Spies of the Holdless (Sorlen, Jarshan)

[Ise]

“Why should either of us tell you anything you psychotic witch? For all we know you’re just some crazy Holdless running around in the woods.”
Sorlen was half glad that part of his view of Geoff was blocked by Jarshan. He didn’t need to see what it was that crazy Shield women did to get their jollys. If torturing kids was what she did for fun… well she’d get along real well with some of the Holdless. He was not too intimidated by Jarshan (ok he was but not yet to the point where he was about to wet himself in fear of her), his father had never been shy about smacking his kids around. He had never taking a knife to nipples but Sorlen had a feeling Jarshan would go to different tactics if Geoff happened to die.

Sorlen grimaced and rubbed at his leg, hoping that maybe he would get some feeling back in his leg before Jarshan was done with Geoff.
“And I know you haven’t found my sister. If you had you’d just come out and say it. That’d intimidate us way more knowing that she was already dead.”
Actually it would just bring joy to Sorlen’s heart, he could die happily knowing that she was dead.
“And I’m not going to tell you anything. And torturing him isn’t going to loosen my tongue either.”

Sorlen folded his arms over his chest, giving Jarshan a stubborn look. If there was one thing that all Holdless were good at, it was being difficult. How Riverton ever managed to get them to do anything was a wonder. At least keeping this crazy woman busy meant that Jarshan couldn’t go after some of the other teams that were in the forest. And how could any other Shield people be as crazy as this one?

[Marnark]

He cried, but didn't scream. Interesting. Especially since that was a particularly sensitive nerve cluster she'd just neatly divided in two. Darn. Since when did kids get this kind of resolve? "Alright. Have it your way." She answered. "You want me to kill you? I'll kill you." She sighed, reaching forward and wrapping one hand around his neck. "Nice, slow, and easy. Right? Is that how you imagined it?" She asked. Her grip on his neck was gentle if it was anything. All but one key point. With one fingertip, she pressed into his neck ... on that key spot.

Right on his jugular. All she was doing was denying his brain the blood it needed to stay conscious. She wasn't actually killing him, just knocking him out. Gently. He'd have a hellova headache when he woke up though. Some many hours later. It was a slow process that took about a minute, starting with his vision darkening and auditory senses slurring. She leaned over him, and smiled sweetly. "After all, you know we can kill you just by looking at you, right? No blood, no tears. Just ... fade away and die. Like a good boy." She slipped her knife into its sheathe, and patted him on the cheek as he lost consciousness. Once he was good and still, well and plumb out of his misery, she rose to both feet and looked at the other one over by the tree.

"Your turn now I presume?" She offered kindly. Shifting her weight to one foot, she moved off of Geoff and headed for the much more talkative lad. Even if it was all nonsense. "You sure like the word 'and', I noticed." She said, leaning over him and smiling. "I wonder what other word you like." She took a hold of his chin and turned his head to one side, as if she were inspecting a young lamb at market. "Tell me. Why is it you are so willing to die for some obscure ideal? What are you throwing your lives away for? Is it really even your ideal, or has someone terrified you into submission? Because, let me tell you, my boy. I'm far scarier than they are." She crouched down in front of him, and took his wrist, turning it over.

"As for your other little friend out there, what makes you think I'm the only Shield out here? She won't get far, I promise. I bet you she talks faster than you do." Behind her, Naraja came out of the bushes and padded over toward Geoff's inert form. Dropping her head, she sniffed him briefly before her pink tongue flicked out, washing the blood off of his bared chest.

"Tell you what. You tell me something useful to me, something interesting, and I will let you live. In fact, I will even take you to see the leader you so badly want to meet. Deal?"

[HG]

The Shield woman was pissed that he did not give her the response she wanted him to have. Her eyes seemed to narrow as he once again refused to speak about the reason they were near the Weyr. She seemed to grow tired of torturing him and decided to kill him. He lay there waiting for death as she controlled the blood flow to his head. It was not long before Geoff fell into the oblivion of unconscious.

On the outside it would be hard for Sorlen to know if he were alive. Geoff’s breathing was shallow and his clothing as usual was a bit big for him. Whatever was going to happen now was up to the other Holdless.

[magic]

Martred had been silently making his way through the trees following the silent flight of his flitter Honey. There was something going on ahead, the little Gold had been very insistant that he follow her. And over the turns he had learnt that Honey wasnt one to over dramatise something. So moving quietly, using his turns of experience, he approached the small group.

