<font color='#FF0000'>"Another one?" She sighed, still afraid, of course, but irritated. She had to get away from here. Her stupidity had gotten her into this, so maybe stupidity would get her out. "If you guys give me a little bit more freedom around here..since you're planning on..er..keeping me.., I'll actually be encouraged to do what you want me to. Come on boys, just loosen your grips.." Her head was turning, watching their faces, wondering if they were actually stupid enough to let her go. And if they were to actually do that, she'd actually co-operate for a while..Then, make her move when they'd think she was actually co-operating. "Of course I'm going to help you get Nadine. Of course.", She smiled convincingly.</font>
<font color='#ABCDEF'>Morgan narrowed her eyes suspiciously, not convinced. The pendragon was planning something, and she could tell. {She's up to something..} She telepathed to Targryan privately. She knew he probably could tell as she could, but she didn't want to take any chances when food was on the line. Despite her suspicions, Morgan schooled her face into a completely blank, accepting look, as though she believed what the other was saying.</font>
<font color='#348781'>{I know.} Tagryan replied. Then he said outloud, "Hmm...well, we'll just see about that. And no matter how hard you promise, missy, dont expect us to go and expect you to betray your best friend down there. What do you take us for, apprentices?" And he grinned humourlessly. Chitter, meanwhile, had been jouncing impatiently from foot to foot. If y'all are done with your little gossip here, can we go yet? The food has the unfortunate property of movement, and a habit of using it.", she said.</font>
<font color='#FF0000'>"If you guys think that I'm gonna betray you, might as well just kill me on the spot. You'd catch me right away anyways...Right?" Nae's brow quirked as she questioned them. She ignored all their discriminating remarks. She stayed where she was, waiting for their signal. She was going to co-operate if she wanted to save herself and Nadine. "So what do you want me to do?", she asked, after waiting there for a while.</font>
<font color='#348781'>{Lead on, Commander Chitter!} Tagyran said with a grin, than said out loud, "What do you do? Well, for now babydoll you can just follow your nice new friend Chitter here. And if you behave and we're all in a good mood, we might not even damage you too much. Here, Morgan, you take over leading our young friend here to give Chitter here a break." And Tagryan, with a mocking bow to Naedalya, waited for Chitter, in front, to pass, then Morgan and her captive, before he went off with them to have their longawaited meal. He also made sure to keep an ear on nae's mind to make sure she didnt send any telepathic warnings to her little friends.</font>
<font color='#FF0000'>"Yes, sir." She raised from her haunches and cautiously stepped behind Chitter. So now, she knew she was under observation. She concentrated uniquely on following Chitter and keeping her mind on..not losing her footing or something. Naedalya couldn't afford to plan how to save herself, nevermind Nadine too. But she was determined to. Somehow she would, even if she died trying. Staying with Tagryan without any freedom was the least of her desires right now, and if she were to try and escape, and would fail, she'd die a martyr. She smiled to herself, still walking at Tagryan's side and behind Chitter.</font>
<font color='#ABCDEF'>Morgan nodded. "Yes sir." she said, before moving to the front of the line. She led the way toward Nadine, eyes keen in the darkness. The darkness wrapped around her, making her almost invisible because of her dark fur. She sniffed the ground occasionally, sifting through the scents that led back to Nadine.</font>
<font color='2'>Naedalya shivered as a gust of wind rolled by. She shielded herself with her wing. Not knowing what to expect, she asked, " What will I have to do?, " in a trembling voice. " Might as well tell me now, right? We'll get to the shore pretty soon..just a few hundred more feet.. " She raised her head and saw the rolling waves hitting the shore, then slipping back into the everlasting cycle of waves. She heard the soft, thundering, constant sound. Such a peaceful sound, and yet, she was about to commit something dreadful, most likely. But she'd get out of it. Somehow, with whatever little luck she had. Naedalya was sure of that.</font>
<font color='2'>"And give you a chance to think up an escape plan? Not likely", and Tagryan grinned mercilessly. "No, my dear, you'll just have to possess your soul in patience until we get there."</font>
<font color='#3BB9FF'>With a quick, quiet sigh, Naedalya continued her walk towards the lake. That wasn't what she was planning..But now that Tagryan had mentioned it, she realized that he was pretty smart for saying that. "Well, here we are.." she said as they arrived. A wave slid up to her ankles, causing her to gasp loudly. It was cold. Nighttime during the cold time of the year was never a very pleasant time to swim, but in the distance, she still saw Nadine bathing in the water underneath the serene illuminance of the moon. Raising her head towards the moon, she began to shiver fearfully. She had to get out of this with Nadine.</font>
<font color='#728FCE'>Tagyran slid on silent feet to Naedalya's side, and, his muzzle mere inches from her ear, whispered, "There. Now, Morgan's gona stay here to make you dont make a break for it, like. She's also going to be invisible. Chitter and I will be watching from the trees. You will call out to your friend over there and make out like you've found a nice shelter for the night. You willl not telepath any secret messages. And to make sure that you dont, Chitter and I are going to put a clamp on your mind. And even if we're not strong enough to dampen it completely, you will not be able to send more than a couple feet away from you...and by that time, it will be too late. So you understand?" And he grinned menacingly.</font>
