Indigo and Red (closed to Mari)

For once, in Knife's Edge, the weather was good.

A soft breeze swam in from the harbour, bringing with it a salty chill air that filtered through the crevices and streets. But the white sun hung high in the cloudless sky, singing down its glory to the people of the usually snow-filled land. For today there was merely just the hint of freeze, with the cobblestones highlighted in only a faint cobweb of frost. The lintels of doorways were clean from snow, and the thatch of the older buildings was drying under the heat. Crows flew from dock to public house, darkening the pale skies just briefly with their jet palour, only to merge with the dullness of the brickwork. They cawed a new day, a new dawn, and carried on the will of their particular gods - be that the sun, the wind, the rubbish heap or the midden - collecting and discovering.

One particular fine crow, with a greying head and a white tip to his left wing, was down an alley this day. He was following the scent of a certain old sack of potatoes, taken from a ship on the harbour and brought down this way to be disposed of. A hulking figure, with great broad shoulders and an uneven temprement had the sack of the moulding tuberous crop slung over his shoulder. As he walked he sang with a raspy voice about a maiden fair whom he could never get in the real world. The grey-headed crow fluttered from one side of the street to the other, trying to be as stealthy and silent as possible as he waited for the potatoes to be dropped.

Then there was a hiccup. A mistake. Years of freeze and shaking people had left the back streets of Knife's Edge very under-kept, with dirt and homeslessness filling them up. Drains leaked, sewers overran, and in this particular place a large cobble stone jutted out where it should not be. After it came a dip, a pothole, and it was over and down this obstacle that the sack-carrier tripped, causing him, just for a moment, loosen his hold on the potatoes.

Desperately the crow thought this was his chance, and he flew down like the scavenger he is, ready to sieze the first thing to slip out of the sack. Claws went down, beak opened for a defiant croon, wings angled rightly to take the wind's current - but to no avail. His enemy, the sack-carrier, shifted his hold just as fast, and continued on, though limping slightly, and allowed only one item to fall. As the crow saw it fall with a soft 'clunk' and landed by it to watch it carefully, he knew that it was not a potato, and it was not food. Anxiously, even so, he pecked at it, and only received the chill and hardness of burnished clay back.

Unsatisfied, the crow flew off, but left his potential prize.

A dirty clay teapot, unbroken and inedible, with a small mark of an 'x' on one side, lying in the middle of the street.

Amari would have stepped on it, if she had not seen it tumble from the sack herself. "What the?" She nudged it with her foot. It looked to be an old teapot. No. Incredibly old decrepit teapot. As Amari rolled it to and fro with her heel she noticed a small 'X' on its side. "What kind of dumb ass decoration is that?" She asked herself, pulling out a small square of linen from her pocket to pick it up with.

Amari bent down and picked up the pot between thumb and forefinger. It looked like garbage. "Pretty sure dumb shits pay pretty pennies for things like this." She mused to herself. Tri-coloured eyes inspecting it closer. The Clay pot was unassuming and dusty. Amari didn't want to touch it with her bare hands at least not before soaking it in hot water first. "Eh.." She shrugged and wrapped it as best as she could with the cloth before hefting it under her arm.

Amari was returning to the inn from a small meeting, a few 'recruit's for the Crimson Hand, well 'her idea of the Crimson Hand. Suffice to say, they did not make the cut. Amari figured she may as well clean up the trinket there.

Amari returned to the inn, climbing the wooden stairs. She swung open the door of her room with a bump of her hip. Amari turned and shut the door with her foot, and clicked the lock shut with her elbow.

She headed toward the basin and sat the pot in there. She ran boiling water over it. The dirt and grime began to melt away from the heat, rising steam and the pressure of the water. "Thank the gods for the water pressure here..." Amari mused to herself.

Once the pot was relatively 'clean' she wrapped it up in the cloth and began to rub it dry as she headed over to the bed, coverd in plush linen and newly acquired furs, another reason she had ventured into the capital.

"Lessie..." The pot was still hot to the touch, it tingled her skin when she pressed her finger against it. She brushed her thumb over the 'X' to see if it was painted on - but it seemed to be baked onto the clay.

"Wonder how much this is worth..."

Gasp.

Breathe my friend. Breathe. Suck in air and let it out and ...

Within the clay she could still feel. Though things were ... dulled by the thick wall of material surrounding her immaterial nature. It was like a border between two worlds or two lives. You knew the other side was there, but you could not see nor comprehend it completely. The swirling aether that made up the slight and thoughtful form of Astrophel swam with a nervous dispoition, wondering exactly what was going on as she felt herself transferred from one site to another. Before there had been shouts, the familiar noises of the ship that Herandira had taken her on, then there had been thuds and the sound of the sea had finally died away. After so long. It had been months on that boat, months of Herandira saying "sleep with this guy," "no, sleep with me," "wait, can you get me pudding," then, "wait ... can you get back in your pot?"

And then there had been the heat. Sudden, direct, inconsoliable heat - which was very unlike Astrophel's merchant master to do. She knew Astrophel felt it when the teapot was washed, she knew it made her incoporeal form shiver and feel pain like it was burning her physically. She knew it was a shock, so then why did she dunk her in so much hot stuff?

