The SMP

4- Old Faces

" I see you're back again."

"So are you."

"I knew I recognized you from somewhere."

As it turned out, Bright Spawn City's protection squad had a few faces that had seen the inside of the New Spawn Bandits' camp, and a male with a mask was one of them, their blindfolds being removed a few moments ago.

"How you managed to forget a dragon hybrid is beyond me, Ponk." Whim had known the male before, having been bunk mates for a few months before Whim was... upgraded.

"And how you managed to escape is beyond me." The male replied, seeing Whim's tail lashing as they both sat on the floor, Whim much taller than Ponk "What do you think'll happen when he sees you again?"

"I'm no religious man, but pray for me." Whim said "I may lose a finger."

Ponk chuckled quietly as he watched the other carts get unloaded "Do ya think your travel buddies are...?"

"No." Whim denied "They aren't. They aren't spawns, so they're chaff compared to us."

"Ah, yes." Ponk's eyes narrowed "The... hand picked."

Whim's nose twitched as he watched the last cart get unloaded, his two companions nowhere to be seen, to Whim's relief.

"Hey Whim, do you happen to know who was in your cart?" Ponk asked suddenly, looking up to the face of the dragon hybrid.

"Yeah, there was a lady named Puffy, and there were males called Karl, Sapnap, Foolish and Sam." he replied "Why?"

"N-Nothing." Ponk said, silently cursing as he heard a name he had grown to care for

Whim hummed "Whatever you say." He watched as most of the captured (The newbies, anyway) were escorted to a large obsidian building not far off, the carts leaving, going faster now that the horses didn't have to carry so many people.

"It's gonna take a while before they get to us." Ponk said

"Not if he catches wind that I'm here." Whim said "Then you'll really have to pray for me."

Ponk sat silently as the last were escorted into the large obsidian structure, the door shutting tightly behind them.

"Ah shit." Whim cursed under his breath as he picked up yet another familiar scent, this one worse than Sweets' initial re-introduction.

Ponk looked over in time to see Whim get pulled my his intact left horn to meet the angry stare of another male. The staring contest went on for ten minutes, the standing male growing angrier by the minute, his green eyes fiery, but of human descent.

Finally, the tense silence ended when one of the guards behind the standing male spoke up, her tone wavering slightly. "S-Sir?" She stuttered when the standing male's eyes now burned into her soul "I-Is this the guy?"

Whim watched as the other looked back at him, staring once more, now seeming to get more and more pissed off by the second. It would have been worth it more if the male hadn't been gripping onto his horn so tight if felt like it would break or crack under the other's grip.

"Yeah." Was the final answer "Take him back, I have business to attend to."

Ponk watched as the tall dragon hybrid was dragged away, watching as the other male made his way toward the obsidian building, leaving anyone who had been recaptured to sit in the scorching sun, which was gaining more clouds by the second

~<^>~ An hour later ~<^>~

So I was wrong. Whim thought, staring out of a window, his hands still bound.

It had rained a day earlier than he'd thought, the downpour soaking anyone who was outside, and Whim saw as Ponk got heavily rained down upon, the weight of his drenched clothes seeming to weigh him down more than ever. He felt bad for his old friend, but what could he do? He was sure to be injured if he even attempted to break through the thick rope that tied his arms behind his back so painfully it felt as if they would dislocate with one more pull at the wrong time.

"So, you've returned after five years." Whim heard the venom in the other's voice as the door slammed behind them, the shorter human entering his room where Whim was kept "In relatively the same condition."

Whim didn't reply, being pissed off that he had to be in the hellhole again

"I mean, I thought I kept you well." The male went on, Whim hearing a bottle open, the heavy scent of alcohol making him more nauseous given what other scents mingled with it "You had the best things here! All because you were mine!" The bottle was slammed back down onto the table it was taken from, Whim hearing the glass crack a bit "So why did you leave, huh?" Whim heard as the other crept up behind him "Why'd you do that to me, Whim?"

Whim tried to hold back a wince at the sound of his name rolling off of the other's tongue, he really did, but he couldn't, the male behind him scoffing as he saw.

"I'm gonna need an answer, Whim." Said male could hear the anger rising in the other's voice, the male growing impatient for every second Whim stayed silent "Whim, you know what's gonna happen if you don't answer."

Whim did know, he didn't want anyone to get hurt on his behalf, but he didn't want to speak to the other, so how was he supposed to act? What was the best thing for him to do?

"I don't know." Whim answered in a whisper, actually being truthful, as he didn't know why he wanted to leave in the first place.

"We both know you're lying, Whim." The other's anger seemed to be cooling down a little bit.

"I really don't know though." Whim refused to speak above a whisper now, the rain that pounded against the glass almost drowning out his words "I don't know why I left." His brain tried to fight the years of manipulation that came flooding back, the male trying to think about Scarf and Corvo.

"Why don't you know?" The other asked menacingly "Remember who your dealing with here."

Whim did remember who he was dealing with, he was trying to fight the fear that gripped the inside of his brain of this human that was smaller than himself, at what the other was capable of, an entire army at his finger tips

"I really don't know." he finally looked over his shoulder to meet the gaze of the green eyed brown haired male, who wore a venomous smile "I-I really don't..."

"Were you bored, then?" The other's medium sized nose wrinkled angrily as he leaned closer to the taller "Bored of me taking care of you? Were you bored of my love?"

It wasn't love. Whim reminded himself. He killed almost everyone you really loved back then!

Whim stared into the others eyes, reminding himself every single reason why he escaped.

"Fine." The other leaned back and away from Whim's face "Be that way." He turned, calling for his personal guard, who picked up the dragon hybrid, dragging him down several flights of stairs, way past the first floor and into the underground part, where punishments were dished out to the prisoners; the dungeons, filled with cells that had minimal light that filtered through the high windows that could barley be called so.

Whim was dropped into the room, falling on his butt as his hands were released, having been somehow untied while he was being taken down the stairs.

"Fucking hell." Whim muttered as he watched his cell door slam "I'd take hard labor over this shit again."