<font color='#3BB9FF'>With every word she heard, she maddened. It seemed as though Nae had no chance for anything. We'll see. "Alright, sounds good.", she whispered, as to seem cooperative. She ran deeper into the water, up to about her knees, and shouted her loudest, "Nadine!! Over here!! I've found a place for us to stay the night!!!!!"</font>
<font color='2'>Morgan stepped back, watching Nae. Invisible to Nadine's eyes, she watched eagerly for the pendragon to swim in. Her muscles tensed ready to spring forward. Alert and invisible, she waited for Tagryan's command.</font>
<font color='#728FCE'>"Very good," Tagryan whispered. Then, signaling to Chitter, the two slipped silently into the looming forest. At such a distance, it would be impossible for Nadine to pick out the slight movement. {Nice, Morgana,} Tagryan said to Morgan, approving of her stance and position. {Just make sure that when our friendy out there finally does get in, dont loosen your bonds on NAe here in all the excitement - we dont want her getting away after all!} and here Tagryan injected a grin in his voice. {Actually, unless the goings getting tought for Chitter and I, which I rather doubt, I think your main task is to make sure Nae doesnt make a break for it. Also, there's been a rumor of Estrella - remember her? - lurking about somewhere in the distance. Maybe she has some sort of connection with these new friends of ours. So as well as watching Nae, could you be our lookout too?} All this exchange took only a few seconds, and all that time, Tagryan never took his eyes off the lake, and kept a stern ear out for anything Nae's mind might try to pull in the way of telepaths. ******************** A voice came faintly over the water to Nadine. She was finally wearying of her long hours of waterplay, and starting to wonder where she would sleep for the night. She was in unfamiliar territory here. So, despite the fact that she had originally come here to escape the others, she decided that once more night in their company wouldnt hurt, and then she wouldnt have to worry about finding a protected sleeping spot, safe from most predators. So, just for this night, she would go back to Nae and Estrella. Well, presuming Estrella was there of course - she hadnt seen the big, ugly pendragon yet. But it was dark, and she thought she might have seen a slight movement over on the bank. It could have been Estrella or it could have been just her imagination playing tricks on her. "Nae?" she called back. "That you? Found a sleeping place, have you? Well, hang on a sec, Im coming." And, ever reluctant to get out of her favorite element -water- she started to swim slowly back to the bank. As she approached, she was able to recognize Naedalya, standing about thigh-deep in the water. She smiled. "Glad you called when you did. I was just starting to wonder where I would spend the night," she said as her feet scraped the sandy bottom. She started to pull herself up, and then that was the last thing she knew before she heard a mental roar of {NOW!} in an unfamiliar voice, and a dark mass was flung - or flung himself - at her, and she went down. Banging her head on a rock, her last though was I knew I should have stayed away from other people. I knew I shouldnt have come back this evening. before her world whirled and then went black.</font>
<font color='2'><font color=#Abcdef>Morgan tightened her hold on Nae to keep her from going to her friend or trying to make a run for it. She walked forward, still invisible unless you looked hard enough for her. She waited, concentration focused on Nae, eyes focused on Nadine and Tagryan.</font></font>
<font color='#3BB9FF'>A single tear rolled down Naedalya's innocent face. She had just betrayed someone who had trusted her. She sobbed silently, held back by Morgan. She tried pulling away, but eventually gave up. "What did she ever do to you anyway? Couldn't you have just killed me??" Now, Nae's wings, immense, heavy and muscular, each sported a single curved claw at the top that could deliver nasty scratches. She pulled her right wing from underneath Morgan's two front paws. Quietly and undetectably, she knew she had to do something to save Nadine and herself, so she raised it above Morgan's body, over her back, so it was surrounding Morgan like a blanket, but it didn't touch her. She raised the claw to the side of Morgan's head. In a brisk slash, she attempted to open a big gash on the side of her head, from under her ear, down the entire length of her neck, up to the shoulder. This would have given her the chance to escape, and if this worked, she'd fly off for safety and attempt to follow the pack and save Nadine later. ooc: Just trying to make it un-godmoding like. So if you accept that she really did slash Morgan's head, she already has escaped and flew away.</font>
<font color='#ABCDEF'>Morgan snarled and stepped back, blood pouring from the gash. She shook blood out of her eyes, and glared at the retreating back of Naedalya's flying form. {Targryan, she escaped! Gave me a nasty gash on my head in the process.} She reported to Targryan. {Want me to go after her?} She asked, carefully wiping some blood away from the gash with a paw. She dunked her head into the water, washing away some of the blood, then rubbing at it with a paw to dislodge some of the already drying blood.</font>
