M a r k e d (Domovoi + MRAZ)

[Domovoi]

Welcome to Marked, an original RolePlay between myself and the incredibly lovely MRAZ.
Please do not post. Thank you.​

Cash. Money. Dough. Dolla dolla bills, y'all. It makes the world go round, it makes cities run and turns man into beast.

A young girl, nineteen and with her entire life ahead of her - however bleak it might be, with the country's economy failing so spectacularly - found herself being sold off by her family to a man with more money than they could ever dream of, for more money than they could ever dream of. She'd discovered her air element accidentally at a young age, and played with it off and on throughout her life whenever she needed it as an advantage; blowing things off a high shelf, giving herself a bit of a boost in races against her friends, and other harmless things.

Now, she might as well be cattle, sold for slaughter.

After hearing of the man's reward for finding him a young, powerful wind user, her family decided they preferred money to their little girl. Their struggles meant little to Rina; no, they didn't have fancy clothes or a giant house, but they were managing to scrape by with what they had, however difficult it may be. If the roles were reversed, she would never have even contemplated selling one of them to make a quick buck.

After a fit of kicking and screaming, her forearm was being branded with this man's sigil. She didn't have time to howl before, exhausted from the sobbing, screaming, and now pain, her body gave in and passed out from being so overwhelmed. Her pain tolerance was about average, and her athletic figure and good physical fitness made her a great candidate, but her psychological state was knocking her down.

Eventually, Rina did wake up. With tired brown eyes, she swallowed hard and began to examine her surroundings.

----

Liza Vernon had been in the fighting business a long time. Well, sort of a long time. Four years was a long time, right? Throughout that, the twenty-seven year old woman had bought and sold quite a few elementals, boring of her pets quite quickly when they didn't perform to her expectations. All she really cared about was the money... The frills and formality that was intrinsically linked with her line of work just weren't for her.

She always went for the same kind of fighters. Maybe that was her problem. It didn't stop her from continuing her routine, though. "I like those four..." Liza idly voiced, pointing to several of the girls for sale. They all looked a bit rough around the edges, one with hefty facial scarring that was obviously from a battle with a fire user. "Eenie, meenie, minie... That one," She pointed to a white-haired girl with the tough look that drew her in every time. Strength? Nah. Beauty? Fuck that. She just wanted her pets to look intimidating, as it drew in the crowds like flies to carrion. They wanted to spend their money on the tough one, the one that looked as if she would happily tear her opponent limb from limb and dine on the appendages left behind.

Without asking for further details, she handed over the asking price without haggling and approached the girl. Squinting a bit, the tall woman leaned forward to look her new charge dead in the eyes, her face taking on its typical deadpan. "What's your name?" Hooking a finger in the collar they'd put the girl in, she began leading her away, the seller a bit dumbfounded at how quickly the transaction had gone through - typically one would expect a prospective buyer to actually ask questions about the fighter they were purchasing, never for someone to use child's play as a decision maker.

"Oh, and, uh, what's your element?" She chuckled. "Aw, hell, just tell me about yourself," Liza found it easier to listen to her pets speak, rather than a salesman give her a shitty pitch with shitty exaggerations about, usually, shitty fighters. If a decision couldn't be made on a gut feeling, it wasn't worth making. Okay, yes, the last ten fighters also gave her a good feeling, but this one was definitely going to be a prize! She could feel it in her bones.

 

[MRAZ]

The room was simple as bare as the one she should have had before, with grey walls surrounding her, a strange light falling near where she was lying, and three dark bulks, too blurry to really make out what they were. After a few seconds the girl would notice that there was a window on the far left of the room, from which the light was coming, and, on the other side, there was a very sturdy looking wooden door which was one of the dark bulks.

One down, two to go, the other was near the window, and it looked tall, resistant and… rectangular, for a moment everything as confusing but, then, the secret was revealed to the girl, the shape was only a wardrobe, a big looking one, functional and not really fancy in style, but it would last quite a log.

Near it, the last mysterious shape moved lightly, there was something smaller there, something alive. Another movement and she was able to see the light reflected on someone’s green gaze as they leaned on the… what the hell was that? It was soft looking, short-ish… a couch, or so it seemed. And, sitting on it, was a man of green gaze, dressed in a light blue shirt with the last two buttons opened and a loose tie around his neck. His skin was slightly tanned and his hair was chocolate brown.

