Chapter Four Hundred and Fifty-Seven - Two for the Price of One

The moment I called out Booksie's name, her head popped up, and her ears started wiggling under the cloth bag over her head.

I knelt down next to her, aware of the other tied-up person to her right, but for the moment more preoccupied with Booksie herself. "One sec, don't move. I'm gonna take the bag off," I said, voice low and calm so that I wouldn't scare her.

I reached over, then untied the bottom of the bag before tugging it off of her head. Her ears flopped as the bag finally came off, and it looked like Booksie had a pretty bad hair-day under there.

"Bhoholi!" Booksie said through the gag in her mouth. She was blinking blearily, trying to take me in despite the poor lighting of the cave.

Someone came up behind me with a magic light, and I was able to make out her features a little better. Booksie looked like she had a big bruise around one eye, and some pretty bad scrapes across her face. Was that from the rough material of the sack rubbing against her?

I hugged her, arms wrapping around her shoulders and her head pressed against my neck. "Booksie!" I said. It came out as a bit of a sob. But it wasn't time for crying just yet. I pulled back, aware that she couldn't return the hug with her arms tied. "Gimme another sec," I said as I turned.

The person behind me was Awen, and she looked as concerned as I felt. "Here," she said as she pulled out a small knife from under her coat.

I accepted it, then carefully sliced off the rope serving as a gag from Bookie's mouth. "Broccoli!" Booksie said. "You came!"

"Yeah! The moment I saw you weren't at home and that someone had taken you, we started to search. I think half the city's in a tizzy looking for you," I said with a watery grin. "Come on, lean to the side a little, I'll cut you loose."

Booksie did as I asked, and the moment she was free her arms were around me and she was holding me very close. "Thank you," she said with a little sniffle.

"Anytime," I replied as I returned the hug.

Booksie was not one for crying, not when there was something she could do. She started to stand, wobbled a bit, then asked for the knife I had and used it to cut the bindings around her ankles free. "If I catch the jerks that caught me, I'll beat them to a pulp," she said.

"Uh. They're mostly tied up outside, I think," I said.

"Oh, good, they won't be able to fight back."

I was pretty sure that beating up prisoners was an actual crime. "Maybe let us question them first?" I asked. "We'll want to know why they captured you and everything, right?"

"Hmph," Booksie said. She looked a bit upset, so I carefully took the knife back and gave her another hug.

"Want to give me a moment? I think we should free, uh, her too?" I gestured to the other prisoner still sitting on the ground. They shook their head and made some muffled noise too. "Sorry," I said. "Here, hold still."

I carefully removed the sack from their head, then smiled as their face came into view.

She was a young-ish woman, maybe a year or two older than me, with reddish hair and two big, triangular ears on her head. Not cat ears, or dog ears but something similar. I didn't know exactly what she was, other than very angry.

"Okay, one sec," I said as I tugged on the gag they were wearing. It was on much tighter than Booksies, and she had clearly been trying to gnaw her way through the rope, long fangs working away at the rope.

I took the knife and very carefully cut the rope free.

"Pwah!" she said, tongue sticking out as she worked her jaw. "Verily, I say to thee, that was most intolerable!"

"Oh, I'm glad you're free," I said. "Can you lean forwards? I need to cut the ropes around your arms."

The girl narrowed her eyes. "I shall permit you to touch my person, small long-eared person."

Small? I thought I was at least her size. Out loud, I tried "Okay?" I touched her shoulder and helped her sit up so that I could undo the ropes holding her hands together at the small of her back.

Her hands, and a very long, very fluffy tail which immediately whipped out once free and started to rub itself across my face.

"Foolish tail! Return to me at once. Your disobedience will be noted when it comes time to brush your luxurious length!" She grabbed her tail and forced it close to her chest where she hugged it. "Forgive me, small long-eared one, my tails are most disobedient! These ruffians who captured my person dared to suggest that my tails ought to be removed! The fiends!"

"Oh. that's awful! No one should threaten someone with something like that," I said.

"Indeed!" She nodded her head very hard, ears bouncing back and forth with the motion. "Perhaps I ought to chop off their own tails in retaliation!"

I helped her out of the ropes holding her legs together, then returned the knife to Awen and helped the girl up. "My name's Broccoli," I said. "Broccoli Bunch. I'm glad we were able to save you too!"

"I shall grace you with my name. Broccoli Broccoli Bunch! I am Desiree Chartreuse the All-Powerful!" She stood taller and straighter, which made it very obvious that she only reached up to my chin.

"Uh, it's nice to meet you," I said before glancing to Booksie. The bun was still rubbing at her wrists where the rope had dug into her skin a little. "We should go outside. Get both of you some fresh air."

Awen tugged a canteen free from her belt and handed it to Booksie, who gratefully gulped down water before giving it to Desiree.

Desiree blinked, then shrugged. "I shall partake of this," she declared before unscrewing the cap and taking a sip, then another, then tossing the can back and swallowing. "The ruffians didn't feed me," she said as she lowered the canteen.

"They didn't?" I asked.

"The fools! When they attempted to feed me, I partook of their fingers! No one will feed me table scraps and expect no retribution!"

"I'll admit, I'm a little hungry too," Booksie said. "Weird, how can I be hungry after... everything."

"I think it's kinda normal," I said. "Come on, there's a team from the Exploration Guild above. I'm sure someone brought some field rations. Uh, I'm sorry, Miss Chartreuse. I don't think they'll be very tasty."

"Hmph, better than the vile gruel these scoundrels tried to feed me," she muttered.

I nodded, then shared a quick look with Awen. She seemed to be on the same page as me about Miss Chartreuse. This girl was weird.

It wasn't far to the entrance of the cave. Booksie shielded her eyes with her ears and I found myself squinting a bit against the sunlight as well. The Exploration Guild recruits had captured the last couple of bandits and they were all lined up nice and neat in the middle of the camp, a good amount of space between all of them so that they wouldn't try anything, and their hands tied behind their backs.

"Muahahaha!" Miss Charterous cackled. "Look at how lowly you've become! Grovel before my unshackled might, you foolish hooligans!"

The Exploration guild team looked at her, then back to me, and I shrugged. "She was a prisoner as well," I said. "Let her, uh, do her thing, I guess. Miss Chartreuse, please don't hurt the... hooligans. I think they're technically our prisoners now, and it's probably illegal to harm them."

"Hmph! I shall stay my hand for now, Broccoli Broccoli Bunch."

Jean-Pierre came over and nodded politely to Booksie. "Glad to see you well," he said. "Zis will... need reporting, I zink."

"We should send someone ahead. Let the guild know to call off the search. And Amaryllis should know too. And Cholondee... and Caprica. Oh boy, it's going to be a lot of work to call everyone off."

"I'm sorry," Booksie said in a small voice.

"Oh no!" I replied before engulfing her in a hug. "You're not allowed to apologise. It's not your fault. It's these meanies' fault for kidnapping you in the first place."

"That's right," Miss Chartreuse said. "Don't allow the idiocy of others to stain your own good behaviour."

That wasn't quite what I meant, but it was close enough.

"I think I can run ahead," Calamity said. "If'n you're all done needing me for the moment. I can run on over to the Guild, let the old lady there know, then check in on Caprica if she's still at the embassy. Then Amaryllis, if I can find her."

"That's a fantastic idea," I said. "And in the meantime, we can herd this bunch over to the outpost and start asking some questions."

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