User:Akuyim/Beauty and the Beast

Beauty and the Beast
His eyes flashed open, he was precariously close to the edge of the bed. With a small gasp, he righted himself so he didn’t pitch out of bed. No matter how hard he tried, learning to fall asleep without the comfort of bars was an alien concept to him.

He blinked, he went to sit up. Something began to crawl in his skin, in his soul. He felt more alive, more aware. Closing his eyes a moment, as part of the essence of Hakkar shifted and nestled in his being. With a sigh, he laid back down and rolled over. Without thinking, his arm draped across his companion.

She was awake, her bed companion tossed and turned a lot. Her eyes were open when he was wrestling his own inner demons. Something began to crawl in her skin, in her soul. She didn’t know what it was but it was primal. Something, she could relate to. She closed her eyes, as part of the essence of Hakkar shifted and nestled in her. When her eyes opened, she felt more alive, aware and most of all more predatory.

His arm fell across her, with a sly smile, she rolled over to see the man, she fell asleep with. In a moment, one of her feet began to rub up against his legs, and she began to trace a finger down his arm. She felt him, become rigid and stiff, almost as if in terror. She looked at his face, and leaned forward to kiss him, when it dawned on her, who was sharing her bed. Instead, she simply buried her face into his chest. She simply let her hold her, for a moment.

His breathing stopped, as his body went stiff with horror. Then she stopped, whatever it was she was doing, and rested her head into his chest. That felt nice. He liked that. It didn’t last. It was early morning, and neither of them were tired. He held her for only a few minutes, but to him, it felt like forever.

She rolled away from him, and sat up in bed. “Kranny, im ‘ungry. I am goin’ to get food.”

With that she stood up, grabbed her axe, and began to walk out. A moment behind her was her shadow. Kranik. She figured he would follow. With a smirk she realized that there was hope for him yet. But not now. Tossing her tresses back, she found a table upstairs and sat down.

Before he could sit down, she slid some money to him. “Kranny could joo, go get me food, from down stairs.” she batted her eyelashes at him, and gave him the best of her smiles. He simply nodded and scooped up the coins, and walked downstairs.

She began to scan the room for someone that could help her, quench her desires. This primal force in her, and her desire left unfulfilled for the past few days, was making her antsy. Very few people were up at this hour. The ones that were, were either completely drunk, which would just chase anything that walked and had a pulse.....maybe. Or they had gone passed completely drunk and were at the passed out on the table stage.

She sighed, this was hopeless. Maybe she would have to break him in after all. She shook her head vigorously, trying to shake that last thought out of her head. She was enjoying having a friend. She was becoming increasingly lonely. She hadn’t seen Mortanus in weeks, Toku simply ignored her, her own teacher and mentor hated her so much he refused to teach her, or even talk to her. The longer she dwelled on the men she had become attached to or wanted to be attached to and realized how much they wanted little or nothing to do with her. She felt like crying. Again, she shook her head. Big girls don’t cry, she chided herself.

An orc with a cutlass lumbered into her view, reeking of salt water and fish. He was accompanied by a few other men. Mostly humans, and a tauren. Piracy knew no racial limitations. She peered at them all, a half dozen in all. The tauren had promise, they were notoriously known for being nice and cuddly. The rest could rot. Straightening her top, to make herself look even more appealing. She smiled sweetly at the big lummox, who happened to turn his gaze away as she did so. She garnered the attention of one the humans instead.

Winking back at her, he made his way to her table. She sighed, on the inside. She shook her head in disdain. Nothing was working right. Why was she so cursed? What force on Azeroth was preventing her from finding happiness?

He swaggered up to her table, he too reeked of the sea. Smiling back at her with his half rotten mouth, he laid his hand on the hilt of his short sword. He placed one of his boots on the chair next to her, preventing her escape presumably. “Ye be lookin like what we be needin’ lass” he hissed.

She tried not to roll her eyes, she wasn’t sure if she was completely successful or not. “Ya joo t’ink so? Joo aint what I be needin t’ough.” she whispered back, her voice oozing disdain.

Undaunted, he continued. “Listen missy, ye don’t want to make the bloodsails angry. If’n ye knew what was good for ye. Ye would just play nice, like a good lil girl.” he hissed. He glanced over his shoulder at his mates. They were causing a raucous, as usual. With a smirk he looked back at her. “Asides, we be needin’ a new wench aboard” he let out a chuckle. With reflexes faster then she expected, he roughly grabbed her arm, and yanked her to her feet. In the commotion, her axe got caught up in the legs of her chair and tumbled to the ground.

She shrieked for a moment, only to be silenced by a toughened leather backhand. She began to struggle. He was stronger then her, but the chairs were in her way. They were causing her to lose her balance. She began to slap and claw at his face. He laughed and mocked her attempts.