He stood up suddenly and advanced onto the girl’s bed before looking her up and down, a light frown decorating his features, without asking for permission or acknowledgement, he put his hand over her forehead and nodded to himself in satisfaction.

“You don’t have a fever anymore, so the burn should be healing well.” He informed, as if he was talking to himself. “I’m your new owner, name’s Cedric Byron.” The brunette man said while pointing at his chest in an uninterested manner. “You’ve been out for a couple of days; meanwhile we have been treating your mark.” The man who had introduced himself as Cedric said, now walking to the couch again and grabbing what looked like a vest and tossing it over his shoulder in a casual manner.

“It’s your first mark, and most likely the only one you’ll have. It’s not healed yet but soon you’ll learn that it’ll stay as a permanent reminder of your new place in life.” Cedric mentioned before leaning back to the wall. “You will address me as master, or sir from now on, and, seeing how extremely loving your family was towards you, I guess that you should have no qualms in leaving your old name behind.”

The man shrugged, even if the girl had said troubles with that notion, well, tough luck, most names that the common folk gave to their whelps were unfit of the Arena, because, really, who would bet to a warrior named Mary?

“From now on your name shall be NC7, if you don’t like it then you will have to fight, to win in order to earn yourself another name. If you have all the information you need, then get up, we’ll be giving a walk around the grounds, so you know where you’ll be training and to whom you’ll report.” He looked down at her and waited for the nineteen years old girl to get up.

Rough awakening, rough beginnings, he was well aware of that, but he wanted to see just how much this one would last before wasting his time in any kind of care that was out of the strictly necessary.

----

The tug made the white haired girl give out a light growl but also made her try to keep with her new owner right away, not wanting to try to resist only to make a fool out of herself by face faceplanting in a very much idiotic way. By then she was already used to wear collars like that one, her old owner, doctor Tolbert, had had a thing for being the only one to brand his pets. He never got to brand the last batch though, in between being busy and sick he had ordered them collared instead.

It had been the fear of how things were out their master’s manor and the fear of death that had kept all of doctor Tobert’s pets inside his lands. They trained, they fought albeit rarely, they honed their skills, but the doctor did not get better, no matter how he promised he would. And when he fell, his lands shattered, the government took a great part of them, along with his pets and possessions.

They separated them, took their collars off and gave them other ones, and, for weeks, Kei, as was this girl’s name, had been waiting in her cage, for another master to come. She was not sure of the time or date anymore, it could be either dawn or dusk, the only thing that the blue eyed girl knew was her age, as it had been a few days after her eighteen birthday when her master finally rested from this life.

“I’m Kei, ma’am.” The girl replied lightly, still growling a bit at times, not in aggression but more like in surprise. Kei was her name, or so she remembered, someone had once told her that it was her name, but she was not sure of how it was even written, maybe it was Kay, or Kai, or Kei, or Key, it really didn’t matter, she knew it was her name… and now she hoped it would still be her name by the time the sun rose again.

Oh, right, she had to keep talking. This was strange; owners rarely wanted their pets to talk that much… “I’m a lightning user, ma’am.” She assured while gulping, what else should she say? “Ever since I was smaller, when I showed my powers I began to train.” And that had been the reason why her hair was like it was. Once when training under the rain, she had tried too hard, been too stupid, and the result… it had felt like being made into soup inside her own skin: First there had been a blinding flash of light, then the hit, the sensation of flying while she was being thrown back, and the fall it had hurt and then it had been over.

Kei had been unable to move, and, when she woke up, a long time had passed by, and her hair was graying, later to whiten (which she would always refute by saying it was still gray).

The pet focused on walking then, unsure what else the woman wanted to know from her, perhaps she should save her energy? After all… she knew what was coming.

 

[Domovoi]

The room was simple. Plain. Very fitting for a slave, she thought, someone who was to give mind and body to a human that cared nothing for them beyond their capability to fight.