One was laying on the ground, not moving, with Naraja sniffing at him. Jarshan was there, obviously trying to get some answers, but as usual, she was going about it too heavy handed. Martred stopped and leant against a tree, his eyes surveying the situation as Jarshan tried to get some information out of an older youth.

"You really wanna do what she says," Martred said, leaning casually against the tree, "when she gets the taste of blood theres just no stopping her" he said, pushing off the tree and walking towards the pair. "It looks as if shes already dealt with one of you" he said, nudging the unconscious Geoff with his booted foot. Honey flew silently to land on his shoulder, her eyes whirling slightly red as she assessed the situation for any danger to her beloved human.

[Ise]

Sorlen couldn’t say he felt much for Geoff as he watched the crazy Shield woman kill him. Maybe the only thing he felt bad about was the fact that now he had to deal with her by himself. Well, at least he knew that this psycho killed him it was his own fault instead of someone else’s. Something about that comforted Sorlen, it was nice knowing that he wasn’t going to die just because someone else was an idiot. Now he was just going to die because Shield women were murderous wenches who had nothing better to do with their time.

He was tense as Jarshan took his face in her hand but still seemed more bored with it then anything else. Really, did she think that just because she was looking at him like some useless beast that it was going to intimidate him? That was how half the Holdless had looked at him anyways. Now they all just looked at him like something they had scrapped off their boot.

He ignored Jarshan’s questions, but did pay close attention to when she took ahold of his wrist and started looking it over.
“You know, you and my father would get along perfectly. You both enjoy being sick freaks who get off on torturing others. Though he’s a little more extreme then you. He makes very specific threats and follows through with them to the letter. I mean when the man threatens to skin you alive if you screw up, you know he’ll do it. I’ve watched him do it to others.”

Sorlen spared a glance over to Geoff’s dead body as the cat wandered over to it. He wondered if he was going to have to watch that feline eat the kid. The thought of that happening brought a look of disgust to his face. While he had had no real love for the kid, he didn’t want to see his body be abused like that. Even the Holdless deserved better.
“Ugh I doubt you’ve found my sister. Those tracks were days old. I’d hope that even Refuge’s famous Dragon Shield would know that. Either you found her or you didn’t. And if you didn’t well then she’s probably getting nice and cozy in the Weyr. I wonder how much damage one unknown girl can cause in a Weyr…”

He grinned in satisfaction until he heard another voice and saw Martred leaning up against a tree. His dark eyes shifted between the two, thinking a little before he smirked.
“Finally, they sent a man out here. You can never trust a woman to get a job done right, they get too emotional.”
He started laughing, knowing that he was going to feel pain at any moment. There was no way the psycho Shield witch would let him get away with a comment like that.

[Marnark]

Jarshan smiled slightly. "You have no idea who you're talking to, boy. Just because I let your friend off easy by doing him in early, you think that I won't do exactly what I say I will do? Really now. It was a tactical decision. Two of you to keep a hold of. I really don't like letting Naraja there participate in the fun, because she's, well. Messy." More like, she didn't just catch things. She caught and killed. Once the feline got started, there was not stopping point until it stopped twitching. So, Jarshan was very careful about when she allowed the feline to participate in anything.

"Whatever tracks you were looking at today, they were not tracks I was concerned about." Jarshan answered. "You're talking yourself into a hole, kid, and it's best if you don't keep it up. It was you I was following, after all, not those. I catch those whom I follow, or haven't you figured that out yet?" She stabbed a stiff finger into the same nerve cluster she'd traumatized to render him lame. But before she could really get started in on what she was planning, she heard movement.

That Naraja wasn't acting yet told her that it was another Shield. For even normal Weyrfolk got Naraja excited. At the sound of a shoulder on bark, and then Martred's voice, she wanted to smack the man. He was interrupting. Not to mention he'd just implied she wasn't in control. Which was completely contrary to the truth. The scariest part of Jarshan was that she wasn't maniacal. Utter and complete control; she knew exactly what she was doing to any given person.

But the kid's reply? Oh, he was asking to be seriously hurt just on principle. "Emotional, you say? Really? Well, if you really want to be turned over to someone who has no emotions like, well, say ... pity ... which does lead sometimes to mercy, then be my guest." Jarshan answered. "But, since you asked." She held up his hand that she had a hold of the wrist of. "Remember how you said that your father does exactly what he says he'll do? I am the same way. Let me tell you what I am about to do to you if you don't tell me something I want to hear."

