“Sienna, honey, it's time to wake up." A soft word from her mother was all she needed to wake up. She sat up and shook her head out, stretching a bit. Night had fallen which was just fine by her. They were night dwellers, not day dwellers. She really enjoyed the night more than the day. It was much too bright and harsh for her during the day... Her poor eyes didn't adapt well to the light after having spent the majority of her life in the dark depths of the night. The only light offered to them was that of the moon and whatever fire they had... Not that they really needed the fire to see.
She stretched and followed her mother to sit by the warmth of the fire. Already people began cooking the first meal of their waking hours. She smiled softly as she looked around, watching about a thousand people weave in and out of tents and set up different camping areas. She could hear the crackle of more distant fires, more than happy to be out in the darkness... Winter was behind them, but it was still somewhat chilly. Early spring only offered some respite from the cold. It wasn't until late spring and into summer that things truly warmed up... Then the cycle would begin again. Warm cold, warm cold. The cycle of all things natural, just as it should be.
They sat around and ate, Sienna mostly quiet as the storytellers told their epic tales. She'd heard it probably a thousand times or more by now... She knew so many of the stories inside and out and how specific tellers told them. She could probably become one if she wanted to, but she had no desire to be a holder of knowledge such as that... Being in front of others like that did cause her some issue and anxiety. But she did have to deal with it to some degree... She was the eldest daughter of a sub-chieftain, so she would have to get up and speak in front of others eventually. Her mother passed it down the line to her so she knew, in due time, she would have to take on those responsibilities.
Eventually, the meal came to an end and a woman approached her. "Oh, Constance, what's up?" She wasn't expecting anybody to approach her, so she was more than a little surprised.
"You're pretty knowledgeable on herbs. We need some catmint to help with someone having whitecough." Constantance's tail twitched a bit as she looked at Sienna. She could sense great trepidation coming off the woman. Whitecought wasn't severe but it could turn to deadly greencough. Juniper berries would also be good if she could find any. They helped with breathing and even bellyache. So yes, she truly did need to go out.
She nodded. "All right. I can head out then." She didn't know this area well, but with her superb sense of smell, she'd be able to find the fragrant catmint. It was really difficult to not scent after a certain distance. Her ears twitched a little. Yeah, she was going to need to really be careful too... She couldn't overharvest herbs or else they might not have enough when the warmer seasons came around and they returned to this area.
"Okay, thanks a ton. I would go myself, but you know me." Constance smiled sheepishly, her tail curling a bit.
Sienna chuckled. "You're definitely a homebody." Oh well. They ended people that would stay within camp and take care of the elderly and infirmed. Plenty of people would be leaving to hunt and gather, but they still needed some young, able-bodied people to be able to take care of those that couldn't take care of themselves very easily. Constance was definitely better suited to staying behind in camp than anything else. It was just her personality type.
Constance gave a sheepish smile before dipping her head and heading off back to where she'd been before. With that conversation done, Sienna headed off into the dark night. For hours, she went around to places where the precious herb could be found and fathered several handfuls of leaves. As usual, almost all was quiet. The occasional hoot of an owl or flap of a bat's wing did happen along with the rustling from the breeze, but aside from that, it was mostly silent. She didn't understand how people could function during the day... Sunlight was so harsh and it was so loud and noisy... She just didn't understand.
She returned home after about five hours, a small basket full of the precious herb. She handed it off to the healers and joined the hunting party until dawn. After that, she laid down to go back to sleep, daylight barely peeking across the treetops. This life was good. Not always easy, but good. She loved to live by the natural cycles and not force anything... It did make being a healer difficult, of course, with herbs being seasonal and all, but still... It was good. They would move in a couple days' time to a new area where they would hunt and gather then move to another area. All within the cyclical cycle of nature. It felt so good to simply live by the cycles of the moon and sun…
Θ
The sound of hooves were what awoke her. Though the screams reached her ears shortly afterward.
