[PRP] Wrongfully Arrested

[DystopicRhythm]

Wrongfully Arrested

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This is a private RP between Aphismet (Rivener) and NeonMace (Ethiriel)

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Where:

When: Unsure - the days had been merging together.

Weather: Over the span of a few days; mostly sunny but cloudy spouts and occasional showers.

 

[DystopicRhythm]

Several days had passed since she was placed in that dark room, and while just as confused as she had been in her previous hours her captors had eased up on their bindings and allowed her a bit more comfort in her stay. There had definitely been some confusion on their part, and though they wouldn’t explain to the silver Frei just what was going on, most were quick to apologize during any interaction.

Someone had told them wrong or there was a misunderstanding somewhere along word passing through. All they were told was that a bodyguard for their rival gang was a Raeven – no descriptives were given, no names and no actual information other than the species. They hadn’t even said where they would be or who they would possibly be with! The man with this one appeared so normal, was it only a coincidence that they had happened across their turf?

In the earlier hours of her captivity, they had tried pulling off the small leaves from her wings and crown but with no luck. She could have been worth a lot, suggesting she was actually made of silver, but wouldn’t most, pure silver just… break? It wasn’t that hard of an element, it couldn’t have kept from breaking. With no way to make profit from this they had to leave her be.

Plus, her vision.

It took a while before any of them had noticed that she couldn’t see – at least, not conventionally. What kind of bodyguard couldn’t see? Was this some sort of sick joke or maybe someone had a vendetta against her guardian? No… no, someone had made a mistake and surely it’d be on one of their heads. What if someone came for her? Of course someone would – would you abandon your Raeven if you had one?

Of course, their guess was right.  

[Aphismet]

It was no stroke of luck that Rivener knew the other gang had a standing order to capture or kill him. Like with many of the gangs in the area, Felix had a mole implanted near the gang, though not exactly in it directly. They'd managed to hear word that men might be coming to look for a Raevan soon, and so the Scorpion had been laying low for a while, on Felix's order. Talk about easy work, just hanging around the penthouse HQ, playing video games with the rest of the "grounded" mobsters! Riv was beginning to get bored, but he wasn't about to argue easy money.

He regretted his wish for something fun to happen soon enough. Felix had returned with a slightly puzzled look on his face, one eyebrow raised. Everyone's eyes were on him, of course, when he walked right up to his Scorpion bodyguard: "Rivener, are there other Raevans working in the area as bodyguards?"

Riv blinked, a frown quickly forming on his brow. "Not that I know of, no. ...Why?" Felix looked reluctant to go into the details, so before he could raise a hand and wave it off, Rivener got up off the couch and asked again, looking stern: "Why, Felix?"

The boss gave his underling a sidelong glance and sighed in irritation. "Because those idiots captured one, that's why. What did you think. ...I know that look in your eye, Rivener, and you're NOT-"

"Boss, all due respect, that's one of my kin they have there, thinking it's me. It's my responsibility. Please let me go try to get them out. I'll go alone, I won't implicate you in any way."

Felix growled: "And if they CATCH you? I don't want to lose one of my employees. You're too valuable, hell, for the intimidation factor alone! I won't allow you to risk it."

Rivener snarled, and bit his lip: he didn't want to piss the boss off, but... Ah, he supposed he had no choice. "I'm using my Veto on this."

"What? On THIS? You don't even know who's in there!" Felix glared at Rivener, throwing his arms up. "Might be someone you hate!"

"I don't care, it's a Raevan, and I won't leave my kin when they need help." Especially not at the hands of lowly humans. "I'm using my Veto, Felix."

Felix shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. Veto was the worst idea he'd ever had: each employee had one "veto" they could use while in his employ, to override an order of his in regards to them personally. "Fine! Fine, use your Veto. But this is the only time, Scorpion. ...Charlie, give Riv the location."


And so it was that a few hours later, when the evening was nearing its darkest, Rivener approached the warehouse where one of his kin was being kept. He wasn't sure they would be on the lookout for aerial infiltration, so he kept close to the building tops, not coming straight from the sky. A few moments were given to circling the building and seeing what kind of doors and windows there were... Not many. Worrisome. But on the plus side, there didn't seem to be anyone patrolling the higher doors, the ones that could only be accessed from the inside, with fire-stairs ready to be pushed down to the ground. That was his entry point.

Quick as a shadow Riv crossed from one building to the next until he floated against the wall next to his chosen door. He grabbed at the knob: locked. ********. Rivener grit his teeth, annoyed that he'd never bothered to learn how to pick locks, usually preferring to just use brute force to smash doors down. In this case that wouldn't work in his favor. So he had to pick another way in.

