Interrogation Game
Characters: Bindi, Dagda and Bran
This happens like, an hour after this RP: http://rwmuck.limitless.org/rwmuck/content/mishaps-halyard
"Mum an' Da' don't exactly 'ave a prison in th' basement," Dagda had said, and yet that's exactly where the pair of Long Patrol hares have dragged their hapless captive. Bindi, tied and bound to a chair, with a nice gag shoved in his mouth, sits before them in the guttering light of a few candles scattered around the room. They look on with crossed arms, waiting for him to wake up.
By his own standards, Bindi has had quite a pleasant time of it: he's been carried to the present location and his captors even had the courtesy to give him a chair! Though the gag and ropes do tend to put a damper on things. The little rat is just starting to regain consciousness. His beady little eyes start fluttering open, then squeeze closed again at the pain pounding through his head. He groggily tries to say something, but the gag does its' job well and the little rat is thoroughly silenced.
"Got somethin' t' say, theah, sah?" Bran asks, clearly rhetorical. The younger hare begins to circle slowly around the chair, arms still crossed. "Mebbe a bit hungry, thirsty, pahhaps?" Dagda looks on quietly, still standing next to the workbench near the wall.
Bindi squints blearily at the younger hair. Has he seen him before? Ah yes! That cheeky fellow from the alleyway! As Bran starts to speak, Bindi suddenly regrets dropping that fish sandwich, which would make quite a nice repast right about now. He scowls as best he can with the gag, and attempts to hunker down on his chair, the combination of hunger, thirst, and aching head causing him to be more than a tad temperamental.
The telltale aroma of fish rises from the workbench next to Dagda, a slow curl of steam wafting up from the sandwich. "If only y' had somethin' t' eat," Bran muses, circling back around in front of the rat. "If only."
Bindi's sense of smell has never been the best, however there's nothing wrong with his eyesight. After scanning the room in front of him and seeing no means of escape, his eyes fall to the second hare. And the sandwich beside him. The little rat squints suspiciously at Bran, suddenly paying more attention to what the young hare is saying. Maybe if he's a good little rat and listens to the hare, the lunch that has thus far evaded him, will soon be his.
"We just have a coupla questions, theah, Mistah Rat," Dagda states reasonably. "Who sent y' intah town, an' what're y' lookin' fah?" It's simple, really. Meanwhile, Bran looms menacingly, looking much too eager to inflict some sort of harm on the rat. "An' don't lie, eithah," the rambunctious youth warns.
Bindi sits quietly for a moment, weighing his options as he looks between the two hares. He could either tell them what they want to know, potentially escape and get killed by Jaksor for spilling the beans, or not tell them what they want and starve to death. Or, yet still, he could spin some colorful yarn about how he was a stowaway on a ship and just arrived yesterday, penniless. In the end he settles for simply nodding, figuring the first step to telling them anything is agreeing to their terms and getting rid of the blasted gag.
Dagda steps forward and removes the gag before retreating to his station by the sandwich. "Now tell us. Who sent y' heah?"
Bindi takes a moment to swallow and re-lubricate his parched mouth and throat before starting to speak, "Nobody sent me 'ere. 'Twas jus' me an' my buddy causin' trouble. We was passin' through the area an' wanted ta' stop 'ere fer some lunch. This led ta' tha' an the otter got in the way. An' now I'm 'ere, still wit' no lunch, so iffin yew could just slide tha' sandwich right over 'ere, Oi'd be much obliged." He grins innocently, trying his level best to be convincing.
"'Workin' hahd' at passin' through?" Dagda's first two words are a remembered overheard quote from the rat's earlier comments to his 'buddy'. "Seems a little... odd." And then Bran is kicking the chair roughly onto its side, sending the rat toppling over with it. "Th' sergeant said t' tell th' truth," he yells.
Bindi lets out a yelp of surprise as the chair tumbles onto it's side. Clearly these hares are more serious then the little rat had first thought, "Alroight, alroight! So me an' my buddy were doin' a little more then stopin' fer lunch! Somebody was payin' us ta take a look 'round the town, but Oi swears Oi dunno what ‘e wanted with the information."
