The Hollow Part One (Mature)

[Stare]

* Four hours and a pee later. *

They came in with loud voices. Quite discussing what, Avis could not tell, but they chartered noisily to one another, laughing about various things. She turned slightly onto her back to watch them head towards her mummy-like bound body and was rather irritated to see that there were still five of them.

She clacked her beak together with unease.

One wrinkled his nose up at the fresh urine and rushed from the room, leaving four there for the moment. With practised hands the rest immediately set upon her. For the sake of not being able to squirm for the first part, she ended up waiting until the knots on her legs and upper torso were either untied or at least loosened before making her attempt.

She kicked once, out in a fluid motion, catching one rogue on the nose. Though her toes were tied together they still made a satisfactory weapon, the claws still scraping flesh away. With a swing of a shoulder she then moved to clobber another to her side back. There was a sickening crunch as the nose gave way and a yell as the man to her side staggered back a little. Her mind thought, two down and two to go, as she sat up fast, a gleam beginning to appear in her eyes.

Thwump.

Very swiftly she was forced back down by a hard piece of wood slammed against her shoulders. It was long and thin, an immitation of Vitruvion's cane, but just not possessing the finesse of the beauty's glory. At the end of the stick was Raevin, staring with mad lust at Avis, and she stared back, fathomless depths of hatred roiling.

She tried to strain against his hold, by both pressing against it and moving up and down. Raevin though, frowned and put more pressure on the simple stick, gesturing to the other men who paused, but then continued their work. One man very firmly held her ankles as the others continued to work. Avis could feel the drops of hot blood landing on her delicate lower feathers.

"I hate you," she hissed at Raevin.

The elf just smiled pleasantly. Twisting her head she snapped suddenly for his forearm that held the stick over her shoulders. He winced a little as the sharp sides of the swift dart scraped his skin, but his reflexes allowed him to move so that the full blow - likely disengaging hand from arm - did not occur.

[Stare]

Gesturing he motioned for the man who had returned from emptying the chamber pot to come over and take over command of the stick. Avis eyed Raevin with intense incredulity we she watched him, wincing herself as she felt fresh sudden new bonds being drawn across her belly. Hands slipped under her back, dangerously close to her buttocks and she squeaked in distaste as they did.

As she closed her mouth from that squeal, Raevin made his move. He darted forwards, rope in hands and without her noticing until the last moment, slipped a loop down the length of her beak.

Avis froze and gasped, rather shocked by the entire thought of a piece of something that she did not desire even coming close to her pride and joy beak. The shock was continued, however, as the stick was suddenly removed and then - then she was literally turned over by the many hands wandering and holding her form.

Screeching, she kicked as much as she could and fought. With her legs still inbound they only had hands holding them. She felt one of her hands manage to dodge out of its fistful hold and batter someone in the shoulder or upper arm. One man. Another five.

Thick ropes this time pulled her hands behind her back and sharply bound them together. Raevin used the opportunity to continue with his task, and he swiftly moved the pieces of his rope to bind them behind her head. He used other lengths to add further strength, tightly holding in the loop of rope around her beak to a nasty, disgusting extent.

With horror in her eyes now, Avis found herself with a curl of rope resting around her beak about two thirds of the way up. She could still open it, but barely, just to the smallest extent to let out quiet words and strangled sounds. So she could speak but her act of using the beak as a snapping weapon was severely diminished.

Savagely, she hissed at Raevin, cursing him in mumbled words, and he just grinned. He stepped back, taking back the stick and nodded to the men. They carefully lifted up the muzzled, but less bound kenku into the air and held her as they carried her, squirming and bucking, into the next room.

"Over there first," Raevin gestured somewhere that Avis could not see.

She was unceremoniously carried over to a corner of the room with tables and chairs. Avis heard the quiet screech of hinges before she was placed down. It was then she learnt the reason for her feet still being untied and she began to gasp, kicking with all the effort she could muster.

"Fuck you all!" She yelled as far as her muzzled beak would allow.

