"I'll curse you whether I'm struggling or not," She replied, her voice noticeably raspier than before as she regained control over her coughing fit and got to her feet. Nym rolled her shoulders as she stood, then shook her chains and raised an eyebrow, "Still scare that I'll kill you, twig? These chains and your cowering make that obvious." It could almost pass as funny for Nym to be the one throwing around insults and taunts as she was noticeably shorter than Rael and didn't look like the strongest spy, even with her visible muscle.
It didn't take her long to return to her now familiar pacing, ignoring the interrogator quite well. Anger and plotting shone in her eyes, but her face showed nothing of it besides when she let out the occasional cough. Even for a spy, she was human, and it would take her a while to recover from waterboarding.
At first it was scrawny, now it's twig. This is true development right here; after twig it's going to be runt. Rael had to cover his face with his hand in order to hide any sign of a smile. On the other hand, his shoulders did lightly bounce up and down. The warden of prison said that it takes more than a few minutes after being waterboarded in order for someone to recover. Looks like Nym is making some progress with it, apparently. Sounds like even if you waterboard her several times, she'll still insult you; amazing.
Rael stood straight up from the chair pushing it behind with the back of his foot. He took the notepad out, spending a minute writing down something then placed it back in his pocket. Trudging over to her, he buried whatever hint of expression could easily reveal itself. Slowly, he knelt down the removed the chains from Pialla. The whole time he kept his eyes low while wrapping them around his neck. "Come on before those two idiots return.", Rael sighed,"Kill me, unless you're scared yourself."
Nym watched him as soon as he stood, her attention snapping to her enemy with lightning speed. She didn't speak as he reached for her chains, but ever so reluctantly paused in her steps, a hint of an amused smile flickering over her face.
Rael seemed to have a death wish. As much as Nym gladly wanted to fulfill his wish and end his life, she knew that it would get her no closer to escape. So, burying the urge to strangle him fully, she did the next best thing. It didn't take more than a few seconds after her chains were removed before she acted either. As soon as the chains were around his neck, she grabbed the loose ends and tightened them around his throat to the point where it would be difficult for him to breath.
"As much as I would love to make you face a painful end, I can't just kill you. That'll land me back in here in a matter of minutes." She hissed, barely loosening the chains and using them to tip his head up like he had done earlier to her, "I have places I want to go still, and staying in here for the rest of my miserable life isn't going to help me get there, twig."
In an instant, he could feel the strain around his neck. It only takes from ten to twenty seconds to faint due to the pressure. Whatever damage that will occur depends on the mechanism too, but given that it's prison chains and not her hands, all of it is going to vary. Rael's hands shot up squeezing the chains till his knuckles turned white. His vision kept meandering from fuzzy to clear every second. In order to get to the door while she's still strangling him, he has to nudge ahead just a few centimetres. Or could Rael just wait a bit longer till the guards come back?
A loud gasp was forced out of him as his chin was brought up. It was hard to register whether or not he was going with denial or primal. He managed to still hear most of what she said even though he felt his heart pounding at a faster rate. Rael didn't have the ability to keep a bleak expression anymore. Between his little ragged wheezes, he chuckled."So what? It's all Hell, Nym.", he managed to whisper.
"Oh I know, Rael," She replied in the same hiss as before, once again loosening the chains so he could barely get in a breath in, "But Hell out of here is a lot more enjoyable than this." Nym met his eyes, her face calm and voice holding every ounce of anger, "So, if you'd like to live another day, you'll help me get out of here."
It felt good to strangle Rael, to get out the anger and frustration from being stuck in here, even if it was in a way that didn't help her. To not kill him though was torture in and of itself. She could get revenge on more people if she kept this one alive. All she had to do first was get out of here.
"Otherwise I know quite a few ways of my own to make you die painfully," She added, leaning in close enough to whisper the last sentence in his ear as the chains tightened again.
Rael's eyes went from staring directly up at Nym to over at the front of the cell. Quickly his hands began to loosen their grip against the chains. Feeling the restraint also becoming just a bit alleviated, he inhaled whatever much air possible. Her last sentence kept repeating inside his head over and over. You'll help me get out of here….
