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[Renia]

Darkness was everywhere within the lower dungeons of Buhtenghar prison. No windows, no torches, no light permitted there at all unless one happened to be unfortunate enough to earn the attention of the jailors or guards. That seldom happened here, though. The cells at the lowest underground level were reserved for the most dangerous and high-priority prisoners in need of special precautions. Even the guards were rather cautious of the prisoners here. Keeping them in complete darkness was one way of trying to break their spirits.

Renia had endured every possible torment they could safely subject her to here for nearly a year. She kept track of the days by listening to the guard changing. Nothing much to do here but count the endless days and wish that they would stop coming altogether. There was not even the slimmest hope that she would ever see daylight again. Hope was something Renia had lost so long ago that she barely remembered what it was anymore. There was only the dark, the pain, the dampness and cold stone that made her body ache, and the endless hours that just kept coming.

Had the Rebels forgotten her completely now? Renia could barely recall their faces in her mind. But that was not her own fault, but the effect of the drugs they forced down her several times a day. Those drugs made her head fuzzy so that she could not concentrate on anything well. Not on visualizing faces, and especially not on becoming either of the forms that might have allowed her to escape. Renia had not taken a different form in almost a year now. She knew exactly what it felt like to be human now, unable to defend yourself against those stronger than yourself.

Most days here blended into the next with only the sound of the guards changing out to distinguish the transition between them. It was only when the guards decided it was time for another attempt at making her talk was she disturbed in her cell, and no matter what they did to her, Renia pretended to be both deaf and mute until they left her alone again. Completely alone, since she was the only prisoner on the lowest floor.

A few weeks ago, a man had come to visit her there. He’d spoken softly to her. Kindly. As if he wanted to help her out of this wretched prison. He’d offered her a way out. Sage, he’d called himself. Leader of Nirvia’s Alterion force. He’d tried so many ways of persuading her to join his cause. He’d told her how Nirvia was the best thing for Licadem and how she would eventually bring peace to the land. He’d complimented Renia on how many of his men she had taken down on her own, and he’d told her how rare females were in his army: only one to every twenty males. He’d even offered her a high position in his army if she would swear allegiance to himself and Nirvia. And when all of those attempts failed to bring her around to his side, Sage had told her quietly that the only way she would live much longer was to accept his conditions, for soon he would have to have her taken to Rozen and the dungeons directly under Nirvia’s command, where far more sinister torments awaited her. Renia did not doubt that he was right. But after all this time, she still remembered clearly why she could never turn her back on the Rebels, on her friends. She refused his offer, and Sage had gone away with the air of someone who had tried their best and failed to save the person he’d set out to help.

Now Renia was huddled into the corner of her cell, shivering from the cold and thinking as best she could of her life before any of this had happened. Had she made a difference in the end? Was Licadem any closer to finding the Prince that was meant to rule over the land? Was Nirvia any closer to her end because of Renia, or had nothing she had done made any difference at all?

The guard changed again. And Renia ticked off the last day she had been counting for. She buried her face in her arms in sheer defeat. It was nearly time for her to meet up with Jonathan. And she was not there as she had promised to be...

[Danica]

Almost five years had passed since Renia and the boy Jonathan had last seen each other, and Jonathan (no longer a boy) was riding to Jagron to meet with her once again. He had just over a week before the meeting was actually supposed to take place, but as the day grew nearer he had found it increasingly difficult to keep his mind on anything else. Finally, he realized that there really was no fighting it, and had decided to head to the city early.. For the past month now he had been having trouble sleeping, his mind plagued by both dreams and nightmares featuring the woman he was to meet in just a few days time, and by coming early he was hoping that he might be able to clear his head.

Currently it was about midday, the sun was shining cheerfully in a sky with only a few white and fluffy clouds to disrupt the otherwise continuous blue, and Jonathan was riding toward the city of Jagron on the back of a beautiful hazelnut stallion (the colour of which perfectly matched with the colour of his own hair, which had over the past five years regained the colour it had lost during his early years in the dungeons) that he had in fact bought over a year ago but had only recently started riding. His use for the horse, when he could just as easily fly wherever he needed to in his bird form, was mainly attributed to his increasing separation and distinguishing between his elven and natural forms. The Bluejay was, as his namesake indicated, the one who would turn into the bird. Jonathan, however, used a horse as his main mode of transportation (outside of walking of course) to help maintain his human facade.

As of yet, he had still not found a suitable third form and was still leaving it for a time when neither his elven or bird forms would provide what he needed. This situation, he found thus far, was pretty hard to come by. He could fly and remain completely inconspicuous as a bird, and as an elf he had the speed, agility, strength, and senses a human could only dream of. He couldn't think of anything more he could possibly want, besides perhaps the ability to breath underwater that a fish form would provide.

