Naturally, all of the rebel's actions came with the impending threat of being caught but this... this was more than a simple oversight. Where had she gone so horribly wrong? She sombrely ran a bloodied hand over the stained pelt of her parent's lusus, a shudder running down her spine. She knew deep, deep within her core what her mistake was; where she had blindly poured her misplaced faith. The supposed leader of the rebellion just didn't have quite enough strength to admit it to herself.

It wasn't until the vehicle came to an abrupt stop and she was torn from her cage was Byakko fully reminded of her physical injuries. Her body ached and throbbed in ways that were alarmingly unfamiliar, legs trembling as she struggled to support her own weight. She kept her vision narrowed on the ground. As a drone roughly tossed a sack over the mutant's head they grazed a deep energy burn on her scalp, inducing a deep, albeit muffled, hiss from the mutant. Chains were promptly slapped on each limb, and she was given a lone, commanding tug. Akko paused before begrudgingly trudging forward, stumbling with each laboured step. She silently cursed her battered body for not allowing her at least this last shred of dignity as she slowly dragged herself towards what she could only assume was her death.

She was tossed into a damp cell, freed from the suffocating sack but not the chains. Akko's knees finally gave way as she collapsed onto the uneven tiling, chains jingling together as her exhausted body crumpled. Byakko was alone now, the only sounds she could make out were the chains and her own shallow breathing. The floor was cool; the mutant pressed her forehead to it in a futile attempt to soothe the throbbing, although it did nothing for the guilt. Propping herself up with a wince, Byakko glanced around the small cell. It was barren, as was to be expected, and dimly lit. As her gander bulbs slowly adjusted to the lighting, a slow blur of colour caught her attention, crawling in from the edge of her sight. Byakko's vision darted down to her own freakish pink blood trickling down the cracked floor, collecting in a small puddle at the corner of several sloping tiles. Akko's mouth pressed into a firm line as she watched the mutated blood she spent so long concealing pool, tiny pink streams and channels all headed from her various seeping wounds towards the same destination. Was she separated from the others merely because she was a mutant? That was a convenient truth, yes, but... Byakko knew deep in her her gut that wasn't the real reason. They had to know who she was, at least to some extent. The looming sense of despair was thick enough to drown in, getting caught in her throat, choking her. The question was... what now?  

[amicableAggressor]

A rhythmic jingling broke the silence, slowly getting closer. Eventually footsteps were heard as well, and then suddenly a troll strode slowly out to stand in the centre of the floor on the other side of Byakko's cage. Regina had been dragging her bracelet against the bars of the cells as she walked, and now the tinkle of metal stopped as she instead started to slowly applaud, smiling at the girl in front of her. She had wanted to be there as soon as Byakko arrived, perhaps waiting in the cell, but that jadeblood had taken a little longer than expected to bring down.

And so, as soon as she had arrived back she had been swept up by a few waiting drones and ferried over as fast as possible. Her wounds were still as fresh as Byakkos, but unlike the other girl, she had cleaned and tended to them on the trip. Eventually the applause stopped and she leaned forward, resting her arms on the bars and pushing her face against it, watching almost wonderingly. "Do you know how easy it was for me to catch you and your little flarp group? Like, woah. I was expecting to have to put some effort into it! I'm kinda impressed, I've never seen someone be such a joke and be taken seriously by so many trolls, all at the same time!" The words were spoken with a honest, friendly voice, but the grin showed exactly what the queen was doing. Gloating.

melona-pan

 

[melona-pan]

Head snapping to attention as the first metallic chime echoed throughout the cells, Byakko felt her whole body clench with pure dread. Someone was approaching. Her eyes strained down the pitch black hall in the direction of the noise; a shiver ran down from the base of her skull to the pads of her feet and back up again, radiating the cold tingle of fear out to her fingertips. She was suddenly conscious of how drenched she was in her own sweat and blood, her robe clinging wetly to her battered frame as she continued to shake. Akko's breathing slowed, then stopped, as she listened to the foreboding clinking growing louder, racing almost rhythmically in time with her bloodpumper.