What would the use be for him? She practically spat at him when he mentioned getting out of this retched cell in one piece. And at this point, it's undeniably absurd for him. Becoming a traitor against all that he's ever known is a risk that he'd rather die for instead before ever thinking about committing it. Whatever part of him could ponder at that moment wondered if dying would be more beneficial for him now; or would it be more satisfying for the spy. The tears that fell down from his watery eyes felt warm against his skin.
"Over my mother's grave if you think I'm that fickle!", he roared while glaring up at Nym. The strain on his neck became tighter again. Rael held on tightly again as he tried to thrash to the left throwing his elbow back.
(Darnnnn it— this is already taken. If you ever do a reboot, lemme know, because this looks lit.)
(I'd be up for starting another thread up with you if you'd like? :D )
(If you want to, I'd be honored!!)
Nym glared right back at him, being caught off guard by his sudden movement and tightening her grip on the chains as he twisted. It was enough to get her to stumble, in the process his elbow catching her in the thigh and causing her to gasp with the impact. She did her best to step away from him, cutting off more of his airflow in the process.
"Over my dead body will you get any of my knowledge then," She growled back once she regained her focus, the chains slipping from her hands. On a good day, she would've been able to fare quite well against Rael, so soon after being waterboarded though made it quite difficult. Espeically as her coughing started to resume at the worst possible moment. Still she made a grab for the metal though, determined to get the situation under control again before the guards came back.
(I would love to! Let me get a thread going!)
Rael tried to continue fighting to free himself, time is starting to slip away though and the distance between him and the door is too much right now. Carefully, he changed his position so that he was only kneeling with one knee. He shouted while aggressively throwing his shoulder back. The blood flowing his veins started to boil. His breaths grew shorter and weaker. Who knows how longer he can take this before forcing to give in or going unconscious.
Waving the white flag was something he could never imagine doing. If you'd told him that ten years ago, he'd call you insane. But sometimes it's better off making outrageous decisions. Besides, the chances of him, her, or the two of them succeeding is somewhat low. Rael would probably be more ashamed dying in here than anywhere else. Fine, I'll get you out, just another thing… Making a fist, he started to slam it against the floor in Morse code,"Get me out of here too."
She grunted as his shoulder made contact with her and she was forced to move again, almost stradling his back as she held onto the chains. All she had to do was hold on for a few seconds longer, just enough to make sure she was in control. Nym almost missed his morse code as she focused on the situation, but thanks to a moment's hesitation, her grip loosened and she could hear the end of what sounded like, "Me out of here too."
"You're pushing your luck scrawny," She growled, though her grip once again loosened for a split second, "Swear to the gods that you'll get me out of here and back to the Outhila border without being caught or killed." Making deals with the enemy was almost as bad as making deals with the devil, but she didn't know what her other option was. This was the only way she even had a chance of getting out. Even if it meant she had to work with this twig.
Out of this cell and through the border? Does she not know how difficult it is to even get a step close to border? Most military officials can probably tell who Nym within a millisecond now. They'll definitely send out a quarter of the army to find her and anyone else that's undercover. Not to mention the general might bring back some of the banned forms of torture that are fatal to use on the both of them. Several possibilities and ideas swirled around his head. Having to work with someone you've been taught to loathe then point at a rifle at is something Rael would rather do a billion others things in order to avoid. And yet, if they managed to work together, it can be successful for them both.
Whatever luck he had two days ago had vanish; this is beyond heretical. He doesn't even know if he can say that he'll do it with giving up air. "On all the deities…", he choked,"Yes."
Nym knew without a doubt that she had just asked him on a suicide mission. Unsuprisingly though, she couldn't are less. She had to get out of this country and back to Outhila, where she knew she could help with the information she knew, maybe even turn the tides of the war.
"You know the consequences of breaking this now," She whispered, releasing the chain so he could breath but leaving it wrapped around his neck, "And they're far worse than what happens if you get caught."