His lack of a third form, however, was nothing to fret about. As he had aged over the past five years, his own body had felt almost like a third form to him, so much had it changed and grown. It seemed to him that each time he looked at his reflection (which, granted, wasn't very often) something about him had changed. Where he had been just under five feet the last time he (Jonathan) had seen Renia, he now stood at just under six, an intimidating size to be sure but not inconveniently tall or conspicuous in a crowd. As was mentioned before, his hair had darkened into a deep brown and because of his lifestyle it nearly always looked windblown or otherwise messy.

His eyes had the edge of seriousness to them that had always been there, and were a distinctive pine green. The rest of his face had gained a vaguely sharp, angular quality to it, with a strong jaw-line and tending to look, at a glance, rather elf-like. The muscles he had acquired over the years were lean and strong, meant for speed and agility rather than brute, showy strength, and he was quite obviously in great shape. with the way he carried himself on a horse and even on foot, he looked more like a soldier or a prince than a common thief. Then again, he had never exactly been all that 'common', had he?

Entering the city, he made his way to the stables and gave his horse over to one of the boys there, to look after the beast during his stay. It was then, he decided, that he would wander towards the market and see if Ganon and the troupe were around. After all, the festival was nearly begun and he knew they wouldn't miss it for the world. Maybe, he thought, he might even run into Klein and Renia on the way. After all, the last time he had spoken with her she had informed him that she would be heading back to see Klein and help him prepare. Then again, he could run right into Renia now and he could be fairly certain she wouldn't even recognize him.

On his way to the market he did not run into Klein or Renia, however he did spot Ganon's gang performing and he stopped by to visit. They didn't even recognize him at first, but he didn't hold it against them. He hadn't seen them since that day in Jagron almost five years ago either, so it was only to be expected. All of them looked the same though, except for Dugan. The bear was definitely looking older than he had been last time, but he was still dancing with Ganon to the tune of Lena's flute, while Jasmine danced with flames a few steps away. As always, Raul was telling vivid stories to children gathered around him and John could tell just by the look on the kids' faces that he was telling the tales of the Bluejay again.

Once their piece was over, he said his hellos and informed them that he was, in fact, Jonathan. They greeted him with open arms and, over a cup of Lena's customary tea they chatted and caught up with what had been going on. After he was finished his drink, Jonathan asked them if they had seen Klein or Renia around recently, and immediately it was as though they had been turned to stone. He knew at once there would be bad news to follow, and of course he feared the worst. How horrible it would be indeed if she was to have died withing a year of their scheduled meeting! And after their last meeting (or rather, Renia's meeting with the Bluejay), he still regretted leaving as he had. He had so many things he had to say to her; she couldn't possibly be dead. It was unthinkable. It wasn't fair. It wasn't how things were supposed to go.

But no, Renia wasn't dead. Atleast, they hadn't heard word of it. But, they informed him, she had been captured almost a year ago now, just outside Farth, and was being held (or so they had heard, they informed him) in the deepest level of the dungeons in the desert, where only the most dangerous of criminals were kept. Atleast, until they were moved to Nirvia's personal dungeons, that was.

It was as though all the world had been silenced. Farth? Almost a year ago? That was where, and when, he and Renia had last seen each other. He had left her just outside Farth, and it must have been shortly afterward that she had been captured and taken away. How had he not sensed anything? How had he not known? You were supposed to know when something bad happened, weren't you? When it happened to someone you loved?

He thanked them for the information and excused himself, heading to the market quickly to pick up some supplies. He got himself some food, some new weapons, and a few choice poisons and other powders that may prove useful in his endeavor. He also got himself more gourds of water than he could possibly need in a place such as this, but would be used quickly and often in the desert. He didn't want to get himself killed by something as easily avoidable as thirst or hunger when he had such bigger things to worry about.

After he got himself well stocked for the journey ahead, he went back to the stables, thanking the boy for looking after his horse and apologizing for taking it back so soon. He then rode out of the city as fast as he could without running into or over someone, and once out of the city he urged his horse into a full-out gallop in the direction of Hibisca, the lands of the desert.

---------------------------------------------------

He stopped only when he or his horse absolutely required it, and even so it took him just under four days to reach the border to the desert. It wasn't far from there, but both he and his horse were rather exhausted and had to stay the night in a small town just before the sand began to regain their strength and drink their fill. Early the next morning they started out again and, despite the fact that the distance between the border and where he was headed was much shorter than the distance he had already traveled to get where he was, it took him just slightly less time due to increased breaks to rehydrate and the fact that his horse was not made for running on sand.