[Stare]

But six men. Five when Raevin could not be bothered. And her hands bound behind her back. Tightly. They set her on the ground, on a soft but thin cushion for her behind, and then set her ankles into half circles on a grandly designed plank of wood. The other half came down with another quiet screech, locking her ankles into the stockades. A padlock later, and Avis was forced to face the humiliation that she could not pull out her feet from the thin holes surrounding them, and she could do very little movement as heavy iron loops were suddenly passed over her wrists at the back and her hands forcefully anchored down to the ground by an unseen force.

Probably lackeys with some simple cuffs and a lock.

Still not the nicest of situations. Avis ground her teeth and tried to budge, but as per her experiences so far, it was to little avail. The men stepped back, letting go of her entirely, and the majority of them simply turned their backs and began to head out of the room. As Avis glared around, clicking her tongue angrily against the inside of her beak, she saw them begin to continue their conversation once more, laughing and jostling and completely ignoring her.

That was perhaps what offended her most of all.

"Hey!" She cried, her yell more of a caw than anything. "Hey! You can't just - what is this?!"

"This is your life."

Raevin's voice purred in her ear. Rapidly, she glanced around from where his voice had come from. She saw him and another remaining man hovering beside the stockade where her legs were held. Beyond that, she was disturbed to see even more stocks, of different sizes, models and forms, some made from metal so they were just thin bands on metal poles. A table behind had more piles of ropes with an ordinary chair behind.

"This is not my life. I didn't choose it!" She argued.

Raevin shrugged. "That is kind of the point, Stare."

Avis' breath caught in her chest. Suddenly her eyes narrowed and she began to hiss. "That is not my name."

"Yes, it is," he looked at her seriously. "And you better learn that. Of all things, that is one thing you have to learn, otherwise the consequences are not pleasant."

Thoughts passed through her mind of what Vitruvion had said. A week bound with no food. Forced awakedness. Her eyes narrowed.

"I hate you."

"I know," Raevin shrugged - and then he hunkered down. By him the other man left - a pale human by the looks of his ears - also crouched, picking up something from the floor.

There was a pause, then hands moved. A foot was grasped, fingers sliding along her scaly skin, touching the fine twine still encasing her long slender toes. Gasping in a small voice Avis stared in horror as the man moved forwards with his other hand, something shiny within. She blinked back simple mournful tears as he began to clip her beautiful elegant claws, only by a small amount but going snip, snip, snip to trim them off fine and unsharpened.

One foot, then the other. And Avis could do nothing about it but shiver and crow in a pitiful way quietly. For a beak and claws were the pride and joy of a kenku, along with their glossy feathers. For Avis, however, daughter of a proud senshi warrior it was her claws as her natural weapon that she was most proud of.

Raevin beamed up at her with a horrible smirk. "Well we can't have more accidents like Leonard's face occuring, can we now?"

Avis death glared him. He waved and stood straight. He motioned to his inferior and the man nodded​.

"Tell Vitruvion she is ready," he said in a cool calm voice.

[Stare]

"Blerghh," Avis swore back.

"Indeed," said the elf. And he twirled his stick in his hands.

The young man nodded again to Raevin, and with a small glance at Avis he turned away. He hurried out of the door that led into the long white corridor, leaving Avis there in the room alone with Raevin once more.

She turned her beak away, snapping it with distaste lightly for that was all she could do.

She looked around the room, as far as her positioning would allow. It was relatively large, with various other doors coming off it. One, she knew, marked out with fine panelling, led to the corridor, and another to the back, that had a small narrow window in it, now she saw, led the bedroom she had spent the night in. A further three doors moved from this room, two on one side and one opposite. One had a window, the others did not and had a form of uniformity to them, as if it had all been built at the same time. Altogether the entire place was white, tiled as it happened from floor to ceiling. The only thing stopping Avis from getting cold was the cushion she was on. Various other tables and chairs, with what she figured now were ready and waiting bindings attached to the arms and legs and back, were scattered around, making this entire piece seeming like the storehouse before a grand hall. Many ropes dangled in places, and it was these that Avis found most disgusting.

