A/n: includes depictions of a minor panic attack
Part of him was scared that he had gotten caught by kidnappers skilled enough to go after royalty, and part of him felt relieved that the suspense was over. At least now he would know what was inside the carriage and might be able to find clues.
Escaping was a separate problem that he would let his future self deal with. He was the type of person to live in the moment, since that was the easiest and most fun.
Also, he was pretty confident that these guys weren't the type to torture someone who wasn't their target. The person who hired them was a different story, but at least these kidnappers had basic manners.
Cale was tied securely in rope which moved on its own probably due to magic, and a small burlap bag was placed over his head and neck.
'Fuck. I guess finding clues is going to pose a challenge.'
The carriage door was opened and Cale was placed inside. He was very happy that he wasn't thrown, and sat down feeling no resentment towards these kidnappers. This was a surprisingly nice experience.
He couldn't say the same about the person sitting across from him though. He couldn't see them because of the bag, but he heard their soft breathing. Depending on how much of a fight they put up, they would probably have a few injuries.
Cale still had his spatial pouch in his inside coat pocket which held high grade healing potions, but he didn't particularly want to heal this person who was also hired to kidnap the crown prince.
Shifting in his surprisingly comfortable seat, Cale slowly got a feel for what the layout of this carriage was. The shades on the window next to him were pulled down, and there was no extravagant detailing on the walls.
It seemed that the inside of this carriage was just as simple as the outside.
Clink.
Cale turned his head towards the sound of chains rubbing against each other. He leaned back in his seat and crossed his legs.
'Should I speak? No wait, if they were going to kidnap the crown prince, they might come after me for a game of hostage after figuring out my identity.'
The mystery prisoner in this carriage was probably wearing a burlap bag as well, which was why Cale's first goal was to get his own off as soon as possible.
It was pretty difficult to move his upper body because of how tight the magic ropes were, but he could still move his neck. After about five minutes of struggling, he had shifted it a little to the point where he could see his lap.
It was dark inside with no light sources at all, so Cale had to struggle to make out what was around his legs. Yep, even the floor and seats were basic.
He clicked his tongue in frustration and let his back fall against the padded seat. His body was doing that weird thing again.
'Ugh— now is not the time...'
Not only was he feeling achy because of his recent illness, but his stupid body kept ramping everything up.
His heart rate, breathing, blood pressure, senses, and an overwhelming feeling of self awareness was kicking into high gear the longer he stayed restrained by rope in a dark and chilly area.
This reminded him of something he couldn't remember, and it really pissed him off. It happened last time on the dungeon stairway as well, and it scared the shit out of Cale every time it happened.
He was forced to panic just from experiencing certain sensations, and he didn't know why. It was even scarier because there was a stranger sitting close by who would probably want to kidnap him the second Cale revealed his identity, and the bag over his head kept him from seeing his surroundings.
"Hah... Hah..."
His breathing was getting shallower by the second, and it was difficult to keep silent.
His heartbeat was suddenly the only thing he could hear, thudding loudly right in his ear, and making all other noises sound muffled. The empty surroundings in between each heartbeat sounded noisy as well somehow, like a million tiny little sounds all clambering around at once.
He subconsciously slid sideways so that his upper body was laying on its side against the cushioned bench.
"Hah.. Hah.. Hah.."
He tried to get the bag off his head even more now that he had some leverage, but it was still not enough. It was at that moment.
"Hey."
Cale barely heard the voice over literally every other noise he could possibly hear, and froze. His watery eyes refused to blink, and he found himself holding his breath.
The stranger had just talked to him. And a second later...
"Who are you?"
Cale remained as silent as possible, refusing to answer.
"..."
The stranger did not respond either.
Meanwhile, Cale was running out of oxygen. He attempted to slowly let out his breath to make it quieter, but a sudden sharp pain in his head caused him to let it out all at once and gasp for breath.
After hearing that strange sound that resembled someone being choked, the stranger spoke again.
"... Are you okay?"
Oh how Cale wanted to punch himself. He wanted to reset his breath rate in an easy way, but he couldn't move. He desperately wanted the stranger to ignore him, lest Cale accidentally tell him to shut the fuck up and reveal his voice.
A sudden jolt of the carriage caused Cale to roll off of the bench, landing at the stranger's feet on the floor between the benches.
'My luck is really shit...'