When he finally reached the prison Renia was being held in (he had checked with a few people along the way and those that knew who Renia was had also informed him she was being held in the desert, so he was feeling optimistic), it was on the exact day they were supposed to have met in Jagron. He thought that was vaguely ironic, but put it out of his mind shortly after noting the fact. It had little to do with the rescue (or treason, depending on one's perspective) he was about to perform and he needed to be focusing on the task at hand.

Due to years of having to stealthily enter and leave heavily-guarded buildings, he had no trouble getting inside the prison. He left his horse hidden behind a sand-dune (out of the sun, of course, so the poor thing wouldn't be dead by the time he got back with Renia) and easily took out the guards at the entrance. He made sure to make it mess-free, so the uniforms would not be stained. The first one did not fit him as it was much too large, but the second one (although slightly loose) fit well enough for it to pass. It wasn't difficult to pretend to be a guard, as he had spent more than enough time running from them to know what they generally looked and acted like.

After searching around for a bit, he found an office of some sort and spent a few moments searching for some parchment and a quill. Once he acquired them, and some ink, he quickly scrawled a note that was supposedly from the head guard at the palace requesting the relocation of one 'Renia' to the castle dungeons for further questioning. He signed it with a flourish before blowing on it for it to dry and rolling it up, tying it closed and putting it in one of the outfit's pockets.

He left the office with the air of someone who was definitely not sneaking around and walked down the hall to find the owner of the office, as it would likely be the guard in charge of the prison. Finding him (he could tell it was the one he was looking for by the slight difference in uniform and the presence of decorative stars, badges, or medals on his person), he informed the man that he was here on request from the palace and offered to show the man his papers, should he not believe him. The man didn't bother, not thinking that, after a year and in the middle of the desert, anyone would bother freeing the woman.

He led the way into the lowest level of the dungeons, bringing with him a lantern due to the absolute darkness that far down, and opened the cell door. He grabbed Renia (could that really be Renia? She looked so... He didn't even want to put words to how she looked) roughly by the arm and stood her up, informing her that she was being relocated and telling her to 'have fun' where she was going. He then handed the woman over to Jonathan, who took her by the arm just as roughly and, just for good measure, told her to 'come on, then', sounding so much like a soldier it frightened even him.

They made their way back to the main floor and Jonathan tried to ignore, once again, the whimpering, crying, and pleas from the cells they passed on the way. As much as it pained him, there were many guards in the building and he simply didn't have the manpower to save them all. The head of the prison wanted to walk him and the prisoner to the enterage that surely awaited them outside, but Jonathan told him that his assistance was not needed and that the prisoner was no longer under his jurisdiction. Seeming almost glad to be rid of her, the man agreed and took his place in his office while Jonathan and Renia left the prison.

He kept up his facade until they reached his horse and were out of sight, then he quickly removed the uniform (revealing his regular clothes underneath) and found a pin with which to unlock the cuffs from around Renia's wrists. However, before unlocking them he spoke to her, realizing that if he freed her hands she may very well attack him, believing him to actually be a guard. He tried for a moment to think of something suitable to tell her that she would believe it really was him. During those brief seconds, a million possibilities flashed through his mind as he looked at her, but none of them could adequately express what he was feeling right now, or how happy he was that she was alive, and how horrible he felt for leaving her as he had. For leaving her to be captured within hours (at the most) of their parting. In the end, he simply spoke the first words that came to his head (okay, so they were technically the fourth through eleventh words that came to his head, but let's not go there).

"I told you I wouldn't forget our meeting."

[Renia]

How many times had she heard footsteps when there were none? Renia thought that she could hear them now, echoing down the deserted hall that led to her cell, at the very end. Only a few times a month did they belong to actual men. Those few times were also the most terrible, but by now Renia was well used to the men who entered to question and torture her.

In the many other instances, those footsteps belonged to various people who could not have been there at all. Sometimes the sound of them was closer to horse’s hooves, and Klein strode through the door to inform her that she should have met him a year ago, and ask what she thought she was doing in this cell when they had a performance to put on. Other times it was Bella who came, speaking to her always in positive hopeful exclamations: ‘You’ll get out, Renia. Wait and see.’ Once it was Kade. Her leader expressed his sorrow that she was being subjected to such terrible conditions for the sake of the Rebels, and asked her to hold on for them.