Before Astrophel had time to answer that question she was summoned. Flesh ran across the seal, calling her out. It was strange, though. Usually Herandira used her voice, and vocally told Astrophel to make herself physical so that she could do whatever silly sailor task needed to be done then. Once she had touched the seal once the connection had been made between djinn and master, so why did -

As her form gathered together into the small and young form of the girl that Astrophel always liked to take - the girl looking around fifteen years, with the light blue dress, long indigo hair and the small black cuffs around her wrists and neck she had to wear as a symbol of her work - she paused. She breathed. And gasped. Her eyes widened as she gazed directly at the person before her, the being that was ... well had red hair, not greying brown like Herandira, and was shorter, had multi-faceted eyes and - and - well. Was completely in the wrong place.

Astrophel blinked and took a moment to look around the small room she was in. There were windows, looking out to a town. There was a chill in the air, and the sounds of livliness downstairs. There was heat rising from a hot water pot near a fire - very likely the cuplrit of her pain and - and.

Well. Her teapot was in this girl's hands. Not in Herandira's. And by the distance of the left thumb and the tea pot rim, it was very likely that she had touched the seal.

Astrophel's heart sank slightly and she let out a quiet curse before sinking into the formal curtsey of how she addressed every new owner of her vessel.

"Master," she mumbled, wondering how on earth Herandira could have given the pot away like this, "Your will is mine."

It was so sudden Amari wasn't entirely sure how to process it. One moment she was messing around with an old decrepit pot, the next - a girl stood in front of her.

The girl had long, flowing indigo hair. It shifted with the sudden movement before resting neatly against her pale skin like a silken curtain, not a strand out of place. Her skin looked as though the sun had never gently kissed it, and that she instead - were caressed by the illuminating moonlight. Her eyes, pitiless and entirely black glanced around the tiny room. She seemed just as confused as Amari was. Amari's own eyes glanced down the tiny girls skinny form, she wore flowing blue garb, it looked as though the silken hues of blue and white were some sort of vestment, but to what, Amari did not know. The girl was barefoot, and she shifted awkwardly.

Amari's ears perked as she thought she had caught small, whispered profanities lilting up from the girl in a strange, thick accent. The petite teenager bowed, low and sweeping, her hair spilling over her bare shoulders.

"Master, your will is mine."

The strange words in an even stranger accent snapped Amari out of her dazed state. "What?" Amari's own voice was filled with alarm, and shock. After all, some strange little girl just managed to make her way into the room. Amari's brows furrowed at the term 'Master' Amari did not like being called such a thing. She had spent months convincing Noel to stop calling her Mistress.

"Who are you?" The words left Amari's lips in a low growl as Amari allowed the pot to fall to the bed. Her form tensed, ready to shift in case of some form of surprise attack.

"Answer very carefully." Her words were filled with a dangerous venom. Amari did not like violence, but if her own well being were threatened, she would not hesitate.

The young woman froze, her black eyes enlargening and turning into a form of a frightened stare. As the red-haired lady lowered herself into a fighting crouch Astrophel thought of instantly going back into the aether and running back to her teapot. At least in her teapot she was safe. Safe until someone else got a hold of the cursed thing and decided to use her for an evil scheme of theirs.

She blinked slowly, and then realised that this female was just as confused as her. Just as lost as her, and just as potentially vulnerable. Or maybe not. After all, if it came to a fight Astrophel could just go and hide again. Bye bye. See you later.

She nibbled her lip and put up her hands to show she wasn't holding anything. At the moment at least. She could kill for a cup of black tea with lemon.

"I said 'your will is mine,'" she squeaked, generally threatened. "You got my teapot and - and well. I'm here. Which is..."

She saw that the red head had no idea what she was talking about. Of course Astrophel knew she was away from her country. Alteron was a vast way over the sea, months away as far as she knew and as far as the trip had gone. It was possible that perhaps she had been lost somewhere on the journey somehow, because she was sure that Herandira would not ever sell her vessel. She was also fiercely protective of it and allowed it very much to never fall into other hands.

Then a thing struck Astrophel. As far as they had come, as far as the ocean had carried them there was no sign to say that they had come to a place that was wildly foreign. As her eyes relaxed a little and her pose did she felt a wave of understanding come over her as she spoke.

"I'm... I'm a djinn, master," she said quietly, "Which I don't think you have here. Sorry. But ... But I'm yours now. To do with as you wish."

Amari relaxed her stance, seeing that the girl didn't pose an immediate threat. She wasn't going to completely lower her guard however. Since what the girl was saying seemed completely....ridiculous. It made no sense to the red haired woman.

"To do with as I wish?" Amari asked incredulously. She had no idea what a Djinn was. "So, if I were to order you too...." Amari trailed off. Her eyes darting around the room. She had to think of something, something that someone would not normally do without reservation. Her eyes landed on a protruding nail on the door frame. Two inches long, it's tip rusted and jagged. "I order you to slam your palm on te tip of that rusty nail." Amari said, pointing toward the nail behind the strange girl.

The girl glanced back, and upon seeing the nail looked back to Amari. Black eyes wide in alarm. "Y-Yes Master." She headed over to the nail and rose her hand as if to strike it.

