Traded Away

The puttering of the motor becomes background noise as we make our way into the open water. This boat seems like it's not built for this kind of traversal. "Hey! Are you sure this thing will make it?"

"You let me worry about that! You just sit back and relax!"

I can only take him at his word. I guess I also have to trust the shady rat that referred me to him. I must be desperate for this series of events to have happened. Trusting the word of a stranger is already crazy. To go along with this plan is just asinine. But if it will get me home, I'll do it.

I watch the water as we continue to move across it. It's so quiet that I'm able to let my mind wander for a while. I think of home, and how far I've come from it. And how I'm excited to get back to it. The sun sets as we continue to keep rolling along. The captain announces that I should get some sleep. He will wake me when we make landfall. It's been a while since I've had restful sleep. While waiting to find out if they could verify my information, I didn't sleep a wink. I was having the hardest time trying to get the worry off of my mind.

I know that the stress was preventing me from shutting off my brain. Knowing that soon, I'll be back somewhere familiar, gives me a little bit more peace of mind. This may not be the most comfortable place for me to sleep, but it's the best sleep I've gotten in a while. I found a corner to sit down and lean against so I may be some semblance of comfort. The noises of the boat fade off to a dull roar as I'm able to let go for a moment.

I have no sense of time while I'm in this state. I'm not really asleep but I'm not awake. A shift disturbs the half-sleep state. I can hear the engine begin to slow while the boat shifts. It stirs me enough that I sit up. The captain told me that he would wake me when we arrived. I'll take his word on that and just sit for now. I feel the boat come to a stop. Footsteps from behind me. They're the captain as he leaves his post. He passes me with no word. Did something happen to the engine?

No, it's still idling. The boat shifts. Once more. A third time? Is he getting off and on again? It tilts in the same direction every time. Maybe he's moored up against something. We might just be there. I stretch out my legs taking a deep breath. "He's waking up." Someone mutters. "Quick." There's a sense of urgency in their voice but they're keeping quiet. I open my eyes to see a shadow come at me rather quickly. They grab me violently, pushing me against the corner that I was resting in. Something jabs into the soft of my neck.

Before I can try and push myself up, everything in my body feels numb. It's almost as though I've lost control of everything. I can still hear them talking as they look. The boat captain's voice sticks out, "I told you my lead was good. Look."

"Yup, that's a lot of tails. We'll pay you as agreed and the rest in a few days."

What happened? I knew this was too good to be true. The world around me fades away again. It's not sleep. It's forced. As much as I try, as much as I fight, I cannot keep my eyes open. The last thing I see before I fade off into darkness is… a white fox?

Who knows how long I was out. All I know is that I'm not where I was before. I'm sitting on something soft but it's not comfortable. I still can't move my limbs. My body is just disabled. I can feel that everything is there but I cannot control any of it. Any sound that it's in this area is echoing. I force my eyes open to see that I'm sitting on hay on top of stone flooring. I'm propped up so I don't fall over. I can't use my magic either. I can't focus or bring any of the elements I need to the focal points. My entire body feels out of alignment.

Typically, I am attuned to my body. As my heart beats, I can feel where my blood flows. I use that to guide my magic to where it needs to go. When using my power it pulls from my core. I just need to shift that power to the focal points in my body where it collects. Once there, it uses those points to turn from pure power to a general element. I can then further refine it to the more finite elements required for spells. Once the mixture, I need in the many different points in my body, I can release that into the air and it produces the spell.

I'm having such a problem with everything. I can't begin to pull power from myself. I have no sense of any elements around me. I'm helpless. Even Badger's training is useless if I can't move my body to defend myself. I can only wait.

My sense of time is gone once again. I'm disorientated by whatever they jabbed me with. There's no telling how long I've sat down here but a noise snapped me a little bit more in place. I hear a door with people talking. The voices are muffled by the echo. They clear up the closer they get. It almost sounds like they are taking a tour. "Here we have a [indistinguishable] from the [indistinguishable] east." I can't understand.

They're getting closer and closer with stops in between where they show something. I manage to lift my head as I hear them come around. They're just shadows, but there are quite a few of them. It's not a voice I recognize but they talk about me. "And the prize of this year's event. We have a legend made flesh. An immature nine-tailed fox. He's got four of them now. Even if it's not a full fan, it'll be a very nice trophy for any abode." There's clamoring as I feel their eyes on me.

I may still be in a haze but my mind can piece together what's happening. If I'm going to be a trophy, then I am either going to be sold or even worse, hunted. Is this what Madam Oeddete warned me about? Was this the dangers of the world that would come after me? I should have known that the offer to be brought home was too good. I shouldn't have trusted that rat.

I hear someone mention something alarming, "It looks like he's got some life in him."

"We will make sure that's well rested for the event. Don't worry."

The iron-bar door opens with someone walking in. I still can't see clearly. They lift my chin to face them. All I can see is a smile as they whisper, "Be a good boy and get some sleep." The familiar feeling of something plunging into my neck forces an adrenaline reaction. It quickly fades away as does the world around me once again. I drift back into the black abyss.

Time has no meaning. Somewhere, there's a countdown for me. I will be released from this cage at that time but where will I go? Will it be directly to the hands of a collector? And what will they do with me? Or will it be something else? I hope it's neither and I can just walk away from this. Recent experience tells me that will not be the case.

What wakes me up is a loud shout as the door opens once again. It's still distorted by the echo of the stone. The shouting adds screaming into the mix as I hear another large door open. They're pulling something out of the cell down the hall from me. I can hear it. I hope it's not a "them". Might be an "it" to the people here. I do what I can to keep myself aware but I just can't. I hear more yelling and screaming that breaks out. Every time that the door opens it's with more yelling and screaming.

The more times they come in, the quieter it gets until it's just the sound of myself. The door opens once more to the sound of chuckling accompanied by multiple footsteps. I see three figures standing in front of the bars of my cell. "It's go time, fox. You better provide the entertainment that people paid for because they paid a lot for you."