More often than not, Renia was visited by two together: Jonathan and the Bluejay. Jonathan seldom said a thing, probably because she hadn’t heard his voice in so long. But the Bluejay Spoke as if they had never parted ways. ‘How is it that you always seem to get into these messes, Renia?’ he would ask with only a hint of a joke in his voice. So many times he’d come to her. So many times Renia had hoped it was real. But after only a few months in prison she had began to turn away from such hallucinations. She did not want to see any of them anymore. It was only the medication. And seeing those she missed only hurt her.

So when the echo of footsteps reached her, Renia ignored them. Probably just a hallucination, she thought, and she kept her face resting on her folded arms. But this was one of those rare occasions that the footsteps were real. She heard the door to her cell swing open. Someone grabbed her roughly by the arm and jerked her to her feet. Renia’s eyes opened in reflex, but she shielded them quickly with her hand as the lantern’s light blinded her. Her eyes were so sensitive to the light that even the smallest gleam of lantern light was far too bright for her.

How the past year had changed her... Renia had not had occasion to look at herself at all during that year, but she knew what to expect. She had barely been eating, so she was likely thin as a rail by now. Her hair had been cut to just below the ears when she had gotten her, so that it had only just regained the length of her shoulders, but it was dull now of course, along with the rest of her. No light meant that her skin must be almost white by now, and her clothes had been just as mistreated as herself. Renia would have been willing to bet that no one would recognize her now. She probably would not have wanted them to.

The man pulled her roughly out of the cell, informing her that she was to be relocated. So the time had finally come for that. Renia had been expecting it. In fact, it was almost welcome. At least now the end was in sight. Nirvia wouldn’t keep her alive for long. Just a little while longer, a few more torture sessions... Surely she could hold out now that the end of her suffering was in sight?

She was thrust at another soldier, and Renia did not even resist when he also grabbed roughly at her arm and towed her away from the cell. It was the first time she had been outside of that cell since she had entered it. Just being led away from it was more relief than any of them could guess. She stumbled along behind the young soldier who was apparently in charge of taking her to Nirvia. Renia could sense something about him... Was that the feeling of an Alterion? Had Nirvia sent her Alterion troops once again? Did she still fear Renia would find a way to escape despite the drugs and a full year of mistreatment in prison? That was far too much credit. Renia could not even understand how she was still walking, much less how anyone could think her capable of making a run for it.

The soldier dragged her along until at last they were outside. Renia would have loved to see ‘outside.’ It had been so long! But her free hand immediately came up once again to block the desert sun from them, and she followed the soldier blindly through the gates and onto the sand. Her movements were clumsy and Renia kept tripping due to the way her feet sank into the sand, but the soldier kept her up and dragged her on.

It seemed like forever to Renia’s feet that they walked over the uneven mounds of sandy surface. That surprised her. Hadn’t the Alterions brought horses at least? She’d almost expected one of them to transform into a dragon and carry her straight to Nirvia, but thus far she only felt the presence of the one man. Slowly she allowed more light to filter through her fingers until her eyes could take the glare more easily and sight returned to her. Renia found that although she had spent the past year in darkness, her eyes still worked for her.

Her view then was nothing special: just the back of the brown-haired soldier and endless dunes ahead of them. Renia wondered if he intended to make her march the entire way, and knew she could not survive that sort of ordeal. All the same, she really had no chance. ...unless her had forgotten to bring the medication along. Then perhaps... just maybe she might have a chance at getting away.

That thought seemed to put more life in Renia than she had felt in a long time. She found the energy to walk along behind the man without stumbling or falling behind so often. Her senses became more alert. She would wait for the moment when the medication wore off. If he forgot to give her the medicine, or if she could somehow keep from swallowing it until her mind cleared, perhaps even this Alterion man would find it difficult to keep her here.

They rounded a dune, and there stood a horse in the shade cast down by the towering pile of sand. Renia assumed it was waiting for them. Then the Alterion really thought he could take her across the desert on horseback? Alone? Was he that confident, or just lacking the information that would have told him to take care?

But the soldier immediately dropped her arm as soon as they passed into the shade along with the horse. Renia stumbled and fell to her knees in the sand, but managed to stay upright and watch the soldier as he cast off his uniform. Renia could not think of what he was doing. Why cast off his uniform like that? He turned to her, and Renia got a view of his face for the first time. She tried to ignore the fact that this man was somewhat familiar-looking. She couldn’t get distracted by attractive faces when her life was on the line. As he came closer, something in his hand, Renia tried to get up. The manacles on her hands proved an obstacle when she tried to push herself to her feet, and the sand simply gave way so that Renia’s attempt to get away from him was useless.