Trying to remain in the shadow of the building, he peered down. There were people milling about the front where the large roll-up doors were open: that was definitely not the way to go. From the back there was one single door with two men guarding it, each one toting a gun. And not just pistols, either: these were small-gauge assault rifles. Since where did small-time gangs have such hardcore artillery?? Rivener swore under his breath. If it wasn't for the fact that the informer was SURE these men hadn't brought the Raevan they'd captured back out, Riv would be getting out of here. But he wouldn't abandon a fellow half-body. He wondered who it was. Hopefully once he found him or her, the two of them would be enough power combined to just lay waste and bust out of there.

So the back door looked like the only unlocked one. Rivener hoped there was no matching pair of guards INSIDE the door, but he had to take the chance. Stilling the nerves in his stomach, preparing his stingers with quick knock-out poison, he began slowly and silently floating down from the fire escape...

...passing an open window on the way. The Sigel paused, looking over at the angled glass. This was too high for people to be able to get in, but perfect for flying Raevans! And he didn't have to possibly get shot! Smothering a grin, Rivener carefully peeked inside and found a tall barrier of crates blocking his view, but leaving enough room between it and the wall for the Sigel to fit. As quietly as he could manage, wincing as the glass pane screeked wider from his shoulders, Rivener snuck inside and flattened himself against the wall, keeping still to make sure no one was coming to look.

When it all seemed clear, Riv let out the breath he'd been holding and snuck up to the top of the crate, peering over to watch the space beyond, trying to pin-point where they might be keeping their Raevan prisoner...  

[DystopicRhythm]

It wasn’t much farther in that Ethiriel was being held; the large storehouse was sectioned off by high walls – crates stacked atop one another at various heights and often several in each row.

While they had little need to contain her, she was kept loosely tied behind the farthest set of crates, seated as comfortably as one could possibly be in a rickety, wooden chair. Her hands had to be tied just in front of her as her stiff silver wings made it difficult to pull them behind. With no torso, the men had to improvise and used her branches to tether her to the chair, once again loose enough so that she wouldn’t be injured. They knew she wouldn’t fight back or try to free herself at this point, especially given how oddly calm and agreeable she had been from the beginning. Her ribbon was too fragile and so was her skin; fighting back would have only ended poorly on her part.

Much to Rivener’s luck she was also poorly guarded, the men not quite being intelligent enough to consider that someone may come for her. Ethiriel was left alone for long stretches of time – only approached with water if she so needed it.

As soon as he had even entered the building she could smell him; the familiar scent of a crisp night’s air clinging to the slightest bit of Earth. It stung her nostrils against the dank and stagnant air of the warehouse, though she felt more at ease knowing that someone she had once met was there. She could only assume for what reason, but she hoped his purpose was to take her away from here. However impatient, she remained silent and hoped that his sense of smell was as strong as hers despite having full use of his sight.  

[Aphismet]

Rivener remained at the top of the crate walls, sneaking along from one to the other, laying flat across the tops of them whenever someone would walk by below. So far so good, he'd not been spotted, but he'd also not found any trace of a Raevan. He'd looked mostly in the heavier-trafficked areas, assuming that a captured Frei would need a good amount of men to be kept subdued, but there was no such well-guarded room. Eventually, the Scorpion had needed to start looking through EACH "chamber" one by one until, miraculously, he found the Raevan in question.

It was that delicate-looking silver-branched girl! What was her name again? He'd only met her briefly at the Summer Garden party... Eriel? Edirel? Ethi-?... Ethiriel! That was it. Ethiriel. What in the world was SHE doing here?

Checking first to make sure no one was incoming, Rivener peered down the makeshift halls- no one. She wasn't even guarded! Very quietly the Scorpion descended from his high vantage, coming to stand beside the girl and immediately starting to work the knots binding her free. "Ethiriel," he whispered very quietly. "It's Rivener. I'm here to help you, but we have to be very quiet, okay? We'll talk once we're out of here."

The knots at her hand were easy to undo, and soon enough Ethiriel's hands were free. But her branches were quite entangled, if loosely, and it would take Riv longer to undo those. "I'll eget these off as soon as I can." He began working, opting to just cut her off the chair and pull the ropes free later. His wings were sharp enough to fray at the rope, as were his nails, so in a few short moments she should be free, assuming no one walked in on them.  

