"Come 'ere you!" The massive orc gripped the chain and gave it a savage yank. "The master has gotten tired of your attitude. You are going on the block with that little friend you have picked up." He sneered with sadistic glee as he continued. "We got a real nice bunch o' buyers today too!"
The woman at the other end of the chain fell to the ground with a startled huff. She was heavily manacled, and every savage jerk on the chain attached to her collar caused her to lose her balance. The orc didn't care of course, and would often times cause her to fall just for the wicked amusement of watching her fall on her feet.
Sadly, he was probably the least sadistic thing in this hellhole. The orc was simple in his amusements. There were other, darker things, were much much worse. Only her value had her living, if you could call this living.
The slave woman would have gone mad long ago if she hadn't found that one ray of kindness. Her friend, her dear insane friend. It was probably the cruelest thing in the world that they both lived, but this slave, this woman would endure because of that friendship. She would pretend to obey. And then when it was time, she would come back here and drown in the blood of these slaveholders.
The orc never saw the grin of the slave he was dragging. More the pity....
Ranma had to force himself to enter the shop. To him, there was little more abhorrent than slavery. To other people it was a sort of abstract notion, and they could reason it away, or forget it happened. They never had to actually see it. Ranma had. Not all of the places he and Genma had traveled had been nice places, and slavery wasn't an abstract concept in the real wilds.
Sure it was dressed up in other names, but it all boiled down to the same thing. Servitude, dominance, and ultimately it was abuse of power. A form of bullying. Ranma didn't think of it in those terms really, but that was the best way to describe it. That said, Ranma also knew how to deal with these places, even though he found it abhorrent.
At his side The Mentor stiffened his non-existent body slightly as he watched the young keeper. A glacial calm had settled over Ranma, his normally expressive face looked impassive, almost haughty. Right now with no escorts, and no visibly showing power Ranma looked to be the most dangerous thing in the room.
'Such an interesting reaction.' The Mentor chuckled mentally. 'It might be easier to guide this one than I thought.'
Show no weakness. You are the largest predator in the room. Those were the thoughts that ran through Ranma's head. He allowed himself to give a small smirk as the minor minions cleared a path. There were two ways to stay alive in a place like this. Not be noticed, or be to big to eat.
Ranma grimaced internally as he found himself a place in a far corner where he could watch the other keepers. The act was harder than it looked, and Ranma found himself almost instinctively reaching for the soul of ice. Unfortunately every time he did that he felt a bit of the mana from the dungeon heart trickle into his body. It was making the other Keepers edgy as they darted their eyes to his figure, feeling something broiling underneath the surface of his calm demeanor.
The slavemaster in front felt a bead of sweat trickle down. This was supposed to be a easy sell. There hadn't been any reports of new keepers around, and the current bunch were content to squabble amongst themselves, and of course provide him with more business. Instead he had a new factor involved, and what was worse was that the other keepers were eyeing him like he was either a new enemy or a new snack.
The skinny keeper, Keeper Sidarian, was the first to approach Ranma. With a oily smile he gave a short nod to Ranma, stretching out his hand in a welcoming gesture. "It is.. Interesting to see a new face around here." He gave The Mentor an uneasy glance, not sure what the purpose of the spirit was, or its capabilities. "I am Keeper Sidarian, and you are?"
"Buzz off." Ranma replied tersely, slapping aside the outstretched hand with a slight sneer. He did an admirable job of hiding his revulsion. This keeper was just testing the waters, and Ranma didn't miss the way that the other keepers were eyeing him with interest.
"I think you might be misunderstanding my intentions friend." Keeper Sidarian backed off slightly, making sure his bodyguards were in front of him. "I am just extending an honest hand of friendship."
Ranma rolled his eyes at the skinny keeper. "Like a whiny worm like you would know anything about friendship."
"Careful keeper." The Mentor cautioned softly. "A fight would not be in our best interests."
Ranma snorted as he let out a bit of the rage he felt at this world and himself for not stopping it. He sneered at the other keepers, but kept silent.
Keeper Sidarian clenched a hand, and backed away. Right now was not the time to teach this upstart a lesson. He knew the other keepers would just as soon turn on him instead of the newcomer. He would get his vengeance for that snub. It would just take time.
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(Posted Mon, 10 Nov 2008 04:36)
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