The man looked at her for a long moment, and his expression caught Renia off guard. She had expected to see hatred, anger, cruelty, perhaps even something more sinister. But this one was looking at her as if he fully regretted something. And then he spoke.

“I told you I wouldn’t forget out meeting.”

Renia blinked. He couldn’t mean what she thought he meant. He couldn’t possibly be...

“J-Jonathan?” she asked incredulously. It just couldn’t be! He’d changed so much. Almost everything about him was different now. Renia took in his changed appearance as she fought to control her emotion. Yes, now that she really looked, she could see it. His eyes were exactly the same, and that expression... She could have hugged him at that point, but hugging anyone with manacles around your wrists was a bit tricky. Instead, Renia just shook her head.

“Cutting it close, aren’t you?” she asked, her voice almost a whisper because that was the only way she could keep it under control.

[Danica]

“J-Jonathan?”

He nodded, allowing her a moment to collect her thoughts and indeed realize that it was him, all the while trying to collect his own thoughts. His nerves were still ringing from his close proximity with the many, many guards that were in the prison, not to mention the countless wails that had come to his ears. But that wasn't even the tip of the iceberg. He tried to imagine what Renia had looked like the last time he had seen her, and although it wasn't hard (it had been one of the many images haunting his nights as of late), as soon as he looked at her now, battered, bruised, pale, malnourished... he knew that it was going to be an image that would haunt his nights to come.

He moved behind her to get rid of those manacles and she told him he was cutting it rather close. He would have laughed if he could find it in his heart, but this wasn't the time or place for lightening the mood. Unlocking the cuffs and throwing them to the side, he returned to his horse and brought her one of his gourds of water. "Drink up, we have quite a ride ahead of us." He needed to get them both well away from this place before he would be able to loosen up.

[Renia]

Renia had expected him to laugh. At least a little. But Jonathan had more serious thoughts on his mind, and she couldn’t blame him. All the same, she was so glad to see him Renia couldn’t seem to feel the same anxiety that he did. Not until she thought of being caught, of perhaps the same thing that had happened to her occurring to Jonathan.

That thought kicked in her self-preservation. Because there was no way in hell she was going to let that happen to him.

Renia took the water gourd, but she ignored it completely, staggered to her feet and approached the horse. They had to get out of the area at once. And Renia was too weak to run, still under the influence of the drugs that kept her from shifting forms, and scared to death that she was going to hold John back from getting out of there alive. She would have told him to get the hell out of there and leave her alone, but somehow she couldn’t see him coming all the way here to rescue her only to abandon her after he’d succeeded.

“Can you help me up?” she asked him urgently. She had too many injuries and was too worn out and weak to manage the climb onto the animal’s back on her own.

[Danica]

Jonathan watched as she struggled to her feet and made her way over to Nero, who looked to Jonathan at the approach of the strange new woman. John shook his head and the horse relaxed, knowing that if Jonathan said she wasn't dangerous, he didn't have to worry. Renia couldn't, however, seem to get herself onto the animal and he couldn't blame her. She asked for help and he went over, easily lifting her onto the horse before taking a seat behind her, to make sure she wouldn't fall off. "If you pass out, it's not my fault. I told you to drink." (He attempted but failed at humour.)

He clicked his tongue and Nero took off (or rather, started running as fast as he was able to in the sand, which although it was relatively fast was not quite as fast as it would have been were they on solid ground), and they were soon out of sight of the prison and on their way back. He set their course for Kaytleen, as he knew that Renia was not fit for travel yet, and they would need to rest up and get her fed and hydrated before they headed out again.

[Renia]

Renia was no stranger to riding a horse, but she’d never been in this sort of condition and tried to do it before. She had thought herself immune to pain after everything she’d been through. She was definitely wrong. Although her body was in a state of constant pain, and had been for some time, she had not been subjected to the harsh gait of a horse on sand in her stay at the prison. Luckily. This was almost worse than anything she’d been through including the various unique torments the guards came up with in their spare time. If they’d thought to do this, Renia was afraid she might not have held up so well.

She turned white from the pain. Renia couldn’t see herself, but she could feel it well enough. Her body started shaking and her eyes went out of focus, but Renia held tightly to the horse’s mane and kept herself silent. She’d endure this, but only if it could help get Jonathan out of this place. If it had only been her, Renia might have just let them find her: they couldn’t do much worse.

After a while Renia risked the pain and brought John’s water gourd out again. It was difficult to drink while the horse awkwardly made its way across uneven and shifting sand, but she managed well enough. For once, the water was clean and tasted fresh. It was possibly the best taste in the world to Renia. She had to force herself to take it slow and drink only what she needed before putting the gourd away again.