It took a moment for her fuzzy brain to even register where she was and why. Something about the peace of slumber could clear away the heaviness of bad thoughts, surely the origin of the phrase 'everything will look better in the morning'. It didn't change anything, though. Nothing looked better. Her arm hurt and she had become a toy. She wondered if she'd be put down like a dog when it was realized that she knew nothing of physical combat - and really didn't want to have to bring harm to another person, anyway.

The man approaching looked bored, she guessed by his words that he'd tired of having to tend his slave when he'd prefer to work her to the bone in training. His touch was gentle, but unwelcome, Rina reflexively pulling away in unison with him removing his hand.

Everything was still processing in the young blonde's mind, and the vast amount of new information was a hefty weight to bear on a fever-addled brain. Her name? She liked her name, but... But it was just a reminder of her family. Her mother loved the name, too - loved it so much she sold her like a damn merchant sells his wares.

Her mother... Her mother... Her mother did this to her! Her father, too! She loved them, she gave them so much, and for what? This?! Pain and torment, stripped of her name and her rights and to be used as a weapon? To die like a pawn in the arena? What had she done to deserve any of this?!

Eyes beginning to overflow with tears, the mentally and still quite physically exhausted girl broke down into sobs. She wasn't wailing, but her knees slowly sliding up to her chest, her face hiding between them, gave up that she was breaking apart.

----

Liza was already fond of this one; polite, mannerly, and with an odd habit of growling that reminded her of a bear cub trying to be tough. The crowds would eat it up.

"Kei, huh," She remarked softly, looking her over. Her green eyes stared softly at the girl in a side glance as she led her forward, no longer using her collar to encourage her to move. The information Kei gave was brief, but let her know a lot; the girl had been training for a while, meaning she already had a foundation of experience. That was good for her, minimizing expenses required for training her. It could be expensive to train a fighter who hadn't used their powers for anything but a bit of casual fun.

The girl's hair color was interesting; Liza idly ran a hand through it, enjoying its feathery nature and soft color. Obviously the teen was too young for such a shade, but it made her look different and stand out. The eenie meenie game hadn't done much - she'd been set on this one from the get-go, just for that mop of white plopped on her head.

"Liza!" A voice shouted, pronouncing her name with a long 'I'. A long-nosed man approaching with haste and adjusting his glasses repeatedly all the while. "I'm still waiting on the paperwork to register your last find for the fight in a few days," He crossed his arms, one hand holding a clipboard, and frowned at her. "If you don't put it in today, it'll be too late!"

The tall woman let out a long sigh. Ugh. Paperwork. The truest cuss word. "You'll have it. I need you to send me papers to register a new pet, though," She gestured to Kei, and the man's face deepened into what looked like an impossibly sharp frown. If a human could explode from frustration, he'd certainly pop like a pimple. Without another word, he stormed off - presumably before he could start shouting things he'd either regret or get fired for. Or both.

She couldn't help but chuckle. The high-stress man had a stick so far up his ass it was a wonder he could walk, the exact opposite of her no-fucks-given attitude. "Oh, that's right..." Her attention returned to Kei. "Since I don't have the papers to register you just yet, you'll have to stay with me for tonight. Maybe a couple days. Or more," She shrugged. "You know, however long it takes me to get your information in place." They exited through the slave district gates, the guards not paying much attention to the unbranded girl, despite the collar around her neck.

Up a small flight of stairs was a plain white door, marked with the number '207'; beyond it was a plain one bedroom apartment hardly fitting for the owner of multiple fighters. Still, the immaculate place, with its postmodern decor and large windows, was hers for now. The kitchen was pure stainless steel, appliances and countertops. A black and white leather sectional couch was the centerpiece for the living room, the furniture themed in that it was made of mostly glass. "Take a seat, if you like," She gestured to the sofa. "Make yourself at home."

The bedroom was plush and also had a monochrome color scheme, a glass desk with scattered papers standing prominently in the corner due to the lack of furniture; all of her clothing was in the ample closet. It didn't help that it was the only part of her home that didn't appear to be very neatly organized - and then you could look in her closet and see she had little respect for the rumpled piles of shirts and bottoms, or the bras tossed in the corner.