Holy mother of goddamned fuckin' crazy bitches the kids gonna do it

Amari leapt off the bed and in two quick steps she grabbed the girls wrist tightly, just before she struck the nail. "Are you fuckin' insane?" She hissed.

"Y-You're my Master..." The girl whispered, her eyes shifting to the floor.

"I don't believe this..." Amari muttered. "Don't hit your palm on that nail." Amari said for good measure, just in case the girl, Djinn, or whatever would go ahead and complete the ridiculous command. She let go of the girls wrist and took a step back rubbing her temples. "This is fuckin' ridiculous. You're telling me...you, live in that dinky ass clay pot?" The girl nodded, "And me having posession of that pot means I have possession over you?" She nodded again.

"This is some Madison grade bullshit right here." Amari mumbled. Still massaging her head. "At least we speak the same language...somewhat. That's a thick ass accent you have there...." Amari paused, "Whats your name?"

"Astrophel, Master." The girl squeked.

"Right. Astrophel." Amari responded. It felt jarring to hear herself constantly being refereed to as a Master. It didn't sit well with the woman. "Don't call me that." Amari snapped. "Ugh...I need a drink. Tea or something, this is too surreal." Amari sat back down on the bed. Still trying to process the turn of events.

Astrophel's ears picked up at the sound of, 'I need a drink.' The thought passed through her mind of black tea with lemon, exactly what she had considered before. Nibbling her lip again she watched the girl who was her master, but didn't want to be called her master. Padding her bare feet and picking at the hem of her right cuff she paused before nodding a little.

"I will go get you a drink," she announced, and with that she turned and wandered out of the little room.

There was a door, a large wooden thing and beyond that Astrophel found a funny winding staircase, with a strange sudden cut to the right in it. Her brows furrowed as she followed this peculiar piece of architecture down to the lively noises. In Alteron they built staircases straight and sure, not this funny perpendicular turn. If you couldn't fit a staircase into a place... Why. Put it elsewhere, the djinn thought.

She came down to what could only be described a public house. These at least Astrophel recognised. It was more boisterous and wretched than those in Alteron - overall she had discovered that her home just was... More civilised, and she then walked over to the bar.

It was then the thought struck her that the barman may not like serving a young child and so she pulled herself up to more of a height, not caring if anyone stared. After all, shapeshifting was normal - right?

She couldn't be sure here. A blink from a barman and a sweet smile from her later and she was walking away with a cup of black tea with lemon, stunning everyone for asking for a non-acoholic drink.

Coming back up the odd stairs she held out the tea to her new master and remained as the older version of herself whilst wild murmurs began to rise from below. As she offered the drink with a smile and, "You wanted a drink?" Shouts arose and numerous shocked gasps.

Astrophel announced that she was going to get a drink, and before Amari could tell her to stay, she was out the door with a turn of her dainty bare feet and the whip of her flowing locks. The door clicked close and Amari could hear the faint footfalls disappear, drowned out by the ambient noises below.

The red-haired woman was still reeling, trying to piece it all together. She had no idea what a Djinn was. Look at his logically Amari. Do what Master says, take it one damn thing at a time...

Amari had touched and rubbed the teapot, but nothing happened till she rubbed her finger on the 'X' so it must have been some sort of sigil. Similar to the one on her back. The teapot, was the vessel in which the young girl lived. She seemed adamant on serving Amari, so Amari had to assume that the mark also acted as some sort of contract.

Amari took a deep breath, and exhaled. Feeling a little better about the situation now she had more of a grasp on it.

Or so she thought.

Her door opened again and in came the little girl. Only...she wasn't so little anymore. It was very clearly the same child...girl...woman...from before, but she looked different. Older. The hell is this creature?

Amari's tri coloured eyes glanced up and down, from the slip of a milken white thigh to the curvature of a now bountiful and near exposed chest. The Djinn's lips were full in a slightly glossed pout, her pitiless black eyes eyes stared innocently back at Amari from under long and full lashes. Her lips turned up into the slightest of smiles. Soft voice, still spoken with the curious and thick accent.

"You wanted a drink?"

Astrophel gently placed the teapot and the single cup on the bedside table, with a practised motion she poured the tea and offered it to Amari. She lowered her head in a small bow and her hair spilled smoothly over her porcelain shoulders. Amari forced herself to glance down at the tea. Her nose wrinkled, it seemed to be a black tea with strong hints of lemon. "Mmm...I would have preferred Jasmine myself." Amari said to herself. Not meaning to insult the girl or her offering.

"You drink it first." Amari said. Shifting her gaze up to Astrophel who straightened her back. Her startled motion shifted the teacup, but she was adept enough to not spill a single drop. "E-excuse me, Master?"

"You heard me." Amari said, turning her attention to the kettle. She opened up the lid and glanced inside. Nothing but tea leaves and lemon slices. "You heard me. I want you to drink the first cup. I'd rather ensure you did nothing to it. I have a lot of enemies, Astrophel. I can't be sure that you are not one of them."