Renia did not know where they were headed: she couldn’t seem to remember anything about the lay of the land, nor name the different areas in the world... Hell, she couldn’t remember the name of the land itself just now. She only knew to trust John to get her somewhere safe for a while. Unfortunately, Renia had had all she could take for one day. Her mind lapsed into nothing, her body went limp. And Renia truly rested for the first time in a year, trusting Jonathan to keep her from falling.

[Danica]

After a while, Renia did in fact decide to drink some of the water he had offered her and he was glad; he didn't want to rescue her only to get her heat stroke or something horrid like that. It was very hot, and very bright, and he felt bad that he hadn't realized before how exact opposite that was from the dark, chilly underbelly of the prison where she had been kept. He had been so caught up in everything else he had hardly taken time out to think of how Renia would be handling this transition.

And by the looks of it, she was attempting but failing at handling it well. He could say this with absolute certainty, as she had just fallen unconscious. He stopped the horse for a moment and brought out a light cloak that he had brought along, using it to help protect her from the sun so she wouldn't get any worse. Not that he imagined it would be very easy for her to get much worse than she was already. He also wet a cloth and held it on her forehead, using his other arm to hold her upright and keeping himself on the horse with his legs, which wasn't all that difficult after as much practice as he had.

They continued on their way, not stopping again until they had reached Kayleen, where he gave Nero to the stable hands to take care of him while he and Renia stayed the night. He carried Renia bridal style ((best way I can think of describing it)) to the nearest inn to get them a room for the night. Once inside, he lay her down on the bed and got his various healing salves, setting to get her patched up a bit.

[Renia]

When Renia woke it was to a blessedly cooler and dimmer place. She still felt hot from the sun, for her skin had become so pale and used to darkness that it was entirely susceptible to the harsh desert sun while they had traveled. But an unfamiliar feeling had spread into her. Relief. Relief from so many things: fear, hopelessness, cold, ceaseless boredom, and quite a bit of pain. Jonathan was there, smearing healing salves over her wounds. She had a vague flashback to those same types of salves, found in the Bluejay’s house years before, but she pushed the thought from her mind as always.

Renia pushed herself up and gave John a grateful look before she stood up briefly. Surprising, how hard that simple act was for her. Just crossing the room took a lot of her strength, but Renia found the small mirror that lay on a table and looked at her face for the first time in so long.

She could not believe that her own face was looking back at her: it looked anything but familiar. Renia stroked a long gash in her cheek that was half healed and sighed. It would be a long time before she could forget what had happened to her. But for now, she set the mirror down and resolved not to look at it again for a long time. It was too disturbing to find a stranger’s face gazing back at her.

So Renia went back to the bed and sat down, before she could lose all her strength and risk falling on the floor. She gazed at John, so many questions in her mind that she could hardly think of which to ask first. The one that finally won out was certainly the one she wanted to know most greatly.

“How did you know?”

[Danica]

When Renia awoke, Jonathan finished coating the wound he was working on before stopping and moving back to give her some space. She glanced at him gratefully before standing up, something he would have greatly advised against if he figured she would have listened at all to his advice. Once standing, she walked over to the mirror and looked at her reflection for some time. He knew somewhat how she was feeling. He had felt pretty disoriented the first time he had looked in the mirror with his elven form, and even lately, because of puberty and growing up and all that, he was still not used to his own reflection. Or his voice, for that matter. Every time he spoke it made him wonder if he hadn't accidentally shifted without realizing it.

Renia finished looking herself over and came back to sit on the bed, taking some time to look him over before she spoke, asking how he knew. "Ganon told me, actually," he replied. "But he only noticed because Klein started to freak out that you hadn't met up with him. After checking it out, the gang were informed that you had been taken to the prison. I only found out a week ago." He sat there watching her for some time, reminding himself that he was not in his elven form and Renia would easily put it together, or get freaked out (One of the two. Or probably both) if he did anything beyond what he was doing right now.

"I'm sorry I didn't come sooner, but nobody thought to tell me. Then again, they probably couldn't have found me anyway, but they should have tried regardless." He paused for a second, thinking. "Did no one else try to come and get you?" He couldn't remember if Jonathan was supposed to know that she was a rebel, so he couldn't specify that question very much. He was also slightly surprised that none of the rebels had sent anyone after her. Then again, they probably had a bunch of Alterions anyway and would hardly notice if one got caught. They must be used to that by now. People getting caught that was.