Then his arm holding her went limp. Kranik loomed into view behind him. He withdrew his bloodied dagger. She simply looked at him a moment. Something wasn’t right about him. His eyes, they were colder, angrier, and stonier. It almost made her shiver to meet his gaze. The man that had held her didn’t have time to scream, or even gasp before collapsing to the floor in a bloodied heap.

Kranik spun around quickly, drawing his sword at the same time. While the man never did get the chance to warn his mates, his death did not go unnoticed. The others began to climb the stairs to get to them. As they charged up the stairs, they drew their weapons.

Shunasun kicked her chair out of the way, and picked up her axe. She went to call Nightstorm, her nightsaber. She leered her head back to whistle. “NO CATS.” Kranik growled, without looking back at her. “I will kill it” he finished.

She cocked her head to one side, and no whistle ushered forth. Even his voice was off, his troll accent was gone. He spoke just fine. Something was very odd. She just couldn’t place it. It was unnerving to her.

The orc lead the charge up the stairs, the last human stopped halfway up and withdrew a gun. The rest followed suit charging up the stairs.

Kranik bent forward and hissed at them like snake. He dropped his sword to the ground. He placed his right foot on the handle. With movements almost quicker then the naked eye, he reached back and withdrew a throwing dagger, and threw it in one fluid motion. The dagger embedded itself in the throat of the gunman, who pitched backwards. The shot rang out, splintering the rafters as he tumbled and fell down the stairs.

Kranik kicked his sword across the floor, and in the same fluid motion dropped to the ground. His foot shot out, tripping the orc and then he flipped over the now prone orc. Picking up his sword as he landed, he began to trade blows with the remaining two humans.

The tauren, stepped over the orc and brought his hammer down to smash the puny troll girl. Anger was flaring in his eyes, and he snorted at her in anger as she deftly twisted out of the way. The wooden planks splintering and breaking, as he hefted his maul from its cradle.

Shunasun acted just as fast, after spinning away, she brought her axe to bear. It was a glancing blow across the tauren’s massive arm. First blood however was hers, she just had to make sure she got last blood as well.

Kranik spun quickly flashing his dagger across the eyes of one of the humans. The second one stopped and began to cast a spell. Twisting past the now screaming, blinded human. He planted a kick into the chest of the magus. It sent him catapulting over the edge of the balcony and crashing into a table below. Spinning fully around, he buried his dagger into the exposed back of the blinded human. Twisting the dagger, he wrenched it free with a satisfying sound of the man’s spine snapping. He collapsed in a heap at his feet.

The orc righted himself and drew his cutlass, and looked at Kranik. Watching in horror at how quickly and easily, he was dispatching his men. He let loose a bloodcurdling scream and charged him, waving the cutlass menacingly in the air.

The tauren, snorted and chuckled at the girl and her inability to fight. Hefting his maul, he swung it with all his might at her chest. She ducked and rolled under it. The maul slammed into the pillar, she was standing in front of. The pillar shattered on impact, causing part of the roof to sag.

Rolling to her feet, she was still crouched behind him. She growled, and took her axe and placed it between the tauren’s hooves. Before he could react, she stood up and with all her might swung her axe straight up. The axe blade stopping only when it reached the tauren’s pelvis bone. Yanking her axe free, she looked at her foe. He fell to his knees, covering his massive wound. The maul clattered to the ground. She was no man’s wench, she never was and she would never be one. With callousness seen only in predators, her axe bit through the neck of her crumpled foe. His head hitting the floor with a clatter.

Kranik stared at the orc. As the orc’s blade descended, he blocked it with his own sword. His dagger plunged quickly and repeatedly into the orc’s neck and throat. Satisfied, with his handiwork, he kicked the orc in the chest. He fell backwards and lay dead by the beheaded tauren. He was not quite done, he jumped down onto the chest of the fallen magus, his sword plunging through his head cleaving it in two.

Wrenching the sword free, he stalked his way back upstairs, making sure the men that were slain, stayed dead.

She simply stared at him, he was ruthless, efficient. Something very much unlike himself. He turned the corner, his cold-blooded stare met her gaze. Wiping his blades on the clothes of the closest victim. His callous cold eyes, penetrated her own.

“Kranny?” she stammered.

“Call me Kranik” he responded as he slid his weapons back into sheaths. He cocked his head, as he looked at the ravishing troll woman before him. What he would do to her, his mind began to race what he would do to her. His blades tracing his marks through her flesh, she would bleed for him, before he would....he shook his head.

“Kranik?” she asked back, she had never heard anyone call him that, and those that did were always asked to call him Kranny. He was just staring at her, all his eyes were cold, she could tell there was a hint of lust in his gaze. Something about it all unnerved her. Then he began to shake his head vigorously, far more then she had ever seen someone shake their head. It looked like he was trying to shake it completely off his shoulders.

“Kranik? Are you ok?” she asked again with a little more concern in her voice, then she intended.

