Introducing Rhela and Izhu

Izhu came to slowly, groggy. Her arms were bound behind her back, she quickly realized. Her legs, too, were shackled together to keep her from running without tripping over herself. And she had a massive headache from the blows that knocked her unconscious in the first place. Her crook was somewhere far away, well out of arm's reach even if she could use her hands. No magic, no way to move.

"Hey," came a familiar voice from beside her. Izhu didn't really know what to think at the knowledge that Rhela was still with her. That she hadn't abandoned her in her hour of need was... heartening? Maybe? But that she was here too was discouraging. Even Rhela couldn't fight them off. Even Rhela was bound and disarmed. "Finally. I was thinking you were planning on sleeping through the entire thing."

"Heh..." Izhu couldn't really muster up the energy to even smile at Rhela's usual antics. "I kind of wish I had."

Rhela grunted. "Why?"

"Because I'm scared, Rhela," Izhu snapped.

"I'm not."

Izhu froze in disbelief. "I'm sorry? You're not scared? We're going to die here. It's hopeless. Even you know that, don't you? It's okay to be scared in a situation like this."

"No. I'm not. I'm pissed," Rhela grumbled. "We only die here if we let them kill us."

"What other choice do we have?" Izhu asked, despairing. "We've lost our weapons. We can't run, we can't fight. Even the people who led us here have been taken prisoner. It's over, Rhela, before it even really began. We're just another pair of disappeared refugees."

Rhela was quiet for a moment, then she tipped over, wriggling over behind Izhu.

"What are you doing now?" Izhu asked, exasperated.

"Biting your ass for giving up so easy," Rhela said through a mouthful of something. Not Izhu's ass, though. The pressure on Izhu's wrists suddenly relaxed, and the ropes fell free. "They're not watching us. Do me."

Izhu let the opportunity for a snarky joke pass, leaning back to work at the intricate knot holding Rhela's wrists together.

While Izhu worked, Rhela complained. "I'm the crown jewel of any dragon's hoard. I'm not gonna be treated like some gil-a-dozen primal snack. If you're going to grab me, you better treat me like I deserve. Or I'm coming to kick your ass. You get it, Izhu? We're gonna teach them to treat us with some respect."

Izhu was certainly finding respect for Rhela. She was even starting to feel a little bit of hope lifting the curtain of despair. "Did you see what they did with our weapons?"

"There, in a pile. Totally unguarded, too," Rhela said smugly, nodding her head toward one of the walls. "Honestly, it's like they want me to break out of here."

The roaring of the Amal'jaa changed to a steady chant, with the leader speaking a slow, fluid prayer to call forth Ifrit.

"Time's almost up, Rhela!" Izhu hissed. "If we're leaving, we have to go now!"

"I think you mean it's almost showtime," Rhela said, flipping upright, grabbing her axe from the pile, and slicing the binding tying her ankles together. "Time to give that fiery jackhole what's coming to him."

"You're insane," Izhu said. Realization was slowly dawning on her. "You can't seriously intend to fight a primal."

"I don't intend to fight a primal," Rhela assured her. "I intend to kill it. See how they feel about kidnapping me and treating me like fodder then, huh?"

As Rhela strode out in front of the other captives and Ifrit roared his fury, Izhu weighed her options. Even with everyone's attention on the primal, there was no way Izhu was getting out of here alive by herself. But Rhela was headed straight into suicide... unless...

"I really hope you know what you're doing!" Izhu yelled, snagging her cane from the pile and rushing after Rhela.