Biding Time

[Celes Islay]

[Two weeks after Capitol.]

Cel sat in a slump in a corner of her cell. The feline had her arms folded as she starred up at the ceiling with the same annoyed face she had been wearing for the last three weeks. It was bad enough finding yourself trapped on a departing battle cruiser with no way to get off...being caught was just the lowest doldrums.

It was now just over two weeks since she had been found and thrown in the cell. Two weeks without her computer, two weeks without her music, two weeks without being able to check on her electronic sources, two weeks since she discovered she was last airborne. If she had been suicidal she would have ended it a long time ago, fortunately for Cel she was too stubborn to give them an easy win.

She got up, crossing over to the bars and pressed herself against them. Starring up and down the empty cell block she frowned. "Hey alien faces! Cel's hungry, you better feed her or she'll gnaw your leg off and beat you senseless with the bone!"

[Tallulah Sonne]

Only silence followed Cel's outburst for a few given minutes. Then, the threshold opened with a swish and the pointed tapping of claws on metal could be heard. Sure enough, a tigress came into view, a strangely marked one at that. More footsteps accompanied hers. Two beings appeared, carrying someone into a cell. One was what almost looked like a human save the prongs growing from its head and the deer legs to match. The other was just plain alien. Though skinny as a pole, it had height on them all, standing at six foot roughly. Its head was perched over them with a single eye and no visible mouth. It appeared harmless, but to be a member of Sarath's crew, no doubt there was something more to it.

"I hope you'll find your accommodations most fulfilling."

The human smiled, brandishing a set of jagged teeth, before hoisting the poor sap roughly into its new, unfit home. The being squawked and ruffled its feathers as it hit the floor and Cel could probably recognize it to be a crow or raven at that point. The lighting would make it difficult to see which.

"Be more careful, you idiots! I just treated him!" the tigress hissed suddenly before bowing before the bird. "You'll have to forgive them. You see sometimes these two get a little ahead of themselves. Now, don't fret. You'll be out of here in no time."

The bird eyed the tigress with curiosity as she checked him over. Fortunately for him, the feline had patched him up well enough that the throw had done little more than loosen a bandage, to which she quickly fixed. Then, she stepped away and out of the cell, hitting a few buttons on the key grid before gripping the card hung around her neck by a lanyard and sliding it through. The bars around his cell shimmered faintly as the lock clicked into place. Whether it was because of the shock from everything or the tigress' words, the bird remained quiet.

Satisfied, the feline glanced at the other cell in curiosity. Though she'd been making rounds the last two weeks, she had yet to cross into this particular cell block. Despite this, rumors had circled the Monoceros and now, at last, she had time to spare for the moment. The other two had already started on their way out as she approached the cell, her sarong following behind her bare feet. She stood under the tigress before her, but in such circumstances, it mattered little. The fellow feline was defenseless and behind bars. Brushing her turquoise bangs out of her face and readjusting her glasses, she studied the other with piercing, gold eyes.

"I heard you managed to sneak on board without notice. Clever of you. It's not an often nor recurring feat."

[Celes Islay]

Cel had slumped back slightly from the bars as the trio had wandered down the cell block. She was wary of getting too close when they approached, she had been grabbed once already. Sitting cross legged on the floor of the cell she stared back at her prison warden with a look of disgust.

"So did you bring Cel any food or did you drop by to insult her. Who are you? All you poxy invaders are the same, just come to gloat at your victory. Well Cel knows something, you just got the snot beaten out of you didn't you. Guess this planet put up more of a fight didn't it. Bet they took a tip from Cel, she's not about to let you have your own way. What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?"

Cel stuck her own tongue out to emphasise her point and crossed her arms.

[Tallulah Sonne]

Tallulah eyed Cel with interest as she squabbled for a good minute. It wasn't like she hadn't gotten used to the never-ending supply of spiteful mockery. Being a medic and tending to the injured captives, she probably heard enough accusations and jabs to span a hundred page novel. It was just the vague familiarity. Still, the feline brushed the feeling aside as quick as it had come, a faint smile capturing her lips.

