Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction ❯ Bound ❯ Chapter 2 ( Chapter 2 )

Chapter 2

          & nbsp; Anubis settled into one of the chairs with a contented sigh. He could almost imagine the look on Sai of the Torrent's face when he heard his voice. He chuckled out loud at the mental image.

          & nbsp; "Pleasant thoughts" the quiet voice broke into his reverie and he turned to see Dais standing in the doorway to their common room, looking at him.

          &nb sp; "I wouldn't say that, exactly," he mused, "more like wishful thinking. I wish I had seen the look on Torrent's face when he heard we had the brat."

          & nbsp; "Speaking of which, is he in one of the cells now?" Since they had returned with the kid to the Nether Realm, Anubis had been busy with planning for their next move, thinking of the best way to use their hostage to ensure the Ronin's downfall. Now that he had a break, so to speak, his mind had returned to more entertaining thoughts of their guest.

          & nbsp; "Yes, we left him there after we got back. Shall I go get him?" The gleam in the Warlord of Illusion's eye was equally, if not more, sinister than his leader's. The boy was quite lovely and would make an appetizing bonus to their plans.

          & nbsp; "No, I'll go. It might be fun to see how he reacts after being alone in the darkness of our dungeons for a few hours. I wonder what it would take to break him."

          &n bsp; "I don't know. He put up a pretty good fight coming over here. Even after being chased for so long."

          & nbsp; Anubis willed himself to the dungeons, in front of the cell where they had left their prey. Grinning at his beatific thoughts, he opened the steel door.

          &n bsp; The room was empty, the manacles open and hanging from their chains.

@#$#@

       &nb sp;    Yuli ducked into another alcove as more dynasty soldiers marched past him. There were more and more of them once he got out of the palace. He still hadn't found a way out of the massive network of gardens, courtyards and outer-buildings that made up the compound. The only thing he could do was head toward the enormous gate he could see off in the distance. He knew that once he got past that, he would be back on Earth. He didn't know where on earth the gate might lead him, but anywhere that wasn't the Nether Realm seemed like a good start. He peaked around the corner to make sure there were no soldiers coming then darted out toward some wood pilings farther down. He tried to stay in the open for as little time as possible. He didn't know if the warlords had noticed he was gone yet, but he didn't want to be caught by a dynasty soldier either.

             Before he could reach cover, something exploded out of the ground in front of him. Another explosion to the right before he figured out what it was. Anubis had let loose his armor's attack and the things coming out of the ground were chains. He tried to dodge around them and run, but the shear number of them blocked him in and he was quickly tangled in them. He struggled, but the chains held him suspended in a web of cold steel.

          & nbsp; "I don't believe you were given permission to leave, boy," the high nasal voice was right behind him, whispering in his ear and giving him goose bumps, "It's very rude to just slip off without telling your hosts that you're leaving," a finger trailed down his spine to linger on the swell of his rear, making him stiffen and shudder, fear blossoming inside him at the intimate touch, "maybe you need to be taught some manners." The words were punctuated with a squeeze of his ass and he let out a squeak and squirmed under the hand that held him.

          &nb sp; Anubis let his hand linger on the fine, pliable flesh in his hand. He had the boy scared, he was sure of that. His body language was tense and nervous. If he showed his new toy what happened when he misbehaved, he could avoid having to hunt him down again. It had been a frantic scramble to locate the boy in the maze of both palace and compound and if they hadn't noticed he was gone sooner, they might have lost him. For that matter, how had the child gotten out of the cell in the first place. The cells were magiced against escape on top of being solidly built and escape proofed. And they had chained him by his wrist to the wall, more to make him loose any hope for escape that to physically prevent it. So how the hell had he gotten loose?

          & nbsp; "You caught him, good." Anubis turned to see his fellow warlord's coming up behind him.

          &nb sp; "Of course I found him. I'm not so incompetent that a small human child could get by me." Anubis scoffed.

           ;  "You seemed concerned about it when you came tearing up from the dungeons yelling that he'd gotten away" Cale sneered.

           ;  "Well he didn't get away now did he?" Anubis turned back to his prize only to see him almost free of the chains and about to make his escape once again. Anubis acted without thinking and swung at the boy, knocking him out of the chains and to the ground. Yuli wasted no time in springing to his feet and making another bid for freedom. Swearing Anubis teleported right in front of him and grabbed a handful of hair at the base of his neck. He then proceeded to drag his hissing and snarling prisoner back toward the castle, followed by the other warlords.