"Who was payin y', then?" Dagda's question is the same calm and measured tone it has been this entire time. In the meantime, Bran gives the seat of the chair another kick, jolting the rat and skidding him a little farther across the floor. "Th' truth /fahst/ this time," he admonishes roughly.
Bindi grunts as the chair slides further across the floor, " 'ow should Oi know! 'e never gave us a name, jus' said ta bring him the prices o' some o' the products 'round 'ere. Oi think 'e was some merchant type o' fella. Please, I swears on me mothers grave Oi'm tellin' tha truth." The little rat manages to sound quite pitiful as he grovels around on the floor.
Behind the chair, Bran glances over at Dagda, leaning against the workbench. The older hare gives a short nod, and the younger latches onto the bottom of the chair legs to drag it halfway across the floor, along with, you know, Bindi's face. "Try again, an' if y' manage t' get out th' truth, we'll let y' go," Dagda comments, nudging the plate the fish sandwich reclines on to make it clatter softly. "Othahwise, 'm gonna leave y' with 'im f' a while an' come back when y' get ready t' talk."
Bindi let's out a prolonged growl as his face is used as a mop, finally coming to rest back at the chair's original setting place, "Fine! Fine, yew caught me. Oi work fer a group o' noname vermin. Boss wannted me ta come an' see what kinds o' treasures are in tha' town 'ere 'bouts so we could come an' pilfer a few later. Nothin' big, nothing serious. Jus' a little run 'round." He subtly leaves out his afore mentioned 'buddy', hoping to make it seem like a harmless group of thieves waiting outside Halyard's gates
That attempt sounds more legitimate than the previous, but Dagda seems unconvinced. "I was really hopin' y'd have th' bally sense t' tell us th' truth, Mistah Rat," he says, frowning and shaking his head, sending his long ears swaying. "But I'm afraid y' jus' aren't a very good liar." Bran rushes over to the workbench and slings a bucket of old bilgewater at the rat, then tosses the bucket itself at the chair.
Bindi involuntarily gasps under the cascade of water, his pain further heightened as the bucket rams into his shoulder, "Tha' is the truth, bloody long ears! Do ya' think Oi /enjoy/ siten down 'ere having tea wit' yew?! No! Tha's the truth, Oi swears it on me life" Since his mother's grave wasn't enough last time, he figures it's time to up the stakes.
"Seems like th' highlight of y' day, if y' jolly ask me," Bran replies smartly and sharply, with more than enough heat in his tone. "Although stabbin' mahchants migh' be more y'r cuppa tea." Dagda crosses his arms again, still leaning against the workbench. The younger buck glances over for some sort of signal on how to proceed, and the healer raises his chin. "Alrigh'. We'll let y' go." And with that, Bran gathers a dark sack from the workbench and the pair advance on the rat, setting the chair back up and pulling the sack over his head.
Bindi gives Bran a sullen glare from his smooshed place on the floor and continues to watch the brothers warily. His ears perk up at the news. Perhaps freedom /is/ in sight! The little rat grunts as his chair is pulled up, leaving water to dribble down into his eyes. Bindi doesn't struggle as the sack goes over his head, figuring it's easier all around to just get it over with. There's always a chance these hares are taking his away to kill him, but he figures it would have happened sometime in the near future if he stayed here and a sack won't change much of the experience.
In a few moments the bonds tying the rat to the actual chair are cut, but the rest remain intact, and he is forced up. He may not smell it, but the sandwich is also along for the ride. The pair leads Bindi up a wooden staircase, across a floor, and out a door into the salty wind of the Halyard streets. The trio walk together for quite some time, following a deliberately twisty path to one of the town squares, where the sack is removed. "Heah's y' sandwich, Mistah Rat," Dagda finishes, holding it out as Bran cuts the last bond. "Thanks f' playin' an' all that."
When the sack in finally removed, Bindi blinks at the bright sunlight, his eyes slowly adjusting from the dark interior of the basement. So he will survive. The little rat snatches his sandwich and holds it protectively to his chest as he backs away from the pair of hares, " 'Tis a sick game yew lot play. A sick game." With that the rat dashes off into the town, heading for the shore.
Thanks for reading!
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