(I'm going to be changing updates from Tuesdays to Saturdays. Also no more art because I don't have enough time to draw, sorry-)
Maybe the attackers were aiming for that. That's why the queen wanted them to stay. Or whoever wrote down on the paper had at least wanted them to analyse and learn everything that was happening around them first. Before they could attack.
Why hadn't she seen the clues? She had been so distracted over...nothing... it didn't matter. She just hoped the queen and Crescent were okay.
✩•̩̩*˚ Gradient ˚*•̩̩͙✩
It was cold. Really cold. She could feel her body shivering, doing its best to warm her up. She was uncomfortable. Her neck and back hurt. She felt a rush of stamina course through her body but she was so tired at the same time. Her head was pounding. Why was it pounding though...? Oh... she remembered... someone had knocked her out by heating her on the head. She remembered being tied up. Tied up against... Crescent!
She had been hit and as soon as she became disoriented she had been tied up against Crescent. Then both had been knocked out. The queen had also been attacked! She had been cut...? She didn't remember that part very well.
They shouldn't have gone out. They should have stayed in the castle. Should have gone out to explore another day. They should have been more cautious. She should have come up with some reason to not go. But Crescent had looked desperate, and Gradient had trusted in him.
And so they had gone on a search for whoever Crescent wanted to find. A woman, with a blind eye...
Suddenly she could feel her body reacting. She felt something wrapping around her. She opened her eyes quickly and looked around.
A cell... it was poorly taken care of. It was in poor condition. Extremely cold too. She blinked a few times in confusion. Staring down at the tentacle wrapping around her body. Her body was slowly lifted up and brought close to something.
Gradient was way too tired. But she was confused when the tentacles stopped. She slowly opened her eyes. Looking around. It was dark, very dark. Where was she? She shuddered a bit. Fear slowly trickled up her spine.
"C-crescent?" She whispered, she looked down at the tentacles holding her. She knew they were Crescent's due to their light grey, and because of how they ended in cyan colouration. She felt so weak. She hated that feeling.
Gradient knew she should have brought her bow and arrow. That way she would have been able to protect Crescent and herself. But of course, her dumb*ss didn't. Of course, she trusted Crescent too much. She should have been ready. But no! She hadn't been. She was always ready except for today.
It annoyed her so much. It made her feel furious. But there wasn't anything she could do now. Expect regret and watch as she was trapped.
"Are you okay?" A voice asked, she was startled by this and tried to suddenly sit up.
Only to groan in pain and be forced to lie back down by the tentacle. She looked over to the source of the sound. She sighed in relaxation when she made eye contact with Crescent. Smiling softly as she looked at him. He seemed a bit confused before smiling back at her.
"I'm okay... just tired... and confused..." Gradient sighed.
She had never felt so glad that she could stare at Crescent. She would do it for hours. Even hug him out of happiness. But the bars between the two of them would make that very hard to happen. Slowly her hand wrapped around the bars. They were very cold and quite rusty.
"You were kicked in the stomach... don't move much, your abdomen is probably badly bruised," Crescent said more sternly.
"It's not like I can go anywhere," Gradient chuckled, relaxing against Crescent's tentacles. "But if we get a chance to escape I won't care about any injury or bruise" she added.
Crescent glared at her, a warning glare. She only smirked back at him. She saw how he was about to say something. How he was making up his mind. But before he could say anything. Before he could speak out his mind, someone interrupted him.
"Don't worry, you won't escape any time soon, so you have all the time in the world to heal" a voice said.
Gradient, startled, looked up at whoever was talking. She bit her bottom lip in fear as she stared at the man standing in front of her. She looked in fear at Crescent, hoping for an answer. But Crescent wanted to stare at her. He was staring at the man.
His usual rich dark brown skin seemed more grey than before. As if it had lost the beautiful brown it once used to have. His body was slightly shaking. His eyes were wide and only showing fear. If it weren't for the bar, Gradient would be hugging Crescent right now. Trying to calm him down. And if there weren't any bars at all. The man standing in front of them would be dead. No... screaming for mercy. She glared up at him.
"Who are you!?" Gradient snapped, she tried to get up. But the tentacle around her waist held her tightly. Not allowing her to move much. It did hurt a bit on her abdomen due to how the tentacle had tightened.
"Oh, but you have been searching for me. I'm Grey, leader of the Claw's clan" He introduced himself, chuckling a bit in the end. Before quickly silencing himself. "I would say that it was stupid of you two to go out and try to find and stop me, but my... you had slowed down all my plans. Ruined so many of my plans, by just doing small stupid things!"
"Normally in stories. Just so adults can keep control over other generations, they make them think that they must follow all rules perfectly. But sometimes you're right, and sometimes it's to keep you safe"
Crescent and Gradient looked at each other before looking back at Grey. Both of them were speechless. Confusion clouded their minds. They had been able to stop attacks from happening? How? Everyone would have tried to stop them as soon as they saw him. But they kept on going. No matter what people thought or said.
And right now, they were being told. They had been just told. That what they had been doing was the right thing. Well, not the right thing. It wasn't the right nor the wrong thing. It was just that what they had been doing was actually working. That what they had done was actually stopping the clan from attacking the kingdom. Or at least stopping them for a while.
But they were being told this by the person they least wanted to be told by. He stood proudly and annoyed in front of them. Still, a grin was plastered on his face as he stared down at them. As if they were weak. As if they would never be able to protect themselves. As if they could easily beat them. But that didn't matter. At least not now.