         &nbs p;  Yuli threw a punch at the unprotected throat of his opponent. His aim was off due to the odd angle and he ended up bruising his hand on the chest plate instead. He hissed at the pain in his hand and tripped as he was pulled along by his captor, nearly sending him to the ground. Anubis just kept walking, forcing his victim to keep up or be dragged by the hair. They ended up back in the dungeons, in front of a different cell than they had originally thrown him into. Anubis shifted his grip and threw the boy into the far wall, where he slid to the floor dazed. He marched in after him, grabbed him by the arm and cuffed a heavy manacle around his wrist. Anubis proceeded to chain Yuli hand and foot to the wall and checked the locks and soundness of the bonds, until he was certain there was no way for his prisoner to get free of them. He stepped back to survey the scene, meeting the sullen narrowed gaze of his prize.

          & nbsp; "Let's see you get free of this, whelp. You were lucky the other chains were rusted out and the lock didn't work, but you'll stay here until we have need of you." He let his eye's roam to sprawled body before him at these words, not bothering to conceal the lust in his words or his gaze. A few days locked down here with nothing to do but contemplate the horrors awaiting him would do wonders for making the boy more complaint. With that he turned and slammed the door behind him, double checking the lock, and left the dungeon.

           ;  Yuli waited. He knew that he'd have to wait until one of them came to check on him before making another escape attempt. To pass the time he tried to identify all the bones in the cell, giving their names as well as guessing at the age and gender of their former owners. It was one of the ways he kept from getting bored by dungeons such as these. Hours went by. Yuli began to think they wouldn't come to check at all, that they were so sure of themselves this time that they wouldn't look in to make sure he didn't escape again. Then he heard footsteps outside his cell and the door was thrown open. A dynasty soldier stood outside his door, and peered in at him with it's glowing inhuman eyes for a few seconds before closing the door and locking it. The footsteps receded and Yuli waited until he was sure none were coming back.

         &n bsp;  When he was sure that nobody was coming, he started to work on his bonds. The locks were centuries old and only took a few seconds to get open. Once free of the manacles he stood up, wincing a little at the soreness and stiffness in his body, remnants of his treatment at the less than gentle hands of his captors. He stretched to loosen up his muscles and set to work on the door. It took a little longer than the manacles because it was more complex, but it finally gave with a small thud and squeak. Yuli opened the door a crack and peered out. Nobody was in the hall and he couldn't hear anyone coming. He took off down the hall as quietly as he could, heading for the stairs he come down here from. He had made sure to memorize the way out when they had brought him down the first time and kept an eye out for possible escape routes. He headed out in a different direction from the way he had gone last time, to lessen the chances of being caught a second time. He had learned from Rowan the art of escape and was careful in choosing his way out.

          &nb sp; He rounded a corner, heading for a side door out, and almost ran smack into Sekmet. He stopped short in shock, shouldn't he have heard the man's footsteps? The man looked just as surprised to see him as he was and they just starred at each other for a split-second. Yuli shook off his surprise first and turned to run. Sekmet's hand shot out at an inhuman speed and snagged him by the arm. Using the arm as leverage, he slung his startled captive over his shoulder and started walking down a different hall. Yuli growled in frusteration and twisted to try and scratch at his captor's unprotected face. Sekmet just grabbed both of his wrists in one of his hands and Yuli wasn't dumb enough to try and bite into sub-armor. He hissed in anger and bucked and squirmed on the man's shoulder, to no effect.

@#$#@

       &nb sp;    Anubis was going over his strategies with Dais and Cale when the door slid open to reveal Sekmet and his burden.

             "I don't believe the dungeons are going to hold him." Sekmet stated blandly, leaning his head to one side to keep his ear from being bitten.

             Anubis was seething as he got up and walked over to where his cohort held the boy. He motioned for the boy to be set on his feet and when he was, slapped him so hard he was knocked against the wall. He stormed over and lifted the youth by the collar of his shirt and held him in front of his face. He pulled back suddenly as he was almost bitten and, snarling, punched the boy hard in the stomach. He doubled over and fell to the floor, arms curled around his middle. Anubis kneeled down next to him, resting one knee on the flow of midnight locks spread all over the floor.

          & nbsp; "Do you enjoy pain, boy? Because you are most certainly begging for it. Do I need to break both of your legs to keep you from trying to run off? Or should I just cut off your hands, hmm? I think I'll teach you a lesson in proper behavior." At that, he pulled the boy to his feet and dragged him over to where a pair of cuffs dangled from a chain in the ceiling. He fastened these to the boy's wrists, leaving him just barely supporting his weight on his toes. He grabbed two handfuls of shirt in his hands and ripped the garment from his body. Yuli's eyes widened and he lashed out with one leg at the man's side. Anubis caught the leg before it could inflict any damage and held it while he tore off the blue jeans and boxers, leaving his captive naked except for his chains. Yuli shivered, as much from fear at his vulnerability as the sudden draft on his skin.

