| Val looked at Ren as he was greeted by Irai inside the mansion. The cat-morph held onto him tightly, even after he released his hold on her while she looked at the elf with a little bit of jealousy. Val smiled at the two as she followed Ren upstairs with the catgirl on his arm. He entered his office, taking a seat in front of his desk while Irai took a seat on his lap. Val stood behind him as he looked back at her with a grin. "M'lord, what do you have in mind for tonight?" "Tonight..." Ren paused, rubbing the catgirl gently. "?We'll pay a visit with that slave trader tonight, of course." "Ren..." Irai nuzzled him closely, purring into his ear. "Why?" "So we can set the free, like I set you free." Irai closed her eyes, holding onto Ren while he rocked and held her in his arms. Val moved closer to the two, reaching out to rub the catgirl's back gently. The cat-morph opened her eyes slightly, looking at the elf for a moment before she closed her eyes again, making herself more comfortable on Ren. Val took a seat on the desk, gently petting the catgirl with one hand. "So how do you plan to do this?" "Hopefully without a fight. But my methods may... disagree with him." "Oh?" Val looked up at him. "Yeah... so be ready for tonight if you can." "As you wish, m'lord..." Val turned her head away for a moment. "Ren." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Val waited in the shadows in the stables, wrapped in her black cloak. Her eyes were focused on Ren as he waited for the slave trader to show up. She looked down for a moment, feeling a few tails brush against her leg for a moment before she looked next to her, noticing the succubus waiting patiently with her. "Master wanted me to wait on him, but only to appear when he wills it, so I will keep Mistress company until then." "Well then I suggest you keep your tails to yourself. It would not be in your Master's best interest if I were distracted by you, thus unable to help him." "Yes Mistress." The succubus pulled her tails away from Val, choosing to lean against the elf instead. She sighed, her eyes on the slave trader as he boldly strode to where Ren waited. Her lord moved a little closer to where she hid, leaning against one of the stable doors with his arms crossed over his chest. The slave trader bowed. "Greetings, sir. Are you ready to negotiate with me?" Ren nodded his head. "Of course, but my first offer will be the most appealing, by far." "Oh? And what is that?" "Your life. If you give me all of those slaves, I'll let you live. Otherwise, your life is gonna get a little rougher for you, that is if you are still able to move." "And I should be afraid of a brat why? I captured all of them!" The slave trader stood proudly. "Do you really think you can match me in a fight?" With a snap of Ren's fingers, the succubus left Val alone in the shadows, standing behind her lord. "If I do remember correctly, my former Master may have been interested in ridding the forests of some of the Lunar Clans by slave traders, so I don't think you did it alone." The slave trader turned pale as he snapped his own fingers while Val watched mercenaries appear and surround her lord. "Even then, you still are at disadvantage, even with your succubus. She can't protect you from all my men fast enough, so I suggest you come with a better offer." Val looked at Ren, whose hand was held out to her, telling her to stay where she was as the mercenaries grew closer and closer to him. The succubus hid behind Ren, burying her face into his back while her arms wrapped around his body. He reached into his pocket, pulling out his shades and putting them on as the mercenaries paused, looking at him strangely. He snapped his fingers, giving Val his approval as she closed her eyes, calling upon one of her runes. A ball of light appeared in front in Ren, and before the warriors could react, she finished the spell, causing the ball to explode in a bright flash of light. Val took out her blackjack, blinking at the weapon for a moment before she left the shadows. Moving quickly, she moved around in the circle, knocking each mercenary out cold while they remained blinded by the spell. Eventually the elf knocked out all but the slave trader and one of the mercenaries, disarming both before she forced them to the ground. The succubus left Ren's side, standing next to Val. "My Mistress has done a wonderful job." "Thank you... I guess." The demoness held Val from behind, rubbing her tails against the elf's legs. Val grumbled, trying to put a little distance between her and the succubus with no success. Ren noticed the elf's plight, and with a snap of his fingers, the succubus left Val to return to her master. The elf took her place on the other side of Ren, her eyes on the demoness's tails as the slave dealer stood up slowly, recovering from the flash. Ren pulled off his shades, pocketing them. "Normally I wouldn't like to do this to someone, but you didn't catch them yourself or