[Renia]

Renia couldn’t help it. She smiled and rolled her eyes at his apology for not coming sooner. She hadn’t expected anyone to come at all. She hadn’t known it was possible for anyone to break her out of that cell. In fact Renia was still a little surprised that John, of all people, had shown up to do the impossible. She had still been thinking of him as she had last seen him: the boy with the grey hair who seemed to have his own plans. The entire time in the cell Renia had tried to imagine what he would do when she didn’t show up. She’d thought that he would assume she had forgotten and make no more of it.

That assumption had proven completely wrong, and Renia was glad, to a certain extent. She’d been able to meet him again as she’d promised. But at the same time... this was no different from what she had done to the Bluejay time and time again. Was she going to get everyone she cared about killed for her sake? Perhaps it would have been better if...

Well no sense in worrying over it now. John was still asking questions.

“No, of course no one tried,” she answered. “Only...(she counted mentally how many people had had contact with her in the last few years: John, Klein, the Bluejay, and Kade) four people knew anything about where I was or where I was headed in the last five years. You knew I was going to meet you, so you could have figured it out eventually I assumed. Klein, of course, was missing me as much as a year ago. The last person I had contact with... Well, I was just lucky he left when he did, or I might have had an unlucky cell mate. And the last knows that I occasionally disappear for years at a time, and even if he knew, he couldn’t spread the word and risk anyone acting foolishly and trying to break me out.” She glanced at John with a playfully accusing stare.

“Most of those people would have no way to get into the prison to get me even if they knew where I had vanished to. So... I expected no one would come. It was a risk I took, John. I may yet end up back in that cell someday, or worse. But there are some risks worth the price.”

She shuddered at the thought of being back in that cell again, but Renia would go through it all over if she had to.

“I’m sorry,” she added, looking serious again. “I’m so sorry I put you in that kind of danger. You really should not have come for me. But.. Thank you for doing it anyway. If it weren’t for you, I would still be...”

No, she didn’t want to think of that place and everything that happened there any longer. She could feel herself begin to shake from the mere thought of it. Even visiting it in her mind was enough to terrify her. And now her dreams had new ammunition to throw at her when she slept. Renia knew she wouldn’t be getting much sleep for years after this. Probably a good thing. It would teach her to be more alert more on guard. She wouldn’t be falling for that trick again.

“If I never see an orange cat again, it will still be too soon,” she muttered to herself.

[Danica]

John hadn't really been joking, but he was glad to see Renia smile. When she answered his question by informing him that only four people actually knew what she was up to the past five years and then going into slightly more detail (without mentioning the fact that the third person was the Bluejay, or mentioning who the fourth one was, he noticed) and telling him that the last person wouldn't have told anyone because he didn't want anyone to do something foolish and trying to break her out. She jokingly glared accusingly at him at that part and he would have chuckled had he not been able to tell that she wasn't quite finished.

She continued by saying that most people wouldn't have been able to get into the prison, let alone know where she was to begin with, and she had therefor not expected anyone to come for her. She concluded by saying that she might very well end up right back in that cell someday in the future, if not in a worse place. He didn't like that thought. He'd almost had a heart attack when he found out she had been captured, and when he had first seen her in her cell, looking as she had, he'd almost revealed himself by showing how he was feeling. Luckily for him the room wasn't well-lit, and he'd had years of controlling and hiding his emotions. Still, it was a close one.

“I’m sorry,”“I’m so sorry I put you in that kind of danger. You really should not have come for me. But.. Thank you for doing it anyway. If it weren’t for you, I would still be...”

Jonathan looked at her incredulously. "Don't apologize for something you had no control over. I chose to come here, knowing full well how dangerous it could have potentially been. I was lucky though, that they had, like you, assumed no one would be trying to break you out." He stopped talking and gathered some of his healing things, seeing as how he was pretty much finished with them. While he was doing that, he heard Renia mutter to herself something about an orange kitten. He immediately remembered said kitten, but of course played dumb because it had not been Jonathan that had been with her at the time. "What's so terrible about a kitten?" he questioned, knowing full well what was probably wrong with it. And people wondered why he hated the little beasts.

[Renia]

Renia laid back on the bed, out of sheer exhaustion, and gazed up at the ceiling for a moment, just thinking over that day so long ago when she’d allowed herself to be fooled so easily. Part of her did not want to tell Jonathan about it. Part of her felt she needed to talk about it with someone. And she had not seen Bella, the only person she would have normally spoken to about such personal failures, in five years or more now. John was the closest friend she had next to Bella.

“Just before I was captured,” she began, speaking slowly, as she was seeing in her mind exactly what had happened as she spoke it aloud. “I was in Farth, looking for supplies. I had a little trouble with a group of Alterions who wanted to kill me, but believe me, that was normal anywhere I went. I ran into an old friend there, who was having similar trouble, and we helped each other out. I had to stay overnight and buy supplies in the morning, and my friend went with me.”