[DystopicRhythm]

Craning her neck once he spoke, Ethiriel gave a simple nod and relaxed into the chair. Everything was so dark and Riv had very little silver for her to focus on, so rather than fixating her practically sightless gaze on anything in particular she kept her attention on the feeling of his claws breaking through her bindings. Once free, she rubbed her wrists gently despite their careful care during her captivity. Once off of the chair completely, she hovered just above her seat and gave her companion a grateful bow.

Still unable to see him, she extended a hand outward in hopes that it was vaguely in his direction. He was silent and her sense of smell wasn’t directional, making it very difficult to pinpoint exactly where he was. The guards would be making rounds soon and they needed to vacate. Even if she could deal damage, she hadn’t properly fed in nearly a week and hot water was a mere snack they could actually offer – she had very little energy, she couldn’t see and she had no idea where she was or how Riv had found her.

All around, she was at a loss.  

[Aphismet]

Rivener finished with the ropes though there were still a good few loops of it stuck in her branch-wings. He straightened when she did and looked around, craning his ears to try and figure out if anyone was coming... He couldn't tell. His attention returned to Ethiriel just as she bowed, a little off-center. The girl extended her hand, too, and again it was a little off-center. Riv made a slight face: right, blind. And with those odd wings, likely no flying either. ********. The window was a no-no, then, unless he carried her up there. Which he COULD, but he couldn't carry her across the tops of all the crates from here to there. They were bound to bump something, scrape something, and be discovered. A few places the crates had reached almost to the ceiling and Riv had needed to sneak past real carefully...

So he would have to guide her through the maze of crate-chambers and crate-hallways, back towards that window. THEN fly her up. They would make noise exiting, as he'll have to push the window open wider and it would do that horrific screeching sound again, but it wouldn't matter at that point. They'd just fly off before they could get shot at.

Each challenge in its own time, though. Rivener took the girl's hand and carefully tugged her close, cradling a wing around her as extra protection. "Stay close and quiet," he whispered needlessly, advancing to the doorway of the room and peering outside. One of the many good things about having no lower body was that they made no sounds of footsteps. Quiet as breezes the pair floated into the hall and down towards the back of the warehouse. Riv always slowed as they neared corners, peering carefully either way, always planning a place to duck into should he spot someone around the corner. So far so good, though, and he could see the back wall now: they were half-way there!  

[DystopicRhythm]

Another good thing about not having a lower body or legs meant that once pulled, there was little force stopping you. When she was drawn closer, Ethiriel instinctively placed a hand on Rivener’s side – not to push herself away but to keep her balance as well as to attach herself. Had it not brushed her shoulder she wouldn’t have noticed how large a wingspan he had, capable of wrapping around her immobile branches. With another nod, she clung to him silently.

Ethiriel couldn’t make hide nor tail of where exactly they were; the warehouse was large and rather empty despite its many boxed corridors and made even the smallest sound echo. It was difficult to tell just where footsteps were coming from, how many people were there and who was coming. They had managed not to get caught so far, but luck wasn’t to stay on their side.

By the time they had reached their half-way point, some frantic yelling was heard from across the building; from where Rivener had acquired his passenger.

”She’s gone! That Raeven’s escaped!”

Ethiriel stiffened in Rivener’s grip though her expression held no worry. For the most part these guys seemed rather ignorant – easy to fool into mindless conversation and had she been able to see from the beginning perhaps she would have attempted to distract them long enough to free herself. Now that she was no longer captive, and that they had noticed, she wasn’t aware of just how big of a problem it was. She had no idea that they had weapons, nor did she know with who they were dealing with.

”I told you we shouldn’t have kept her tied so loosely!”

”These ropes were cut, she couldn’t have done that!”

Their ridiculous arguing could be heard as they snuck further through the warehouse, careful not to make a sound. Ethiriel pressed herself against Rivener’s torso to reduce the chances of bumping into anything, though her branched wing beneath his arm was a problem that neither of them could properly fix.  

[Aphismet]

Oh s**t. They've been found out. Rivener's initial flinch at the yell was the only sign that he was in any way worried. He forced himself to relax. Come on, he had expected they would find her missing sooner or later! Hell, he had expected having to fight his way out, and now he was half-way to the exit already. Just stay the course and everything would be okay.

The girl came closer and Riv tried to fit her under his arm as best he could, hurrying them forward. There was no more time to be cautious. He just needed to bolt to that window as fast as possible and get them out. So he crossed hallway after hallway, not bothering to check if people were coming, and got lucky the first three times. On the fourth T-junction, however...

He rounded the corner and swore as a man with a gun rounded into the same hall from the other side, the guy's face going quite shocked to see TWO Raevans. Rivener spun and headed the other way but instantly swore again: a dead end! Well there was only one way left to go now.