She darted out of her tent and looked around, ears going back as she growled. Men on horses, human and Faunus alike, tore down tents, tossed flame onto tents, and cut down men and women before them. She tried to go back into her tent to grab her bow, but a length of rope found its way around her neck. She choked as it tightened and she fell to her knees, struggling and writhing from the lack of air. She started to hyperventilate. High Mother, what was going on? What were they doing? The edges of her vision started to dim a bit, but a man came up and wrapped rope around her ankles and wrists, effectively tying her like an animal to force her to not struggle. "Who are you and what are you doing?!" She was one of the few that could speak the common language of the land aside from their own native tongue. She could see young women around her age starting to be gathered up. What was going on? She could see bodies strewn about, men, women, children, elderly... They didn't care.
The man tied the young girls up and walked over and grinned at her, a disgusting, vile smirk of wanting and desire. He cupped his hand under her chin and stepped over her in a very provocative manner. "Well well now, apparently one of you gots your tongue. You're one'a the last remainin' savages out in this here land. Duke told us to keep the girls of marriageable age. We can marry whoever we want and keep 'em for ourselves." He laughed, a disgusting, low sound full of wanton desire. He pushed his hideous, disgusting face close to hers. "You're a right pretty one... Maybe the duke'll let me keep you." He grinned at her and she felt his breath on her face.
She spat at him, landing directly in the center of his face. "I'll be nobody's wife!" This was disgusting. They were people too, if anything, more than the disgusting duke! They despised the Wukong family. They had come in about three, four hundred years ago and run the native peoples out. They had once been great in number, but only a few bands remained. With this... The numbers dwindled even more. It seemed as if the majority of the clan would be killed off... Guh. Disgusting. Just...disgusting…
The man got off her but he slapped her across the face. She growled, her ears going back. She wouldn't let anybody treat her in such a demeaning way. This lecherous man was absolutely nasty. All of them despised the duke... How, why would he order such a massacre? Then again...they wanted the land. And they definitely defended their land fiercely.
The next few days proved to be difficult. She remained tied in the uncomfortable position, given barely enough water to stay alive and not given anything to eat. For some reason, she had been separated from the rest of her people. She stood on her with the group. A caravan bearing the other girls around her age had gone off in the opposite direction. What was going on? She didn't understand... Why separate them?
Eventually, though, her question was answered. They approached a large stone structure. She felt odd, seeing so many people in one place. A thousand or so was the max she was used to. Yet so many people crammed between the walls of this bizarre settlement. How did people live in one place their whole lives? She couldn't understand that. Why didn't they travel at all? Why not gather and hunt from the land? She just... All of this was so foreign to her.
Her stomach growled fiercely as she lay in the small wagon, struggling and writhing to try to cut the ropes. Even her advanced aura wasn't enough to loosen the knots. She could manipulate the latent aura in just about anything, but even for the rope, the knots were simply too strong. Her wrists and ankles had been bound behind her. Her limbs ached. She wanted so badly to move, but she couldn't do anything about it.
Eventually, they entered the large stone structure and she heard rapid talking with a man that carried himself with extreme self-importance. He bore a monkey tail and a scraggly beard. He walked over to Sienna. "Hah, good... You'll do nicely as a servant for my husband's fiance." She did struggle with the language a bit, so she wasn't sure what the last word meant especially from the lack of context. But she could understand what her fate was. That was no servant... She was to be a slave.
Her ears flattened and she growled at him. "I'm no slave and don't you dare treat me like--"
WHAMP.
She spluttered as the man's fist drove straight into her gut, causing her to double over as much as she could with her wrists and ankles bound. Her vision dimmed a bit from the sheer ferocity of the blow. "Well,at least you speak the language. But don't you dare speak to me like that again, you little bitch! Otherwise, you will receive far worse punishments than this!" Tears sprang to her eyes from the sheer pain, but she refused to let them out. No, he wouldn't get the satisfaction of knowing she was incredibly sore... That would probably leave an incredibly nasty bruise…
She felt the ropes get cut and she sat up, rubbing her wrists. Damn it, that hurt so much. They were rubbed raw.
