The Bond Between (1x1 Ivory_Coated_Stars)(DISCONTINUED T-T)

[chibi_blue_mouse]

((Bump?))

Ivory_Coated_Stars

 

[Ivory_Coated_Stars]

Alistair grit his teeth as he listened to Kaitlyn's words before his angered gaze looked to the stones below his feet, his eyes tracing their pattern until he calmed down. His features relaxed as he pondered on the woman's words before coming to the conclusion that she was right. He was useless. There was nothing he could do to save Nicodemus, no matter how desperately he wanted to march into where he was being held captive and pull him out. He listened to the words the mercenary directed toward him indirectly before taking in a sharp inhale. He looked up at the man, looking him dead in the eyes, his eyes expressing his determination and desperation, not to mention a bit of the frustration he had for not being able to help. But he didn't want Nico to be harmed because he was gone. "Save him." Was all that left his lips as he stared the other down. If they had anything in common whatsoever, it was their deep affection for Nico, so as much as the blonde despised him, he knew that the mercenary would put all of his efforts into protecting Nico.

~

Kress calmly listened to Kaitlyn's plan. It was perfect, using Xander's lack of knowledge on her and Shadow and their connection to Nico to their advantage. He nodded calmly as he listened to her, his gaze shooting to Shadow as he began to go back and forth with the blue blood. His eyebrows furrowed before Kaitlyn reprimanded the mercenary, threatening to shoot him if he didn't cut it out. He raised an eyebrow as he looked to Kaitlyn for a moment, admiring how calm she remained in the situation. The crow nodded as he looked at her. "It's a sound plan." He stated as he looked to the sandy haired woman, before reviewing the plan in his head. Shadow would have to approach Xander first, considering the fact that the noble b*****d didn't know Shadow's part in the grand scheme of the plan. If everything falls into place, the group could escape with Nico easily. "What happens after that? We can't stay here." Kress said as he was thinking along with Kaitlyn, planning a retreat. The three may have been among the best, but he highly doubted that they could take on everyone at once and survive.

((OOC: I apologize for my lack of posting chibi.))

chibi_blue_mouse

 

[chibi_blue_mouse]

Darien was surprised at Alistair's obvious concern for Nicodemus, and he nodded in return. "I'll make sure of it." he replied before looking away from the blue blood and towards Kaitlyn. He'd be helping them get in and out of Xander's estate. But overall, it was her plan.

Kaitlyn took a deep breath in. "Well . . . I suppose we leave." she said, not liking the idea. It would cut her off from her main supply of money. And it would turn them all into enemies of the mercenary's guild. They'd have to move pretty far away to ever be able to live without constantly looking over their shoulders in case someone tried to stab a knife in their back. "Maybe we could form our own guild . . ." she mumbled to herself, still trying to find a way to keep her income. She then shook her head, deciding to refocus. "Still, we're going to have to work fast. How quickly can you come up with an invasion plan Shadow?" she asked.

"Er . . . depends on the resources I have. I'll need a layout of where Xander lives, my people will need to get inside and report to me about where people are, how the guards are set up . . . if all goes well, I could have a plan ready in . . . three days?" he guessed. "A week at most." he said with certainty.

Kaitlyn winced. "Not much we can do about that. I can probably get you blueprints of Xander's properties. I guess we use the rest of this time to prepare. Kress, Alistair, as long as you two behave and don't draw attention to yourself, Nicodemus will be . . . less likely to get hurt." she said, knowing from Kress's stories that Xander would likely torment Nicodemus even if the boys did exactly as they were told. And then, there was no accounting for how Nicodemus would behave. If he would only get himself into worse trouble . . .

((It's okay. ^-^))

Ivory_Coated_Stars

 

[Ivory_Coated_Stars]

Kress halted slightly as he thought about it. This was a big deal. He would be turning away from his home, his life at the guild, everything. He would start anew again. Kress simply sighed. It had to be done. Nico was worth it. After all, he was all he had left of his family, and it killed him to know that Xander had him, and Nico wasn't the least defiant. Kress began to worry slightly before shaking it off. Worrying about it would get him no where. When Kaitlyn asked Shadow how long it would take to map things out, the crow almost cringed at the time length. Three days at the least. He closed his eyes in irritation, knowing that the time limit was pushing it. He took a deep breath before opening his eyes again gazing at the three in the room, a slight look of uneasiness accenting his features as he thought of his brother in Xander's hands. "Three days then." The crow said as he thought about it.

chibi_blue_mouse

 

[chibi_blue_mouse]

Three days later, Kaitlyn, Shadow, and Crow were heading to Xander's house. The ransom note had been sent to Alistair's father, giving him the time and place to deliver the ransom. Alistair would be moved in a couple of days, but that didn't matter if they could get Nicodemus out. "Alright. I'll get Nicodemus. You guys distract Xander. If you can kill him, fine. But once I get Nico out, I'll give you a signal and then we need to get out of there." she said.