"Hold on!" he warned his protectee before scooping her into BOTH arms and snapping his wings down forcefully, sending them UP. If he could get to the top of that row of crates they'd be safer from potential bullets, and the way to the window was shorter now, clearer- Riv could make it while carrying Eth.  

[DystopicRhythm]

While Ethiriel couldn’t see the man staring the two down, she heard Rivener mutter under his breath and was surprised when she was suddenly cradled in both arms. The force of their sudden ascent startled her, her grip tightening accordingly as they soon hovered over the boxes.

The men had yet to fire a single shot, though the one to spot them had certainly sounded the alarms. Beneath them, men had started to pool around the boxes while armed to the teeth. In the commotion, clamoring to even just get to the area, the two Raevens had slipped out of sight among the tall standing of boxes and crates and to their luck, no one had tried getting to higher ground. Constant footsteps and confusion could be heard in the slender hallways, the sound carried up by the mostly hollow boxes and concrete flooring – and with only one window open, it nearly funneled the sound in the direction they most desired.

Now that there was much more sound surrounding them, Ethiriel’s expression had shifted just the slightest; she had no idea just how many people were here keeping watch on her in the first place, but she could tell that in a sense they were surrounded. Sometimes she would catch glimpses of rings or necklaces – small silver trinkets that some of the men carried on their person – but it wasn’t common for anyone to wear enough for her to keep a constant eye on them. Not long after she was first brought here she realized it was a misunderstanding, but even then no one would tell her why she was still there or why the mix up happened in the first place. She had no idea that her rescuer had actually been their main target.

With some careful weaving and their best to keep out of sight, the two finally made it to the window – just short of being spotted. ”They’re getting away!” someone shouted from down below, and Ethiriel heard a ca-c***k as they readied their weapon. Having never been exposed to anything of the sort, the fair Frei had no idea what was coming.  

[Aphismet]

Blessedly there was no easy way up for the men on the ground. Rivener tried to hurry, but he did have to round the higher "walls" because he didn't think he could squeeze between the ceiling and boxes while carrying the slip of a girl. Not fast enough, anyway. There was absolute pandemonium below as those that HAD spotted them tried to follow along, bumping into others and soon it seemed like the whole damned place was trailing behind them or below them. Not one single person had tried to shoot them, for which Riv was more than thankful, and they were at the window now-...

Ca-c***k! Seems Riv had spoken too soon.

Shots rang out, deafening in their concussion. Most were single shots, from pistols it seemed like, but there were a few instances of the Ratatatatat of an assault rifle. Rivener inhaled sharply and sped up, going straight for the window now and ******** trying to stay hidden or covered. He was pale-faced yet determined. Come on, this isn't the first time you've been shot at. Just keep cool. Just keep c- A bullet struck through his wing-leather worrisomely close to his torso and Rivener grunted, feeling only a slight sting. No time to check for wounds. Another bullet zipped past his head and sent his hair flying. Most of the things were hitting the crates, not them, but the shards of wood it sent flying up around them liks shrapnel for them to zoom through left a good collection of scratches along both his skin and Ethiriel's.

As he reached the window, Rivener didn't even bother stopping. He just cradled Eth close, lowered his head and hunches his shoulders, barreling right through and forcing the window open with his body. Outside, the two guards with their rifles turned to the ruckus at the window and pointed their weapons, letting one round out before Rivener dashed across to the next building's roof. Another bullet shot through his wing-leather, nowhere near his body this time, and Riv ignored the sting of it, keeping up his speed and getting them as far as possible from that place.

"We're out now," he breathed heavily, the wind whipping past. "You're safe now. Just let me get you far away from that place then we can work on getting you home, okay?"  

[DystopicRhythm]

When the first shot rang out, Ethiriel’s eyes widened. With an obvious and visible twitch, she buried her face as best as she could without scraping or stabbing her branched crown against her rescuer – she had never heard a sound quite that loud, and surely the reverberation within the poorly insulated building only aided that. With the first blow to his wing, the tea Raeven winced sympathetically despite not quite understanding what was happening.

The firing continued much to the poor girl’s dismay, her eyes shut tight as she clung to Rivener. Once his body was used as a battering ram, she let out a small grunt in surprise but the cool, fresh air managed to relax her in just the slightest. At least until the next round of shots began.

While this round missed Rivener sans a single clip to his wing, they had managed to graze against one of Ethiriel’s branches, her silver offering no leeway causing her shoulder to follow along until the shell had passed. She let out a muted groan but kept her face buried in the scorpion’s neck. It wasn’t a bad injury – no broken skin and as far as she could tell her shoulder hadn’t been dislocated but it certainly hadn’t been comfortable. She could feel her arm ache in response but surely she would be fine.