The door finally opened after a long moment of silence and the clink of a cane announced Vitruvion's presence. He paused a moment as he swung around to take in the sight of Raevin and Avis, one standing and the other sitting and he sighed a while. Shaking his head he called a name, "Bertran!", And the man from before who had so cruelly clipped Avis' claws scurried in.

"Take her into the Lounge, and I said the wrists, not the ankles!"

"We did it to file down her claws, sir," Raevin said in a rushed voice. "And I thought that you would ..."

Vitruvion stared at his underling for a time, and the elf grimaced but nodded. "Yes sir."

The elf, and the pale human, Bertran, took in a collective breath and moved onwards to Avis. She went immediately on alert, breathing quickening as she glanced between them and Vitruvion. The grand beautiful man smiled gloriously at her, with a glimmer of intent in his eye. As Raevin came behind her she prepared herself to begin bucking as swift and hard as her current strength, be it on a period of her not eating for some considerable time now. Gathering her strength she readied herself for that moment when her ankles would be out of the stockade, and her hands freed from their iron-bound position. The two men moved, one to either side and her heart began to beat, hopefully and splendidly, wits awakening, eyes dancing, ready, ready, ready ...

"Stop."

Immediate frowns. And all eyes, including Avis' turned to look at Vitruvion. His own pupils were fixed upon Avis, narrowing slowly as he took steps towards her. He stared at her with thoughtfulness and curiousity, pausing before he bent down. Never did his gaze stray from her. Not even as he moved forwards and very calmly brought up a sparkling collar, seemingly, apparently from the thin air itself. Avis barely had time to dodge before the glorious man, robed in black, flicked the strange metallic object open, and then shoved it around her neck. The surprisingly chillingly cold material touched her feathers and Avis could do nought but gasp in complete shock.

Click. Clunk.

Vitruvion stood then, breaking their eye contact. Avis was left with the terrible frigid sensation of the collar feeling it even through her fabulous plumage, now solidly around her neck. As the feeling began to surround her, feeling like a blanket of dullness and darkness, and her sight began to grow hazy, Avis saw a thing chain, made of the same glistening material, go from under her chin, over to Vitruvion's​ hand.

[Stare]

"What?" He looked with a smile to his men. "I saw her intent to escape. This will allow the girl to accept the fact that she is, and forevermore will be, mine."

"I'm, I'm not ..." Her words tumbled from her mouth, and fell to silence as Avis gasped and gulped through the chill. It felt as if she had collapsed into a lake, covered with ice in the head of Salvarian winter, and had no chance of escape.

"My dear Stare, you are mine," Vitruvion spoke with a voice like a melody. "Now you will come."

Her hands were then freed from their iron prison, and her clipped feet from their wooden one. The elf and the human moved to her side, adjusting her into a standing position as the chain, and the gods-what-the-fuck freezing collar were tugged, hard, so hard.

"Annnhhh!" She mumbled, as she crashed forwards, tugged and forced. Fighting is what she wanted to, and it was what she longed for most of all the ability to continue but that, the cold, the horror, the face ...

It pulled again, and she was careered forwards. Biting against the pain, Avis stumbled under the guide of Vitruvion's chain and the stiff hands of Bertran and Raevin. Onwards, though her mind screamed at her for letting them treat her like this, and her body fighting, they took her. Over the floor, through a door, into another white tiled, but sumptuously decorated room.

Scattered footsteps and the tight chain leading her on, an inability to put up little more of a fight other than an awkward step here and there. After all, her hands were bound tightly behind her back, and her beak was closed most of the way. Hands held the rest of her, feet kicked her ankles to the correct directions.

She felt a bump and her hips came to something. A pause and she was pushed back - her sight was still hazy so she could not exactly see entirely - then forwards she was pushed again. Up she stumbled, up onto a small step, so the thing now butted against her waist and she could be bent, bent down. The chain and the hands pushed her down ...