For the two countries being so different in their views, they shared the same set of gods that they had for centuries. There was very little variation between the two, only differing in names or the occasional power. And so, unless he didn't believe in any of the higher powers, she knew swearing on the deities was as close to swearing your life to a person as he could get.
Nym didn't let her guard down much, though she did relax the chains, letting him breath as she stayed behind him, ready to cut off his air flow at any second should he call for the guards. Her own breathing was hard, and she still let out the occasional cough, but she was doing much better than she had been immediately after the torture session.
Bajhe and Outhila do have their similarities as much as they have a numerous amount of differences. Anyone would think that two countries having very similar ideologies would actually unite together or at least become friendly with each other. Sadly it'll have to take more than just religion to get the Bajhe government to merely arrange a meeting with the Outhilaians. Rael hasn't been to a church or a temple in years, he forgets how to get over to the one close to home even. If swearing on the gods will work, this will be more comfortable for him since he already brought up his mother.
Rael bit the inside of his cheek fighting the urge to roll his eyes or shout out a curse. When is this spy going to realize she is the first sergeant of this country's army? No matter how careful he has to be now, Nym is still a spy; there might be a chance she'd just kill him when it's over. A colossal amount of hoops lie in front of them, each one is going to get more difficult to pass through than the last. From this point on, Rael doesn't really have that much of a solid plan anymore, just ideas and the obvious. Thankfully no one demoted him to a lower rank after the fiasco.
"You think I wouldn't know? No way in hell I'd purposefully falling into this head first.", he stated before taking a deep breath,"Admit it, you don't have anymore options nor do I-"
Three knocks at the door. We are back. His attention snapped from having to hand over the white flag to his uniform could turn white within a second. Eyes shot wide open, Rael shot a concerned look over his shoulder. Swiftly he yanked the chains ahead of him to get them out of Nym's grip. He shoved her back enough to be able to put the chains back on her and where they were originally tied to. "You'll still have to go through some more of it and give me some information. They won't know…", he muttered under his breath before rushing over to the door.
She glared at him as he spoke, though her expression changed to fear for a millisecond when she heard the knocks on the door. Nym glanced down at Rael, realizing that she would have to sadly give up control if she wanted to get out of here. And that meant trusting him.
Without too much reluctance she let him take the chains, stumbling backwards and giving him her signature murderous glare as he put them right back on her. "You can do whatever you want to me, I'm not giving up any information," She hissed, rattling her chains once more to simulate the same annoyance as she was able to conjure up earlier, "Alright, scrawny?"
As soon as he rushed to the door she was back to her pacing, coughing again and muttering under her breath words that didn't exactly sound nice. With the noise from her chains and the volume of whatever she mumbled, it was hard to disinguise exactally what she said though. Just like she wanted.
A wave of a lightheaded feeling hit as his fingers wrapped around the silver handle. Turning to the side, Rael let out a few coughs. He only opened the door for a few moments just to give the guards a thumbs up. The two already tick him off, yet not as much as Nym does. They have no use to him at all for the rest of the day so he just slammed the door shut on them.
"Some information could drive concern away from us, but if you want all of Bajhe after you…", he shrugged as he sat down,"Then we will just go with that." Rael just shook his head when seeing Nym back at it with her pacing around in those lovely chains. Mentally he's at the point where he wants to grab his hair and scream or walk out and disappear. There is no way she'd trust him with anything nor would he. It's frivolous! Teamwork is helping others out of the water not pouring it over their covered faces. He bit his lip trying to come up with something, anything that might have a possibility of working.
Rael sat forward in his seat with his chin resting on his chin. Honestly the only way people can trust someone is either through words or actions. It's too early for anything to occur and he still has an hour or so till time's up for the day…"Just say something to me that's not what they taught you in Smartass 101.", he lightly begged,"Why not have a little chat?"
Nym would rather trust getting stabbed with a rusty nail than trust the male in this cell with her, she would even be the one to stop herself if that meant she didn't have to work with him. And yet, he was the only person that could get her out of here. He knew the layout of the building, knew how to hide her in Bajhe, and even though she knew as well, he knew how to get her to the border. Which currently sat on the opposite side of the country.