"But maybe I was too quick to call you clever. Isn't it a bit naive to say such things when on the opposite side of these bars?"

She left the question hang, but her tone was strangely more in-tune towards the fact of the matter. There wasn't even the slightest underlying gritty smirk. Tallulah shrugged her shoulders before stretching her sore limbs.

"As for food." She groaned softly as her back cracked. Then straightened herself. "You'll have to wait. They're doing their rounds as we speak, but least to say these cells are the furthest from the pantry and I'm a medic, not a mess sergeant."

[Celes Islay]

Cell kept her tongue out all the way through Tallulah's reply. There was something about her that was familiar, her lack of any response. Cel had made a point to wind up each and every guard she could find, to relieve the boredom and to watch their reaction.

"You look more like another pansy to Cel. And don't worry, when Cel gets out of here she'll make sure you know about it."

She edged forwards, standing up and looking down at the other tigress. She 'pfft'ed and stuck her nose up. She had no liking for any of Sarath's cronies but this one was getting on her nerves more than the others. She couldn't put her finger on it but it was almost as if there was something familiar about her.

[Tallulah Sonne]

"To be flat out honest with you, I don't have much of an intention to let you out, so the likelihood of things escalating to that point is rather slim. Even if it did happen, I'm sure you've had enough measure of the ship to understand that even if you managed to get past me, there would be plenty of others you'd need to thwart."

Tallulah seemed to smile even wider as Cel acted up. What a strange feline, indeed.

[Celes Islay]

Cel scoffed again, rolling her eyes but noticing the grin spreading across Tal's face. The grin caused one of her own to spread across her face.

"Oh please! Do you really think Cel is dumb enough to try that? Besides, Cel could hurt her fingers and that would stop her doing what she does best." She ran her hands through the air as if tapping on a keyboard. "You give her one open computer and before you know it this ship will be flying backwards! Although, if Cel had to get nasty..."

Cel flexed her fingers for a moment and then extended her claws, each one an inch long at the end of her paws. She flex them for a moment and looked back at Tal, "Cel can get nasty if she needs to, who needs to knock someone out when you can just claw their eyes out? Cel already took one out when he grabbed her, perhaps you saw him?"

Cel grinned again, not in an evil way but certainly in a way that made it evident she had enjoyed the moment.

[Tallulah Sonne]

Tallulah only sighed before extending her own claws and studying them carefully.

"You know it isn't all that impressive when you have a set of your own. Just thought to let you know."

She retracted hers just as casually as she had exposed them. Tallulah remembered clearly who it'd been. He'd been crying the entire time she'd tended to him. And she couldn't blame him. Cel had wasn't exaggerating when she'd mentioned ripping his eye out.

"As for your victim, he's doing alright. A might bit shaky. Praise the goddess was good enough to leave him a spare."

[Celes Islay]

"You got it? Bring it?" Cel stuck her tongue out again, "Maybe next time he'll stop before he grabs another girl huh? Ooooooh! Cel think you're such a stuck up anti geek! You remind her of her sister, pansy ass hoity-toity 'fal-la-la-la-la my magic is sooooooo special'! Special was right!"

Cel pulled a face that could only be described as very unpolitically correct and then laughed. Obviously she was enjoying the casual insult of her sister.

[Tallulah Sonne]

Tallulah's eyes glinted darkly. Considering her calm posture up until then, it was an abrupt transition. She seemed to consider Cel's words carefully. Then, soft as rain on a summer night, she breathed a phrase.

"So you can take away that passionate sense of potential which his eyes could only see? That possibility that never disappoints, distorted for the rest of his life?”

[Binding Circle]

Tendrils suddenly burst from below the metal plates Cel was standing open, reaching to grip her with their viney fingers.