Burn away

A poor soul huddled in the corner of a cage. Her body scarred and torn from beatings. Burn's covered her arms and legs where spring water had been thrown at her both for punishment and simply for the fun of it. A color rested around her neck, binding her in human form, and keeping her from manipulating the fire that was so natural to her. Chains adorner her wrists and ankles, keeping her in a small area of the cage. Pain seared through her anytime she tried to use her control over fire, caused by the collar on her neck. Slowly, but surely the spirit of this creature started dying away. The only thing that it did not hide of her true nature, was the fire redhair and the large sun tatto on her back.

Once bright and vibrant gold eyes were now dull and almost lifeless. Pain and saddness were the only thing seen on this girls face. She was nothing but a slave now, though ther was still a part of her that tried to fight back. Despite the beatings and the burns, she was not entirel taimed, which is why she had been in the shop for nearly a year now.

The price for her was a high one. Even though her price had dropped once, it was not likely to do so again. There had been many offers, but either they were not accepted, or her sudden spark of fire caused them to withdraw. And for the colector type, or someone simply looking for a new toy, a pheonix was a rare treat.

The man that was selling her was a rather fat and wealthy slob, to put it bluntly. His soul desire was to make money and tourture those that were of, what he believed to be, lower status then himself.

On that particualr day, Andrea was a bit more troublesome. She was being quite defiant and had several new burns on her legs. She growled at anyone who came close to her cage, even resorting to lashing out a couple of times. Soon however, she was beated into submission, at least for the tiem being.

Raven's eyes flicked from one cage to the next as he moved along, stubbornly ignoring the chipper ramblings of the slightly unhinged elf behind him. He wondered if Renala had always been a bit off her rocker, or if it was a result of the experiments done on her. Either way, she was annoying, but a small part of him still cared about her. A small part that was 'Good Raven', locked deep down. 'Dark Raven' had taken full control about a month ago, and wasn't giving it up anytime soon. And since the pest in the back of his mind would not let him take out his frustrations on the rest of his group, he'd have to find someone new.

This was how he ended up stopping in front of Andrea's cage, raising an eyebrow. "...Tell me about her." At this, Renala ceased her ramblings, listening carefully, though with a slight vacant look in her eyes.

Andrea growled, her gold eyes defiant as the man who was selling her smiled widely.

"Quite a beauty, as you can see, sir. A virgin as well, which I am sure is rare among her race. She is a pheonix. We have her tamed well enough, though I fear she is still a bit defiant as you can see." He turned and threw a spalsh of Holy water on Andrea to get her back away from the edge of the cage. "Holy water is a weakness to her, as is complete darkness."

Andrea whimper as the water hit her, and burnt the skin wherever it touched. She shrank back away from the bars of the cage, though definace still showed in her eyes. ~You will die.~ She snapped out in her native tounge at the man who had thrown the water.

Raven didn't seem to react to the water being thrown on Andrea, but Renala did. She immediately turned her slightly vacant stare on the man, a slow smile forming on her face. Raven ignored it. "I want her. How much?" His eyes burned into Andrea's, unwavering.

"The price is $400,000. No lower." He said with a smile at the prospect of making money and ridding himself of the woman.

Andrea frowned when she heard that she was being bought. ~You will die with him.~ She hissed out, refusing to speak in english.

Raven simply nodded, and pulled out the needed cash, in several neat bundles, only to pause as Renala grabbed his arm. She was still staring at the seller. "...Please?" Her voice was soft and innocent. Raven seemed to think on it.

"...Who is in charge under you?"

"My son, sir." He said, frowning. "I do not understand what this has to do with the purchase of the pheonix." He held his hand out for the money. "I will warn you not to remove the collar unless you want her to be able to take on her true form."

Raven waved off his advice. It was pointless, and handed the money to the man. "Give the money to your son, and give me the girl. Renala here wishes to have some... private time with you." At this, Renala smiled slightly, and nodded, a slight blush on her cheeks. Raven rolled his eyes at this. He knew full well that the man would end up dead, but it really wasn't his concern. He would have had Renala steal back the money afterward, but he didn't want to deal with being hunted down for theft.

The man nodded once, handing the money off to his son. He handed a necklace to Raven. "This was found on her. Something to do with their culture." He opened the cage and undid the chains that held Andrea before pulling his hand back when Andrea snapped at him with her teeth. ~Putrid filthy human.~ She growled. She narrowed he reyes at Raven, but seeing the necklace she reached out towards it, only to reach to far and topple onto the floor with a cry.

The man sneared at Andrea. "She's all your's. Good riddance." He then turned to Renala, bowing his head with a bit of a smirk. "Lead the way, m'lady."

Raven looked over the necklace, then pocketed it. His first instinct had been to crush it right there, but his damned good half fought hard against it. He'd have to deal with it. He then took Andrea's arm firmly in the grip of his gauntleted arm. "I'll meet you on the ship, Renala." He then pressed a button on some device he pulled from his pocket, and he and Andrea disappeared. The elf simply nodded, taking the man's hand and leading him along until she found a vacant building, taking him inside.

