Land of Smoke and Ashes

Creature, Captor, Rescuer

For a second there was only inky darkness, and Natalie thrashed frantically against whoever, whatever was restraining her, stars bursting in front of her eyes.

Then an angry voice hissed above her, "Keep still, girl. Unless you wish to feed your flesh to the threshers."

Natalie froze. Threshers, the horrible creature she'd seen outside. It wasn't surprisingly to hear they ate people, but having it confirmed was enough to make her go still. For a moment her captor stayed where he was, and she could feel him breathing, the rise and fall of his chest against her back. He kept his hand over her mouth, and his other arm wrapped around her arms and chest, pinning her to him.

In this fashion, they waited as the voices from outside grew fainter. Then his voice came above her in the darkness a second time, less panicked now.

"Tell me you're not going to scream if I let you go. You're lucky we pulled you in here at all."

Slowly she nodded. Her eyes were almost adjusted to the dark now. She could make out dim shapes in the room. A bare scattering of furniture, and one other person beside the man behind her. A figure was crouched in the corner, hands covering their face. She couldn't tell if it was male or female, but she thought maybe it was a woman, judging by the slender, pale arms and the long hair spilling over their shoulders.

"Alright," the voice whispered from behind her, and then the hand over her mouth was gone, and she felt his grip ease. Then she was completely free, and she stumbled slightly, putting one hand against the wall to brace herself.

Her captor—rescuer, she supposed, now that she had time to really think about it—stepped back, eyeing her cautiously. In the dim light, it was hard to make out his features, but he was...tall.

Taller than any normal man she'd ever seen before. At least six-foot-five, maybe more. And his eyes glowed slightly in the dim light, a coppery color. It felt like she was facing off with a jungle cat in the darkness.

Her mouth went dry as she remembered the twisting black veins on the pirate's arms. They weren't human, and whoever this was, he didn't appear to be either.

"Who are you? What are you?" She took a step back, toward the door, and her rescuer shook his head.

"it would be extremely foolish for you to go out there right now. It sounds like they're on the other side of the shanty, but if they catch your scent..." he trailed off, and in the dim light she saw him tilt his head to one side. Even in the half light she could tell the way he moved was strangely fluid, and again she got the impression of a large predator of some kind. It felt like having a conversation with a lion. "I could ask the same question of you. Where did you come from?" His eyes widened, and she felt a little alarmed when he took a step toward her. "You look...are you human?"

The way he said human, with an air of incredulity, made her want to laugh. In a hysterical, this-is-all-insane type of way. Here she was, only half believing everything she was seeing, facing off with a man with glowing lion eyes, and he was acting like she was the impossible one.

"I'm Natalie," was all she managed to get out.

"Sam." He gestured to the figure in the corner. "That's Gwendolen."

The person in the corner, Gwendolen, uncurled slightly, peering up at Natalie. Now she could see it was a woman. Her face was slender, smudged with soot, which made her tawny eyes glow even brighter. Her hair was long, down past her shoulders, but it hung lank, and her clothing was torn in places. She looked at Natalie with obvious distrust, eyes flashing. When Natalie stared back the woman actually pulled her lips back and snarled, revealing a series of needle-sharp teeth.