Movement and feelings. Suddenly, the collar was removed, and Avis felt warmth flood back into her body. Reality, happiness, satisfaction, and she let out a gasp as her body was heated once again and her sight began to swim back with the hold on goodness and -

Chafing against her back told her more ropes were being applied. She twisted her head to suddenly see that she was leaning now over a wooden desk, it's legs heavy and ornamental. Large lion like feet , expertly carved, to which she saw her own foot pulled towards and trussed up against, with a weaving pattern of ropes.

Her heart began to hammer, and her eyes went huge. Twisting her head left and right, she saw knots now forming just beneath her shoulders, tied tight and strong. Opening her beak as wide as she can she began to shriek, realising that it was the desk she was tied to, it was her form they were bending, it was -

"You can leave," Vitruvion's voice commanded.

Avis twisted around back the way she had first looked to see the man preoccupied with teasing off a black stole he currently wore. Raevin, at the corner of her sight, tugged on a last piece of rope and then curtly nodded. He gestured to Bertran and they both bowed before turning. Avis' eyes stared with terror and horror at Vitruvion as he began to remove then a pair of fine pale gloves from his hands, a band holding back his hair. He barely looked at her as he walked slowly to be behind her.

[Stare]

"The day has been long and dreary. I had to speak at length with Hugin ... One of the other 'brothers' that I have," she heard the sound of his cane scraping along the ground, and then finishing. "He is not the one who has an interest in Reign. Rather, he is the other who shares an interest in the more unusual races. One might be confused, for he is simply a human. Just an ordinary race." He paused. "I am what they call a half-celestial, in case you did not know. It is partially my power that ensures the security of this place, the might of it. That collar of yours, for example, is of my ability."

"It's not my collar," she whispered, her voice shivering and tiny.

His leather boots twisted in the tiles, creating a soft sshhhh sound. "It is yours for when you will not get from one place to another, as I bid. When I have not the patience, nor the time, to deal with your resilience. Confidence and a lack of submission ... I find that attractive, and so long as you fight then we shall have a relationship. After that ..." He paused. "Well let me simply advise that you do not. Have a stable equilibrium between your fight and your obedience and then all will be well. Let me advise that I am the only host that I know of who warns his guests of this, the ultimate rule of the Hollow, but it is because I care about you."

"Care my ass," Avis shakily replied, defiant but filled with anxiety.

The sounds stopped. No twist of leather on floor, no murmur of words. Not even the breath could be heard of the half-angel as he took in her words. Avis did not know where he stood, for she could not see him, either from one side or another. Seconds past. An age past.

Then he struck.

A whistle of wind, of high-pitched movement of object through air. Avis bound her eyes tight shut.

Pain - harsh, real, brutal and angry - was as hard wood met feathered back. Savage and raging the sounds of boots moving fast, dancing and stepping, joined in the cacophony of her sudden and muffed cries and the repeating slam of the cane against barely protected flesh. The din rose as the man who was more half devil than half angelic, slammed the cane again and again into her lower back and backside. Again and again, again and again, more frustration than desire, more fury than passion. There was no intention to let out his lust or to raise her into the spirit of the times and place. It was simply power, strong and definitive, an exploration of self and control. As her screams rose he drank in the energy of them, and willed on, onwards Vitruvion went.

On into the minutes. On into the hours.

[Stare]

Afterwards, when she had stopped screaming, all the cries and energy dribbled out of her, Vitruvion had his way with her. He kept her how she was, filling his lust and desire by where he had placed her. And when he was done, he left, picking up his cane from the floor to stride his way out, satisfaction gained on his behalf. He left her shaking and feeling empty, as empty as the name of the hell she was in.

Hollow. What an apt description.

For what seemed like hours they left her there. It was only in the dead of silence, when her broken body had finally allowed her to begin to drift to sleep. Hands claimed her, fewer than before and they unwrapped her sorry form from the table. Silently, they carried her, through doors and the room, back to the place she would soon come to know as hers. The ropes they took away - even that around her beak and her wrists - only adding a single cold manacle to her ankle, binding her again like the previous night to the bed.