She barely snorted when he spoke to her, though she did pause in her place, raising an eyebrow, "Aw, but I excelled in Smartass 101." He really wanted her to spill any little secret about Outhila? If anything he would earn those secrets when she was home. Not here. "Amuse me though. What are you asking for, hm? Anything that could turn the tides of the war I assume…maybe the number of spies…or what I know..things you know that I would rather die than tell you?"
All she was willing to tell him was where the border was, maybe where his country was on the map. Simple things. Maybe where he could shove his opinions up, if he was lucky.
"Before we get chatting at all though. These damn chains are coming off."
The only thing the admiral and general gave him was a set of questions; specifically ones about any spies going undercover as soldiers. Too bad that this special royal pain only talks in sarcasm and witty comebacks. How come coming up with false information isn't an option? It wouldn't matter if he gets her out of this place; the military and government will still look into anything. Even a partial truthful or incredibly vague statement would do.
It's not like Rael is desperate for anything except getting the absolute fuck out of this place. Doesn't matter to him whether he's shouting commands at soldiers for hours or sitting in the enemy's country in handcuffs. Regardless they'd have to throw something at Bajhe in order to get attention away from Nym. Escaping too soon without a single bit of information is too risky and suspicious.
His eyes shot down at the chains then up to meet her gaze. With a small beam, he shook his head. "No. Give me nothing, get nothing; should be simple."
"You'll get some form of information as soon as these things come off. Either that or I can guarantee that anything I tell you is going to be a blatant lie, or is already well known by the worms that run your country," She replied, scowling at him.
Nym watched Rael, challenging him to either work with her or get nowhere. That was the condition she had. Yes, she did know that the Bajhe army would need something, but all she really wanted to share was things that were obvious. After all, there wasn't much the Outhila told their spies anyway. Even if she wanted to help she was useless. Which was why capturing a spy didn't do much anyway, and it left Outhila without many loose ends that they needed to worry aboutl.
Unsuprisingly, she went back to her pacing while she waited for his decision, face blank and calm. She had a way out now. That fact was finally sinking in.
Sitting here and protesting for her to say something is not going to be of use for the both of them. This feels like the third time he's given up in the last two days. Giving in to someone he's forced to work with doesn't make it any better. Rael clenched his fists while stuck in thought. He kept his eyes from making contact with Nym's. Screw it. As long as taking those damn things off will lead them somewhere then so be it.
Rubbing the back of his neck, he sighed while trudging over to her. In less than twenty seconds, Rael got the chains off then dropped them off to the side. If anyone asks, he'll just say that she told him about a secret mission or whatever. Best case scenario is that no one else will come in here except him and that is it; those guards are only meant to be outside for emergencies.
He took a few steps back from Nym before pulling out his notepad. Flipping to the last page, he ripped it out then sat it on top of the cover. In order to get through the border and basically any other place in this country, you'll need some identification and a passport. "Question related to this…. What's your date of birth, blood type, and shoe size?" Surely just asking simple things about her would be easier than asking her anything else. Rael might as well bet with himself. The spy only has three options stick with him, try to leave on her own, or stay here. Third option is dreadful for them both, yet the second doesn't seem ideal too.
Nym slowed to a stop as he took off her chains, then continued on her pacing. Already it was much quieter than before and she loved it. That and the fact that she could take full steps now. She was much more ready to be helpful now that she could actually think without chains rattling.
"Febuary 17th, AB positive, and 9," She rattled off after a moments pause, looking over at him and the paper he had, "Why do you need those?" They were simple enough questions, with answers she knew weren't going to get her in any trouble, but she was still curious as to why he was asking things so simple. Most interrogators seemed to go right for the tough questions. This was a change in pace.
All she hoped was that soon she could get out of here. Rael had warned her that she would still have to go through some more frustrating torture, and she was prepared for that, but being in here any longer than the rest of the week was going to be torture to her limited amount of patience.
