Icthius watched Bastion's face retreat into a pinched look. His ears quivered a little, and he squirmed, flopping senselessly to his side. Finally Bastion's eyes cracked open, squinting against the fuzziness that was sure to have smothered is normally immaculate vision. He blinked rapidly before regaining his sight.
"So you're awake now, are you?" Icthius rose to his feet and stalked over to Bastion, plucking the excess head up off the ground and setting him in the neck pouch.
"Icthius? Why am I....?"
"Ah, yes, well,"Icthius grinned,� For some reason the rebels who picked us up didn't like you very much. I don't think they meant to sever your head, but I'm certainly not complaining."
"I can't...see,� Bastion�s head shivered again, nestling deeper against the pouch,� What happened, Icthius, where are we?"
"A prison,"Icthius scowl and padded toward the bars, pressing his cheek against them,� Covered in dust and congealing blood and stinking something awful. Why didn't we have a bath, Bastion?" Why did he never listen to him. Honestly! Icthius shook his head to himself, rolling his eyes. Sometimes it seemed like he was the only sensible person in this world.
"Have you spoken to the rebels, Icthius, do you know what they want?"
"No,"he curled his lip in disgust,� Of course I haven't spoken to them. Lord's sake, Bastion, they're disgusting, unwashed, rebels. They've been living in the wilderness for months. Why would I want to speak to them?"
He heard Bastion clench his teeth behind him, quivering. After a moment he let out a shaky breath and relax,� All right,� he started,� We need...a plan. Did you see them bring us to our cell?"
"Of course." He wasn't the one who'd been slashed across the eyes and had crusty blood obscuring his vision. Oh, the mere thought of it caused a cold shiver to wrack his spine. On top of being sweaty and dirty, to have blood in his coat? He wrinkled his nose, craning his neck to look down at himself. Lord, he needed a wash.
"And?"
Icthius frowned,� And what? Honestly - Oh. Into their camp and down some stairs, we're underground somewhere. How horrid,� he sneered,� We�ll go all pale and greasy if we don't get any light,� he paused, flicking his ears back and arching a brow,� At least it's a decent temperature." He was no longer freezing, which was certainly a plus from the horrid state of things outside. And, being underground, the sun wouldn't be able to bake them as it might if they were wandering the fields,� And they've given us some water. Really, despite being a mangy group of curs, they're rather polite. Much better than your precious warriors,� he rolled his eyes.
Bastion's ears flicked up, pressing against their neck,� Someone appears to be coming, Icthius. Please, please don't upset them."
"Upset them! Bastion, honestly, so long as they're polite to me, I'll be polite to them."
Indeed, the soft clicking of claws against stone reached Icthius' slightly smaller ears. He perked them and backed away from the bars a little, just to be safe.
A pale grey watarus rounded the corner and stopped in front of their cell, sitting back on his haunches. His dorsal fin was long and curved, and he sported the same painted rune between his eyes at the rebels who'd caught them. His second head was secured between his neck and fin, in much the same manor as Bastion-Icthius' pouch.
"Good-evening,� said the Watarus, dipping his head a little,� I�m Totorian-Cassius, Totorian currently in charge. If my warriors informed me correctly, you're a healer, yes?"
"Yes, sir,� replied Icthius with a smirk,� Bastion-Icthius, Icthius in charge."
"Ah, yes, the fault of my scouts, wasn't it?"
"Indeed,"Icthius let out a little chortle,� No need to apologize, of course." He craned his neck a little to glance down at Bastion,� See? Much more polite, didn't I tell you? I think we're completely wasting our time with loyalists. Perhaps we should become rebels ourselves! Although..."he paused, eyes rolling upward,� I�d prefer bathing, when giving the chance."
"Icthius!" Bastion hissed.
"No, no,"Totorian waved a paw dismissively,"It's perfectly all right, Mr. Bastion,� he chuckled,� But we do have baths here, actually. Many of our warriors aren't allotted time to use them, however. On the other hand, our advisors, leaders, and healers may use them any time they wish."
Icthius' brow shot upward. His lips parted into a toothy grin and he sauntered toward the bars,� Really?"
"Yes indeed, Mr. Icthius, but,� he twitched the tips of his tail, much in the manner of a cat after spotting a particularly juicy looking canary flitting about the master's birdbath,� Our prisoners are not allowed out of their cells, for any reason."
"Of course,"Icthius sneered and plopped back onto his haunches, curling his tail around his feet and snapping his gaze away from Totorian to properly pout.
"I'd like to make you a deal, though, Bastion-Icthius."
"Don�t,� Bastion�s voice was hushed but insistent,"Icthius, do not agree to anything he says. We're loyal to Vadarian-Sethius. We're not rebels."
"Perhaps we should be, Bastion. I mean, a king is a king, after all."
"Icthius!"
"Oh, shush, Bastion,"Icthius shook his head, casting his gaze upward before once again returning his attention to Totorian,"I'd be positively delighted to hear your proposal."
"Very good, Mr. Icthius,"a smirk flit over his lips and he nodded his head again,� Very well. Currently we have a shortage of healers, in fact we only have two left throughout all our bases. Your...loyalists,� he spat the word out as if it were rotten meat,� Have proven themselves intelligent enough to target our healers, apparently. I would never force you to change your paradigm, but if you could, perhaps, heal our sick and injured we would be quite thankful. So thankful, in fact, that we would not be averse to allowing you the same bathing privileges as those of our own ranks,� he stood, striding toward the bars until there was hardly a foot between them,� We�d even be willing to share our spoils with you, if you so desired."