Comfortably thus, hungrily and in agony Avis slept, her exhausted body dragging her into the depths of unconsciousness. Part the way through the night she made the mistake of turning onto her back - and that made pain rise like a red storm and awaken her, screaming. Memories passed through her mind, flashes of images, before she sank back down into a pit of slumber.

It must have been late into the next day when she awoke. It was slow to begin with, eyes blinking long and slow. A gentle yawn, a rubbing of the eye; certainly the bed here, provided she was given enough flexibility, was good enough to provide a very good night's sleep. Though Avis suspected the reason behind it was more to do with the fact Vitruvion might, at one time, sleep in there also. Her mind thought of the man, his features and his eyes, and she pictured his beauty in her mind's before she shivered and replaced the awe for hatred. Hatred for what he had done to her. The most horrible thing was, though she would never dare tell anyone now, was that she was a virgin. Or had been.

As she mused, her eyes wandered, sleepily. Avis was caught out, however, when she realised that she could see a figure sitting to her side in exactly the same pose and chair that Vitruvion had the day before. Freezing, there and then, stuck in fear, Avis' heart beat manically, and she refused to even think ...

[Stare]

"Ah you are awake."

The voice as definitely not his.

Avis looked over to see what was a tall, blonde woman leaning back in the chair. Perhaps about mid-thirties the woman was strangely beautiful, eeriely so. Quite aburptly surprised, Avis moved, suddenly liking the fact she had a natural covering that allowed her to be naked as well as discreet.

"Who are-" Avis broke off as she tried to sit up to fast. Pain lanced up her back, born from the day before, terrifying and strong. She groaned heavily, hissing in pain.

"Damn it," she swore, letting herself fall back down. Heavily she breathed, swallowing against the throb of constant agony she now found to be there.

The woman smiled gently and shook her head. "You rest, Stare. I'll do the talking." In a fluid movement she pushed herself to her feet. She moved like an exotic dancer, sashaying naturally so that the long silk dress she wore swirled from side to side like a palm tree in a breeze. Avis grunted and tried to sit up again, the two pieces of her beak squeezed tight together.

"My name is Vintrua. My brother is Vitruvion, your master."

As soon as she said it, Avis nodded, seeing the similarity immediately. The way that she moved, looked and spoke had the same glorifying quality, and she exumed such a warm atmosphere that there was no other expectation but them to be siblings. Avis strained, groaning as she continued to try to sit up, and was honestly surprised when Vintrua came forwards to place an arm at her back and support her as she helped her to sit back against a cushion.

Avis collapsed back by the headboard, letting out her pent up breath in one. Gasping, she blinked a great few times as her eyes wandered first to the metal around her ankle, then to the strange woman. Adoringly, she was beautiful and perfect, inviting Avis in to be her companion for life.

"What are you doing here?" Avis panted. "If your his sister, then what... You're a female, he ..."

"As a sister to a host," Vintrua explained as she sat down. "I am protected from ever being brought here. Anyone who dared to to so would face death at Vitruvion's pleasure." She gave a gorgeous smile. "In that case I decided some time ago to support my brother's exploits and business. When I heard that he had managed to get himself a kenku ... Well. I knew I had to come see you."

"How can you even come here and be happy with what goes on?!" Avis asked, incredulous. "You are a woman after all."

Vintrua looked offended. "I am a woman, yes, but that means nothing. These men have their pleasure, need to get their pleasure. It is not my fault you were the one who was found."

Avis stared at her long and hard. Her eyes were brutal, condemning and Vintrua bit her lip as she gazed right back. The half-celestial smiled.

[Stare]

"Your fire is a gift. Keep it burning, and my brother will treat you well."

"Treat me well?!" Avis snapped. "Have you seen what he did to me?"

Vintrua nodded, looking none the more shocked. "Yes ... But it his right as your master to do what he sees fit. He was angry, he finds pleasure in the cane and satisfaction. Everyone has their own desires, and this is his."