“Da Kranny fine, ju calls me da Kranny ok?” he said back. “Oh, da Kranny fergetted jur food, da Kranny sorry.” without any more words, he simply stepped over the people he killed and proceeded to talk to the innkeeper. She stood their confused. There was more to Kranik then he let on. She would find out one day what that was.

She watched him walk downstairs, towards the innkeeper. She looked at the mess of bodies, blood and broken wood. The goblin bruisers would be here in a couple moments, and she didn’t relish the thought of a goblin prison.

She went to say something to her friend, but he was already to far away. She would have to scream. She sighed and started to walk forward, when someone roughly grabbed her by the shoulder and spun her around. In the same fluid motion, a large fist was planted into her face. She stumbled, and then tripped over the body of the tauren.

She was looking at a second equally angry tauren. His fur a russet red, his horns white with black tips, and his large eyes, only carrying anger and rage. “You killed my brother, bitch” it growled.

Startled, she tried backing away to her feet, as blood oozed from her nose. As she struggled to stand, he slammed his hooves into the floor, with such force it shattered part of the floor, and stunned her in place a moment, however it was a moment to late. He roughly grabbed her and flung her behind him. She slammed into the wall, and crumpled to the floor, where one of his companions was waiting. Quickly, he fired his gnomish net launcher, enveloping her. She started to struggle against the barbed net, but found it only digging into her leather armor and her exposed flesh. She did the only thing she could think of, she screamed as loudly as she could. The red tauren, slammed his mace atop her head, crushing her to the ground, cutting her scream off in the middle. They dragged her out the way they came in.

Kranik made his way to the innkeeper, who was none to pleased to see the lanky troll before him. “Kranny wan food.” he nodded as he spoke to extenuate his point.

The goblin stared at him, and then looked away and picked up another mug to wash out. Two things happened simultaneously, Shunasun screamed and the bruisers barreled through the front door. Kranik looked at the innkeeper, and his smug look of satisfaction as Shunasun was dragged unconscious from his establishment. The bruisers began to charge their way to where he stood. Thinking as fast as he could, he threw his vanishing powder to the ground, and in a blast of blinding smoke he was gone.

Bewildered, the bruisers stopped and looked around for him in vain. Resigning themselves to quickly remove the dead bodies from the bar they left the innkeeper alone. Kranik circled behind the innkeeper, ever vigilant on where the bruisers were at any time. He couldn’t sneak past them to get to where Shunasun was, there were too many, all he could do was wait. His anger and frustration was rising, in order to quell the inner demon, he squinted and glared at the innkeeper. Slowly several seconds later, he opened his eyes. Quietly, he waited, behind the innkeeper, his back pressed against the wall.

The innkeeper disappeared past him, while the bruisers were diligently working. Kranik could hear voices in the room, the innkeeper had walked into. Silently pushing the door open, he saw the innkeeper and his wife. She looked like she had just awakened, from all the commotion the bruisers were doing. Gliding unseen, he proceeded into their home.

The innkeeper’s wife, sighed lightly and headed back to bed alone. Kranik made a point of remembering her room. The innkeeper walked past him and back into the inn proper. Kranik continued his illicit tour of the innkeeper’s home, mentally marking the children’s rooms as well, three in all. He heard the innkeeper and the head bruiser exchanging words, so he glided back out front with them.

Kranik arrived behind the bar, he was alone. The innkeeper was halfway to the main door. The last of the bruisers was just leaving. Kranik watched as the innkeeper shut and locked the main door, as he coated his dagger with a potent crippling poison, designed to seize up the limbs of one’s adversary. With the same smug look on his face, the goblin proceeded to walk back towards the door, Kranik stood in front of. Kranik squatted down to make himself more the goblins height and waited.

Once the goblin was in reach he struck. He moved like a coiled cobra, his free hand palming the goblin’s face, driving it into the top of the bar. His dagger hand snapping and piercing quickly into the goblin’s back. Kranik stood up, applying all his weight and force onto the goblin’s jaws preventing him from screaming effectively.

With a look of shock he was looking at his bar top, the troll crushing his jaw. There was a burning sensation in his back, but it was traveling quickly throughout his body. His muscles began to spasm and jerk, before falling useless, his legs and arms taken away from him they fell limp. All he could do was stare out at the fingers before his eyes and his bar top. Then the face of his assailant came into view, first were the massive tusks of the troll killer. He gulped hard and stared at the cold lifeless eyes of the man that had poisoned him.

“I want you to listen to me, as hard as you possibly can. Those pirates up there took something of mine and I want her back.” Kranik hissed at the goblin, and he bore more of his weight down, he could feel the goblin’s teeth grinding together.

“Im not gonna tell you a damn thing” the goblin answered back. Kranik smiled evilly at him.

“Are you good at puzzles?” Kranik retorted.

“What?” the goblin blinked.

“You are going to have to be.......to put your family back together.” Kranik’s words dripped with venom much like his dagger.

“I....I can’t tell you, they....they would kill me.” the innkeeper stammered.