<font color='#3BB9FF'><center>By now, Naedalya's adrenaline was at its peak. She flew so fast, that she could hardly see where she was going- it being nighttime and all. Her wing's claw was still dripping from blood. She was so afraid and so mad at herself for having done that. But maybe she'd get out of it alive this way - unharmed. She rose above the clouds to avoid an incoming rain/snowstorm. The temperature was bordering at around 0, so it was likely that it would be a mix. But that would certainly help her get away from Tagryan, Chitter and most of all now, Morgan. After about 5 minutes of flight above the clouds, she descended about 25 feet above the trees, already feeling a slight drizzle. Many tiny, sharp feeling icy droplets fell from the sky. They melted on impact with Naedalya's body, but it still didn't help her feel warmer the already windy, dreary weather. So now, it was dark, freezing cold, wet, and impossible for Naedalya to see. She was too exhausted to fly up above the clouds all over again, so she retreated into a deserted part of the forest, landing underneath the thick canopy of pine branches that could serve as a temporary umbrella and shield her from the brutal wind. It took her a while to make her way through onto a branch thick enough for her to stay on without having it snap underneath her weight - even though she didn't weigh more than 110 lbs and the trees here were enormous and sturdy - and so she could keep her balance, while staying comfortable. She'd wait here until morning, unless she was found before then. Her wings fell limp to her sides as she fell asleep - her mind still racing in fear of being discovered and taken back into the clutches of Tagryan and the rest of his evil clan.</font>
<font color='#728FCE'>Chitter dragged Nadine's limp body out of the water so she wouldnt drown by the simple method of using his jaws to painfully drag her by the scruff of her neck until she was lying half in and half out of the water, her head resting on the pebbly beach. It was starting to snow. Chitter shivered slightly. Tagryan stood up and walked calmly out of the water. He glanced at Morgan, whose face was still streaming with blood. "Nah, Morgan, you're hurt. You wouldnt stand a chance against the ittle vixen in this weather." He briefly considered sending Chitter instead, but quickly dismissed the idea. It would be near impossible for Chitter to find her in this weather. And when the big female they had just captured woke up, she was going to be a handful. With Morgan injured, he was going to need Chitter as backup to discourage NAdine from attacking. Nadine was starting to moan and make little stirrings on the ground. Tagryan glanced at her. "Chitter, Morgan, take her between the two of you," he said loftily, walking into the forest. He was furious that tje other one had managed to get away. Well, at least thay had this one, but it was small condolemce for what he had been hoping for. Glaring at the forest floor litter of twigs and small branches, he snarled so,ething and they hastily assembled themselves into a neat pile. Another snarl from Tagryan, and the pile erupted abruptly into flames. He lay on his haunches and stared moodily into the flames. Meanwhile Chitter, bearing Nadine, who was still unconcious but rapidly returning to this world.He assumed Morgan was also with them, although he didnt bother to check. He was used to being instantly obeyed. Now, as Chitter dropped her burden carelessly on the ground, Targ barked to Chitter "Dress her wound!". Then he went over to Nadine. Determined that this one wouldnt get away as the forst had, he wrapped up up like a spiders supper in a magical web of strong, durable magical ropes, which glowed a bright blood red. Ina flash of malice, he put a sting in them so that whoever tried to open them - except him, of course, as creator of the spell - would receive a nasty little shock. Grinning savagely to himself, he stomped over to the fire, and stared into its flames again. Chitter was busy bending over something, presumable Morgan, in the wan light provided by the roaring fire. Nadine, when he spared her another glance, was thrashing out on the ground. She opened one eye, suddenly, then another. As Tagryan watched with one eye, the other on the flames still, she lay still for a while, regaining her senses as she fuzzily tried to recall what had happened. Then she seemed to have a memory flash, and woozily tried to jump to her feet. She stumbled in the ropes binding her feet al together, however, and fell heavily to the ground. "Wont try that experiment again any time soon, will you, my sweet?" Targ asked nastily, having watched the whole performance silently. Nadine's only response was an angry snarl of defiance as she lay still where she had fallen.</font>
<font color='#3BB9FF'><center>The bone-freezing winds that persisted with the snow storm were impossible to ignore. Naedalya's stomach rumbled. She hadn't eaten at all since her kill with Nadine. Nadine.. the one she had had just betrayed. Nae's stomach tightened because of guilt. "Maybe if I stayed with them, I would have had a chance to save Nadine more than I do at this point.." She grumbled, realizing how stupid what she'd just done was. Her long, feline form stretched along her branch. It was the middle of the night, but sleep just wasn't an option right now. It would be impossible to fall asleep anyway. She hopped off of her branch, softening her fall by rather gliding down softly. She walked in the direction of the lake, thinking of all the scenarios - if she'd return, if she'd stay away from them, if she'd hide from them watching, if she..or if she just wouldn't find them anymore. She was almost bumping into trees at this point because of the thick snow that was falling and the darkness of midnight.</font>
