Come now, open your eyes

For the Interrogation quest with @Star

The last time he'd been down in the tunnels, Kove had another wolf at his side. This time he was alone, searching for the captive he'd heard of. Having not met the hostage before, he was unsure what to expect when seeing them. He was curious about her, about how she'd ended up getting caught, where she'd come from, what condition she was currently in... Knowing those simple things could, potentially, help him to get information out of her. He'd be nice at first, as was how he usually acted towards females, but if that didn't work, he knew he'd need to use a bit of force.

Moving through the tunnels, heading deeper and deeper into them, he kept what Bane had told him about them fresh in his mind. He relied on his nose and ears to guide him through the twists and turns to get to the cloud-like wolf; he, of course, did not yet know she resembled a cloud when cleaned, nor was he sure of what her current appearance showed. After having his legs carry him through more tunnels, the scent of another wolf soon reached him, and he continued towards her. His pace was slow and posture currently not aggressive, but that could all change in a heartbeat. Kove didn't expect her to be too disloyal, if at all, but hoped she'd at least give him something for her own sake. Once in speaking distance, and into the small amount of light provided by the glowworms, he allowed a warm smile to spread across his maw, and gave a nod of greeting. "Hello," the ghost voiced, wanting to grab hold of her attention.

By now Star really was losing it.
Her eyes were wild, she couldn't walk because of what Crescendo had done to her paws, and she didn't feel like the same old Star anymore. Her fur was dappled with her own blood, some of it making the spiral with a line through it on her shoulder, some more marking Crescendo's bloody pawprint on her forehead. She looked up to the source of the voice, her dark eyes sad. "He-Hello.." She murmured quietly. After what everyone else had done to her, she feared he would do the same, and soon she was pleading with a quiet little whine. "Please don't hurt me!" She whined softly, flattening her ears to her head. Her hackles rose nervously.

The hostage was a sight to behold. The scent of another pack member still lingered on, and around, her, leaving him to conclude that whoever had visited her before him had left he in her current condition. He could, vaguely, tell that her fur was white like his own, but it was smeared with what he believed to be her own blood. When she returned his greeting, he was about to stand up and move closer, but her quiet pleads made him sit right back down where he was. Shaking his head, Kove's maw opened to allow the words to slip out. "I am not going to hurt you." As long as you cooperate at least a little bit. He didn't speak the second part, but still felt the need to think it, if only to remind himself of his original plan. Restraining himself from making a comment on how bad she looked, he decided to start off by asking a few, simple questions. "What is your name?" he inquired.

Star let out a breath of relief as he told her he wouldn't hurt her. He won't hurt you, her conscience repeated in her mind. He asked the first question, and she didn't yet realize he was interrogating her. "I am Star." She told him. Oddly enough, she almost added Shine Snowfang, but stopped herself just in time. That was her old full name. Why had she remembered it now? She looked up at the pale man again, as if awaiting her next question.

"It is nice to meet you, Star, though I wish it was under better circumstances." Slow. He was moving at a slow pace, not wanting to rush things. It appeared as if she hadn't yet realized why he'd come to meet her, and that could work to his advantage. It would only work if he could keep her thinking it was nothing more than a small chat, and to do that he would need to keep it as close to one as possible. "My name is Kove, and I do hope we will be able to get along." Standing slowly, he took a few steps closer, stopping only when he was close enough to get a better look at her body. He was curious to know who had done it, so after lowering himself a bit to get a better sense of the scent, he quickly provided an answer to his own, unanswered question. Crescendo. He hardly knew the male, and wondered what had caused him to leave such marks on the female's body. Perhaps it was just for fun? "Are you doing alright, Star?" he asked her, lowering himself to the ground to look at her face. "Is there anyone you'd want to know of your whereabouts back home?" Kove had no plans of telling anyone from her pack where she was, or even how she was doing, but thought it might help bring forth some trust in him from her.

"No," she said with a shiver. "Everything hurts. My whole body hurts. My mind hurts." She said tiredly. She was already sick of all the torture. But there was likely to be more in the following time that she was kept here. "Yes. I want my acquaintances and pack and friends to know I'm here, so they can come rescue me.." She told him, her midnight eyes dull. She was just sick of it. She wanted to go home. "Why can't you let me go home already?" She asked sadly and plain.

"I wish I could help with your physical pain," Kove said. "Have you cleaned the wounds at all? Have you rested to let your mind regain its strength?" His ears perked a bit as he heard her next words, glad she actually answered both questions. Neither were helpful when it came to gathering information, but they were helpful to him. It allowed him to work more towards gauging what type of questions he could ask, and how many he could toss to her at a time. "If you will cooperate with me, I'm sure we can get you out of here and back home in no time." Flashing another smile, he allowed a small wag of his tail to show with it. "I will personally help you home if you can not make the journey on your own, but first I'll need to know if you're willing to cooperate. You do not need to move at all, just speak."