As Regina stepped into the dim flicker of the cell's light, Byakko reeled and felt every hair on her body stand on end. Her tremoring ceased abruptly as the mutant froze, eyes widening, struggling to accept that the small girl grinning and clapping down at her from the other side of the bars was indeed the Queen. She concealed her gritted fangs, pressing her lips firmly together in the best poker face the mutantblood could muster as she was mocked.

Byakko rose apprehensively, her stare never once flickering from Regina's. She turned to fully face the other girl slowly, feeling steady enough on her feet in a rush of horror-induced adrenaline, but did not make any other movement. The corners of her mouth twitched as Akko barely managed to subdue a scowl, drawing blood from her palms with sharp claws as she clenched her fists together. It stung, but more than she'd like to admit, not nearly as much as Regina's words. This is why she was still alive. To be humiliated.

"I'm kinda impressed, I've never seen someone be such a joke and be taken seriously by so many trolls, all at the same time!"

"Really?" Byakko's lip vaguely curled, breaking her silence as she verbally spat in Regina's direction. She broke her glare on the royalblood's own wide eyes to trail her gaze down to Regina's jeweled ankles, and back up to her smug, finned face, intent clear. "I know I can think of one."

amicableAggressor

 

[amicableAggressor]

Throwing her hands back Regina gave a look of mock surprise. "Oh burn man! You're so right! I'm such a funny Queen, I don't know why you're looking so grim. I mean we're both here to just laugh things up right? Ha ha ha! Pity all your minions are getting culled right now, or they could join in on the good times as well." For some reason, the queen let the insult roll off her back. Perhaps she was just in a really good mood? Regina mused to herself. Maybe she was just impervious to personal attacks today, after Aendal. Once you've had to deal with one howling lunatic, the rest are water off a quackbeasts' back.

"Well, I guess some are still out there. Wondering just how on earth you all fell into such an obvious trap! Gosh! Y'know if I didn't know better I'd say you got a insubordination problem going on in your ranks. You've been bringing in so many little kids lately, haven't you, and I bet you don't give them background checks. Just make sure they look like they really, really do care, cross their pump biscuit. Or maybe it's someone else, getting tired of your mad thrashing attempts at leadership and doing a mercy culling. What do you think? Let's discuss."

Sitting down on the floor, Regina pulled out a packet of crispy deep fried nutrient flakes from a bag she had slung over her shoulder. She waved it towards Byakko. "Want one? You must be killing for a bite to eat."

melona-pan

 

[melona-pan]

If she had the ability to bore holes into things with her piercing stare, surely Byakko would have skewered Regina to death a dozen times over. But no matter how hard she wished to feel the Queen's bones crack between her hands, the prison bars kept her from doing much of anything except listen to the Queen gloat. So she merely stood silently, vaguely quivering with a mixture of terror and rage as the other girl snickered up at her. Akko didn't want to play Regina's twisted game, the mere thought of being the Queen's toy made her protein sack twist with anger and shame so strong it burned through her whole body- but what choice did she have, really?

Akko visibly flinched when Regina mentioned her 'minions', struck with another wave of intense guilt. She started to open her mouth in protest, then firmly clamped it shut. No, she wouldn't play along any more than she had to. She remained defiantly silent, glaring down at her petite captor. It proved difficult to do so as the Queen puttered about, musing to herself aloud, rubbing Byakko's nose in her overwhelming oversight and subsequent failure. The burning angershame rang in her head, challenging Regina's taunts. The mutantblood swallowed, suppressing a growl.

"I think you know more than you imply." Byakko baulked before breaking her silence apprehensively, face twisting into a deep frown. Why else would she be in this cage? If she was going to die anyway, she sure as hell wasn't going to entertain the Queen's fancies. Given the current situation it seemed fairly pointless to question where the rebel's error laid. Still, her pump biscuit was heavy with the truth- or rather, the lack of.