“Ironic isn’t it? They will kill you if you tell me, I will let YOU....live if you don’t. If your family is worth that much to you, perhaps I should let you watch. That way you will have an easier time of putting them back together.” Kranik whispered evilly and glanced back at the door to the family area. He made sure the goblin saw his deadly glance.

The goblin gulped loudly. “Tell me what I want, and I will go away.” Kranik continued.

“Just outside, in a secret cove. Leave the bay through the tunnel, as soon as you do take a left, down the path you can’t miss it” the innkeeper hissed defeatedly.

Kranik patted the goblin on the head with his fingers, before releasing his weight. The goblin slumped to the floor, a quivering mass. Kranik leaned in close to the face of the goblin sneering. “If you are lying to me, no man nor woman alive will be able to put your children back together.” Kranik stood to his full height and stepped over the innkeeper, then spun around and leaned down to one of his ears. “By the way. I don’t make threats, if that is what you are thinking. I make statements. No force can save them, if you have lied to me.” he whispered before spinning around and disappearing into the shadows.

Shunasun awoke, her body riddled with biting pain, her head heavy and her brain fuzzy. She found herself, no longer confined in the barbed net, but in the floor of a wooden cage. She was not alone. There were two human women and a night elf woman in here with her. They huddled together in one corner, leaving Shuna the center. She looked down at herself, tiny holes, that were closing. She was covered in dried blood, her armor was near tattered, but at least she was afforded that comfort compared to her cell mates, who wore rags. She felt her temple, more blood from where the red behemoth had bashed her skull. Taking stock in her situation, she had no weapons other then her fists and tusks. She could call for Nightstorm, but she would appear on the other side of the cage.

The other side of the cage, offered little solace as well. She saw a couple of rowboats, a wide open beach and up to two dozen pirates. She guessed at the number, not wanting to stare at them and raise their ire yet, she had only just woke up and she needed a plan to escape. One that wasn’t forthcoming. She quickly closed her eyes as some of the pirates came towards the cage, she began to feign unconsciousness still.

She could hear her caged companions, shift as the pirates got closer. She heard the men pawing at the cage, attempting to grab or grope one of the helpless victims. “Which one ye think tha captain be takin’?” one of them asked. “I hear he has a thing fer tha tusky ones, she be a lucky wench.” he chortled out a hearty laugh after he spoke. She could hear them walk away. Her heart sank, she only had one shot at escaping and that was when she was brought before the captain.

She opened her eyes slowly, she tried to think on an escape plan. They would at some point be removing her from the cage, if it were on this beach, she may just have a chance. If it were on the pirate boat, she wouldn’t have much a chance at all. There would be five, six times this many men on the pirate vessel if not more. Her axe, was missing, she would have to rely on her fists, tusks and maybe Nightstorm against unbearable odds. Her heart sank, she didn’t want to be here, she knew what she would be forced into. By the same token she didn’t relish the thought of fighting them, she knew she would lose, and she doubted they would kill her. They would simply knock her unconscious again, and perform unspeakable acts against her. No, she would simply have to wait this out and hope that she could slay the captain and free herself that way. Her mind raced, on why she was so cursed, on why she was always unable to find happiness. She simply wanted one thing, that so many people found so easily, she simply wanted to be loved. Loved for who she was, not what she looked like.

Kranik slithered through the city towards the tunnel. He didn’t want to make his presence known. It was slower going, but he didn’t want to have a run in with the fabled bruiser squad. Sneaking through the tunnel was easy. Once on the outside of the of the tunnel, he quickly spied the road to his left and stalked his way down it.

The road emptied out onto a beach. Before him scattered like shells in the sand, clumps of pirates. They would undoubtedly be talking about tonight’s bounty and booty. Kranik made a feral sneer. He coated his blades in his poisons, one blade would cripple them, the other was a virulent poison simply designed to kill quickly. He licked his lips, as he slid forward more. Off to his right, there was a cage. The cage held his prize, plus a couple other ones as well. He paused a moment, to soak in the pleasure of caged victims. He heard a sound off to his right and behind him slightly, something rustling in the foliage. Craning his head to get a better view, he saw a simple pirate on patrol. The patrol, stopped at the road, before turning around and disappearing into the foliage.

Kranik, turned and stalked the man slowly, methodically. The man stopped, reached to his belt pouch to remove some more snuff. Kranik unleashed his fury deep into the man’s neck and slammed his sword deep into the man’s side. Wrenching both blades free angrily, the man fell to the ground, nearly sliced in two, bleeding profusely. Kranik cocked his head to one side watching the man’s blood seep into the ground. Then as quietly as he came, he simply stepped back into the shadows and made his way to the shore. There were a lot more pirates needing to be killed.

Shuna and her new “friends”heard a commotion behind them. Slowly looking that way, they saw a beached raft. Some more pirates got off, including the tauren that had bludgeoned her in the inn. They disembarked from the raft, with gruff orders, he bellowed out to pack up. Grabbing a corner of the cage, with others. They hauled it roughly from the ground and slid it onto the raft. The others loaded the other rowboats and began to shove off. Some of the pirates took to poking at the prisoners, to make sure they didn’t try any funny business, which had already crossed Shuna’s mind.