She bit her lip and nodded, leaning forwards to gently take the pot. Holding it with expert care and with much ceremony she leant forwards to pour a moderate amount into the cup. Pausing for a moment she gently reached to take it between her long tanned fingers and very carefully raised it to her lips and sipped.

Gently, she lowered it back down and then took a step back.

"I apologise if it is not to your liking, master," she said, tipping her head slightly to the side.

As an older version of herself, Astrophel often found she acted slightly different. Her innocent eyes were still there, and the act of being a pretty being, obedient and genteel - but the age gave her something else. An edge, a fire, that her younger form seemed to never take up. It was the same person, same body that she imagined (except perhaps with more curves), but with the maturity her confidence grew. Her hip stuck out as she stood and walked, her attitude was a little more provactive, and her attention to detail was exaggerated. Altogether her skill at seduction was increased and she found herself simply longing to be a little more desired than her younger form allowed and could get away with, finding she enjoyed the attention, if she was honest.

She could feel the eyes burning on her as she revealed no ill effects of the drink. Hesitantly Amari placed out a slow hand and took up the tea, still with some incredulousity in her gaze. Remaining there still, Astrophel smiled just the littlest bit and actually allowed herself to shrink a little, letting the hair flow longer and more wild as she went back to the young girl.

"I hope you enjoy it," she said gently, bringing her hands together. Her thumbs twitched, fingers fidgeted. Still, she was nervous, still she wondered what had happened to Herandira.

"I am sorry if you don't."

"You know Master is a masculine term right?" Amari muttered before taking a sip of the black tea. She wrinkled her nose at the taste. "If you insist on fuckin' calling me such a thing at least use the right honorific." Amari sighed as she swirled the remnants of the tea in the small cup watching as the black liquid sloshed around. "The tea is a little too bitter, it's been brewed too long. It's also got far too much sugar for my liking no doubt it was to compensate for the bitterness. Although that's not your fault. You're not the one who made it. You simply fetched it." Amari rose her eyes to see that Astrophel had returned to her more juvenile form.

"I don't think I'll get over that whole shapeshifting thing you're doing." She muttered as she stood, placing the cup on the wooden dressing table. The red headed woman approached Astrophel with silent steps as her feet landed on plush carpet. The djinn seemed to cower and take two steps back. Amari quirked her brow at this curious as to what would illicit such fear. "Have people hurt you?" Amari asked as she reached out to let her fingers gently fall through the curtain of indigo locks. "Tell me about a few of your previous 'Masters' surely being in servitude alone hasn't made you so timid. I should know. I serve someone myself."

Her ears pricked up as she heard the change in tone of Amari's voice. She shrank back, away from the girl, hearing every single word as a cruelty, an order, a thing to be obeyed. Suddenly she felt that this was not going to go well, this relationship, this master and slave thing. Her arms folded around her, her younger, innocent self appearing even less mature as her black eyes widened.

It was a fact that she felt exposed and threatened by this girl, her new owner. Clearly she had underestimated her by presuming that because she was pretty and a younger version of most of her previous masters, then she would be good to her. Time to turn on the full effect of the innocent eyes, and try to use it to its greatest extent.

"Yes mas-" she stopped herself, when Amari had finished and told her to explain her past. She tried to think of another title to say but did not know one, so was simply silent for a moment. 'You know master is a masculine term right?' Astrophel tried to remember, but there had never been another term she had used for anyone. It was 'master' and thats all she knew. So for now, she guessed, she would just have to call this person by - well, be imaginative.

"Yes ... my ma- lady?" She brushed her hair from her face. "You are my seventeenth master in less years than that. Or eighteen, if you count my mother, though I never laid eyes on her, I just know that she owned my vessel when I was born. She threw my vessel out, onto the street, and it was found by Brontion, a tinker, then a camel herder who I knew not the name of. Then a merchant, Master Tsolo was his name, then his daughter Faradir. Then she gifted me to her lover, Maladorn, who was not of Alteron, but of another distant land ... possibly even here ..." She glanced around, looking over at the windows outside.

"Just where is here?" she whispered to herself.

'Astrophel either ignored Amari's questions, hadn't heard them, or was too damn scared to function properly. She told Amari a few of the 'Masters' she had had in the past, but failed to mention if any of them had been cruel to her. Amari didn't think she was being that hostile but the tiny child acted as though Amari had slapped her across the face. Amari sighed as she dragged her hand down her face. This interaction was becoming more one sided than she would have liked.


Amari threw back the covers of the bed, shedding it of the thick duvet layer. "It pisses me off to see you do that, I haven't hit you have I? I haven't shown any indication that I plan to, have I?" Amari threw the thick blanket toward Astrophel who awkwardly caught it as she took a few steps back. "So don't act like I'm going to fuckin' do something as abhorrent as that." Amari's words were hypocritical. She had done far, far worse. She had killed before, children at that, but to have someone so afraid of her when she was just trying to help... it rubbed Amari the wrong way.

"What do you wish for me to do with this?" Astrophel asked as she juggled the thick blanket in her hand.

"It's getting late, so I dunno... wrap yourself up in it and sleep? Fold it up on the floor and sleep on top of it? I don't care what you do." Amari said as she picked up a white pillow and tossed it on the floor at the Djinn's feet. Amari didn't need to sleep with much, one pillow and one blanket would do her fine. She was used to the cold. "There."