Byakko twitched as Regina waved the nutrient flakes over in her direction. Her protein sack stirred instinctively- yes, she needed nourishment. No, there was absolutely zero chance she'd ever accept an offer of food from the Queen. Akko scowled. "What do you want from me?"

amicableAggressor

 

[amicableAggressor]

Rolling her eyes, Regina stuffed a few handfuls of the crisp roasted protein nuggets into her face and chewed, leaning back against the rails on the other side of the walkway, relaxing. It felt good to sit down for a bit and let her heels cool. "Oh c'mon, relax. Don't be so grumpy, I just want to say hi!" Swallowing, she pulled out a bottle from the bag and took a long pull before wiping her mouth. "D'you ever think that if you considered me the lesser of two evils, that you wouldn't be stuck in this mess now? Hey, something's wrong, it's gotta be the queen's fault!" Speaking, Regina twisted her face into a cartoonishly grumpy expression, mimicking Byakko's voice. "The jadeblood we pissed off beyond all reason before? No he's totally dead! Yeah some kids saw him catch fire so that's all the info I need! Screw medical reports!"

Pausing, she studied Byakko. "Or - right - you wouldn't know. Some of your little fail brigade was smart enough to realize you were a sinking ship and went off on their own. Ended up helping us bring down the guy - what was his name? Whatever, he was the reason behind all the problems. So evil, much mad, totally dead set on wiping out your precious lil rustblood city." Taking another long pull, she waved the bottle in Byakko's direction. "I oughta have you culled right here and now for that stupidity - your blood's bad enough without adding your brains to the genetic pool." The emphasis there was on 'oughta', and instead of reaching for her weapon, Regina instead tossed the bottle forwards, sending it rolling between the bars to rest beside the mutantblood.

melona-pan

 

[melona-pan]

Byakko felt every muscle in her body seize with instinctive opposition as Regina offhandedly brushed her off and suggested she relax, so naturally the mutantblood remained sullen. While Akko was doing her best to keep composed, it was growing increasingly difficult as the Queen continued to reprimand her, casually munching on fistfuls of protein nuggets as she yammered on. The rebel's expression had dissolved from a deadpan, albeit wrathful stare into a constant scowl; the corners of her raw, chapped lips twitching as they struggled to contain a feral snarl. The 'lesser of two evils'? Regardless of circumstance Alternia's entire social structure was Byakko's undeniable true evil, and the other girl was the purest representation and execution of it.

While the mutant's glower deepened at Regina's impersonation, her temple twinged with realization as a jadeblood was mentioned. Fire? Aendal? Was... Regina bluffing? She had been assured of Aendal's unfortunate demise- why would the rebel's intel about something so definitive be incorrect? She was to believe he was not only alive, but responsible for the situation at Chittentown? Akko's eyes were dark with unfathomable emotion as Regina continued to revel on about her night's events. She clamped her jaw tightly at the brief mention of the absent young rebels- traitors? No, surely if they had defected Regina would have used words that cut a little deeper. So... the Queen wasn't to blame for the drought after all? It seemed pointless for Regina to lie, given their current situation, but Byakko still struggled with the concept. So much of the rebel's intel had been so wrong. Why?

The spinning questions in her head were interrupted by a sharp clink as the bottle Regina tossed through the bars rolled down the uneven tiles, slowing to a stop a pace or so from where she stood. She ignored it. Byakko caught onto Regina's emphasis on 'oughta', but she refused to give the Queen any level of gratification by recognizing her mercy, no matter how momentary. "Then what do you want?" she echoed her previous demand, refusing to break eye contact with Regina or retaliate to her insults. "Or are you just here to blow your own conch?" More like relish in the rebel's failure- the Queen was obviously taking much pleasure in Byakko's humiliation.

amicableAggressor

 

[amicableAggressor]