As Kranik made it to the edge of the foliage by the beach, another boat had docked in the little cove. It was more a raft then it was a boat. Some of the pirates including the red tauren, were hauling the cage from the beach and nestling it on the raft. He was simply too far away. Nonethless, he broke into an all out run. The other two rowboats were already loaded and being sent to sea. He only had to deal with the ones loading the cage and he could be done with it.

Slamming his dagger deep into the spine of the first pirate, he let the hilt go. He slashed the chest of another one with his sword. His free hand already producing his blinding powder and flinging it into the eyes of the tauren. Who stumbled and fell off the side of the raft, with a resounding splash. Shuna couldn’t help but smile for a moment. Until she felt the raft leave ground, and began to ride the waves.

Kranik twisted the dagger out from the back of the pirate as he slumped to the ground. He twisted around, narrowly dodging the saber of another pirate. His dagger plunging deeply into the stomach of his opponent. Spinning, further around his sword slashing down the pirates back. The poison seeping through the exposed wound. Its burning tendrils spreading out, causing him to fall to the ground coughing and wheezing as his lungs began to cease up.

The one remaining pirate, brandished his cutlass. He had taken two steps and stopped short, he kicked sand up towards the troll’s face. Kranik crossed his arms in front of his eyes, feeling the sand cascade down from his arms. He didn’t have time to twist out of the way from the cutlass slash across his exposed abdomen.

The tauren shook himself dry, as he stepped onto the beach. Wrenching the mace from his belt, he ran forward and grabbed a fistful of the troll’s cape. Yanking backwards with all his might, he lurched the troll off his feet and deposited him in a heap at his feet. Raising his mace high in the air, he brought it down to smash the troll’s head in.

With a quick twist, his dagger grazed the bridge of the tauren’s nose causing him to be temporarily blinded. He continued to twist out of the way as the mace slammed into the sand. Bringing himself to his full height, he thrust his sword straight through the chest of the other pirate. Kicking him off of his blade in disgust, he turned his attention to the tauren. Driving the dagger, to its hilt deep into the back of the tauren, Kranik left the blade in there. Watching in perverse glee, as the tauren spun around to smash his brains in, he watched the taurens knees begin to wobble and buckle, his arms begin to go limp. Only moments later to collapse at his feet.

Yanking violently on the tauren’s horn, he wrenched the mace free from tauren’s now useless hand. Kranik held the mace in his hand for a moment, savoring its weight. “Tell me cow. How many men are aboard your vessel?” without waiting for him to answer, he drove the mace through the horn he was holding. It shattered, leaving a stump and a makeshift dagger. Turning the horn over he drove it into the tauren’s shoulder. Grabbing the other horn, he yanked his head violently the other way. Kranik did the same thing.

“Ye can’t stop us.” he finally growled, spitting sand out as he spoke. “Stop you? I’m going to kill you. You will learn not to steal from me, you will learn you do not screw with me.” Kranik hissed, as he rose the mace for one last time. He drove it straight down, onto the tauren’s skull, he heard it break. He wasn’t satisfied, he continued pounding the mace into the lifeless tauren, until his head was nothing more then goo. This gave him an added bonus. The wound across his stomach had healed. Righting himself, he took a deep breath as he marched to the sea. He had a lengthy swim ahead of him. He could still see the ship out at sea, he could only hope, he was able to swim to it in time.

His body ached, with every stroke his body wanted to fail him now. His armor fighting his desires, his eyes narrowing to slits as he cut through the waves. Raising his head above the wave, he spit out more sea water. The pirate’s vessel was so close now. Just a little longer, the sun was seeking to drive away the remains of the night.

As he swam closer still, he saw his way to get aboard the ship. The anchor was still down, he could make out the chain. Draping an arm through one of the links, he rested a moment. His body was screaming at him. With a deep breath, he tried shaking off the fatigue and pain that was riddling his body. He reached up and grabbed the next link in the chain, and began to climb up as quietly as he could.

The sun was beginning to bleed its yellowish-orange crown over the horizon, showering the vessel in morning light. Hauling himself over the side, he was expecting to be met with some sort of activity. Conversely, he was greeted with nothing. Shaking himself dry, he began to peer around the ship.

As his gaze fell across the vessel, something moved above him. A single man, in the crow’s nest. With a smile, the strained muscles in his arms coiled in on themselves. No longer was he feeling fatigued, he was on the prowl. He began to climb the rigging to the nest, stalking his way up, like a spider in a web, his fly waiting unsuspectedly.

His fingers gripped the edge of the crow’s nest, his fly paced back towards him. Swinging himself over the side, his feet slammed into the chest and face of the man, driving him into the remains of the mast. Before the man collapsed to the ground, Kranik’s dagger was already out and embedded into the man’s throat. Cradling the man, as he died, he lowered him to the floor of the crow’s nest.