The man would get so far as seeing and fondling her breasts before a knife was buried in the base of his skull.

~~~~~

Raven and Andrea reappeared in the transport room of a large starship, a robotic crew working without end around them. Raven tugged on Andrea's arm, pulling her out of the transporter, and turned to wait for Renala. When she arrived, she was wiping a bit of blood from her hands and lips. She smiled at Andrea. "Don't worry, I didn't sleep with him. Just let him play with my breasts until he was distracted, and killed him. Torturing defenseless girls like that... so mean." Her voice was a bit breathy. She really seemed to not be all there mentally, but was clever, and seemed nice enough.

"That, and you were hungry." At Raven's words, Renala shrugged, licking her lips.

Andrea cried out again as his hand caught one of the new burns on her arm. She struggled against him, but was to weak at the moment to really be able to do much. Once on board the ship, she looked around, her gold eyes not sure what she was seeing. When she heard Renala's words she blinked again. ~Dead?~ She muttered, still refusing to speak in english. A bit of hope spread through her but was quickly crushed upon looking at Raven again. ~My necklace. Give!~

Raven stared at her as she spoke. "...You do realize I have no idea what you are saying, correct? Renala, what the fuck is she saying?"

"Um... she's hungry, maybe?" Renala looked quite confused. "I don't even know what exactly she is. Do you?"

"Not a fucking clue."

Andrea growled. She finally foreced aside her pride. "I....am pheonix." She was unexperienced in the english tounge so her speach was a bit off. "Necklace...give!" She frowned. "Mine. Want back."

Raven narrowed his eyes at her, then looked at Renala. "Make sure she learns how to speak properly, she sounds ridiculous. Have Aisha or Eve teach her. As for the necklace, why do you want it so badly? Is it just for sentimental shit, or do you want it so you can use it to try and escape or something? Renala will know if you are lying, so don't even try."

Andrea looked down. "Last thing....from my family." She growled softly. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, forcing herself to speak a bit calmer. "Please....return to me."

Raven stared at her. He was about to say no, when he felt a sharp pain behind his eyes. He grit his teeth, and growled. "Fuck... fine, damnit." He pulled the necklace out of his pocket, and dropped it into Andrea's hands. He rubbed his eyes irritably, shoving Andrea toward Renala. "Get her situated, I'm taking a fucking nap. I'll deal with her later." He stormed out, and Renala watched him go with a blank look.

Andrea smiled a moment when she felt the gem in her hand. She held it close before a frown and a growl escaped her lips at being shoved. She stumbled forward and fell, landing on her knees. She glared towards Raven, but soon returned her focus back to the necklace.

Renala paused, then knelt down next to Andrea, tilting her head to the side. "May I ask your name? That distasteful man never said, and he certainly can't now. Also, what's it like to have a family?" She seemed curious, watching Andrea carefully.

"Andrea Draconis." She muttered soflty. "Wonderful. Family....been dead since....16 in...human years." She carefully slipped the necklace over her head, flinching when the band touched the collar on her neck.

Renala nodded slowly. "Wonderful? It sounds like it would be nice to have a family then, and like losing them would hurt... I'm sorry then. And sixteen in human years? Then how old are you now, in human years? Or in non-human years? Is there a difference?"

Andrea sighed, frustrated. "Twenty-two." She muttered, pushing herself up, flinching several times in the process. "Pheonix's see time....other ways." She muttered softly, rubbing her arm that Raven had been holding earlier. "Eleven by....my race. We see...time longer then humans. Two years....to you...one to...me."

Renala eyes Andrea carefully, then stood, and closed her eyes, holding her hands over Andrea's wounds, though not actually touching them, as she tapped into her elven magic, beginning to heal the wounds, aiming to return Andrea to perfect health.

Andrea watched as her injuries started to be replaced with fresh skin. The burns shrank away and soon she felt better then she had in a while. "Thank.....thank you." She finally managed to get out. She kept her eyes down, her hand clenched around the gem on the necklace. "Why....me here?" She asked finally, her anger still present. It was not, however, directed at Renala. It was towards Raven and those that had hurt her.

Renala, due to the experiments performed on her, had great difficulty with her elven magic. As such, by the time she finished healing Andrea, she was extremely tired, swaying slightly. "Mm... Raven didn't say. He just... told us he was going to buy a slave... then he bought you... saw something he liked, I guess..." She stumbled slightly, and made her way to the doorway, having to prop herself up on the wall. "Follow me... introduce you to the others..."

Andrea followed after Renala, cautiously looking around. She bit her lower lip before shaking her head. 'Snap out of it.' She chided herself mentally, sighing once. "Foolish." She stated in response to why Raven bought her. When she saw Renala stumble, she frowned. "You need sleep."