          &n bsp; "Take this pain, boy, and know that you could have avoided it." The words were followed immediately by the bite of a whip to the skin of his back. He yelped, despite himself at the sudden unexpected pain, but bit his lip against any other sound as more blows fell on his unprotected back, ass and thighs. The man handled the weapon with a great deal of skill balancing his blows to give the most possible hurt without permanently marking the skin. Yuli was rocked by the force of each blow, gasping as his skin cam alive with pain at each new strike.

             Finally, it was over. Yuli hung there, breathing heavily, limp in his bonds while sweat ran down his body, burning the whip marks on his back. A hand ran over the marks on his back, making him jerk and hiss in pain.

          &n bsp; Anubis surveyed his hurt, glad that none of the lashes had broken the skin to leave a mark. The welts were raw, red and raised, but they would heal without scarring the perfect pale body. No sense in marking such pretty skin. At least not so soon. The intent had been to discipline their new pet, to show him his place. To demonstrate the need to keep his new masters happy. He reached up and unhooked the cuffs from the chain, catching the boy before he could collapse onto the ground. He scooped up the boy in his arms, ignoring the slight hiss of pain as he pressed against his sore back, and carried him to his own room. He placed the boy face down on his bed and fastened the cuffs to the chain already attached to the headboard, before using more cuffs to chain his feet to the footboard. He looked up and met blue defiant eyes looking at him over his captive's shoulder. He walked back up to the head of his bed and caught his prisoner's chin in his hand, tilting his head up to look him in the eye.

          &nb sp; "This is your last warning, boy. If you try to escape again, I'll personally cut the tendons in your legs. You'll never walk again, understand?" No response. The child still had the nerve to look him in the eye, defying him. Anubis felt anger start to burn inside him again. "Answer me or I'll cripple you here and now!" The blue eyes narrowed, but he nodded all the same.

          &n bsp; Satisfied, Anubis turned and left, shutting the door behind him. He turned to his fellow warlords, still gathered in the planning room.

          &n bsp; "Well, that was certainly an interesting display of temper." Dais's remark was twinged with sarcasm. He looked amused. "Do you think you've cowed sufficiently him with your show of force? What was it you threatened him with if he misbehaved again? Crippling him, right? I certainly hope it never comes to that. It will make him all the harder to ransom."

           ;  Anubis rounded on the other man, still frustrated with the unresponsive boy. "If he's still breathing, they'll do anything to get him back. They're too soft in their hearts to abandon him. Besides, if we show them that he suffers, it will only make them angry and careless. Especially Wildfire, he'll go into a rage and make some sort of stupid mistake."

         &nbs p;  "He will, or you did? That boy didn't respond very much to being whipped, did he Anubis? He has a high tolerance for pain, that one. By trying to exert your will through such crass violence, I think you've just hardened his resolve."

         &nbs p;  "He won't try anything. Not if he thinks he'll loose the ability to walk because of it."

          &nb sp; Cale interjected before the argument could get out of hand. "We'll deal will the brat later. We need to finish planning for our next attack." They went back to their interrupted plotting, putting thoughts of their captive aside for the time being.

@#$#@

       &nb sp;    Yuli sighed. He'd messed that up magnificently. Now he'd have to wait until he was sure he could get out before he made another bid for freedom. He also made a mental note to watch out for Dais. He had heard the warlords talking until they went back to whatever mischief they were plotting and Dais seemed to have him almost figured out. Maybe he should have pretended the beating had been more traumatic. He thought he'd pulled it off pretty well, but it seemed he'd been wrong. It had certainly hurt, he could still feel the marks stinging on his back, butt and thighs, but his tolerance for pain was much higher than that. At least none of them had picked up on his real weakness.

         &nbs p;  Sighing again, he stretched out and grimaced when the chains pulled at him. He looked at them critically. He had no desire to have the tendons in his legs cut, it would be painful and very inconvenient. But he was damned if he was going to lie here naked until someone came back for him. He didn't want them to see his ass and get ideas about a use for it. The cuffs took a few seconds, but once they were off it was a small business to scoot over to the edge of the bed and stand up without his whip marks touching anything. He walked around the bed to a wardrobe and opened it. There were yukatas and other assorted robes, but it took him a minute to locate some pants. Yuli looked at the garment and sighed. He had to put on something and he didn't want a robe fouling up his legs if he had to run. He stealed himself and put on the pants, grimacing a little as they chaffed against his wounds. Fortunately they were loose silk and attached with a drawstring. He felt the weight of hours and stress on him and decided to rest. He wasn't sure when he might have another chance to do so. He looked at the bed and wished he dared to lie back down and fall asleep on it. He made his way over to a chair in the corner and curled up in it, draping his upper body over one arm. He closed his eyes and slipped soundlessly into oblivion.