Removing the dagger, he peered down on vessel’s deck. There were scattered bodies, laying happenstance all over the place. He squinted harder on their prone and supine forms, looking for the tell-tale signs of blood or violence, yet finding none. Cocking his head to one side, he gave them all one last gaze, before silently crawling down the rigging. He was here for one purpose, no one and no thing would keep him from it now.

She awoke. Her brain was cloudy, thought swirled around out of sorts. Nothing made much sense. She blinked her eyes a few times, she was looking a red patterned rug, though at this distance, the pattern was lost to her. She shook her head, or tried to, something was preventing her from moving her head to far. She groaned and tried to get to her feet. It caused her brain, to scream at her, dizziness overcame her and she closed her eyes again. Where was she? Wasn’t she is a cage? Maybe she had to much to drink, the night before and all this was a dream. Honestly, no man would have been able to resist her charms.

She opened her eyes determined, she would stand up. She reached out with her arms, to prop herself up, but found they no longer obeyed her wishes. She couldn’t move them, they were lashed together behind her back. Determination turned to frenzy as she thrashed about trying to make sense of things. She couldn’t move her head, she couldn’t move her arms. She had no idea where she was or how she got there. A gruff male voice cut through her growls, silencing any further frenzy in her throat.

“So, ye finally be awake me pet. I was hopin’ that they didn’t drug you up too much.” The voice said.

She managed to roll to her knees, and found herself staring at a bed. A chain went from the footboard and connected to somewhere behind her. A human male, casually lit a cigarette, and blew a cloud of smoke straight up into the air, before lazily rolling off the side of the bed. He began to walk around the bed, until he was several feet in front of her.

“Im the captain of this vessel, you shall refer to me as master, pet.” he exhaled another plume of smoke.

Her lips curled into a sneer of disgust, and growled “Never” under her breath.

He took two steps forward and delivered a vicious backhand to her. Blood blossomed at the corner of her mouth as she found herself looking at her carpet again. “Very well pet, I will enjoy breaking ye in then. I prefer it this way anyway.” he chuckled, and reached down for her.

Kranik came to the first of them, a man sitting alone on the stairs, from the helm to the main deck. His index finger was on the lip of a vodka bottle, he was balancing it on the stair next to him. He was mumbling something, his speech was so slurred Kranik could not make it out at all.

Luckily he didn’t have to. Unwinding the wire hidden in his bracer, he wrapped it around the pirate’s neck. Pulling back as hard as he could, he began to choke off all words and air the man was muttering. Pulling even tighter on the wire, it began to bite through his neck, as he struggled. Kranik watched in grim satisfaction as the man’s feet kicked helplessly in the air, only to bounce harmlessly off of the stairs. Not content with just strangulating him, Kranik made a sawing motion with the wire, it began to slice through the man’s trachea and deeper into his neck. Finally, the man’s death throes ceased, he hauled the corpse up the few stairs and laid the near headless body on the upper deck.

Creeping down the stairs, he noticed the vodka bottle had toppled to the deck below but remained intact, its own blood pouring out onto the floor. Here were the first of the prone and supine bodies. Upon closer inspection, there were empty and near empty liquor bottles strewn about the entire deck. They had drunk themselves into a stupor. With a callous smile, he took to dispatching them, silently and quickly. A dozen or so lay dead, when he heard a commotion from the common room ahead of him.

Peering from the shadows into the doorway, there were a few men still awake, although entirely intoxicated. Pawing at the other captives in the cage. No longer were they in the cage, but shackled and chained to the far wall. The only thing separating them from their gaggle of fans, was a smaller wooden fence. That wouldn’t last and everyone knew it, it would just take some longer then others to realize it.

His gaze shifted, to the shackled women, Shuna was not among them. His lips curled reflexively into a snarl. His fingers balled into fists. She was his, and she was missing. Where was she? He would simply have to kill them, but leave one alive to torture. Disappointingly, he would have to kill the women outright. They had a penchant for screaming and shrieking at the sight of blood, he needed to be quick and silent. Sighing, he resigned himself to waiting for more lively game.

Her world was spinning, the drugs or poison coupled with the hefty backhand from the captain. A rough hand grabbed a bunch of her hair and lifted her up to a kneeling position again.

“Now pet, lets try this again.” he whispered with a smirk.

From the bowels of her throat, she growled briefly, before summoning a copious amount of saliva. With a quick lounge forward she spit is his face. Her face twisted into a sneer and she braced herself as well as she could from the captain’s swift retribution. He didn’t disappoint her efforts.

With a resounding smack, she was staring back at the carpet. He stepped forward and removed his cigarette and ground it out on her upper arm. He grasped her roughly by her arm, and hauled her back up.

“You will learn, pet. I am the master, you are nothing but my pet. You bend to my whims, my desires.” he growled as he shook her.