Raising her hands infront of her Regina grinned. "Hey. That temper of yours is gonna get the better of you one day, you know that? I already told you, I'm here to chat. Doesn't seem like I'll ever have another chance. For a mutant that'd be culled on sight by most trolls, you're really hard to get ahold of!"
Pausing, she glanced down at her own hands, turning the uncharacteristic gesture into an inspection of her nails. Gaze unfocusing slightly, Regina's voice lost the same mocking edge that it had carried up until then. "We're not so different there ya know. Only one of our kind, head of command, kids leading an army of adults that we don't even know, let alone trust." Raising her eyes up again to Byakko, she gave an impish shrug and waggled her eyebrows, confident smirk returning. "Of course, you're the one who shouldn't exist. But we both gotta do what we do to keep living. Doesn't that make you sick with anger? You're like me."

melona-pan

 

[melona-pan]

Really, she was supposed to be content with the answer that the Queen of Alternia was here just to chat? Akko sharply exhaled through flared nostrils as she shot daggers from the other side of the prison bars down at the ever casual Regina. The mutant's bright reddishpink blood continued to collect in the indented prison floor, wounds still openly seeping but seemingly forgotten in her silent, fuming rage. She was imprisoned surely awaiting culling, the others were likely dead, and Regina wanted her to just... relax and share some snacks? Highbloods were insane. Given, she did bring up a fair point about Byakko's elusiveness. How long had Regina been waiting to talk? Still, it was over and Akko's fate was sealed, the Queen surely had more in store for her. It would have been absurd for even Regina to orchestrate the entire night's events in such a way just so she could have this discussion with the rebel. Right...?

She continued silently studying the Queen, lip curling into a slight snarl at the mention of the two of them not being so different. She had seen Regina address the masses publicly at her speeches and how she presented herself, and the Queen's abrasive attitude thus far hadn't particularly startled Byakko. However, Regina's change of tone was not lost on the mutant, and that along with her words took Byakko by surprise perhaps more than anything that entire night. Her eyes widened in vague shock. Something about the truth behind them resonated with the mutant, and while she would surely die before admitting so, Akko understood. Regina's position was mandatory as per her royal blood, and the mutant's own had been forced by the adult troll's untimely deaths. And trust? Byakko had been keeping the new rebel recruits at arm's length, afraid of letting them too deep into the inner workings of the leftover rebellion. For what reason? In a misguided attempt to conserve what little was left of the Phoenix Initiative? At the time her logic made perfect sense, but with each passing second of her captivity and the questionable events leading up to it, Byakko couldn't help but wonder where she really should have placed her trust.

Similar, yes, but at the same time polar opposites. The revelation of their parallel just amplified her anger, her solemn expression deepening as Regina snapped back to mocking her. "I'm certain our differences far outweigh the similarities." She spat surlily, refusing to acknowledge that she concurred to some extent. Yes, it did make her sick with anger. As did the reminder of her painfully out of place blood hue within the caste system. Byakko let out a short mirthless scoff as she crossed her bloodied arms, tossing her foreboding caution aside momentarily. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you wanted to be friends."

amicableAggressor

 

[amicableAggressor]

"Friends? With you? Wow yeah I really want to chill with a troll who wants my head on a spike." Tossing her hair to the side, the queen lounged back again, all signs of odd discomfort gone. She didn't have any desire to sit around in her castle and make friendship bracelets with some sour-faced, grumpy mutant. "What I'm saying is, if you really make a mess of this and end up as some blood smear on the heel of some drone's shoe, then what happens next?" Raising a hand, she wiggled her fingers in the air, as if seeing headlines appearing in front of her. "Rival lowblood rebel gangs fight for supremacy! Looting and violence widespread! Chittentown falls to internal power struggle! NHC next? All public services grind to a halt as lowbloods collectively flip their s**t!"