She lifted her knife and used the end of it as a pointer as she spoke. "First I am going to remove your fingernails. Half by half. Hurts a lot, too. You have five of them on this hand, by the way. Ten, total. That could take me, oh ... let's see. I'll go nice and slow so you can keep up, okay? A candle mark to get them all off. Then I will skin each finger, all the way back to your hand, one at a time. After that, I will remove your fingers, one joint at a time. You have five fingers on this hand here, and each one has three bones in it. They come of really neatly, I'd love to show you how. If that hasn't convinced you yet, then I will skin the rest of your hand to the wrist, and separate the bones in your palm, long wise." She gestured up and down the back of his hand with her knife blade. "Once those are good and free, they'll get removed one by one. There are a lot of little joints in the wrist, so that can be tricky, getting the knife in the right place. It might take me a few tries per bone to get them severed. Sometimes I have to wiggle em a bit." Jarshan added, as if she were merely discussing the weather. There wasn't anything menacing in her tone at all, as if dismembering people was something she did every day.

"You have two hands, so I can do it all to the other one, too. Once I get done there, you also have two feet, and I can start all over with those. Starting with your toe nails. Once you have no hands and no feet, I get to start on your dick. That's always fun. It bleeds a lot, too, did you know? Only that is different. Because, you see, first I will slit the skin lengthwise every quarter inch or so, and then I will remove each strip one at a time, very slowly. So you can watch and see how it peels. Once that is all finished, I will slice it off, one circular slice at a time. About every eighth of an inch. By the time I'm done I'll have enough sausage slices to decorate a whole lot of crackers, if you know what I mean. After that, I'll have to show you what I can do with fresh mountain oysters."

Naraja lifted her head from cleaning Geoff's chest of blood and looked over at Martred with her ears lifted forward. Then she looked over toward where Jarshan was telling Sorlen all about how many bits he was fixing to become. But Naraja didn't really care about that either. So she sat down where she was, tail tip flicking back and forth intermittently as she waited for something more interesting to happen. Like someone running, so she could catch them and sink her teeth into the back of their neck. That was always fun~

[magic]

Touchy, touchy Martred thought as Jarshan looked at him. he wasnt going to interfer, he was there to make sure she didnt really kill the kids, thats all they were, kids. But he knew kids could casue a lot of trouble, especially the ones the holdless sent to spy on them. He moved to a fallen tree stump and sat on it, pulling out a piece of dried wherry and offering some to Honey.

He loved the way Jarshan spoke, the poor kid had no idea who he was facing, even the experienced Shield guard wouldnt wanna piss her off, he knew she was perfectly capable of doing everything she said and she would enjoy it too. But he also knew she was trying to scare the kid, the other wasnt dead, he could see him breathing still even if his partner in crime couldnt.

Not saying a word Martred nibbled the meat, looking at Naraja and nodding, things were under control, he would just sit and watch. Incase help was needed. But he didnt think it would be, he knew Jarshan had it all under control.

[Ise]

Sorlen’s eyes narrowed at Jarshan. How stupid did this woman think he was? He wasn’t going to spill his guts to her, as soon as he did she’d probably kill him anyways. What point would there be in keeping him alive?
“I’m not going to say anything to you. I know how people like you work, as soon as I say something useful to you, I’ll have an ‘accident’ and you’ll be able to go back to your little Weyr and tell your leaders all about it.”

As Jarshan started going into everything she was going to do to him, Sorlen started to look a little worried. It wasn’t much, just a slight twitch of the corner of his mouth, the way his eyes glanced to the side, and the sweat that started to bead on his brow. While he had never seen everything that Jarshan was describing, he had seen a few of them done to those who made the mistake of angering the Holdless. Pulling out finger nails was a quick and easy way to get someone talking.

But then Jarshan had to bring up his dick. The fear that Sorlen had been feeling gave way to him smirking before he let out a shrill little giggle. He barely heard all of her threats to his manhood.
“Oh. Oh now that explains everything. Haha if you wanted to see my dick that badly you could have just asked. I know all you Shield women have penis envy, only reason why they’d allow you out of the kitchens and give you crazy witches weapons.”
He let out another bout of giggles, the stress starting to get to him. His laughs suddenly stopped and he spat near Jarshan, not having enough guts to actually spit on her.
“Go back to the Weyr girl, find your little lesbian lover and go back to pretending that you’re the man you wish you were. Let the real men do the work.”

(...please do not maim his face too badly, it would be hard to find pictures for him then!)