Clicking his pen, he started to write down what she was saying. Rael whispered a small thanks as he folded the paper and tucking it safety in his pocket. "I just need some bits of data to get you some identification forms.", he clarified,"Plus, some sneakers would be helpful." Thank the gods for that; he thought that Nym wouldn't say a word to him.
Normally passports take six weeks to get processed and delivered. Documents are feasible to make along with uploading them to the system. As long as he sent this information and a picture tonight along with a payment, the passport and other documents could be ready by Friday. Meantime they'd have to come up with some sort of escape plan. Waiting for days on end isn't going to do anything. Rael hasn't heard anything about Outhila or Bajhe making a statement about Nym. Knowing the admiral, he'd keep quiet till he has every spy in these cells.
Torture wasn't really on his mind, it stayed in the back. He might just resort to less painful forms to keep attention away. Furthermore, something about the waterboarding didn't sit right with them. He did call for it almost in an instant yet now he just doesn't want to do it. The boiling from the anger and annoyance was gone leaving everything in him exhausted and austere.
Out of nowhere, thinking about torture and the prison made him think about when they brought her here. Using his free hand, he grabbed the dog-tag around his neck. Rael took the piece of paper back out, unfolding it. "Did you have anything you'd need to get back to the agency? Anything the prison took from you when coming here?"
She leaned against the wall while she watched him scribble down the answers, carefully tracking the paper as he tucked it away. Nothing on there was a secret, but still, even telling Rael anything felt like betraying her country. Even something as simple as her shoe size.
Nym rolled her eyes, pushing off the wall to continue her wonderous walking as she replied. "Besides those idiots taking my overall sanity and pride? They took everything I had on me. Most of which I do need back." She glanced over at him, glaring at the door and the guards outside of it, even if they weren't the same ones that brought her here. "For starters I'll need my identification tag, and my small knife at least. The rest of my gear is very much preferred, but I especially need my black jacket back. Just bring everything."
The list of items she gave him were the most basic ones that she would need to be recognised in Outhila, but she was sure she didn't tell him everything she needed to get back. That would be a mistake. If he found out what she actually needed or what she used to be identified, he could easily relay that information and any spy that was in Bajhe would be outed. All because she tried to get out.
She's not wrong about the idiots part, yet he does have to disagree with them taking away her sanity and pride. A lot of new recruits he's met are more cowardly then her; they have nothing. They're the ones who have no pride and are always the first ones to fail or even perish. And giving the fact that these spies like Nym have such a renowned reputation, she still has it. Having dignity was spatting, cursing, and choking him with chains till he gave in. From Rael's perspective, the agent is still standing on her own two feet. Guess he wasn't aware of how potentially provoking his question was.
Not wanting to say anything unnecessary, he just kept nodding his head while writing down another list of the belongings. Getting these belongings out shouldn't be a major hassle. After, he glanced up from the paper watching Nym walk around the cell. The light in her gaze was different from before. It was difficult to pinpoint what it is or why. Rael just moved his head side to side while quietly exhaling. "I am not going to talk to my superiors about this.", he stated. Already talking to her about escaping and planning was already making him a traitor. What would it be worth to become a traitor twice?
He waited for her to come close to him. And when she did, he stepped right in front of her holding his hand out. Rael pulled the dog-tag necklace over his head then took Nym's hand placing it on her palm. "Here, if I out you or something happens, then make sure they see this so they won't kill you."
Even if she was still in the cell, she already felt more relaxed without the chains preventing her walking, and it was clear on her face. That didn't mean she was any less wary of Rael as he stepped in front of her though. She watched him with slightly narrowed eyes as he took off his necklace, though let him set it in her hand.
"This will keep them from killing me?" She asked. Her voice held slight skepticism, but accepting a gift from an enemy was worthy of being slightly skeptical, "How?"
Nym studied the dog-tag as it sat in her hand, turning it over to look at both sides. It reminded her quite a lot of her own tags, the ones that the guards had taken from her when she had been brought here. Clearly his tags held more power though, since her's didn't guarantee that she wasn't going to get murdered by some kill-happy soldiers. She stood there as she waited for an answer, the fire in her eyes now more dulled by her slight curiosity.