risk your life in the process, so this is what you deserve for getting the help you received." The slave trader growled. "Bastard... I will not fail at my chance in glory now!" The angered man lunged at Ren, reaching for his neck, but with a simple, graceful motion, Ren grabbed the offending hand by the wrist and flipped the slave trader onto his back. Val watched her lord pull out a contract as well as an ink well and a pen. The slave trader sat up, grumbling to himself as he looked up at Ren with fire in his eyes. The expression changed quickly, however, as he took the contract, pen and ink well, signing the conract. Val then took the contract and pen from the slave trader, giving it to the lone conscious mercenary who signed the witness half of the contract without an arguement. Ren bowed to the slave trader for a moment. "It was a pleasure doing business." The succubus took the key from the trader, opening the stable as Val led her lord into the stable. She looked at the slaves sitting on the floor, all awake and conscious as if they were waiting. The one male who she noticed was the male who attacked Ren earlier stood up as her lord walked in front of her, standing in front of his former attacker. "We've been waiting for you." Ren shook his head before he placed his hand on the taller man's shoulder. "I wish I could say I was really happy to see you, but I would have preferred that it wasn't under these circumstances. I'm sorry, but you will have to wear those chains for one more walk to where I live, so we don't attract the wrong kind of attention. But once we arrive, you can tell me what has happened since I had left." As Ren began to walk away, the man shook his head. "... it's good to see that you're still alive, Ren." Ren looked back, a small grin on his face. "It's good to see you too, Byrd." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Val looked at the bed, gazing at the sleeping Irai while she changed into her nightgown. The elf waited patiently, sitting down on the edge of the bed. Her fingers traced small patterns on the blanket while her mind remained focus upon Ren and the slave train. Val's eyes locked on the slightly opened door as she waited for Ren to return. Eventually, she grew bored of waitng, standing up before she left Irai alone in the room. Val wandered around the second floor, looking around for any signs of Ren. She stopped in front of an open door, entering the hallway as she continued her search. She followed the hallway to another door, leading out to a balcony overlooking the backyard. Val saw Ren leaning against the railing, staring off into the sky into thought as she walked up to him, leaning against the railing next to him. "May I keep you company, Ren?" He looked away for a moment before he turned to her and smiled. "Of course." "What's on your mind?" "I guess if I said nothing, you would think I was lying." He shook his head. "I wish it was easy for me to say, but what I must do isn't what I want to do." "I see..." Val moved herself against him, wrapping her arm around him. "Relax. You know I will do?... anything for you." "Thanks... I am sure you know that I spent some time with the people from the slave train well before they were slaves, and it was then that I made a promise to them." She placed her hand on the scars on his chest. "Does it have something to do with this?" "In a way, yes. It was my reminder of that promise... but now things have changed. There are still some of those villagers from that village remaining inside the Lunar Forest under the control of the one who sold them out..." "And you plan on going out to save them." Val kissed his cheek gently. "You truely are an amazing and wonderful person. We can leave tomarrow, I'll have our things prepared to go." Ren shook his head. "We will not be leaving together... I want you to stay here and take care of the home and Irai for me while I am gone." Anger slowly began to take control as Val stepped back. "How can you be so selfish! Do you think you can do this alone! Don't you even consider how Irai would feel about something like this?" He looked away from her. "Why do you think this is so hard for me. I don't want to leave her, but I don't want to bring her along and have her get hurt. Also... you're the only one I can trust who is fully capable of taking care of the mansion and the people within while I am gone." "But... Ren..." Val clenched her fist, looking down as tears began to roll down her face. "Ren... I..." "I know you can do it." Ren turned to her with a smile on his face. "That is why I trust you. I know you can be strong, so please, be strong for me while I am gone." "Yes... Ren..." As he turned to face her, she pulled Ren to herself, resting her forehead against his own while she closed her eyes. "Please, can you do me one favor?" "Of course." Val opened her eyes slowly, gazing into his own with a weak smile. "Leave me something to remember you by while you are gone." |