She tried to move to kick at him, she lounged forward to stab him with her tusks. As she did so, he yanked on her chain, causing her to choke a moment.

He smirked, a moment before his hand thundered off her face again. Cocking his head to one side, he looked at her a moment, before his hand slapped her yet again. Yanking her hair back, he looked straight down on her bloodied face. She could do nothing but look back up at him. Her eyes telling him, she wanted nothing more then to rip him limb from limb if she had the chance.

“You still have a lot to learn pet. Lucky for you im a great teacher.” he smiled at her cruelly, and rose his hand again.

His hands continued to teach her, as she bled and growled. The thundering of his fists upon her body, were drowned out by the raucous in the main hall. He was enjoying this, the breaking of his pet. Lucky for him, she regenerated. It made his teaching of her much more forceful. Minutes dripped by, her will was adamant, but her resolve was being worn down one fist at a time. She couldn’t take much more of this. How much could she endure. Another resounding fist bounced off her temple, her head again was swimming. She was no longer fighting back, how long could her body resist the pain. She wanted to curl up on herself and cry, she was already dying a little bit on the inside, knowing what she would be succumbing herself to.

A few moments after her body gave up, did he stop his assault. With a disdainful glance, her threw a handkerchief at her. “Clean yourself up pet, you need to look presentable for me.” With that done, he callously closed the door to his cabin.

He had closed the door most of the way, then let out derisive laughter. Turning back to look at her. She lay there bleeding on his carpet, his handkerchief on her chest, her arms tied behind her. He balled a fist, and thumped into his other palm. He smirked evilly, and slowly started around the foot of the bed.

She looked up at him. She recognized his glare, his laugh. Dying a little more inside, she whispered, “Masta, I can’t wipe ma face”

With a proud smirk, he reached down, and hauled her back up to her knees. Catching the handkerchief before it fell to the floor. He began to rub the blood from his pet’s face. Until she was as clean as she was going to get. With a smirk, he dropped the handkerchief to the ground. She was as good as his now.

Silently creeping up between the three drunken pirates. He waited. Salivating, as scenarios played through his head. He had one chance to do this right. Finally, he had it worked it out in his head the best way to deal with them.

Unsheathing his dagger and clutching it tightly in his right hand, he slid his left hand into one of his secret pouches and pulled out a handful of blinding powder. Moving forward slightly more, he held his breath. He could smell the rank, fetid breath of rum and desperation.

Coiled like a cobra, he struck with deadly precision. Slamming the handle of his dagger into the base of the skull of the man in the middle. He crumpled to the floor near unconscious. Flinging the dust into the eyes of the man to the left, he spun quickly towards his right. The dagger dragging across the remaining man’s eyes. The man to the left covered his eyes and stumbled about blindly, silenced for a moment as he tripped over a chair and collapsed to the floor in a heap.

The women stifled a shriek, as Kranik turned his baleful gaze upon their mostly naked forms. It took all his concentration not to be waylaid by his growing interest and desire to make them to bleed helplessly beneath him.

Hopping over the small fence, the women had been penned in. His sword leapt from his side into his hand. They started to scream, but they were silenced when their heads rolled from their shoulders and hit the floor. A blood geyser spraying the wall behind them. Turning quickly, he thrust his sword through the chest of the man left standing. Twisting it ruthlessly, before wrenching the blade out the right side of him. Kranik kicked the man backwards, who hit a table and careened to the floor.

Kranik leapt the fence again, and drove the sword through the head of the man, he nearly cut in half. Ripping the sword free, he turned his attention to the man, crawling to his way to his feet. The man’s eyes red and puffy from the dust. Taking three quick steps, the dagger jabbing it’s way into the man’s throat and jutted out the back of the man’s neck. The sword piercing through the man’s stomach and ran out his back. Crossing his arms across his chest, the blades pulling themselves free in opposite directions. The man becoming a raging blood fountain in front of him. Craning his head back, he looked at the remaining pirate on the ground.

Wiping his blades clean on the pants of the dying pirate. He slid them back into his sheaths, and grabbed the remaining pirate roughly. He slammed the man’s head into the wooden floor, to bring him back into his senses, or what passed for his senses in such a drunken state. Kranik perched on the man’s back.

“The troll woman is where?” Kranik hissed slowly.

The man, shook his head to the best of his ability, before pointing further past the main room. He pointed to a mostly closed door. Kranik turned his head slowly to look at the room, before wrenching the man’s neck until it broke with a satisfying snap. Dropping the head to the ground, he straightened himself up and took a step forward.

The shadows swallowed him entirely as he slithered towards the door. He stood outside in the hallway, listening to a hushed whisper of a woman, and heard a man walk towards her. He watched in disgust as the man, dropped a bloody rag to the floor. Slipping into the room, he began to make his way towards the man. Kranik’s eyes becoming slivers of hatred, as he saw the tinge of crimson on Shunasun’s face. Her blood was his to have, it was not for this man.

