Back to the Cave (Part 2)

Artimus guided his faithful palomino through the forest paths, taking the difficult route to the cave. He was glad the cave was hard to find; although the guiding part hadn't been necessary for the horse, he knew the way to go.

Azure stopped in front of the cave and Artimus dismounted, holding his hand out for his wife, to help he off. Not that he needed to really, she was perfectly capable of getting off on her own.

Jade? he called as he held his hand out, hoping they had at least returned before their daughter had.

~she hopped down and looked around.~

"Hmm seems we beat her back here." ~she walked over to the fire pit and saw a rock the size of about a pit of a peach. and she grinned wanting to test his left arm see if he would react. She threw the rock to on his left side to see.~

He was stroking Azure, and preparing him to wander free for a while, Artimus wasn't worried about the horse running away so he always let him have some freedom. From the corner of his eye he spotted Indis doing something, then saw the boulder.
Instinct took over and he spun and put his left hand out to catch it. He managed to catch it, although the jolt sent a shock down his arm, causing a brief flicker of pain.

He glared at her and dropped the rock.

A few days, they said. He realized he didn't actually have any idea how much time had elapsed since he had been in Draco.

" Well how bad was the pain? As bad as the other day? It had been a few days you know." ~she grinned~

" I just wanted to see if you would actually try or not." ~she sat on the rock where he had sat before they took him to the healer.~

"Do you remember any of what happened when I first showed up? and up until jade reappeared?"

He stopped stroking Azure and moved the saddle away, putting it on a rock.

The pain isn't as bad as it was, it's definitely getting better. He didn't want to add "Thanks to those mages" As for what happened, I can only remember brief bits, almost like a dream. I remember you showing up and Jade saying something about strange men trying to look at her; and you trying to kill me, then cage me. He frowned. That's not right, is it? Did I make some of that up?

~she looked at him~

"Actually most of it is true. but more of you holding me at knife point and threatening to kill me and thinking i was trying to kill you. The cage didn't happen."

"I freaked you out when I stabbed myself with the dagger you were threatening to slit my throat with."

~she chuckled~

You did?.. I was holding YOU at knife point? He shook his head.
Jade didn't see any of that, did she? The last thing she needs is to be thinking her parents are a pair of thugs! Wait, did you say the part about strange men looking at her was true?

His voice had gone up a little at that last thought. Strange men, staring at his daughter? Wait till he found out who they were! No one looked at his daughters arse and got away with it!

~she shook her head~

" No she didn't see any of it i sent her away before you got real bad. and it seems she was pretending to be a water spirit and got them to get her the whiskey. Which helped you with your pain but made you think i was trying to kill you."

~she looked at him~

"You have got to trust her for the most part hon. I know your being over protective dad. I wonder if jade still has drawings." ~she stood up and went over to jades bag and dug thru them.~

"Yes." ~she smiled~ "Here look inside." ~it was a box decorated with seashells and inside was a collection of drawings that jade did from when jade was growing up. along with drawings of Indis and Jade sitting together thru jades years growing up.~

~she sat at watched him look thru things.~

He remembered part of what she said.

That's why I didn't recognize the whiskey! She go it off the men. Probably hit me more than the stuff I'm used to.

He walked over and took the book from Indis.

I do trust her, I just don't trust everyone else!

He sat down in the sunlight and opened the book.
Besides, if she's anything like you, she'll keep running into trouble and need someone to come rescue her. He grinned at her and started to look at the pictures, realizing he had missed a huge chunk of her life that he could never get back.

"Hey I wasn't always in trouble. Just a couple of times." ~she smiled~

"You would have spoiled her as a kid. she was so cute with that blonde hair and her daddy eyes."

~she chuckled~

"And your darn smile you are famous for. She had that from the day she was born." ~she got lost in thought of that day.~

~she shook her head alittle and looked back at him.~

" Am just glad you are here now."

He listened to her as he continued to flick through the pages, his heart feeling slightly heavier over his decisions to leave.

I never pictured myself having a daughter, I wouldn't have known what to do with her at a young age and I'd be scared of influencing her into being a tomboy. Glad to see she didn't need my influence.
I always pictured myself with a son. Someone to pass the bloodline on.

He glanced up, hoping she wasn't thinking he was ungrateful.

Not that I'm displeased with the way she's turned out - she's everything I could have hoped for and more!

In his mind he had pictured him and his son standing on the deck of a boat, much like he and his father used to. Visiting taverns and getting drunk, sparring in the woods as people watched on in amazement at their prowess with the blade.
He realized he could do all that with Jade. He just needed to trust her more.