"Icthius, no. We can't. It's disloyal. We'll be traitors."
"Bastion, I have never heard to speak so crudely before in our life. Really, now, don't you think you could manage a decent sentence, honestly!"
Icthius heard him grinding his teeth again.
"We can't, Icthius, no matter what he offers, we simply can't. We'll never be able to return to the city."
"We will if we win."
Totorian let out a bark of laughter.
"Icthius!"
Icthius rolled his eyes,� Fine, fine, Bastion. I won't agree to anything,� he turned back to Totorian and shot him a guilty smile,� My apologies, sir, but I think I'm going to have to speak to my other head a little before making any decisions. Horrid things, aren't they, when they don't agree with you?"
Totorian laughed again, earning himself a sharp glare from his second head,� Indeed they are, Icthius." His laughter subsided and he offered another dip of his head,� Very well, I'll return later tonight for your answer." He turned to leave.
Icthius threw himself against the bars, forcing his maw between the bars,� Wait!"
Totorian cast a glance at him from over his shoulder,� Yes, Icthius?"
"You never informed us what your rank was. You certainly don't act like a warrior, and I can't really think of anything else you might be."
Totorian smiled,� I�m a duke, Mr. Icthius, and the advisor to our previous king. Good-night." He trotted out of sight.
Icthius sat back, grasping the strap of pouch and yanking Bastion toward him until they were nearly eye-to-eye,� He�s the duke, Bastion. The duke."
"Yes,� said Bastion. He was frowning.
Icthius paid him no mind and padded lazily toward the corner of the cell, lying down against the cool, stone walls,� He�s they're leader, Bastion. He must be, apart from the king himself, he must have the highest rank amongst Watari. And he's a rebel. See, Bastion?" he grinned at his head,� If the Duke is a rebel there simply can't be anything wrong with us being rebels. And I don't see anything at all wrong with working for them. What kind of healer are you, Bastion, if you turn down an injured warrior?"
"An injured rebel, Icthius, not an injured warrior,� he paused, frowning,� Not one of our warriors."
"Have you never heard the old earth story of the good Samaritan, Bastion? Honestly."
"Icthius, speak to me of good Samaritans all you want, but I know you have no interest in helping these people."
"They're going to swath presents on to us, Bastion, of course I'm interested." But Bastion obviously wasn't, which meant they weren't going to get anywhere with this, were they? With a sigh Icthius squeezed his eyes shut and concentrated.
A cool sensation smothered his brain and flowed out of him, touching the very surface of Bastion's thoughts and implementing the idea. Not to join the rebels, oh most certainly not. Icthius knew very well that even his adept ability to influence would not convince Bastion of agreeing to do that, no matter what Totorian offered them. Instead, Icthius managed to weave the idea, the urge, to help the injured. No matter what side of the war they happened to be on.
It worked.
Bastion shivered and flicked his ears back, casting his gaze to the side,� I believe...you're right, Icthius."
Of course he was. Icthius smirked. How could Bastion resist the urge to be a healer.
Icthius cast his gaze toward the shadowy bit of the hall, his smirk fading a little.
He, on the other hand, had his own plans.
.:.:.::.:.:.
There was no way of telling time within the cell, nor any interesting form of passing time, so in Icthius' mind evening rolled around at an impossibly slow rate. He managed a short nap, but his heart was thudding wildly in his chest and his adrenalin was pumping strongly throughout his body. He couldn't sleep with this much excitement coursing through his veins.
This was it. Bastion-Icthius was changing sides. He was going to make something of himself, whether or not Bastion agreed to it. Icthius was tired of being a low ranked healer with nothing more going for him than the grateful smiles of lepers and emaciated anorexics as he wiggled a few fingers over their ailments. What sort of a life was that? Who wanted to be known as a famous healer.
Healers didn't get anything for their efforts. No power, no prestige, no wealth, no potential mates throwing themselves at you for the chance to steal some of your power away. That's what Icthius wanted. What he was destined for.
And this was it. This was his destiny, presenting itself to him right here. All he had to do was get close to the duke...
"It's not going to work, Icthius."
Icthius perked his ears and glanced down at Bastion, curled beneath his paws. He flicked a brow upward, smirking in mild amusement,"Oh? Whyever not, Bastion?"
"They don't want new people in power, Icthius, think for a minute. They want the old king back on the throne. They have no interest in someone who's not of royal blood serving in the government."
"Sometimes I wonder how it is we can share the same body, Bastion. Of course I've realize that, I'm not some uneducated cur. Honestly,� he rubbed Bastion's head with a splayed paw,� You just leave the messy stuff for Icthius, hm?"
Claws clicked against the floor, echoing down the hall.
Icthius shot to his feet, jostling Bastion against his neck. He hurried toward the bars, watching attentively as Totorian turned the corner. He immediately lowered his chest to the floor in a deep, respectful bow,� My lord."
"Now, now, Icthius, I'm not your lord, am I? No need to be quite that formal,"Totorian came to a stop in front of their cell, sitting and flicking his tail neatly against his forelegs,� Have you come to a decision, or shall I allow you a bit more time?"
"No, we've decided,"Icthius smirk,� And we will happily accept your proposal."
Totorian smirked,� Very good, Mr. Icthius,"he flicked his gaze over Bastion-Icthius and flicked his ears back,� I assume you'd like a bath?"
"Good heavens, yes."
Totorian chuckled again.