Unfortunately, she didn't get a chance to pay much attention to her medical needs because the duke grabbed her ear and forced her to stand. She let out a noise but gritted her teeth, trying to not give him the satisfaction of knowing she was in pain. "Now, follow me and I'll introduce you to your new mistress." She wanted to growl again, but she'd just end up with another painful fist somewhere. And he might end up breaking something. She didn't keep her aura active all the time... For the most part, there was no reason to do so. She wasn't in imminent danger most of the time. She could still feel pain and cold through her aura, but without it active, she would definitely have a nasty bruise on her stomach from the hard hit. SHe would probably need to keep it active from now on then…
He kept a tight hold on her ear and she stumbled a bit, only to be met with tremendous pain when she almost fell due to not having walked for the past several days. She felt like her ear would practically rip off from how bad the pain in her feet were from having the circulation partially cut off to her feet. But she forced herself to stand as best she could, her breathing quickened from the extreme pain in her extremities and ear.
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She followed the man through the building, stumbling and breathing through gritted teeth from the pain. She wanted to apply salve to the wounds from the ropes, but she couldn't do that... Damn it all. Eventually, though, they made their way to a room with a blonde girl sitting on the bed, reading a book. The girl looked to be about her own age, maybe a year or two older or younger. All she could feel was overwhelming grief and an outright broken spirit. The girl frowned at the duke though she did say anything. A man next to her spoke though. "What's this, Your Majesty?"
"Her new handmaid. Treat her however you wish." The duke pushed her into the room and she fell to her hands and knees, ears laid flat against her skull. She shook visibly from the exertion and the sheer amount of pain she was in. How anybody could deal with this was beyond her... She was in so much pain. But, compared to whatever pain this girl had gone through, it felt like nothing. She could feel no fight in her spirit, just resigned acceptance.
The door behind her closed with a loud slam and she winced, the noise one she was entirely unused to. How did people deal with it? This building was so loud... She could hear the footsteps of people on levels above and below them as well as outside in the hall. There was so much activity. Plus, it didn't help she wanted to sleep... She was too used to being asleep at this time.
She managed to force herself into a sitting position, looking at the girl about her age. "What's your name?" she asked. She was beyond livid at the man and what he had done to her people, but this girl was obviously no culprit. She was too dispirited and submissive. There was no chance that she was behind any of this. The man servant looked at her warily. "I mean no harm to your mistress. I was brought here against my will." No point in denying any of it. She had been kidnapped and brought here. She wouldn't be here if she had any choice of the matter. Guh, this probably meant she was going to have to become diurnal... She was too used to being nocturnal... Lest she upset the duke and receive further punishment.
"Um. Yang. What's yours? Well. I assume you have one?" Yang looked incredibly uncertain about all of this and she could feel the girl's anxieties. Again, they looked about the same age, but it was hard to tell if they were the same age or a couple apart in either direction…
Sienna nodded. "I'm Sienna." Honestly, she could probably escape without too much difficulty. Though getting through the city unnoticed would be difficult. The building stood at the very center of the city. She didn't know the first thing about city survival…
She flushed hotly when her stomach let out a massive roil, her ears flattening. "Are...you hungry?" Yang asked.
Sienna rubbed the back of her neck and nodded. "They've only given me water over the five or so days I was in captivity..." Not even a heel of crusty bread. Only water. She was absolutely famished. She'd never gone so long without food, not even in winter. Maybe a day or two while they hunted and prepared a deer carcass, but never five days. This was beyond upsetting. She really needed to eat... Especially now that she had to keep her aura active all the time in order to avoid whatever punishment the duke might dole out onto her. She would feel pain, sure, but she wouldn't end up with a bruise... The area where she'd been struck still tingled and she was very certain it would turn black by time nightfall rolled around.