The kenku shook her head, looking away disgusted. She could barely understand Vintrua, able to accept what her brother did and be fine with it. Even if she was supportive of him it did not mean that she had to be supportive of his acts. In truth, Avis had not expected to see another female here, save the other 'guests,' aka sex slaves, for that was what she was, she admitted to herself, so Vintrua was a confusing anomaly. A strange sight. A ... Hated horror.

"I don't get it," she murmured, deciding that it was useless to try.

"Lean forwards, and I will heal your wounds," Vintrua gestured, standing again. "Vitruvion wants you tonight and it would be better if you are healthy."

"Well I don't want him. And I haven't eaten in two days," Avis snapped.

"Then I will arrange that you get food. One of Raevin's boys usually does the collections from the communal kitchen, but he likely has not gotten to you as you are new. I will make sure he brings you food daily." She paused, still waiting for Avis to lean forwards, but the kenku did not budge. "Please move."

"I don't trust you," Avis glared at her once more.

"I know, but I'm not exactly going to hurt you more. I have no reason to, do I? My interests lie with my brother and he is wanting to keep you for as long as possible."

Avis glared at her for a short while longer, but she knew that the beautiful​ woman was right. Besides, the longer she waited, the more unlikely it would be that Vintrua would not offer and that could lead to more pain, especially if word reached Vitruvio ear. Avis had a suspicion rising that if one was dishonourable to Vintrua, they would not last long here.

Therefore, praying to the kami with a quick cantrip, she rocked forwards very slowly, pain lancing up her spine. She ground her beak together, groaning through it with pain.

Quickly, Vintrua stepped forwards, and brushed a fine, soft hand down the soft feathers of Avis' back. The touch was brief and mellow, and had a subtle coolness to it, so much so Avis began to actually feel peaceful for a moment. The touch was fleeting, moving down towards her rear, where the hand hovered, considered, and with the lightest of extremely brief touches curved over them to the bed itself.

[Stare]

Blinking, Avis glanced up at Vintrua, confused. The glow and temperature had gone, the faint feel of her fingers on her coat. Then, then Avis suddenly felt a burst of energy and a cold tingling sensation rippled up her back. It touched every joint and crevice that had been harmed by the cane, rippling like a cool noon tide, or a pebble dropped in the ocean. It spread out, reaching and glorious, prizing apart her body and remodelling it back together as the freeze chased the pain away, then disappeared itself, settling back into a low, throbbing ebb that slowly disappeared. No more pain.

With a satisfied sigh she leant back, and mumbled a reluctant, "Thank you," to Ventrua. The half-celestial woman smiled and resumed her seat.

"You see. I am to be trusted."

"I am not automatically now going to trust you because of that," Avis retorted, but her tone was fairly soft.

Ventrua let out a light laugh. "I know. Don't worry, your by far not the first guest my brother has had that I have spoken to." She smiled. "You'll like Blaze. She has a good heart and a brightness in her that cannot be denied."

"Hmm," Avis breathed hard, clacking her tongue on the inside of her beak. She didn't really care for Ventrua, and so wasn't going to take her advice on this one.

She paused a little before leaning very slowly forwards. Testing the ability of her back, she found that indeed the pain had gone, though there was still some tension, and she extended a hand to finger the band of metal around her ankle. Scratching at it with a claw she twisted it until she found a small hole, and dug her claw in. There was a faint scratching sound, but no movement at all. Moving to simply try to tug at the chain, she gave it a mighty pull before the linked restraint gave a bright and full tinkle.

"They make their own metal here," Ventrua said in a voice like honey, "It is more durable and stronger than any they know. Heavy, so it is not practical for weapons, but for you ..."

Avis twisted her head to glare at her with a viscous angst. Ventrua gave her a pleasant smile. The stare lasted some time, before the kenku grunted and gave up, letting go of the chain and sinking back onto her bed.

"I guess there's no chance in asking you to help me escape."

"None what so ever."

"Yeah." Avis folded her arms, a foul look on her face, at the corners of her beak and in the darkness of her eyes.

"I mean .. you could ask and you could attempt while I am here, but I'll report it to my brother."

"So lovely of you," Avis drawled.

Ventrua winked. "I know, darling!"