 

[MRAZ]

Cedric looked at his new pet and sighed. Poor kid, if this was a more forgiving world he would be able to say something else, to comfort her, but this was the shithole it was, and nothing would change it, just as nothing would change her fate: He had bought her to fight, in order to make cash and have enough renown to make good business, which in turn would give enough to feed her and the other two, keep them alive after each battle, train them.

A fighter was an investment, and a failed investment would not only mean loss of money, but also lost lives. He waited for a while as she cried, reached a hand out to comb her hair but thought better, she obviously did not welcome his touch right now. Also, it was not the time to be soft on her, the brunette man knew that he had to first see if she was worthy of fighting, or if he would watch her die in the next battle, after all, that was an old lesson he learned in his teenage years: to not to grow fond of a pet that would not survive the season, doing that only led to bad decisions, and waste of money, which in turn meant less food for the other pets. It was a selfish thing all around.

Still, he patted her head, once, only once.

He looked away and reached to the pocket of his pants, extracting a small box. “These are for the pain.” He instructed dismissively. “You can cry, all you want, just remember that when you’re done crying things will still be the same. I did not sell you, and maybe you did not have it coming, but either way you ended up here, and now belong to me.” He explained, leaving the box just at her side before going towards the door, but stopping just in front of it.

“You’ll be given breakfast soon, you are free to roam this floor, but, for your own good, don’t exit the floor.” He warned seriously. “I don’t know what your abilities are; all I know is that you’re a wind user. If you have not fought yet then you’ll be trained, if you have fought then your skills will be honed.” The man spoke surely; as if there was no doubt on his mind that what he said would become true.

After all, why shouldn’t it? The idea got into his mind and he turned to the girl once more. “It’s up to you, stay there and refuse to fight, I’ll demand my money back and get you back to your dear family, we’ll see how long it takes them to sell you either as a whore or in pieces as spare parts. Or eventually get up, and fight for me, earn your food and room, and, eventually your freedom.” And with that Cedric turned towards the door again and exited the room, closing the door behind him he gave out a tired sigh before rubbing the bridge of his nose with his index finger and thumb. Darn new ones, they always were such a … such a pain to deal with.


----

The white haired girl went tense, very tense, not when she was touched, when the woman touched her Kei seemed to either not notice or not care, but when the man arrived, the teen looked as if she was about to fry him in the spot just for being there, still she kept walking, not taking her eyes from the big nosed guy until he was gone. Only then she relaxed a bit and adjusted her collar by pulling a bit onto it, just so that the back wouldn’t be digging into her skin. She was quiet as they exited the place.

Her old master liked when people around him were actually afraid of his pets being about to attack them, so they had learned to look dangerous whenever there was someone too close to their keeper, and, well, old habits die hard after all. It was probable that her new mistress had not shown any sign of having noticed that behavior, so there was no need to change it yet.

The next was strange, so Kei only nodded as she did not know what else to reply. Her papers should be in order, no? She was not a new pet, she had belonged to Doctor Tolbert before, and he was an organized man… still, there was no protesting against her new mistress, neither was the white haired fighter angry about the new plans, just taken by aback, but that would pass.

It was not rare for her to go out, the collar was not the same as the brand, but for the guards it worked well so there was not really worth of thinking about it too much. She followed the strange mistress diligently, looking at the sky warily from time to time whenever it seemed that it was getting cloudy.

They arrived and the girl just sat down when invited, the rest of the house was not of her concern, also, what could she hope to find if she went around exploring? The scandal of her mistress’ socks? Instead, from her place the girl began to glance around, taking every detail in as she waited for either permission to sleep or an order. After all, if there was…

…

She stood up and looked down before going around, opening doors quickly before closing them, inspecting closely the entire apartment without a word before going to sit down back on the couch. There was no danger around, neither for her, no practical jokes or such things, nor for her new owner, now she could relax.

Truth to be told… The lightning user yawned lightly; she was tired and a bit bored, confused as to what rules she would be under and somehow apprehensive about what would have to be done later on. She looked down at her forearm and rubbed it. It would be a burn, nothing more lethal than the incident that stormy afternoon, but this one would be different, they said that it hurt more than anything, and that most pets fainted from the pain.

Kei growled lightly to herself, clenching her forearm harder. She would not faint, for a while repeating that thought helped her to ignore the light shiver that went up and down her back.