Yang looked at her manservant and spoke to him in another language before he got up and left. "So why are you here?" Yang frowned.
Sienna's ears went back. "The duke ordered a massacre of my people... I suspect mainly for sexual slaves for the upper class." They'd killed the elderly and middle aged and most of the children along with all the men. She'd really only seen the women around her age, a bit younger, and somewhat older than ehr. Probably no older than mid-twenties. But that had only been one small part of camp. Who knew what the other areas had undergone? Her heart ached for the loss of so much. So many people dead, little babes killed on their mother's breast. She had seen a few young girls among those huddled near the wagon... Her insides turned cold at the idea of what would happen to them, so she opted not to linger on it.
Yang continued to frown. "Oh... I'm so sorry." She could sense a lot more in Yang's aura, but she kept it all under wraps. "Do you have any clothes?"
Sienna looked down at her outfit which was dusty, torn, and disheveled. She shook her head. "They didn't let me gather anything." Yang was around the same height but, uh, more endowed to put it tastefully.
Yang got into a strange, wooden square with drawers and pulled out a dress. It was nothing like what Sienna had worn. "Sorry. This is all I have right now: my clothes. We can go down to the tailors and get your measurements done in a bit."
"Thank you." Sienna took the dress and reached to start disrobing, but she noticed Yang's severe anxiety. Nothing spoken, but she could sense it on her aura. Obviously didn't want to watch her change. She looked around and saw a door connected to the room that didn't connect to the main hall. She opened it and saw...a strange room with things she didn't even have the words for. But it was disconnected from the main room so she closed the door and changed in there. Yeah, Yang was definitely more...endowed and it didn't fit quite right. But it was all she had for the time being. She came back out and looked at her old clothes with a sigh. Leather clothes were so much better than these delicate cloth ones... Her jerkin and pants were completely torn and unusable... The days of travel and occasionally being dragged on the ground hadn't done them any favors. "Do...you want to go now?"
"How long will it take them for me to make clothes?" She knew she probably wouldn't be able to get clothes like what she was used to. It'd probably all be woven cloth like these. Dyed as well. It was such an usual situation for her... All she could do was put up with it…
“"A day or so with magic? Though..." She frowned. "I saw your wrists. Are they okay?" Sienna looked down. Her wrists were covered with the sleeves, but she pulled them up to reveal the indentions of the rope as well as the burns she'd gotten from them. "Oh... That's absolutely terrible! I'll have Johnathan get you some salve when he comes back. I'm so sorry!" Yang wasn't lying about anything; Sienna could feel it. None of this was her fault. It was obviously all perpetrated by the duke. Why...? Their people never caused any harm to them... They hunted on the lands they had ancestrally for eons. Nothing was wrong with what they did. She hoped the other remaining bands would be fine... This was bad... So many people had been wiped by the duke's careless, callous massacre... So many lives lost... She prayed the Dark Father would cradle them and take them to a place of no suffering...
"It definitely does hurt quite a bit..." She couldn't deny it. She'd just learned how to deal with pain over her lifetime. She could get cared for, sure, but even so... She knew that she had to tough it out. Whatever pain was thrown her way here... Yeah, she would have to endure it. She could probably escape, but she already felt a sense of loyalty to Yang. The girl had obviously been through absolute hell and needed support. How could she leave her alone? Plus, who knew what would happen to Yang if she escaped? The poor girl might receive a massive punishment on her behalf... Damn it... She was really trapped here.
"I'm so sorry." She could see tears spring to Yang's eyes. She really did have a lot of empathy... She had so much trauma as well... How could she ever deal with anything? Whatever she'd been through had obviously been incredibly nasty and awful. She really had no spirit or fight in her. Her spirit had been completely broken before this point.