He wiped his eye. He wasn't crying, dammit!

~she smiled softly~

"Well you know even though am not able.. you still could have more kids. I am not even sure how long i will be able to stay. That is why am making the most of it all. Maybe you will find that special green eyed girl."

He looked up at her just after she spoke, the words sinking in.

No, I couldn't... Not while you're still... he fell silent for a moment.
Oh don't you even think about trying to leave! If you go, I'll hunt you down where you are. I found you once... I found Jade and I didn't even know I was meant to be looking for her!

Well ok, she sort of found him, but it was sort of mutual...

~she half smiled and touched the side of his face.~

"Am not leaving I will fight with everything I got to stay here. I have to much here. But if something does happen I know Jade will be in good hands." ~even tho she couldn't cry you could tell by her voice she would have been.~

" I just wish I could have giving you both a daughter and a son." ~she took a deep breath~

He reached up with his left hand and stroked her face.

She's everything I could have wished for, and much more. Don't fell bad about not giving me a son, feel good about giving me such a great daughter.

~she was running full tilt over the ground bag wrapped tight against her you could her coming the branches and trees and the animals being scared off. she came to a stop just outside the camp. and she slowly walked up to her parents and she smiled.~

"What are you doing... oh god mom did you really bring that out. Oh dad.. Boots." ~she pulled a bright pink set of boots out and placed them at his feet.~

he kept his hand on Indy's face, looking over as he heard a noise. His rapier was inside the cave, too far away to be of any use. Dammit, he should have thought of that before.

Then he saw Jade appear, and relaxed.

His eyes widened as she produced some pink boots. Pink? PINK? He stared at her.

...

Dammit. He hadn't told her what kind of boots though, had he? Mental note: next time you send her out, make sure you are VERY specific about what the item is. He almost dreaded to think what she had managed to get instead of manacles.

Pink? was all he could manage to say.
Well, he had survived a few days barefoot already.. He could go get himself another pair at some point. he smiled.

Thank you. He looked at Indy, giving her a "And i was saying she was Tomboyish" look....

~she laughed~

"Actually these are the right ones." ~she pulled out a nice pair of brownish boots~

"I had to get those pink ones and make you think they were yours." ~she laughed some more and then pulled out a bag she place on the ground next to the boots.

" Your manacles. Nice blacksmith in town good quailty stuff." ~she sat on the ground in front of her parents.~

He let go of Indy's face and moved the book away, closing it and putting on the ground, then took the real boots and put them on the floor near the book. He grinned at her, staring at her hair, then he got up and walked inside the cave, fumbling around in his pile of clothes.
He then walked back with a small grin on his face, and sat down in front of her again.

Can I see them? His voice was back to that even tone that used before when training her. He held his hands out.

~she knew that voice..she didn't like that voice.~

"Sure here" ~she pulled them out of the bag.~

~she watched him alittle worried.~

He took them in both hands, turning them over, inspecting the workmanship. He turned the key in the lock to check how it worked, removing the key to make sure both sides worked, then continued to examine them.
He pulled the chain tightly, checking the links, then handed them back to her.

Now, I want to teach you how to escape from these. I'll start off simply, by showing you. Put them on me.

He held his hands out, fists clenched, towards her.

~she raised an eyebrow and then proceeded to do as he said placing them on him. she locked them up and then sat back and watched him very closely. she wanted to do everything the way he wanted her to. even if it drove her crazy sometimes.~

"All set."

~she glanced at her mother for a moment then back to him~

He twisted his wrists in the manacles for a moment, being very careful with his left arm.

Now, the first thing to do, when escaping from a situation like this, is to think ahead. Unfortunately it's highly unlikely your captor will be stupid enough to leave you the key. But if they do, make sure you use it.

He grinned and opened his right hand, revealing the key that he'd taken moment earlier, then proceeded to unlock both wrists with it.

Of course, that kind of tactic can only be used once.

He motioned with his eyes at her.

You try. With the key. To get a feel for how it works.

He waited for her to put her hands out for him to lock her up.

~she nodded and put out her hands made a fist doing so.~

~she had never being chained up like this before tied up with rope..sure but nothing metal.~

~her eyes watched him closely~

He was used to dealing with manacles, his previous job involved lots of use of them. These weren't too different to the ones he knew, and with one flick he had he right wrist caught, then the left.

He handed her the key, to let her get out of them.

Just remember to take it easy, don't try and rush it else you might drop the key. Not that it matters here, but if you're chained to something, you'll never get it back.

He hoped he was speaking words of encouragement, not trying to make her more frightened.