He tried his best to hold back a groan as he attempted to stand back up. It was futile however, since the carriage was riding over bumpy terrain. He could not find his balance.
"Ugh—mm."
Cale momentarily stopped his actions. Now that he was on the floor... wouldn't removing the bag become easier? He could use the bench to help slide it off.
And so that was what he did, although it took over three minutes to accomplish.
He finally shook it off his head completely, and immediately glanced up at the stranger, who was apparently quite handsome despite the limited visibility.
'Another one? Why are all these kidnappers foreign?'
The man was tied with rope like Cale, but he was also wearing a small shackle on each of his limbs and neck, keeping him from moving further. Instead of a bag, a wide piece of black fabric covered his eyes and a sheer face covering hung over his lower face.
The reason he looked like a foreigner even in this low light setting, was because he had really dark colored hair and tanned skin. None of the people in Rain City were that tan, and Cale had seen most of their faces from mediocre events like the king's 50th birthday celebration.
This man looked like he had soot in his hair from how dark of a color it was, but maybe the lighting made it seem deeper than normal. Also...
'Pointed ears?'
...He might not be human. His ears were not as pointed as the elf that was with the Roan heroes that one time in the crown prince's office, but they were still definitely pointed.
Cale found himself staring at this man, trying to figure out what species he was.
'His skin is not that dark, so I don't think he is a dark elf, but he is definitely not a regular elf either... Maybe a beast tribe? What type of beast tribes are there again?'
"Ugh..."
Cale's head hurt from thinking so much. He thought that the mystery man's expression shifted slightly after he groaned, but maybe he was imagining it.
Slowly sliding back up against the bench opposite the prisoner, Cale attempted to calm down by counting the number of bumps the carriage was making. He took a few deep breaths before shakily standing up while using the bench as support.
The prisoner was as calm as ever, but Cale noticed that his fingers flinched every time Cale made a noise. If Cale hadn't seen the many calluses adorning the prisoner's hands, then he might have thought that this man was weak.
Cale turned his attention back to his seat. The ride had calmed down a bit, so he decided that taking a step would be safe now, and so he twisted around to sit down.
Thunk!
He was sadly mistaken, as the largest bump yet made the entire carriage jump, launching Cale in a random direction.
'Fu—!'
Thud.
Cale blinked his eyes hard. His vision was spotty for some reason. He tried to sit up, but his muscles weren't listening to him. The annoying headache from before had just worsened as well, since he had definitely just hit his head square on the wall.
Blood was also dripping out of his nose and into the corner of his mouth, making him cringe at the metallic taste.
His ears rung quite a bit, but his spine chilled as he heard the prisoner's chains chink together right above his head. That caused a question to appear in his mind.
Where had he fallen?
Ah, he had bounced off of a wall and collapsed on the prisoner's bench.
So where was his head resting?
Of course, his head had fallen directly onto said prisoner's lap.
'... Fuck?'
Cale could finally see again, but getting up was difficult because of his bindings and poor coordination. He had no leverage to help prop himself up as well, since his legs were also on the bench and could not properly bend to reach the floor.
The prisoner also continued to stay silent, which made Cale's anxiety spike. It was a good thing the man had a blindfold on, because it was highly possible that his red hair color would be visible from such close proximity.
Normally all of these terrible status effects would not bother him so much, but there was one major thing that was scaring him internally;
Cale was abnormally sleepy.
Usually he would never be able to nod off during something like a kidnapping, but for some reason his eyes were drooping and his body felt relaxed. The added thigh pillow made everything more comfortable too, which didn't make him feel any better about this situation.
Cale sent curses towards the gods as he felt himself slowly starting to fall asleep while resting his head on a kidnapper's lap. He could not see above him because of the unresponsive neck muscles either, but he assumed that this was just as painfully awkward for the other man as it was for Cale.
As the last few seconds of consciousness ticked off in his mind, Cale felt that he was extremely lucky that at least one of them had a blindfold. He did not know what the man might do after discovering Cale's identity, thus, he was grateful.
'At least I'll... remember everything this time...'
A/n: so I'm nearly out of drafts for real this time (srsly there's only 4 left) so I decided I'll post one a day and post the last one around new years. I honestly haven't even skimmed these before posting them, so if I ever get back to writing it or editing, a lot of stuff will probably be altered. I don't remember the contents of my last draft either so I may or may not be leaving you guys on a weird random cliffhanger in 4 days aha (sorry in advance)
Thx for reading.