Welcome to Gaia! ::

((have to post a little, since penden's on vacation. We miss you penden!!! oh, and Veinkiller, goodluck on your gwee. took me a lot to get mine.))

Arril heard the boy run and he turned, his instincts taking over for just a moment. Everything slowed down again as he took in the boy, the way he was running, vital muscles and arteries... but he didn't want to kill the boy. He flung his dagger at a space just before the boy, and exhaled as the dagger stuck into the wooden awning exiting out onto the carriage. "Stay your feet, Child! Come close to me!" Arril hollered, pulling a dagger out of a nearby corpse's belt.

He watched the boy for an instant, "Tell me if he tries to get away again" He hissed to sih, turning back to the creature.

The horses snorted nervously. They were trained and bred for steady nerves, a quality needed even in simple carriage horses, so that they might not panic if attacked by a strange creature out in the wild. Still, they did not like having things thrown at them, and as no one at all was holding lead or reigns, they began to walk forward in unison. The animal collector had lived in a one-way back alley, so as not to be disturbed by the comings and goings of curious visitors, and so the horses had only one way to go at first. There was not much room for Theron to try to maneuver around the carriage to grab at the beasts, though he might be able to get inside of it and get at the reigns that way if he could avoid pissing off Arril.

He had not done as Arril said, yet who could really blame him? That creature was breaking through the cage, and it did not seem to be responding at all to Arril. There was no modification in the creature's violent behavior, and Arril felt no mental response. The creature might be dumb, or it might be uninterested in aligning in any way with two-legged creatures. There was no telling what it ate, since its previous care-taker was now dead, and it seemed likely that Arril and Theron were on the menu.

If there was anything from the carriage or the room to salvage, they had better do it fast, before the creature got loose.

The carriage was packed with clothes and the like for a long trip. In fact, there was barely room for Theron to squeeze in through the back, but as he disturbed some of the tied bundles, a few parcels were gracious enough to fall into the passenger part of the carriage to make room for him. Clothes and jewelry were in the most abundance, though Theron could make use of any of a number of other things if he had the time and the safety to look through him. There had to be small pots and cooking stoves somewhere, for eating on the road, and money, and probably daggers as well. The rope that tied the bundles of clothes together, or alternatively the few stuffed backpacks, might also do him some good in any number of situations. It was like robbing a dead body. Or, more like robbing five dead bodies.

Not getting any response from the creature and seeing that it could be a major problem for them, Arril took a sword from a nearby dead body, twirled the unweildy thing around a few times and plunged it through the bars, into the creature's head before it could take any defensive action. He left it there as sih informed him of the boy's actions, "The boy is in the carriage, Arril."

Arril nodded and broke some of the cages of the other, more peaceful creatures and grabbed his cloak, before running up to the carriage. He had been studying everything there was to know about his captors, and how to control their pack animals was one of those things. He made ready to vault on top of the carriage to get to the horses below, but as the boy pulled on the reigns, that option was moot now.

He looked in the back of the carriage and made quick work of what he needed and what he didn't. He took his pack, a better knife than he could make, the pack of a soldier that had accompanied them, and the soldier's shortbow, made of sturdy oak, Within moments he was behind the boy, jerking him to the side by the neck of his shirt. "You. If you value your life, you will help me get back to the wilderness." He hissed, keeping a hold of the boy.

Arril shook the boy once, twice, then cast him unceramoniously onto the carriage floor. He noticed the horses had started moving again, and pulled hard on the reigns as the now dead driver had done. "Halt!" He yelled at the horses in their native tongue. he had picked up some simple words in his travels, and communication with the horses at this point might be crucial to his escape.

He opened the pack belonging to the driver and found his clothing. He would have to wrap his tail around his leg again, uncomfortably, but it would have to do for now. He pulled off his simple, hand-made clothing, and put on the driver's clothing, making do with the soldier's spare set of boots. It was a loose fit, and his left leg looked a little misshapen, but he could pass for a normal person as long as he kept his head down and his hood never left it. It was a cold day, and hopefully no one would question his wearing of a cloak. he knew nothing of Feretris slave protocols, if there were any, and he only knew that women were in power.

that gave him an idea. He looked for the pack of the woman who had accompanied him, and found some clothes. The woman was a bit taller than the boy, but as long as no one looked closely in the carriage...

confered with Sih, wondering if the plan would work. "What do you think?" He asked his familiar, her scales rubbing familiarly against his own.

"I think your plan is in order, but we know nothing of what lies ahead. the boy will know. We need his full cooperation." The python said, flickering her tongue against his ear.

Arril nodded, fetching a foul-smelling herb from his pack, and holding it against the boy's face. it had revived many an unconcious wolf from the death sleep, it would work on a slave boy...

((the hood is enchanted. no one should be able to see Arril's face, but his eyes.))

Arril narrowed his eyes at the retreival of the dagger, and made ready to make a killing blow, but unraveled as Sih tightened her constriction around his chest. "We need the boy, Arril. Perhaps he is tired of being a slave tell him you've come to free him." Sih hissed silently in his ear, her eyes becoming visible in the enchanted darkness.

The two pairs of eyes settled on the boy and Arril stuffed the herb back in his pocket for later use. "I am freedom."

Thjey eyed the boy for a moment. "We must act quickly if we wish to get to the forest. I need your help in navigating the city..."

(Ok, I have to ask, does Arril want Theron to dress up as a woman to get them out of there, or was that just my imagination??? xd Also I think Theron saw his face earlier if I remember correctly that the women uncloaked him just before all the violence, but of course he would have his cloak back on by now)