The Prisoner....((Open))

[Eagle Eye MacAllister]

((This is continued from Aimless.))

"No.......no........no......Perfect!" Eagle Eye was looking for a cell for the new prisoner, a loner named Sigurd Argenfors. Each celll hadn't been as wet, dirty, and cold as Eagle wanted the cell of the loner to be, except for this new one. It was nearly completly covered in rat sh.it and had strange stuff dripping from the ceiling. And it was freezing. Eagle grinned. "Ha ha! This is perfect for the little fu.cker. Throw him in here!"

[Masquerade]

Mask dragged the loner after Eagle Eye, his smile a bemused one as he watched the fellow hunter check every cell, carefully appraising the state of each before finally selecting one that was to his liking. A suitably damp, filth encrusted hellhole that would serve Sigurd as living quarters until they decided what to do with him.

"An excellent selection." he smiled, twisting Sigurds already abused arm sharply, in a way no arm should be forced to bend, as he pushed him forward into the darkness of the cell, slamming shut the door after him. Although the temptation to taunt the boy was great, Mask remembered the code of the Wharf Rats. No one was to talk to Sigurd unless they planned on interrogating him; although the cowardly fool probably didn't have any information that would be of any use to them.

[Mina Crow]

Kuro had walked quietly behind Mask, keeping to herself. She now stood by the wall, standing as far from the cell as she could and still maintain her composure. The girl had returned to her silent, self-effacing character, with a blank stare on her face, yet the firm grip on her small staff told of concealed emotions. After all, Sigurd would be around her age, and Mask and Eagle Eye were not exactly gentle. Newcomer as she was, Kuro kept seeing her own image on Sigurd's terrorized face. She wanted to help him, to somehow comfort him, but that action would surely grant her her own place on a damp, dark cell. And that was hardly something Kuro would wish for. Self-preservation above helping someone who might just stab her when she turned away. She was a Wharf Rat, and Sigurd was their prisoner. Kuro intended to keep it that way.

[Eagle Eye MacAllister]

Sigurd whimpered as Mask twisted his already broken arm. His head was hit quite hard on the wall as he was thrown in. He managed to twist himself around into a sitting position. Tears showed on Sigurd's face as he wept in pain. He rubbed his arm and his head. He muttered under his breath. "I hate you. I hate all you rat-people!"

Eagle Eye had a very strong urge to go inside and kick Sigurd in the head, yelling, but resisted. He knew what would happen then.

[Masquerade]

Mask said nothing, his grin twisting into a leer as he eyed the loner through the opening in the door. His eyes gleamed in the low light of the tunnels, adding a hint of madness to his already unsettling expression. It spoke of a mad sort of glee that the boy was hurt and crying, sadistic pride in his handiwork.

The expression was gone from his face soon as he turned, however, back to his fellow 'Rats and gestured that they should move away from the cell, hopefully to talk. Mask wanted them to decide what they were going to do; whether to just let the boy rot, kill him, or bring him 'into the fold'. Although the first and second possibilities appealed to him greatly, he couldn't say so much for the third. Cowards were welcome in the Wharf Rats, but not ones so stupid as to show their cowardice.

[Mina Crow]

[Uh, is his arm really broken?]

Kuro almost cringed at Sigurd's scream, but she ended up bracing herself, pulling up to her full height - which was not much, in fact, but it was the intention that counted. She tried to blank his cry out, pretending it was nothing. And after all, she had a reason to be proud. Rat-people, Sigurd called them. Well, all in all, rats were survivors. In New Pork, that was the only thing that mattered.

At Mask's gesture, she started to walk, feeling grateful for moving away from the cell. She really did not like the sewers, and knowing there were prisoners around them only augmented the uneasiness she felt.

[Eagle Eye MacAllister]

((Uh, yeah.))

Eagle Eye nodded at Mask's gesture, directing a leer at Sigurd before following Mask. As soon as they were out of the hearing range of the loner, who was still weeping pitifully, Eagle, all business now, said to the other two "Rat-people", "So what should we do with the little brat? Kill him, leave him alone in the cell, let him free, or what?" He didn't mention the other option, for then he woudn't get to kill Sigurd. If they left him in the cell to rot, Eagle could shoot him in the night. If they let him free, then Eagle could hunt him down and shoot him then. A win-win-win-lose situation.

[Masquerade]

Mask shot Eagle Eye and Seagull a grin, although he graced the former with a slightly condescending look.

"That, little Eagle, is up to our beloved mistress to decide. Sigurds survival depends entirely on her mood. Or that of Havoc, should she prove scarce." he shrugged, turning on his heel till he faced away from the other two rats. "Another question presents itself, however; do we plan on taking care of his arm?"

[Mina Crow]

Kuro forced herself to look up; her height made it difficult to be face to face with Mask and Eagle Eye, even if they had to slump to fit the tunnels. Well, at least that was an advantage - even if she didn't like the sewers, physically she was more at ease than the other two, and she should consider it a gain, minimal as it was. She nodded agreement to Mask's words; after all, no one expected a Commoner to have a call on a loner's fate. "I think we should", she said quietly, fiddling with one of Sigurd's knives.

[Eagle Eye MacAllister]

Eagle grumbled angrily. "Do we really have to take care of his arm? Having a broken arm is a good look for him." He grimaced and slumped back against the wall, as a whimper came from Sigurd's chamber. Eagle turned and gave Sigurd a look of such menace that Sigurd cringed. Eagle turned back to look at Mask and Seagull. "I really don't think we need to take care of it."

[Masquerade]

"Eagle, hush, child." Mask said firmly, although his tone never rose above a whisper. The look he gave the other boy clearly stated that, despite the mere two years separating them, the older boy viewed him as a reckless adolescent. In all honesty, Mask wondered how the less mature members of the Wharf Rats had become Hunters. Sheer tenacity and bloodlust, he supposed. Redeeming qualities in a place like New Pork.

"The arm will be splinted," he added, with a small nod in Seagull's direction as though to acknowledge her input, "but only after this has been reported to our dear Mistress and her lapdog. Should they wish an interrogation, I'm sure they'd appreciate darling Sigurd to be in the peak of unwellness."

[Mina Crow]

Kuro merely nodded, and almost nicked herself when the knife she had been absently playing with escaped her hold and fell to the floor with a metallic clatter. Flustered, and blushing despite herself, she crouched down and picked it again, this time keeping it securely held on her right hand, staff leaning on her left shoulder. It was dark, but she still kept her face down, cheeks burning with unheeded shame for her clumsiness.