Amari then started to take off her outer clothes. Her boots, gloves, jacket... she stripped down till she was wearing nothing but a cotton shirt and pants.

"Get some sleep. Tomorrow I'm going to find out exactly what you are and why you're so fuckin' scared of everything."

Amari padded over to the window and pulled the thin, faded red curtains shut. Come morning they'd do little to block out the sun. "Oh and here is Salvar." Amari wriggled under the covers and turned her back on the indigo haired Djinn. She was going to bed hungry, and annoyed - but she had dealt with enough today.

Astrophel just stared at the blanket in her hand and the pillow at her feet. Slowly her eyes blinked as she stood there, confused and lost. Herandira wouldn't have given her away of her own choosing, she was sure. So how did she get here, to this Salvar place? She faintly remembered Herandira mentioning the name once or twice before they had set out on their journey, but Astrophel hadn't imagined it to be so ... well ... strange. Foreign. Cold.

Taking a moment to let the human person - her new master - to settle in properly, she dropped the blanket and moved to the window. Twitching back the curtain that the girl had closed she gazed out, tilting her head at the snow falling. Beyond rooftops she could see that this town or city stretched on for some lengths, with some ornate towers in the distance that reminded her just a little of the prayer towers back in Alteron, which dominated the skyline. The horizon itself here though was much more boxy and square, with less curves and balconies than back home. But then - who would want a balcony in such cold? Frowning to herself slightly she looked back at Amari and took in a slow breath before melting her existence into thin immateriality. Into the aether. Into a shadowy form of herself, that looked like whisps of white and blue smoke and just had the faintest resemblance of her personage in it.

Casually, as if one might step into a carriage, Astrophel stepped out beyond the wall and into the oncoming night. She felt a painful tug at her essence as she did so. After all she was moving away from her master, after she had been told to sleep.

Well not told. Not at all ordered. Just suggested to, and Astrophel took that as a sort of guarantee to herself. Yes, she had to return to this place, and this girl, and yes she was now under new management as one might say - but the sleep thing had just been a 'hey, this is what you could do.' With that in mind, Astrophel fought against the uncomfortable pit of ugliness that was building inside of her stomach, the same thing that always built up when she disobeyed her master in some way, and used willpower to let her go out.

Excited, and trying her best to ignore the pain she moved with ghostly grace through the streets. Floating as if on the wind, she let herself freak out a couple of locals as she wandered past, picking up speed. Happily, she grinned, and eyed up the triangle-roofed houses with slate roofs and large slabs for bricks instead of mud. Her eyes watched the crows passing overhead, waving to them idly. They cawed in surprise as she flew up to gently float with them. Whizzing around she circled one, and stuck out her tongue at it, enjoying this single moment of a new place, and a new time, of a sleeping master and these single moments where - well she could have fun and not have to be anyone's puppet. Soaring, and managing to get over the bitterness and nausea, keeping them to a drawer in her mind that was reserved for more depressing times, the djinn moved and swirled and cascaded and -

Stopped. Sudden. As she realised what she could see. High above the rooftops now she could get a wider picture of the town. The city. From the slums to the harbour. Right where Herandira's ship was still in port.

A lump grew heavy in her throat, and silently, slowly, her willpower dissapated enough that the agony of disobeying her master came to her. It filled her, slamming straight into her without remorse and then she was retching. Violently vomiting nothing but air. Oh yes she could see the captain Herandira now, striding in her tiny form from deck to pier, issuing orders in her powerful voice. Though she was a pinprick, she was unmistakable in her vivid blue attire and violet plume in her hat. Exotic, wrapped in foreign furs, as attractive as her companion young indigo-haired ...

Fuck.

For the rarest of rare times, Astrophel swore as the magic of the djinn and the curse laid upon her body became solid and angry. It burned a savage pit in her stomach as she was shockingly reminded of what she was and who she was. The idea that the new master had given her orders to sleep became more severe, and though she fought with all that she had, her willingness was dwindling fast. The belief in herself, the internal strength, the happiness that was brief and beautiful. The -

Harshly, crudely, viciously, her form was sling-shotted away. Away from her old master, reminding her that that was not how it worked, that this was how it was. Thin bands of a silvery material, as immaterial as her current form but as binding as a physical one, wrapped themselves around her wrists and neck. Chains appeared, light but unbreakable, the ends spiralling to invisibility, but in the direction of her vessel and then Astrophel was yanked.

Lightly she shrieked, knowing this feeling and by the gods above having experienced it before. When an order is disobeyed, when you as a djinn stray from your cursed path, when the realisation comes that you just want to be free - no. The chains were there to remind you that there was no possibility. That the curse laid on your foetus form is unbreakable and that you are a prisoner to others' wills for all of eternity.

The chains dragged her, cruelly, through the skies and air like an imprisoned kite, dragging her faster than she had gone before. She could see the window where she had come from come into view, the chains straight and drifting through the wall. The glass and brick and mortar came and -

Slam. There she was. Physical form once more. Right in the middle of the room, clay teapot spinning on its side as it had clattered to the ground with her misdemeanour. The collar and wrist restraints were still there, and still seemingly immaterial but very real to touch. They anchored away to the teapot, seemingly coming from the spout, and pulled on her neck and wrists as she lay there, bursting out into proper tears.