There wasn't anything they could do either. How would they attack Grey from behind the bars. They were hurt. Even if Crescent wasn't admitting it. He was indeed hurt already. Maybe even worse than her.
"So what now? We stay here until we die?" Gradient mumbled angrily.
"Not really," Grey chuckled. "Your parents will be coming for you, especially your mother Cresent. You see... the king and queen and the heir are the most important thing in a kingdom, without them how will it function? How will people know what they can actually do? And since the current king and queen of the Amaris Kingdom are actually doing their job correctly..."
"What I'm trying to say is. When your parents come, death will greet them, and that way we shall be able to end the era of the Amaris Kingdom and bring it down to ashes. Your mother Crescent, will lose! And we shall rise!"
"You may have slowed us down at the beginning of this war, but tonight... you are the reason that we shall succeed"
Gradient's eyes widened in fear. She tried to get up, but the tentacles around her waist only tightened more. She groaned in pain before suddenly being able to escape from the tentacle's hold. She stumbled over to Grey. Grabbing onto the bars which separated them. She grabbed them so tightly that her knuckles were slowly losing their colour due to the pressure.
Tears were gathering in her eyes from the pain. But she ignored them. She glared at Grey who did not move at all.
"If I hear another sound from your filthy mouth I will rip your throat open!" She snapped in anger.
Tentacles started to wrap around her waist. Slowly pulling her back. Very gently though. Not that hard enough to be able to pull her off the bars. But they did suddenly pull harder when Gradient tried to reach out for Grey. Aiming for his eyes. Grey only chuckled as he watched Gradient strain against the tentacles.
Soon enough she gave up, slowly stepping backward as she allowed the tentacles to lead her back. Tentacles curled around the floor where she sat on top. She groaned and cuddled up against the tentacles. Looking over to Crescent before closing her eyes. In anger and annoyance.
~
Crescent and Gradient both sat staring at each other. They were bored, they were scared, and they were hungry. They had been brought food by one of the members of the clan. But they had not touched it. In fear that it was poisonous. They had fought for a while over who would try it. Gradient had said she would try it, but then Crescent said it was better if he tried it. Both got into a discussion. Then they started discussing how one could be poisonous and the other one wasn't. Or the percentage that they might not be poisonous at all!
Still, they had decided that it might be better to stay away from the food. Gradient wished there was some way to escape. She wished she could help Crescent, helping him get away from the clan. It seemed the person knew Crescent. And was holding a grudge against Killer, the queen. One of the best queens who ruled over the Amaris Kingdom.
But truly, what could they do to escape? Waiting wouldn't help. Especially not in escaping. Maybe they could find some way to escape and get back to the castle. But avoiding the castle would also be a good idea. That way the Clan wouldn't follow them. But then guards and the Queen and King might come in search of them. And they might get attacked...
It was truly a guessing game. Crescent would be better at this. As he knew better of how search parties worked and what his parents would do. But he isn't responding anymore. He was still breathing, she had checked his pulse. But no matter what she did. Crescent wouldn't respond. He sometimes shifted around but didn't move much more than that...
.
..
...
.
..
...
Gradient got up, groaning a bit in pain. The tentacle that had been holding onto her waist tightened a bit. Before falling limp on the floor. She sighed and got up. Looking around. Trying to see if there was anything or any way they could escape. Yawning, she walked forward. Grabbing onto the cell bars, staring around. All the other cells were empty. They were in horrible conditions. Even Gradient's cell was a disaster. There were no animals or bugs though. Only lots of plants, especially vines. She looked around and saw no windows.
That meant planning would probably be a lot harder. And they wouldn't be able to know certain and very important things. Such as patrols of any type, where they were if it even was possible, and many other things.
She breathed in and out in annoyance. She was going to sit back down again. But as she was walking back to where she had been sitting she froze. Small vines came crawling through a few cracks in the wall. Cracks that she had not seen or at least not paid attention to. She kneeled and looked at it.
Why hadn't she seen it before? She shrugged, that wasn't important. She slowly placed her hand on it. And it seemed to move a bit back. She froze... they were loose? She looked at Crescent before looking back at the wall. She would then need to find a way to get Crescent out.
As she added more pressure as she pushed it. Hissing a bit in pain as her abdomen gave a sudden shot of pain. She wrapped an arm around her stomach but ignored it. And went back to pushing the wall. Suddenly pieces of the wall fell. Big enough for her to crawl down under and escape. She looked over to Crescent again. Doing her best to analyse the wall. He was leaning against the bars, quite uncomfortable from Gradient's point of view, so it meant she could see the wall.
There were a few cracks. But not many she reached over and pressed a hand against the wall. A piece barely moved. Still, it was enough that if Crescent woke up he'd be able to notice it. So Gradient returned to staring at the hole she made in her wall. Should she exit it now? Or should she wait for Crescent to get up?
She breathed in and out... What should be her choice?
___________________________
Question of the day: Favorite movie?
Hope you enjoyed! Stay safe, eat healthily, sleep well, and goodbye!
(〜^∇^)〜 (〜^∇^)〜 (〜^∇^)〜 (〜^∇^)〜
Take a 5 to 15 minute (or longer) break! Drink some water, eat something, stretch around and/or take a nap! If it's already very late in the night then go to sleep! Remember your mental and physical health are very important! Stay safe and thanks for reading!
Word Count(According to GoogleDocs): 2268
(2022-11-05)