So. She thought me misguided. I, was was what, more than twice her age? Hah. No, I'm sorry faun captain, I've lived a lot longer than you. I am no misguided stripling, to be won over by a captor. Especially not one so full of prejudice that she considered me an abomination and tried to kill me before changing her mind. I almost looked forward to her next visit in truth - I wanted to keep talking with her, force her to open her eyes.
Because I had realized what was bothering me before she left. Twice I had asked a question - and yes, I had asked others around it. But each and every other question was answered at some point, except for one. One that I felt was rather important.
‘Why am I a monster for using natural things to become stronger?’
The faun had answered everything else in some way, whether a confirmation or a rejection. Everything but that one, rather vital question. Only - had she? Had she ignored it? Because at the end, when she was getting ready to leave…
I hadn't been a monster in her eyes, but a man. Maybe a misguided man, but a man. So. While she hadn't vocally answered it, she had. I wasn't a monster for using the natural world, but for using science. Which I now knew she only had negative associations with. A plague, unleashed. A shame that she did not know of the good things science brought. People who had new leases on life because science gave them what they would have otherwise been denied.
Science might be capable of creating disasters. But it was also equally capable of curing disease and saving lives. It was a tool, a valuable one, but one that could be misused like any other tool in the world. A hammer might be used to build a house - or used to break a man’s bones. I hummed as I thought. Then I paused, my thoughts interrupted.
The ship was rocking. Moving. The water was sloughing of the sides, I could hear it through the wooden walls of the cell - the hull of the ship. We were moving, leaving port. I took in a very deep breath. ”My intention is not to kill you.” She had said. Well, she hadn't lied. I just - wouldn't be seeing home for a while, it seemed. I let out a long, deep sigh. I didn't care about very much in this world beyond the Hunt - but I did love my family, and now? Now I had no idea when I would see them next. Fantastic.
One of the rats chittered, slowly approaching me. I looked down at it - the rodent was surprisingly clean. Even after watching for nearly two minutes, I saw no sign of any mites or fleas. Huh. He was also surprisingly calm as I reached out and ran one finger down his back. I shook my head as he pressed against my leg. “Looks like we are, quite literally, in the same boat here, hmm? Here.” I tore off a piece of meat from what the faun had brought me, and offered it to the rat. There was a squeak, and the food was snatched. To my mild surprise, he stayed by my side as he chewed at the meat.
“Well. I could do with worse company for being stuck in a cell for who knows how long.” I picked up the bread and slowly started eating it. I didn't know how long it would be before the faun woman returned, so, I would do my best to make the food last. At least the water skin would buy me another day or two, if I was forgotten down here. The hours began to slip by, my rat companion and I quietly sitting next to each other. After eating, he crawled into my lap - most likely, this fellow had been someone’s pet at some point, he was far too comfortable with drow for that not to be the case.