"It's not your fault." She couldn't blame Yang for this. There was no complicit action here. The duke had ordered all of this. Her accent was quite a bit different than the other people's she heard from this land. She obviously wasn't native. Why would she have any sort of part in these crimes? She constantly felt Yang telling herself that she wasn't allowed to speak and other issues like that... Well, at least she was a woman. She couldn't imagine what would happen if she were a man.
They fell silent and Sienna rested her hand over her abdomen, both out of hunger and the pain from the strike the duke inflicted on her. She wished she could have some will bark tea to help with the pain. She had none of her herbs or her divination tools... She frowned. She really had nothing... No clothes, no nothing. Yang's clothes ill fitted her but there wasn't much she could do about it. She...she really needed some food, though. She hadn't eaten in five days. Even with her aura disabled, she was still wasting away. She still burned through more food than the average person simply because her aura was active. Too much longer and she would've died entirely.
Thankfully, Johnathan returned soon after with a plate of food, though it was nowhere near what she needed. She frowned and looked at him. She wasn't sure if she could make any requests of him or not. "Can I make requests?" She was little better than a slave, of course, but she wasn't sure what all Yang would allow her to do. She really was used to speaking up for herself and setting boundaries with people... She hoped Yang would let her at least speak up for herself as far as Yang and Johnathan were concerned.
Yang hesitated for a moment before nodding. "You didn't ask for any of this... I didn't either..." She could sense Yang's honesty in that. She seemed to be just as surprised by all of this as Sienna was. Why be angry at someone that wasn't complicit? She just didn't really have it in herself to be angry at the young girl who was obviously broken down and miserable from whatever treatment she had suffered over her life.
"Well. I'm going to need more food than this, about three times as much. I have my aura active, so I need the extra food. Otherwise I'll die in a matter of days... I haven't eaten in five days too..." She frowned. She wasn't trying to alarm Yang or anything like that... It was just the truth of the matter. She was literally starving at this point and wanted more food. She needed it for certain...
Yang asked Johnathan something in their language and the man dipped out of the room again, obviously frustrated. She could sense he didn't want to do any of this, but it wasn't her fault. He couldn't really blame her when she hadn't chosen this. If she had a choice, she'd still be with her people. The thought did make her ears go down, but she shoved it aside. No, she couldn't dwell on that... Otherwise she would break down.
But she started to eat, the food tasting better than anything in her life. She'd never gone so long without eating as far as she could remember. She was absolutely livid with how hungry she was. She couldn't believe they hadn't fed her anything. But she ate slowly, trying not to shock her body too much. It didn't last too long, though, and she sighed, setting the plate aside. She wasn't really sure what to do next... This was so frustrating. She was so hungry. And, well, she was tired too... She felt her head starting to droop. She'd barely slept over the past several days because she had been in such excruciating pain.
"Are you all right...?" Yang asked.
"Just tired. Haven't slept much." She'd never gone this long without sleep or food... She was severely weakened due to her state.
"Well, after Johnathan gets back again, you can sleep. I'm...not going to force you to do anything you don't want to." Yang frowned. "But we'll have to play the parts in front of the duke."
Sienna sighed and nodded. "Yeah, you're right about that." It didn't seem like Yang wanted to enslave her or treat her terribly, but there wasn't a whole lot they could do about it. The duke would obviously be outraged if Sienna and Yang acted buddy buddy. Yang was actually looking out for her. She was glad for that. She would just have to swallow her pride and pretend to be a good little slave when in front of him. But behind closed doors... Well. She could at least relax as best as possible. "The duke is not a kind man." Considering he'd been the one to order the senseless slaughter of her people and had hit her like that... Yeah.
Johnathan returned again a bit later with more food, some water, and some salve. She applied it to her wounds and ate, thankful for the additional food. Yeah, even that didn't take the edge off her hung pangs, but the water was also welcome. She was given basically just enough to keep her moving. Nothing more, nothing less. But with all of that done, she felt her head hobbing and she yawned widely, ears flicking back for a moment. Yang patted the spot next to her on her bed and Sienna nestled down, soon falling asleep.