Darien nodded and gestured at Kress. The two of them were entering differently than Kaitlyn. He could only hope that Nicodemus would be okay. Because if Nico was anything other than perfectly healthy, Darien didn't care what the plan was. He would be killing Xander himself.

Nicodemus lay in the room where he'd been imprisoned for three days. Since he'd been thrown in there, he had made two different escape attempts and been whipped viciously after both of them. Food and water had also been deprived after the second attempt. The shock collar Xander placed on his neck hadn't stopped him, but general weakness from pain and sickness had sapped all fight from him. Three days. Nicodemus felt sure he would die in this room.

Ivory_Coated_Stars

 

[Ivory_Coated_Stars]

It had been three painstaking days since Kaitlyn had come up with the plan for Nicodemus's rescue from Xander's mansion. Three days of Nicodemus living in the hell that Kress had only escaped with a shred of luck. Kress's fist tightened as the three walked along the path to Xander's mansion, the mere sight of it in the distance enough to make the crow's skin crawl. He narrowed his eyes as he saw the slaves trudge in and out of the estate, some with shock collars bound to their necks. Kress still felt the sting as he furrowed his eyebrows. He took a deep breath. He would have his time. Until then, his focus was simply on saving Nico. Kress looked to Shadow with certainty, and the looked over to Kaitlyn. The trio would infiltrate soon, and Kress was simply awaiting the word to come from Kaitlyn. The male had his hand wound on his sword, ready to strike at any given moment.

chibi_blue_mouse

 

[chibi_blue_mouse]

Kaitlyn gave a nod. "Let's go." she said and then darted off towards a back entrance, following the plan that Shadow had mapped out for her. She'd be the stealth mission . . . Shadow and Kress would be the distractions to keep attention away from her.

Darien left towards another entrance trusting that Crow would follow him. It was odd really that there would be two entrances mercenaries could enter through. Still, it was an awfully big place. He often found that the largest and grandest of houses tended to have the worst security. Just too many places that needed patrolling. There would always be gaps.

Ivory_Coated_Stars

 

[Ivory_Coated_Stars]

Kress had gotten Kaitlyn's signal before following Shadow into the designated entrance. The two went down a series of halls, ones that were uneasily familiar to Kress as he remembered scrubbing the floors until his hands grew bloody, his body feeling jolts of electricity is he didn't tend to them. The memories were harsh and cruel, and only served to boil his hatred for Xander. Kress jumped ahead every once in awhile to take out guards and wandering slaves, though he simply used the hilt of his sword to knock them unconscious, his gaze slightly saddened as he looks at them. Battered, sleep deprived, starving. Kress could only think of what Nico was going through at the moment. He had to hurry, going slightly faster in his effort to get to Xander and kill him.

chibi_blue_mouse

 

[chibi_blue_mouse]

Darien followed his own plan, though when he saw the condition that the slaves were in, it was all he could do to keep from rushing off without Crow to go kill Xander. After all, if this was how he treated slaves . . . how well could Nicodemus be faring after three days in this hell-hole? "How did you survive living here?" he hissed under his breath to Crow.

Ivory_Coated_Stars

 

[Ivory_Coated_Stars]

As the two made their way to Xander, Kress inhaled sharply at Shadow's question. Honestly, he had no idea himself. The sheer memory was daunting in itself. Kress furrowed his eyebrows at the thought of his time there. He recalled the brutal whippings, the lack of nutrients, and worst of all, the shock collars. The crow could still feel the tingles in his body. He was surprised it didn't do much damage, considering how many high voltage shocks he received. He was always Xander's favorite to pick on. Then again, he was also the only one who really raised any sort of hell in the household. He couldn't work in the kitchens because he would always set something ablaze, he couldn't work with the animals because he would always set them loose. He couldn't clean because he would only make a bigger mess. In the end, Xander made him a personal servant just to keep an eye on him. After all, the man had too much pride to admit that there was an unruly slave that was too much for him to handle.

Kress looked ahead at the door down a long hall. That was their means of entry. It was their target. At the base of the hall, Crow stopped to answer Shadow's question. "I'm not entirely sure." He admitted, his gaze shooting to him before hitting the door, his hands rested on his blade.

chibi_blue_mouse

 

[chibi_blue_mouse]

Shadow's eyes darkened. "Let's kill him for Nick." he muttered to the other even as he got the door open and burst inside, his eyes instantly scanning for any sign of their target.

"Ah Kress. How nice of you to drop by. Although, by your countenance I don't suppose this is a social visit . . . pity. Nico will just have to suffer." Xander had been sitting at his desk, his gaze hard but his expression calm as he stared at the door. In his hands was a remote of some sort and as he finished speaking, he pushed a button on it.