”Thank you…” she said, allowing herself to finally relax when she couldn’t hear the pistols or machine guns anymore. Even during the worst storms she’d never heard something quite so loud and violent. She shivered in his arms, mixed with hunger, exhaustion and just plain grateful to be free.  

[Aphismet]

Rivener flew silently, not bothering to answer her thanks just yet. He focused all his effort on flying, zooming along rooftops despite the growing ache in his wings from the bullet wounds. The wing leather holes weren't overly serious an injury, but it did bleed the tiniest bit and hurt. Riv worried the rips would get bigger if he flew much more, so he tried to glide more than flap, wincing whenever he felt pressure at the puncture spots. He had to get them far enough away. He also didn't fly in a straight line- he zigged, zagged, backtracked a little, until eventually he found himself in the more populated shopping district. THIS was safer. There were lots of cops here, the stupid gangsters couldn't possibly cause a scene here. So finally they stopped their mad dash, Rivener bringing them to the rooftop of a long strip mall, settling on the gravelly "floor" with a groan.

"We're safe," he panted, opening his arms and nudging her away from him so he could look her over. He was breathing heavily from the escape, and his arms and wings burned. The old bullet wound in his shoulder was throbbing. Yet he wouldn't let himself flop to lying down until he was sure the poor girl was okay. "Are you okay? Didn't get shot? Do you need anything?" He listened to her but also looked for himself, running thumbs gently over all the scratches. He'd tried to shield her body with his own, but some of the wooden bits had made it through to her. He plucked a few shavings from her hair.

"We'll go down in a moment and call your guardian, okay? I just... need to rest and breathe a little while. Why were you in there anyway? How did they get a hold of you, did you know why they did?"  

[DystopicRhythm]

Before he had started nudging her away her hands began searching him upon landing, checking to make sure he was alright. However, as per his wordless request she had distanced herself, staring toward the roof of the building as she had nothing to focus on. Folding her arms in front of her, she gently cupped her shoulder. ”I am fine, Sir Rivener… What of you? Are you injured?” she asked, her brows knit in the slightest. While in the bright sun it was a bit easier to see his form, it was still impossible for Ethiriel to get a decent look at him.

”I am truly sorry that you were put in harm’s way at my expense,” she said, craning her head slightly when he began picking splinters out of her hair, eyes closing in response. While she had been worried about Leo, right now her fellow Raeven’s well-being was at the forefront of her mind. He had put himself in danger to save her when the two barely even knew one another.

Shaking her head, she lowered her arm and crossed them once more. ”I am afraid I haven’t the slightest. I was given no reason… Nothing was explained.” Ethiriel’s voice trailed, eyes resting vaguely on her companion’s form. ”In passing they speculated that I had been the ‘wrong one,’ so my only assumption is that… I was mistaken for another. Why they didn’t release me, I have no idea.”

As her voice trailed off again, she continued to fruitlessly examine his form – everything about him meshed together. ”How did you know to find me…? And where I would be?” she asked, worry still painted on her delicate features.  

[Aphismet]

Rivener worried at her shoulder when she favored it like that, but the girl seemed just as intent on making sure HE was safe. Once he was sure all the splinters were out of her hair he turned to look at himself: he was covered in splinters too, and started plucking a few from the longer locks of his hair. He examined his wings, wincing at the holes- he'd need to staple those shut and go easy on the flying for a weak or two, if he wanted to prevent a tear. "I'm fine. A little banged up but it could have been much worse, nothing serious." The worst was that grazing bullet wound on his arm, it bled rather badly but wasn't dangerous.

He'd hoped she would be in the dark about the whole thing but she knew enough to make it awkward for him to explain himself. He certainly didn't want the nature of his job to be known, so he quickly tried to pick out what he COULD say from what he COULDN'T. Or rather, SHOULDN'T. "I, ah... I think it was me they were looking for. I've been getting in the way of their business lately. Probably they wanted to get rid of me, but only knew that I was a Raevan. So when they spotted you, if you were in the right area of town where I'd usually be, they must have thought you were me." He sighed. "I knew where to find you because someone I know came to tell me that my enemies had been looking for me. There was rumor they found someone, and I got worried over who might be trapped there... I'm so, so sorry you got involved in this, Ethiriel."

The Sigel advanced closer and hoped she wouldn't mind: his arms wrapped around her in a comforting hug before he pushed her at arm's length, hands on her shoulders. "You're sure you're okay? I will help you get home, I promise, and you'll be safe now. Alright?"