Amari was a light sleeper, so when the pot hit the plush carpet with a light thud she stirred. Then, came the howling sobs of the child. Amari groaned as she sat up, rubbing the sleep from her tired eyes. Figured this would happen, no fuckin' sleep tonight it seems. She thought bitterly as her tri-coloured eyes landed on the shadowed figure of the crying girl.

With a heavy sigh Amari reached out and turned on the gas lamp that sat on the bedside table. The room became aglow in a soft, dancing orange light as he smell of oil prickled the air. "The fuck..." Amari muttered. Was it her imagination, or did Astrophel seem more....chained than she was previously?

Amari swung her body round and slid off the bed and onto the floor, kneeling beside the sobbing waif. "What the hell happened here?" Amari asked as she turned her eyes to the ethereal looking chains that bound the girl to the teapot. "Explain."

Astrophel's tiny frame shook and droplets of tears silently hit the carpet. She heaved and struggled to speak between her sobs. "N-N...N..." Finally she pulled her hands away, her wide and black eyes staring at her from beneath long tear stained lashes. "Nothing for you to w-worry about M-Master..." She sobbed.

"Bullshit." Amari snapped, sounding harsher than she intended. Astrophel jumped at the sudden and rash tone. "I order you to tell me."

The djinn frowned and lowered her head, she looked guilty as though she had just committed a heinous act. It took a while for her to calm down enough to respond. "I...I just wanted to see her. Herandira, my former Master. Why doesn't she want me anymore? Why?" She shook her head, wrapping her arms around her small torso. "It doesn't matter anymore... I'm not going anywhere." The chains slowly began to melt away, responding to her defeated attitude and realisation.

Amari wasn't sure of the bond the Djinn had with her former Master, but she didn't entirely like the pretence. The being was no undoubtedly old. Older than Amari's current life, but the way she acted... it held such a subdued innocence and naivety. "If that's all why didn't you just ask to go see her? I'd have let you."

"W-what?" She lifted her head in alarm.

"I'm serious." Amari said. "Go and see what she's doing, and what happened, however - I order you to return before a full day passes. Then... " Amari paused. "I order you to explain how you were abused in such a way to cause you to act like this."

"I-I..."

Amari held out her hand as if to stop her. "Go. Do what you need to do. Far be it from me to stop you. Just return so I can get my answers."

As she flew, she counted the orders given to her.

One, she was ordered to return before the day passed. That gave Astrophel from now, early morning, to sunrise the next day. It was a good full many hours, enough to hurry to Herandira and find out exactly what had happened. This would satisfy the djinn, at least in terms of knowing why.

Two, she was then to explain the abuses of her former masters. This confused Astrophel somewhat, for she was uncertain what pertained to abuse. Indeed, some of them had ordered her to do some otherwise illegal things - such as steal, lie, and at one time murder - but these were all orders. A djinn's life was a life of service, cursed to be immortal, forever, and to drift from master to master.

Three ... well there was not a third order, Astrophel realised, as she came to rest over the mighty three-masted ship. There was only those two, like the two distinct calls of the sea-fearing birds dominating the skies with her. One call was territorial, the other was excitement. Excitement for food, excitement for each other, and excitement for finding your way home.

She found her old master in the captain's cabin, where Herandira belonged. Shaped like an odd, truncated rectangle, the cabin took up the entire back stretch of the straight-ended ship. A huge wooden bed was built into one wall, and shelves upon shelves dominated much of the rest. A firm table with a stout chair stood to one side, along with a mass of maps that were always strewn on every surface possible. Darkness covered the room, for the only light were the dull first tendrils of light from a new dawn and the dying whisps of a beeswax candle. But Herandira, the mighty fearsome foreign trader was not asleep, oh no. She was awake, striding around her cabin, throwing papers left right and centre, tossing clothes in the air and calling, "Where is it? WHERE IS IT?"

"Mas ... Herandira?"

She whispered as she took physical form, alighting on the doorstep.

Herandira froze. All six feet of her and topsy tricorn. Her breath went out, and she slowly turned around. To stare.

"Oh my ..."

Astrophel instantly bowed her head, cowering before her. "Please, master, Herandira, it was not my fault. I don't know how it happened but suddenly I was not here, I was there, because it was not me, it was someone else - I don't know who else. But I was taken, and dropped and cleaned and then-"

A finger stopped her lips. A long, gentle, pressing finger. Slowly, Astrophel raised her head to gaze into those kind, blue eyes. The most beautiful she had ever seen and so gracious. Gently, Herandira smiled and she removed the finger to sigh.

"I was so worried," she said in a warm, soft voice. "I was so worried that you had abandoned me."

"I would never abandon you, mas - Herandira, master. I would never deliberately abandon you, not ever."

"I knew you wouldn't," Herandira stroked the hair from the young girl's face, "I honestly knew it. But now you are back. All is well. All is forgiven." She drew Astrophel into a deep, warm hug. "You are home now."