Nicodemus's eyes shot wide open as his body writhed in pain. The shock collar was going off and somehow it seemed worse than it had the first two times it'd been triggered by his escape attempts. Though his eyes were open, the pain was blinding him to his surroundings. It was just him and the pain . . . He couldn't even register his own screams . . .

Shadow gripped his sword even more tightly as he heard the screams, though muffled from the walls and floors between them, he could still tell that it was Nicodemus who was screaming. His right hand was positively quaking.

Xander smirked. "Now, now, I'll return your brother to you Kress . . . once my transaction is complete. But I can guarantee that if you or your friend move against me, I will be able to send a shock through Nicodemus's collar that will kill him." he said, still as smug as he had been three days ago.

Kaitlyn heard the screaming quite clearly, as did others as she waited for a couple of servants to walk past so she could slip down the corridor behind them. And clearly . . . screams were a common thing as the servants only flinched and bowed their heads lower, picking up their pace. She ran towards the sound of the screaming. Kaitlyn knew who was making that noise.

Ivory_Coated_Stars

 

[Ivory_Coated_Stars]

Kress stopped in his tracks the moment that he saw the remote in the other man's hands. His eyes widened for a moment before they narrowed in him. He sharply inhaled when he heard the faint echoes of screams far too familiar to him for his own comfort. Kress stared at Xander's smug grin, the same horrible smug grin that he had come to know over the course of long years, remembering the shock of the collars, his memories of hatred that he had long forgotten stormed back within moments, the fire burning harshly. A shiver went down his spine at the screaming before he closed his eyes to compose himself. He needed to wait for Kaitlyn. That's what he kept telling himself. He needed to wait for her to cut the collar off of him, and then... He glared up at the man, holding his stance. He knew what he was capable of, and he knew enough to tell that he wasn't lying about killing Nico. Kress too another deep breath. All that Kailyn needed to do was cut the collar off. The thing was, if she cut it too deeply, she would slit Nico's throat, and if she didn't cut it fast enough, the continuous shocks going through Nico's body would kill him.

chibi_blue_mouse

 

[chibi_blue_mouse]

Kaitlyn burst into the room, seeing Nicodemus writhing on the ground, his hands at the collar, as he screamed, his voice raw and beginning to fade. "Nico!" she cried in a whisper, rushing over to him, a knife at the ready. Touching him caused the electrical current to pass to her as well, but she just grit her teeth, pushing past the pain. Though it would make cutting off the collar that much more difficult. Her hand was frozen around the hilt of the knife and it shook as she pulled Nico's hand away from the collar so she could get access to it. She'd likely wind up cutting him, but . . . perhaps she wouldn't cut too deeply . . . either way, she would at least try and avoid the major veins. She made the slice. The connection was severed and the collar dropped to the ground as Nico went limp, the screaming finally stopping. Kaitlyn panted a bit, catching her breath and collecting herself after being submitted to the electric shock. Nico was unconscious, so he would be of no help . . . but that was fine. She just needed to get him out of there. She pulled him up onto her back, and started making her way out, passing the guards she had . . . "incapacitated" on her way in.

Darien gave a sharp intake of breath as the screams stopped and he grinned rather sadistically. "Look like your reign of terror has ended." he said, pointing his sword at Xander.

The man had gone pale and pushed yet more buttons, but as Nicodemus was no longer screaming . . . Had he killed the boy? He hadn't meant to get rid of his leverage so soon! He scowled. "Tch." he pushed himself away from his desk just in time to draw his own weapon from the cane he always had nearby and block Shadow's strike. "Do not think I'm so defenseless boy." he spat, keeping one eye on Kress. He was outnumbered, and at a disadvantage. It wasn't something he was used to, but he would be damned before he died so easily.

Ivory_Coated_Stars

 

[chibi_blue_mouse]

((Bump?))

Ivory_Coated_Stars

 

[Ivory_Coated_Stars]

As the screaming stopped Kress momentarily closed his eyes as the feeling of relief washed over him. He trusted that Kaitlyn saved him. As a matter of fact, he had no doubt in his mind. The crow's glare flickered up as he noted the slight frantic state of panic the other was in. A smirk slowly crept onto the Crow's face in satisfaction as he glowered at him evilly, his eyes filled with a burning despise for the man. To see him so shaken... Kress had never felt such a wave of cruel happiness. His smile dropped in the slightest as he unsheathed his sword, the silent screech of it sounding pleasant for a change as he continued walking forward, Shadow occupying his sword. Kress pointed his sword to Xander, a touch of blood creeping on to his blade from the nape of his neck. Kress chuckled a small, spine tingling chuckle, seeming to have lost it. "Looks like for the first time, you're out of options Xander." He said as he sliced his blade a little harder into the other's skin, though not quite enough to kill him yet.

chibi_blue_mouse