[Marnark]

Martred was silent back there. Jarshan wasn't sure what he was doing, but was glad he wasn't interfering. "Though this might shock you, I'm actually very true to my word. As you are game for finding out the hard way, evidently." She informed Sorlen matter of factly. "The only accident you're going to suffer is the one where you accidentally forgot to mention something useful."

"But, have it your way I suppose. Don't say I didn't warn you." Jarshan shrugged, pulling him sideways by his wrist, out of his slumped seated position. She placed his hand on an exposed hardwood root stemming from the tree he'd been against, and leaned hard on it, immobilizing the whole appendage. She reversed the knife and was about to get started when he made his outburst.

To which she could only snicker. "I don't know where you get your information, kid, but that's the wonkiest story I've heard yet." The outburst had only bought him a few seconds, as she promptly went to work on his first finger, sliding her sharp knife along the edge of his nail, around the backside, and then carving it right down the center of the nail, dividing it neatly in half lengthwise. That done, she reversed the knife in the other direction, and slipped the point up under the nail and popped it neatly off his finger.

"How does that feel? Shall I go on?" Jarshan asked, flicking it over to land near where his spit goober had, striking a bright red contrast against the litter even as his finger bled all over the root it was pinned against.

[Ise]

Sorlen’s jaw clenched as the knife cut into his finger. He was surprised by the amount of pain that such small cuts could cause. Oh, he had taken some nasty gashes before but this was a different sort of pain, sharper in a way. His jaw clenched, tight enough to make the cords on his neck stand out and he managed not to make a sound. Until she popped the nail off. It was a choked back gurgle, not yet a scream but it would get there. He tried to pull his hand free from her, but her weight stopped him from being able to get it away and the root under his hand prevented him from being able to curl his hand up. Sorlen said nothing though, just kept his eyes in front of him as he refused to look at Jarshan.

He paled as she started on the second nail, sweat breaking out on his forehead and dripping down his face as the blade cut through once again. He was breathing hard, making vein efforts to try and tear his hand away from her. Sweat was pour down his face by the time she sliced the nail in half, it was almost enough to hide the fact that tears of pain now leaked from his eyes. When she popped the second nail off he started screaming. It was a mix of curses, some directed at her, others at the weyr and others at no one in particular.

All five finger nails on his right hand were removed and tossed to the ground by Jarshan. The root his hand was pinned to and the dirt under it were covered in blood from his tortured fingers. His body was soaked with sweat and shook with pain. His face was pale white, the only points of color on his cheeks and the iris’ of his eyes. He couldn’t pull his eyes away from his bloody hand. Even when Jarshan brought the tip of the blade down at the base of his little finger and started to slowly drag it up the length of the digit.

He couldn’t do it anymore. He had come out here wanting to make his family proud and show them that one of their children wasn’t a total failure but they weren’t the ones having their hand slowly skinned by psychotic women.
“Stop! There were three other teams out here with us! We were just suppose to watch the Weyr for a few days then return to Riverton!”

[Marnark]

The kid had some fortitude, she had to give him that. Many mightier men had caved just at the threat of having a nail removed. He actually held his silence for one, and still refused to talk for all five on his hand. Screaming didn't count, obviously. But it was a good sign. Holding him still was a trick, but she had experience in doing just that.

When he started actually hollering words, Jarshan lifted the knife from his skin abruptly, turning her attention to his face again. Tilting her head to one side, she considered that. It sounded plausible. "Okay. That's a good start." She agreed. "Why are you scouting the Weyr?" She asked, before shooting a quick glance at Martred.

If there were three other teams of Holdless around, they needed to be found and fast. She could handle these boys, so that left Martred to act on the information. But the glance was quick if direct, her attention refocused on Sorlen.

"Keep talking, and I won't continue to persuade you to talk." Jarshan promised, flicking the tip of her bloody-edged knife toward the semi-sliced finger. His hand looked a mess, but it wasn't anything that wouldn't heal in time. Despite the splashes of blood everywhere, it really wasn't that much. Very deceptive looking. But that worked in her favor.

[Ise]

It took Sorlen a moment to answer Jarshan’s question. They had never been told exactly why Riverton wanted them to scout out the Weyr but there were only so many reasons he would even risk sending people this close. He took a few shaky breaths before he was finally able to speak again, this time talking softer now that he no longer had to try and get Jarshan’s attention. He didn’t need to shout to everyone that might be near by that he was spilling his guts to the Shield dogs.
“We, we’re suppose to see what’s changed. How defenses or anything else has changed since Haven.”