Home? Astrophel blinked. And she drew back, realising Herandira was under a very false understanding. "Master, I am-"

"Oh, have you seen your vessel by the way?" the captain was moving again, swinging her head to and fro. A finger tapped that square, stern chin. "I have been looking all day, and I have not seen it. At first I thought it had gone with you, but then I remember you can't actually force it anywhere." She let out a chuckle, and kept talking in her rapid way. Astrophel tried to speak, but - well, the woman was just so daunting.

"Mas-"

"So then I thought maybe someone had moved it whilst cleaning. You know, Mary, Ella, or one of the others. But they don't seem the type really, they've never moved it before. So I presume it has just gone missing."

"No, master, it-"

"Maybe because you moved so far away, it went with you? Does it do that, do you know? I have half a mind now to scour the entire dock. It has probably gotten caught up with our trade stock, now to think of it. But we need to find it fast because another hand might hold it and-"

"Herandira, another person has found it," Astrophel suddenly shouted, exasperated. Then she heavily sighed. At least she had gained her answer of why Herandira had given her away. In short, she had not. Somehow, clearly, it had been lost, carried into the city real and found on the streets by Amari.

Once again, the captain froze. But this time facing the djinn and she paused, mouth wide open, feet crushing a map in half as they twisted with agitation into the floorboards. There was a long silence as Astrophel uncertainly looked at her, not sure what to say. Clearly, Herandira had never realised, and it was a shame, for the two of them had been so good together, sailing the high seas. It had brought Astrophel here, to Salvar with its biting winds and mean snows, to a new home and a new master. Herandira, however, had still been the kindest person Astrophel had known, giving her rest and asking only for her to sleep with acceptable people. There was no rape, there had been no killing, it had all been perfectly nice for all one knew.

"I do not know what happened," the girl continued, looking down at the ground. "I cannot know. One moment I was just in the pot, and then was with her, in that room. But she touched the mark. She became my master. I cannot serve you anymore. I am sorry," she rubbed her upper arm. "Sorry."

A long, endless silence. Only broken by the heavy heartbeats of the opposite woman. Astrophel couldn't move. Instead she closed her eyes, and tried to repeat herself.

"I am so-"

"Get out."

"What?" she looked up in surprise. Herandira was no longer looking at her. Instead she was facing the wall, her body rigid, tense with ferocity that Astrophel recognised very well. It made the djinn concerned, very concerned for her safety as well as Herandira's.

"Master, I-"

"I said get OUT!"

And then the mugs started flying.

---

Ten hours later, Astrophel returned to the upper storey room. Her heart heavy, she sank to the floor and curled up in the corner. Amari was not here currently, but that did not matter, Astrophel had returned early at least. It was now dusk, and the skies were beginning to become heavy with the darkness of night.

After being forced out by Herandira, Astrophel had wandered the streets in her incorporeal form. First in anger, and then in sorrow she had gone, knowing that Herandira did not want to see her anymore. Nevertheless, twice again she had gone back to make restitution, and twice the maddening captain had shouted until she left. There was no hope, there was no goodness. The trading captain's anger was legendary, and Astrophel had more than once suffered at the hands of it. Thus, after three times, she gave up. She drifted more, and gained a keen map of the city. In shadow, in tears, in loneliness.

She sighed. Her sea life was over.

Amari had returned not long after Astrophel, she had gone downstairs for a feed and to resupply her rations. The Inner Sanctum was two days travel from here, and Amari did not like the idea of going that long without food. She had to deal with that sort of shit from Lye, she wasn't going to put herself through it, she'd delve deep into his coffers getting the supplies too. It was a wonder how he trusted her with Crimson Hand funds.

Standing at the door to her room she froze, eyes narrowing as she heard shuffling from within. Spy? Assassin? Amari shifted the rucksack she carried to her back. Be dammed if she was going to be caught off guard. Amari's hands flared up in crackling red energy as she heaved her weight against the door, it threw open and inside...

Inside was a crying and snivling girl.

Ahh shit...Didn't expect her back so early

"Done already?" Amari asked, the light quickly flickering away. Amari turned and shut the door, clicking the lock shut. She tossed the bag onto the bed, it bounced once and some of the contents spilled out. Wrapped breads, cheeses, and a few skins of water. "I didn't expect you to return till later this evening."

Amari turned to the girl who had shuffled herself further into a tiny ball upon her return. "Why do you always act like I'm going to hit you?" Amari approached the girl, she gently ran a hand up and down the tiny girls shaking frame. Astrophel didn't have to say anything, Amari knew the girl was balled up, crying, and attempting to hide herself away from the world. She was timid, but she wasn't like this when she left. "What the hell happened?" Amari asked.

"Nothing." She said between a few sniffles.

"Bullshit." Amari spat, "you need to stop with this whole avoiding my questions thing, it's getting real tiring real quick." Amari muttered. Her words sounded harsher than she had intended. Amari was quick to anger, and her attempts to help the girl were continually rebuked. Amari wondered why she even bothered trying to help if this is the sort of behaviour and reactions she received. Sighing heavily, Amari changed her tone, trying to comfort her. "If nothing happened, you wouldn't be curled up like this. What. Happened."

