Deep Below
Demitri is put on guard and of course is a jerk about it.
To be quite honest, Demitri really couldn’t care less about the celebrations high above him for the the new year. He had been withdrawn from society for quite a while, losing himself to the darker elements of his Shadewalker affinity. He was convinced that the rumors that strong Shadewalkers were able to command the dead would bring him one step closer to finding his lost love, as trite as his past may be. Other members of Bellacoste were busy cheering in the new year and the sound of their hopeful voices was grating on his ears.
He padded past the sconces holding candles supplying the meager amount of light in the darkest depths of the palace, his long red claws scraping along the stone hallways as they went deeper and deeper beneath the earth’s surface. He felt more at home in the shadows, feeling his magic surge just a bit as the light dimmed with each passing minute.
Before long, Demitri and the palace guard approached a heavy door certainly made of reinforced wood. Large metal bars held the thick wooden posts together, adding to the security of the door, which was held locked with a massive padlock. The door had one small window that had a door secured over the front, no doubt with iron bars behind the window to keep any chance of escape to a minimum. Of course, a solid door would be more secure, but opening the door to the prisoner without knowing their whereabouts in their cell for food or relocation would result in disaster in short order.
“Your only job is to guard the cell for the night,” the guard explained to Demitri before quickly adding with a note of more sternness in their voice, “nothing more. Your relief will come in the morning, and you’ll never have to come back again.” Demitri stood next to the guard quietly, listening to their instructions with only as much enthusiasm as he could muster. “Which means you shouldn’t feel bad ignoring the prisoner if they even try to talk to you since you’ll never see them again.”
The Ursuki stared at the door, and the slightest hint of a nod from him was all the guard needed before their tone turned jovial, “Great! Have a great night!” They trotted up significantly faster than the pace the duo took making their way to the cell, Dem noted. The Ursuki sighed and sat next to the door, expecting the evening to go by without any problems. Perhaps a Crustycean would skuttle past at some point if he didn’t move for long enough, but that was likely to be the most excitement he would experience excluding a few footsteps and the metallic sound of chain links hitting one another on the other side of the heavy cell door.
“Hello?”
Demitri’s red eyes narrowed and his ears swiveled to the door. The voice was raspy, almost like it hadn’t been used in years. The Ursuki’s tails twitched a bit in irritation, hoping that would be the last of the communication he heard from the prisoner for the night.
“What’s your name?” the voice continued, leaving a bit of a pause to allow Dem to respond. He rolled his eyes, then heard the prisoner’s voice trailing out from under the heavy door keeping them contained in their cell. “If I could trouble you, just for a little sip of water?”
Dem remembered the guard that brought him down here saying he had only one job, do not speak to the prisoner. But this prisoner was down here for a reason, and what harm could it do if he only talked to them, right? Especially if he didn’t open the door to give them anything, just talked to them?
Soon a toothy grin spread across his muzzle, sharp teeth glinting off the subtle light from the candles on the cold stone walls. Demitri went over to the ration of water that was left for the guard. Not only did he take a swig, but he did it as noisily as he could, making sure the sip of liquid passing his lips was as loud as possible. Certainly the prisoner would hear him and know it was intentional. “Some water, eh?”
The prisoner was quiet as Dem continued his show, making as big of a scene as possible, sipping at the water from the large barrel, even splashing the ladle in the water and letting some fall onto the stone floor of the prison hallway.
Demitri continued this act until about an hour before he was certain his relief would be there. He certainly didn't want to be caught breaking protocol, afterall...