"Well, I've lapped at them... But I don't have herbs and I don't have anything to stop infections from getting in." The cuts could easily become infected. Even if Star did have herbs, she'd have no idea how to use them. She wasn't a healer. "Uh. I've slept." Although a large portion of the few times she'd slept was from being knocked out. "I can speak." She said, duh, she waited to see what she had to say and/or answer.

Kove was not familiar with herbs, or which plants did what. He didn't know which ones could help with infections or stop bleeding, nor did he know of any that could possibly dull pain. He was, to put it bluntly, useless when it came to healing of any kind. The most he could ever do was lick a wound clean, but he wasn't about to do that for a stranger, even if his plan was to get her to warm up to him. "If you are able to stand and walk, try using the water you find down here," he voiced. "Bats shouldn't travel this far in, so you shouldn't need to worry about soaking in guano." He was glad to hear she'd slept, though for his own reasons. Sleeping meant she would be able to stay awake longer, and staying awake longer meant more questions could be asked. "That's good." The ghost's voice was calm, he made sure of that. "Let us start then, shall we?" He adjusted himself so his body was laying in a more comfortable position, not yet sure how long he would be there. "What was going on within your pack before this ordeal came up? Surely something must have caused you to come close to Blackfeather."

"Okay." She nodded, although currently there were holes in her feet and she couldn't walk, just kinda drag herself around. "Nothing, really. I was feeling hungry, but an odd feeling came over me when I dug up a cache. I'd be taking away food from my pack, it felt selfish. So I decided to do my own hunting. For whatever reason I couldn't seem to find much, let alone catch it. So I just ate a mushroom and hoped it would fill me up. It made me feel reckless, like getting into a fight, so when I came to the borders I trespassed, because my mind was in a haze cause of the mushroom." She explained the whole thing to him. She had just suddenly felt blood-crazed, like she was looking for a fight, she just wanted to get in trouble for fun. That didn't seem like Star.
[size=xx-small] (It seemed like Runt...) [/size]

Listening closely to what had happened to land her in the tunnels, he made sure to catch each word. Her reasoning for leaving was to hunt, but before that she'd mentioned a cache. One that wasn't empty, going by what she'd said. That was something he wanted to hear, and so, Kove attempted to steer the conversation more towards that. The discovery of what he was doing, of why he was down in the tunnels, was inevitable, and he'd probably end up speeding it up with what he was about to say. "This cache you'd gone to," he started. "Where might it have been located? It's location might have been what prevented you from finding much to catch, and, in turn, what brought you here." He was trying to be sneaky with his words, trying to get her to accidentally let out some information. "The sooner we learn of all the details to your reason for trespassing, the sooner you'll be able to get out of here." It was a lie, of course. Kove had no clue as to when, or if, the lady would be leaving them.

Star immediately recognized the attempt to get info. Loyalty is everything! Her conscience told her. As usual the voice argued, No, Loyalty used to be everything. Survival is everything. Escape is everything! Just answer the questions and you can get out of here, idiot. The voice snarled in her head. Her ears flattened. She didn't want to hear them argue, but it didn't help- they were in her head. Loyalty is everything! Protect the ones you love! The ones who gave you your life back! Her conscience screamed. You love nobody. The only one you ever loved is probably dead in a bloody ditch somewhere. The voice muttered darkly. Her eyes looked haunted as she looked up at him, and made her choice. "I cannot tell you that."

In truth, Kove hadn't expected an answer right away. He'd hoped, but not expected. "Yes, you can," he stated. "Anything you tell me will not leave these tunnels, unless you want it to." The goal of getting her to trust him was still in action, but he couldn't keep it going for long. He needn't to get whatever he could out of her, and if he needed to use force to get it done, he was fully prepared to do so. The idea wasn't appealing, but it had to be done. "As I said, the sooner you answer, the sooner you can leave. The sooner you can go home, see your friends, be free..." After dangling the idea of her freedom in front of her, he then went on to say what would happen if she did not comply to his questions. "If you do not answer, I can not guarantee your freedom, or that no one else will come and bring you harm."

[size=large]"If you do not answer, I can not guarantee your freedom, or that no one else will come and bring you harm."[/size] Star visibly shivered. She didn't want to go through more pain, the silver eyed beast had done the worst to her, it had been horrible- her own blood stained her fur. She was dappled with rosy crimson. The two had been given names her mind, since she didn't know them- Bane was the White Wolf, and Crescendo was the silver eyed beast. She didn't want them to hurt her again. Give him the answers, you idiot! The voice yelled in her mind. "In Rising Sun Valley.." She began. But she didn't continue. She couldn't be a traitor, she couldn't.