"S-She told me never to come back. All I wanted was to say I was sorry, but she shouted at me, screamed and never to show my face again."
The girl reached out to clasp the hem of Amari's dress with a shaking hand. Amari wasn't sure if it was an attempt to garner more comfort of if she wanted Amari to leave.

"It does not matter as she is no longer my master..."

Amari sighed, shifting so she sat beside the Djinn. "You know, I was contemplating giving you back to your former Master, Mistress... whatever. I figured if you missed them that much, they were a good person, and I ain't gonna tear some kid away from a happy situation, but I don't think that's the case. I'm not comfortable giving you back to someone like that."

Astrophel hiccuped, shooting her head up in surprise. Inky black eyes wide. "Y-you would have to willingly give her back my vessel. And she is my master - was, and now you are. It is a djinn's purpose to serve and obey orders, whatever they might be..You may treat me how you wish. They all do. It is my purpose."

Amari sighed, "Fuck me, you're annoying."

"S-sorry Master."

Amari reached out and carefully wiped the tears away from under Astrophels eyes using her thumbs. "Listen." Amari shifted so her body was facing Astrophels, she grasped the girls almond shaped face between her palms, the tips of her fingers weaving into indigo hair. "You're mine correct?"

She nodded.

"I am to treat you how I wish?"

She nodded again.

"And you are to obey every one of my orders, without question?"

A final nod, followed by a timid and fearful, "Yes Master."

"Then shut up, and listen. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm not going to command you to sleep your way across Salvar, nor am I going to have you steal, cheat, lie or kill. That's my job. You are my companion. I'm ordering you to chill the fuck out, and relax. You are to let me know if you see something you want, or if there is something you want to do. Understood?"

Gazing up at the woman with wide, baby blue eyes, Astrophel blubbered a little more at her new master. She blinked a few times, knowing that she was showing her weakness - a tendancy to be small and sensitive - and cried further. For Herandira had been nice. Well, nicer than anyone in the past and it had been good. It had been nice, having those short few months sailing the seas, being treated with alright respect, if one minused the couple of times of rape and sex and a couple of beatings ...

That was not bad in the general life of a Djinn.

Yet here ... here was a new person. Someone not of Alteron, someone of a new world and a new land, where things were not warm and sultans did not rule and Djinn were not ...

Well, not known. They were not cursed babies, they were not unknowns. They were not disregarded, stolen, used for devious devices and mistreated. Called property of another. They were instead completely out of culture here, out of knowledge, and thought of, at least by this girl, as potential other citizens. Other people. Other beings.

Other ... oh my great fire god ...

As a person.

Astrophel gazed up at the red-haired lady who was now her master, and now had her in this new land, permanently. Had, by her own will, anchored her to this new soil and would surely open up a whole new world of adventure, cicrumstance and livelihood. More years of servitude but more years of exploration. Into a whole new continent, where the sky bled white soft rain and ravens cawed like death was constantly coming.

Oh my.

Unsteadily she moved into a small bow. And she whispered.

"Thank you Master, Mistress," she said, "I understand entirely." She wiped at her face, taking the tears away. "Thank you."

Amari sighed, reaching out to wipe the girls tears away. "What am I going to do with you?" She asked. Astrophel opened her mouth to say something, but preempting the move Amari lowered her hand to press an index finger gently against the girls lips. "Shh, it was rhetorical. There is no answer." The Indigo haired djinn nodded, her hands were rigid by her side, and her body shook. Amari wasn't sure if it was from fear, the cold, or something else entirely.

Amari pushed herself to her feet and headed to the bed. She shoved the various foodstuffs and rations back into the pack. "We have to leave tomorrow. I am meant to return to my own Master, and it's a few days travel to the compound from here, he is not a patient man..." Amari sighed as she set it on the ground. "He can wait another few days, I have ways of calming him down. Oddly enough."

She turned her gaze to Astrophel who stood, shivering in the far corner of the room. Amari gestured Astrophel to come toward her. The small Djinn child did, and as she came within Amari's reach, the red-headed assassin pulled the young girl into a tight hug.

"As long as you are under my care, I won't let anything happen to you." Amari breathed, resting her chin on the girls head. Astrophel gave a small whimper in response as her hands lifted to return the embrace, she was still crying, Amari could feel it. Just what things did the girl go through, did she have to endure to become like this?

"It's ok. You're tired." Amari said in a consoling whisper. She dragged Astrophel to the bed with her. "Sleep with me tonight." The girl stiffened, and Amari felt a well of sickness unfurl in her stomach when she realised why.

"Sleep. Rest. Nothing more." Amari reiterated, offering Astrophel gentle pats upon her head. The tiny girl clung tight to Amari's form, and Amari continued to comfort the young Djinn till she was sure the girl was asleep.

It had been an odd few days, and Amari wasn't sure how good she could truly be to the girl, but she knew one thing. She wouldn't allow anything bad to happen to her from here on out.

Thread Title: Indigo and Red
Participants: Astrophel and Mari
Judgment Type: No Judgment

Astrophel gains 730 EXP and 100 GP
Mari gains 1190 EXP and 115 GP (inclusive of Noble Commerce ability bonus)

Congratulations!

All rewards have been added.