Submission (#725) Approved

+5 shards (prompt)
+6 shards (685words)

: +11 shards
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Darkness was all Alorus could see at first, not much else registered. It took a while for the haze in his mind to lift, and for him to realize that the minor pain in his head was likely due to having been hit there, and knocked out. He vaguely recalled having been out hunting for Sparrow, or perhaps he'd been hunting, period? He couldn't really recall a lot of what happened, only vague notions, but what he did recall firmly was being swiftly surrounded and subdued by several woolyne.

They had the numbers on their ends, if not the brute strength, and though he'd fought them, he'd been overwhelmed and knocked out. Waking up in a dark room, inside a cage, chained up, was one of the most disorientating experiences the young wool had ever been privy to. He had no idea what he'd expected upon opening his eyes, but it surely was not this. Yanking on the chains did nothing at all, other than leave his skin feeling particularly soft and tender. Even the most abrasive yank did little else but hurt his arms; the chains stayed in place.

It took him a few moments to realize that not only had he been locked and chained, but also effectively muzzled. He could not open his mouth, could not call for help, and could not use his ice breath to try and fix the situation.

Unsure of what else to do, he'd curled his body up and had set his ears up, trying to listen to the far away voices.

A while later, he had only just managed to ascertain that he was somehow in the thieves' guild, and that he'd been taken hostage for no reason other than his aymin traits. The wool had taken him hostage seemed to believe that he was, perhaps, high society, or nobility of some sort, and that they could ransom him off with ease. They were clearly uninformed, because his family, what was left of it... was rather small, and had only enough to live comfortably, but not enough for whatever ransom these woolyne were thinking of.

He did not want to exit his shifted form, having decided that staying shifted was his best bet at staying alive and healthy, and he'd mostly given up doing much of anything when a small wool slipped into the room. He looked quite young, or perhaps he was just small in size? It was hard to tell from where Alorus lay.

The small wool approached him hesitantly, his hands palm out, as if to show he was no threat, "I've come to help, okay? Please... don't bite my head off..." the words were whispered, and the deep voice made it clear that the wool was not, in fact young at all, just rather small in stature, "If I open your cage, get your chains and muzzle off, do you PROMISE to please, not bit my head off, mate?" the wool stood there, and waited for Alorus to slowly nod before he drew closer and slowly set to work. It was clear the newcomer did not have the keys, but he made swift work of the locks, and only hesitated when he got to the muzzle, "Dude, you promised, okay?" this last bit was also whispered, and Alorus offered the other wool a very obvious roll of his eyes and a nod before lowering his maw and allowing the other to help him.

Being free of all the restraints was lovely, and though he felt the need to groan or howl in triumph, the small wool stopped him, shushed him, which... rude, honestly, and then began to walk in a certain direction, "C'mon, mate, I'll get you out of here. I didn't sign up for kidnappin'. Some pickpocketing, sure, but not this shit. Let's get outta here, eh?"

It took them the better part of an hour to navigate their way outside, but once free, the other wool had grinned, introduced himself as Lyonell, winked and then gone on his way. It was one of the most bizarre days of Alorus' life.