What happened next caused Renia to close her eyes against the memory. Every part of her rebelled against it, wishing she could have changed what had happened. “There were these kitten in an alley on the way there. Starving little creatures. I hated to see anything suffer like that. And I had some old food I would not be needing much longer, so I threw it to the cats. One of them followed me to the marketplace and mooched more scraps off me until we left Farth. It stayed in the city.

“My friend and I parted ways soon after leaving. The whole day I had been sensing an Alterion near me. I assumed it was my friend, since he shares my race. After we had gone separate ways, however, the kitten showed up as if it had been waiting for him to leave my side. It turned out to be the Alterion I had sensed. That little cat... She called herself Jinx. I didn’t see the attack coming, she shifted so quickly into a panther, and when I tried to take my shiler form she nearly knocked me out. She’d called her friends in at that point, and... well, that’s all I remember until they dragged me into the prison.”

She shuddered as she relived that moment: when she’d awoken to those same Alterions dragging her through the gates to the prison and down the stairs leading to the cell. The days that followed were the worst she had ever experienced. She couldn’t get the memory out of her head. For a moment, Renia was lost in the memory as if she were there again...

Then she shook her head violently and opened her eyes to the inn room’s ceiling and caught her breath. It was over. At last.

“I was so stupid, to let any animal get so close to me. I cannot believe I allowed that to happen. I kept.. Kept worrying that someone would find out where I was and come to rescue me. Sometimes, when the guards came down into the cells when it wasn’t time to change shifts, I thought they might be hauling someone I knew.. Klein, or Bella... down to a cell where I would have to listen to them torment them, the same way they were tormenting me...”

[Danica]

Jonathan listened to the story of how it all happened, already knowing the first bit and having already guessed the rest. It was nice to know the details, and now he knew for sure that the kitten had been an Alterion. One by the name of Jinx, apparently. He would keep that in mind; if he ever came across the cat again he would be sure to grind its head into the ground. But first, he would break its knees. That was supposed to be very painful.

She had closed her eyes and looked like she must be seeing the whole thing in her mind again and he wanted to do something, anything, to make her stop, to make her be happy again. But Jonathan wouldn't do that. Hell, he probably wouldn't have come to save Renia in the first place. But he hadn't exactly thought about that before, being way too preoccupied with the whole 'Renia being captured' thing.

When Renia finished speaking he sat in silence, unable to think of an adequate reply for what he had just been told. He couldn't even begin to imagine (alright, so he could begin to imagine, but he couldn't exactly imagine) how it must have been like for Renia during the past year. Sure, he had experienced prison before, but he had just been a young boy then, and he hadn't been a rebel. He knew that they must have tortured her often and mercilessly to try to get information about the group from her.

[Renia]

Renia finally shook the memories off completely and glanced over at Jonathan. He was silent, and she had to work her mind hard to remember what she had just said, because it was obvious he didn’t know how to respond to it. She hadn’t been looking for a response, but she didn’t like the silence that followed now.

“Enough about that,” she murmured, closing her eyes again and smiling slightly. “Man, it feels good to lay on a bed again! I’ve never noticed how soft these things are. I can’t wait until I get my energy back. I’m going to spend as much time outside as I can: I haven’t seen so much as a plant in far too long. I wonder if the sky will be the same shade of blue, or if it’s changed at all... And Klein. I bet he’s driven himself mad over my absence, so I should find him as soon as possible.”

She spoke enthusiastically, because she had to say something to bring John out of that serious silence and convince him she was alright. I’m still the same Renia, she was thinking to him. Just a little tired, but I’m still the same. You, on the other hand... You’ve certainly grown up. She kept those observations to herself, but Renia couldn’t help but sneak another glance at him. How he’d changed! She hadn’t even tried to imagine how he would look when his body finally caught up with his spirit, but even if she had Renia would not have been able to imagine this. She couldn’t get over how different he looked. Five years had been too long. She felt like she had missed out on five years worth of memories where he was concerned. And every moment seemed invaluable to her now. She’d come so close to death... Renia now realized that any day could be her last. She had almost missed out on ever seeing him again. Five years... they had almost set the date one year too late.

“Can you stay with me, Jonathan?” She asked this question with no emotion, determined not to let on how much it meant to her that he stay in her sight until she felt she could handle losing him again. “For a while, I mean. Until I find Klein, perhaps? Or until I can at least ride a horse on my own or something. Or do you need to go back to someone?”