Lowering her hands a fraction, she looked over at Byakko, seeing if her message was managing to penetrate, what she felt, was a skull as hard as concrete. "Right now, you guys comb the streets, bringing in the lone trolls with bone bulge envy. Shape them up, have them ... whatever, terrorize whatever poor drones are trying to do their job in your neck of the woods. No skin off my back, there's always someone around kicking at my knees and saying things aren't fair. I mean - what can I do, kill them all?" Pausing, she spread her hands in a 'I could totally do that' gesture, grinning and shrugging her shoulders sheepishly. It was, after all, a tried and tested method of crowd control that had been employed by quite a few queens before her, she knew. But the thing was, they always ended up right back where they were, after the next generation grew up. It was, in Regina's mind, impractical. "Y'see, it's totally a waste. I'd have to wipe out the entire rustblood population! And then the teals would be all wehh now we have to work in the shitty jobs!! And it'd keep going! Bitching is something that I ain't gonna waste my time on curtailing, so long as it doesn't get in my way."

melona-pan

 

[melona-pan]

Akko's surly countenance give little of her thoughts away aside from her obvious loathing for her current situation. Regina's change in attitude had been fleeting, as was the mutant's small outburst. Whatever common ground Byakko realized the two figureheads had was quickly forgotten as the Queen continued to mock her, and Akko struggled once more to collect her composure against the bubbling anger raising in her protein tunnel. She twitched, threatening her already shaky demeanour.

"I think you're overstating my importance," A grim smirk played at her otherwise dark expression as the mutant lightly shook her head. "The rebellion was around before I existed, before those who raised me had even hatched." Byakko wouldn't have been surprised to find out the Initiative had been operating longer than any living troll, even before the adults were all wiped out. But what would happen if she died? "There would be dissonance, yes, but there will always be others willing to step up and do something about it." She was confident of this; even if she never made it out of this cell there would be apt enough replacements. The rebellion had never entirely run off a lone troll's command. While she was sure in her response, Byakko couldn't shake the feeling she was simultaneously bluffing. Would the rebellion really be alright? How bad would the falling out be without her to bind together what little was left of the organization? The morales and message upheld by the rebellion would surely always be whispered throughout lowlood cities, even without their direct interference, and inevitably there would be others who would take a stand. But if the Pheonix Initiative specifically fell, they might lose the small, few sweeps long golden opportunity the widespread death of the adult trolls handed them... and Byakko dreaded blowing that chance and wasting the sacrifices of her now dead siblings of rebellion more than anything.

"Clearly, you're unfamiliar with the concept of equality." It seemed pointless to try and explain her ideals to Regina, of all trolls, but it came out anyway like unintentional word vomit. Akko's face twisted once more into a glower as she swallowed back her integrity. It was pointless. There was nothing to gain from wasting what could likely be some of her final breaths trying to justify opposition to the caste system to the Queen of Alternia.

amicableAggressor

 

[amicableAggressor]

Shaking her head, Regina pressed on. There's no way the girl was this dumb, was there? "You don't get it. You have the s**t. The garbage. That's all that's left over. All your golden boys sacrificed themselves -" Here she paused and put a hand over her heart, expression so sad that it looked cartoonish, lip wobbling in her overdone theatrics. " - to defeat the regime of the cruel queen troll. Hahaha. Now your little group is one of the bottom feeders. There's plenty of other groups looking to push their own worldview onto the rest of the planet, you guys weren't, and aren't, the only ones."

To illustrate her point, Regina dug a sheet of paper out of the bag that had held her meals. There wasn't anything written on it, but she held it out in front of herself like a list, tapping her finger down the lines as she listed out the examples. Byakko couldn't see that it was blank from her side of the cell, and it wasn't as though she was making any of the things she was saying up. "Only now that you're all in their swiping distance. The cute little group that thinks lusii are mind-control devices used by yours truly to brainwash the masses and go around murdering little wiggler's parents? Yeah, um, that's a thing. The lowbloods that want to reverse the cast order? Enslave us seadwellers and then expect all twenty of us to do all the jobs of the entire maintenance sector? They're a group that's out there. The one order that thinks our entire race is a parasite on this planet and wants to wipe out every troll, highblood or lowblood? They're twice the threat you guys are right now. Trolls breed more troll babies, and groups dedicated to killing other trolls. That's how we roll. A rebellion was around before you, sure, but how do you know it had the same bleeding heart values that yours does? It could have been a totally, utterly different one. Same with what would come after you."