"That is a good start," he told her, some praise in his voice. "You need to continue, though. A location, a specific area." Kove did not know how deep her loyalty to her pack was, but believed it could be broken no matter how deep;y engraved in her bones it was. Whether it'd be through speaking, harming, or bringing her to the brink of madness and delirium, someone in the pack would get the answers they wanted. Giving up was not an option, and it didn't appear as if anyone from her pack was coming to the rescue anytime soon, which gave them time. And uncertain amount of it, but still time all the same. "For your own sake, just answer. Your pack does not seem to hold the same loyalty to you as you do them, because I have not seen a single wolf come to try and save you. No one has even come to ask of you." The ghost wanted to pull her loyalty from her, to get his answers quicker so he could leave the tunnels for the day. "You are alone now, Star. When alone, you must watch out for yourself, and to do that you need to answer any questions asked of you."

A location, a specific area. Hmm. He's just using you for the answers. He won't let you out. Her conscience whispered in her ear. Listen to what he says, give him the answers. Then you can be free, idiot. The voice said in a frustrated tone in her head. She tilted her head and again spoke up. "I can't tell you that, Kove. That is honestly not your business." She told him in a sure tone. She couldn't betray her pack. What would Bazi think? What would Scimitar think? What would Dovev and Kieran and Falwasi and Galileo think? She couldn't give all their information away. "Are you sure you won't tell anyone?" She said, raising a brow with a tilt of her head.

When she said it wasn't his business, he was about to switch to plan B right then and there. Her following words stopped him though. "I will not tell a single soul, and I give you my word on that," Kove told her, copper orbs trained on her features as he awaited to hear what she had to say. If he'd been a mind reader, and heard the arguments going on within the female's head, he'd be encouraging the voice, rather than her conscious. However, he didn't know of the inner battle, he just knew of her voiced words. Without knowing that he was receiving help from her mind, he decided it to be her last chance. Last chance to give good, useful information.

Did she really trust him that easily? There was nothing he could swear on that would make her trust him any more... She didn't believe in a god, there was no wolf holy book, and his life meant little to her. But somehow just giving her his word. All that pressure... She could be free and with her pack soon again! "In Swiftcurrent. In the Women's Glade there's one, and some dappled along the creek and throughout the valley." She blurted to him. Still, those were all very general- even the Woman's Glade was a fair medium size that would take some snooping around to find the caches. She gulped. They won't find it. He couldn't get into the Creek's land without getting caught. Besides, it's not like he will tell anyone.

A smile spread across his maw. It was nothing more than a general area, and would take a bit of time to find them, but it was still a good answer. It would have been insane to think she'd give him exact coordinates or directions. No, the loyalty she still held wouldn't allow that, but luckily he could work with the general location. "Very good," Kove said, standing up and stretching out his limbs as he did so. "Now about your pack members," he started. "If you tell me of any injuries some of your pack mates may have, or of any weakened areas around the border of the territory, I will give you a hint to navigating these tunnels. Could help you leave before anyone else comes to see you." Lie. Since entering the tunnel and finding the hostage, he'd lied more times in a single sitting than he'd done before. It was a necessary thing, he knew, and felt no guilt whilst doing it.

"See, there are no weakened borders or members. Swiftcurrent is doing well." She said. She didn't know if she would consider pregnancy a weakening thing to a pack member... It did make them slow, but they were still healthy and strong( at least, Paar was). Except... Bazi had apparently taken a fall... And been hurt, and she had come back scrawny. But she was looking better. Star was not a warden, and knew nothing about "weak spots" at the borders. She'd seen and fought off some intruders, but never paid any attention to where they entered commonly. It was the warden's job to protect the borders, not a warrior's or a gamekeeper's. So basically all of what she said she beleived to be true.

Wrap up soon? c:

"Interesting." He couldn't detect a lie in her voice, telling him she believed what she said. Kove was sure there had to be some sort of weakened area, some way in that could permit them easier entry, but they would need to find it for themselves. Holding up his end of what he'd said, he told her something of the tunnels. "They can not be navigated," he said bluntly. "I had ended up here merely by mistake while trying to find a way out." It wasn't true, of course, but he did well to hide the lie from entering his voice. He had no more questions for her in the moment. "Anything you'd like to add before I must leave? Anything at all."

sure, this is probably my final post. Thanks for the thread!

Star's hopes dropped to the bottom of a pit when he said the tunnels could not be navigated. She let out an audible sigh. "Very well then." She said, and listened to what Kove said next. "Yeah. I wanna go back." She said quietly, and turned away, laying on the ground. She began to watch some drops drip from a stalactite. Star sighed again. No going home, not today at least. She hoped that for once the voice had been right. Traitor, her conscience whispered in her ear. She ignored it.

Final post from me. I thank you, too, for the thread. c:

"You'll be back home before you know it," Kove said, turning towards the direction he'd come from as he spoke. "Just wait a little longer." Or awhile longer. No matter how long it took, he was sure she would eventually be released. "Until we meet again, if we do." With those final words, the ghost started back in the direction from which he'd entered, glad to have gotten at least a small bit of information from the hostage. The thought of who would visit her next, and what they would be able to get out of her, entered his mind. She was a loyal little wolf, and he gave a silent wish of luck to whoever decided to go at her next.