His hollow eyes looked down at his hand. He looked like he might be sick for a moment before he dragged his eyes away from the sight of it. He gluped down a few breaths of air before looking up at Jarshan.
“They’re going to attack here. Just like he did Haven. I don’t... I don’t know when. No one knows when. Riverton hasn’t decided yet.”
He suddenly yanked himself to the side as he gagged a few times. Sorlen was suddenly glad that he hadn’t eaten since that morning, there was only water, bile and spit that he could puke up on the ground next to him.

He shut his eyes and waited for his stomach to settle, glad that for a moment he wasn’t forced to say anything. He didn’t know anything for sure but he wasn’t going to tell Jarshan that. As long as she thought he still knew something important she wasn’t going to kill him like she had Geoff. Sorlen took a few shallow breaths and slowly opened his eyes, looking up at the canopy of the trees. He wondered if his screams had carried, maybe the other teams had heard it and could get away before they were found. He doubted it though, sound didn’t carry very well under the trees.

[Marnark]

Jarshan's face remained unreadable, though her mind was whirling a hundred beats a second. The Holdless had killed Haven's Queens. They were planning to do the same to Refuge. This was expected to be attempted, but to know there were real plans in that direction was a definite cause for alarm. She shot a look around the forest, and almost as if on an unspoken cue Torc appeared in the air. But only for a moment. He squawked and vanished into between again, carrying the message away.

Jarshan released Sorlen's hand as he leaned over to throw up. It was an expected reaction. People usually shit themselves, too. She wiped her knife off on his pants, and slide it back into its sheathe before pulling a small flask off of her belt. Uncapping it, she took Sorlen by the jaw and poured some of it down his throat. It was spirits that stung like all dragonfire, but it would not only settle his stomach, it would keep him from passing out. Releasing him to splutter as he would, she recapped the flask and slid it back into its pouch.

"You're coming with me." Jarshan said suddenly, grabbing him by the front of his shirt and hauling him to his feet. First a line of cloth appeared from another pouch, which she wrapped his hand in. And then a cord produced itself as well, with which she swiftly tied around both of his wrists, behind his neck. The cord was then fastened to his own belt, effectively making his hands entirely useless to him. Knocking him flat on his face in the tree litter, Jarshan issued the stern word; "Stay."

Quickly, she stepped the few feet to where Geoff lay, and shouldered the kid. Striding back to Sorlen, she kicked him in the ribs. It wasn't as hard of a blow as it could have been, but hard enough to sting. "Get up." She ordered. Once he was up, she took a hold of the cord that ran down his spine, and shoved him forward. "Walk."

Naraja padded after them as Jarshan toted one and shoved the other toward the Weyr. The Weyrleader was going to want to hear what these two knew, of that she was now certain. They would live - for now. Thankfully, the Weyr wasn't too far away. She was a small woman, stout enough to carry Geoff. But it still wasn't the easiest thing she had ever done.

For a brief moment Naraja pared her fangs and growled before going back to silent pacing. She had wanted to catch one. Chew on him a bit. Maybe this one would try and bolt, maybe Jarshan would let her catch him! That would be fun. Lots of fun. She could try out her teeth on the back of his neck...

[Ise]

Sorlen spat a few times, trying to get the taste of bile out of his mouth before Jarshan grabbed his jaw and poured something down his throat. He choked on it a bit and almost wanted to spit it up as it burned down his throat. Shards had the witch just poisoned him? He was suddenly pulled up by the front of his shirt and had to lean back against the tree as his vision swam for a moment. His eyes slowly started to focus as she wrapped his hand in cloth before she turned him around and tied his hands up behind his neck. He tried to look back at her as he felt her suddenly yanking on his pants as she tied the cord to his belt before he knocked over onto his face.

For once, he stayed quiet, letting out only a grunt as he hint the ground and squirmed a little as he spit dirt out of his mouth. Where did she think he was going to go. He could barely manage a hobble and was helpless with his hands tied like this. At least the ground was cool and being stuck on his stomach didn’t cause pain anywhere. Of course it also made it hard to see when someone was walking up and aiming a kick to his ribs. He muttered something to himself as she slowly struggled up to his feet, his left leg still moving stiffly and barely able to hold his weight as he worked it under him before he finally got back on his feet. He swayed for a moment before he was given a rude shove to the back and was forced to limp along towards the Weyr.