Crumpling up the list, she tossed it over her shoulder and leaned forward. If explaining exactly where everyone stood and what Byakko chose to loose from continuing to ******** up didn't work, she'd have to say things in the basest way possible, by stating them outright. Surely the mutantblood didn't think that her organization would just keep on sailing onward if she died did she? The thing was falling apart from all corners, if her intelligence could be relied on. And unlike Byakkos, Regina knew that hers could be."Since you obviously have some kind of learning disability, let me say this straight. You guys have the sanest agenda out of every shadowy troll society I'm currently having to keep in place. You take in lowblood kids, and don't turn them out too crazy after you've finished your little initiation rituals. With you guys around, there's less of a threat overall to the lives of the everytroll, y'know, the ones who get up every evening and go do their mundane, boring, unexciting job of keeping this entire planet running smoothly. I'm giving you a pass. A, heh, get out of jail free card, so long as you get your little troupe under control and stop gushing failure all over my cities."

melona-pan

 

[melona-pan]

Byakko balked as Regina relentlessly ridiculed her, her organization, her leadership ability. There was an indistinguishable flicker in her eyes when the Queen mentioned said 'golden boys', but otherwise she once again fell mute to Regina's unceasing contempt. There was nothing else within her power to do.

In all honesty, the thought of other organizations hadn't even graced Byakko's mind for a split second. Even before the current situation she had never paid other groups struggling against the Queen's regime much heed, as they were just as elusive as the Phoenix Initiative and in Akko's experiences, had never crossed paths with her own rebellion. She was only vaguely aware of some of the other extremists; did they honestly pose that much more of a threat than her own group now did? Did such other radicals even exist? Akko internally cringed, once again finding herself unable to decipher if Regina was bluffing or being frank. The only thing she was certain of was the mental whiplash Regina's statements gave her between 'you living keeps the rebel groups in check' and 'you're hardly a threat compared to them'. A pink trickle of blood slowly crawled down her collarbone as she darkly reflected on the Queen's words. The Phoenix Initiative itself was based on the values of equality for all that Trolldad had passed on, that he had in turn learned from the preaching of his mentor. To her, the logic behind it was unfaltering and already echoed through the rustblood population. But what did she know of the Initiatives' past motives aside from that? Who was to say they wouldn't stray in the future without someone's unwavering advocacy? Byakko's faith for the Initiative's purpose was resolute, as was her belief that every members was as well. But after all, if Akko had gleaned anything that night, it was that her faith had been grossly misplaced. She did believe the Initiative would press on without her, as naive as that may have been, but for the first time Byakko felt her conviction faltering under Regina's scrutiny.

While the mutant remained agitated, she did silently concur that the Phoenix Initiative posed little threat to the average everyday troll. At least, that what she aspired to; the mindless innocents following the caste system weren't the enemy. While they could agree on wishing as little harm to Alternia and the troll population as a whole, that didn't mean Byakko would roll over and call it quits. Regina seemed to understand that- even welcome it?- much to the mutant's shock.

She bit her tongue, frown melting into an puzzled stare as the Queen declared her intentions of freeing the mutant. Perhaps it was due to the massive bloodloss, but the Queen's words might as well have been a foreign language as their meaning was nearly lost on her. Akko didn't know how to respond. She simply cocked her head, shaking it slowly back and forth with scepticism. Even if she could see the logic behind the Queen's reasoning, she failed to believe her. She was just being toyed with. Akko spoke up apprehensively. "What now, then?"  

[amicableAggressor]

Taking a deep breath and another few chews of protein nugget, Regina let the silence hang in the room for a few seconds. She liked the tone of apprehension that had crept into the other girl's voice at her last one-liner, rather than the simple confident anger, certain in it's rage that there was going to be no hope of escape. Now the option had been dangled out and she could see the other girl starting to consider things a little more. Smiling benevolently, she put down the nutrient packet. "Well if you want, I can kiss your boo-boos better, pack you a boxed lunch, and send you trotting along back to your little buddies?"

melona-pan