She knelt before him, defeated. For a brief moment, she thought something was amiss behind the captain. She resigned it to be the after effects of the drugs, and thunderous repercussions from his fists and feet.

He snapped his fingers harshly to garner her wayward attentions. She looked up at him, her eyes trying to hide the pain from the man before her. With a cruel smile, he undid his belt. He tossed his cutlass to the floor behind him with his left hand and dropped the belt to the floor beside him with his right.

“Now. Let’s see how well you have learned.” the captain whispered as he began to fumble with his trousers. “I hope you please me, my pet.....”

Kranik watched bemused as the captain threw his only weapon to the floor. Holding his breath he stalked behind the captain. Looming above the human, he listened to his desire filled whispers. As he uttered, “my pet”, Kranik’s revulsion could no longer be contained. His left hand palmed a fistful of the captain’s bushy hair, his dagger hand deftly, gouging a huge trench from one side of the captain’s neck to the other showering blood forward.

“She is not yours. She is mine.” Kranik hissed. As he threw the captain backwards with his left hand. Struggling for life a moment, the captain reached for his cutlass, he watched in horror as his fingers failed him, as his life dripped away. Kranik stooped in front of him, watching the man die. He inhaled deeply as the man breathed his last. He stood up quickly, and turned back to Shunasun who had made it to her feet.

“Kranny?” she asked lightly.

Kranik looked at her a moment before turning his attention to the wooden door. He calmly walked over and shut it tightly. Shaking his head no, as he slid the bolt home locking it from outside intruders.

Shunasun, saw him shake his head, “Kranik?” she stammered. She was beginning to feel fear creep up her legs. Something in the air wasn’t right. He turned his cold gaze to her, one of the corners of his mouth curled upwards in twisted macabre smirk. He nodded at her once. The lustful gaze in his deadening eyes was causing goosebumps to creep up her body starting at her bare legs.

He walked towards her, watching her heaving breasts, sandwiched into the small shirt she had been dressed in. It was buttoned with a single button, that threatened to bust at any moment as she began to lose control of her breathing. He turned his gaze southwards, down her exposed midriff, covered in goosebumps to her bare legs. They were the epitome of perfection, long, supple and soft. The skirt she was now dressed in barely covered her. This was a pleasing sight, he licked his lips hungrily.

“Kranik...ju are gonna free me.” she tried to be forceful, but her voice failed her.

Kranik stepped forward and accidently kicked the captain’s belt on the ground. He looked down bewildered at the long leather strap a moment before curling his toes around it. Shifting his eyes slowly up, he looked nearly feral as their gazes locked onto one another. It caused her breath to stop in her chest. He stepped forward again, and this time his right arm shot out and landed between her ample cleavage. Shoving her with all his might, she hit the foot of the bed and flopped helpless onto the mattress. Her arms trapped beneath her, she let out a shriek of surprise.

“Scream all you want, no one can hear you now.” Kranik hissed. His left hand snatching Shuna about the right ankle. In the same motion, he kicked the belt from his foot to his right hand. She saw it a moment late, but she kicked with her left leg. Which seemed to do nothing to stop him. Within a moment her right ankle had been lashed to the post at the foot of the bed.

“Kranik...what do ju plan to do? I’m jur friend.” Shunasun stammered.

Without answering her, he grasped her left ankle and forced all of his weight down on it. Placing his leg across her foreleg, it freed his hands. Leaning forward, he listened to her hushed protestations with a smirk. He placed his tusks on either side of her kneecap, and slid them up either side of her thighs. His tongue licking the top of it, as his tusks scratched and finally bit into her flesh.

Sliding his tongue back down her leg to her knee. He listened to her moan, and arched her back. Her breath finally caught back up to her. Kranik slid his tusks and tongue back up her leg. He savored the taste of her sweat and fear of her goosebumps, before his warm, wet tongue washed them away.

He continued to taste her, as his tusks ran rampart on the inside and outside of her thighs simultaneously. Her breathing became gasps, her protestations began to sound a lot like moans. Smirking into her flesh, he withdrew his dagger. He licked her kneecap, as he wiped the bloodied blade on the blanket between her legs.

Examining the glint from the enchanted blade from the corner of his eye. He licked her kneecap, before running the flat side of its cold blade up her thigh, before gently pressing the tip of the blade into her flesh.

Her leg reflexively stiffened as the cold blade ran across her skin. She gasped, and tried to fight him off, but it was no avail. The tip of the blade bit into her flesh. The blade began to plow through her muscles, causing a crimson trench to well behind it. She could feel his tongue lapping hungrily at her blood.

The morning rays shined through the windows behind them. Spraying the area, with a brilliant yellow hue. His tongue tasting her crimson juice. He listened intently as her breathing swelled, and she moaned as his tongue darted through her leg. He smirked as she writhed beneath him.

In the morning light, she gave in, the huntress had become the prey.