Tali stared up at the towering man who had addressed her by asking her name. "My name is Tali, Mr. Kael," she answered simply, aware that the other man, Zrech, was most likely a mind-reader. "What else do you want to know?" The silence in between their statements and questions was punctuated by a methodical drip, drip, drip from Tali's still sopping wet undergarments. The man, Kael, seemed to be much like a farmer, with what seemed to be a permanent tan. He didn't seem to be a nasty person, but Tali had killed many of his men, so she couldn't accurately predict what he would do. Outwardly, Tali winced when she remembered the smell of charring flesh and the screams of those who were burning to death. The memory made her nauseous, and, before she could sit down or distract her mind, she threw up again, splattering the floor and her clothes with bile. Kael, Zrech, and the other girl, who was apparently named Wyvern, weren't immune, however. The bile splattered against their leggings, giving them the look of having been decorated with polka-dots. Tali groaned as she sat down weakly on the bed and waited for more questions to come.

Melora still was present in the cavern when the girl woke up. Looking around, she could see that everybody else had left. Immediately, the questions came cascading out like a waterfall,

"Who are you? How long have you been here? What's your name? Are you cold? Am I scaring you?" The last question came from Melora's wariness that so many questions from a stranger might be weird. Still, she wanted to know. If only someone was here! Melora shifted around like she always did when she got excited or nervous. This time, however, it was both.

Wyvern looked up, startled when she noticed Kael, Phlanders, and Zrech standing there. She was sure she would get in trouble, but had to hold in a sigh of relief when Kael only told her she could hand her coat back to the girl. Doing so, she then stepped back and stood by the wall. While she knew all three men were very capable fighters, none of them were fireworkers, and it would probably be best to have one closer than the other thirteen outside; being one of the best fireworkers in the Resistance didn't hurt, either. Still, her real reason for wanting to stay was that she was curious about the girl, and wanted to know more about her. She'd stick around until ordered to do otherwise.

Her eyes widened with worry when the Tali threw up, paying no mind to her dirtied clothing. Looking to Kael, she wasn't sure exactly what to do in this situation. "Should I go get a healer? Maybe one could help."

Zrech was the right man to have here at the questioning. It seemed he knew how this stuff worked it was good to have someone who knew the drill working with him. Kael watched unchanged as Tali vomited. Even as it 'decorated' his clothes Kael kept a calm collected atmosphere about him with a neutral expression.

"Alatheia should be coming here soon. But if you want you can go check on her, see if she is done with her work and press the need for assistance here.", Kael spoke to Wyvern in a cool voice without turning to look her direction.

He then went back to addressing Tali with a hint of concern, "As to my next question I actually have two are you ok and can I get you anything?"

Some might feel as though he is stalling or simply not a very good interrogator. But the thing about gaining information is knowing how to play to your audience. This is a wisp and a fire bender. While the king tends to dislike 'unnatural' creatures he tends to use them all the same. Adding her fire bending on top of that and you have one useful yet hated weapon.

Kael knew this is not the way anyone should be treated. People were people no matter what flag they held behind them. Treat them as such and you have loyal subjects. The technique of fear to control others only works while the threats have some chance to become real.

Whatever her reasons might be for working for the king Tali would need to be treated as person of worth rather than just a piece of information or a tactical advantage. While Kael remained collected and professional it was more part of the job than anything else. They could get to be friends when he was sure they were on the same side.

Tali stared at the man, perplexed by his kind offer. "I'm fine, thank you," she said suspiciously. "I could use a change of clothes and some mint though. And possibly a meal? I'm starving." This last statement was punctuated by her tummy rumbling its agreement. She was greatly relieved that Wyvern wasn't going to get into any trouble. Slowly she sat up on the bed, a tiny hand pressed against her head.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" Tali questioned Kael suspiciously. "What did I do to deserve it? The king only treated me this way when I did what he wanted. Is that what you're doing?" She really was unsure of Kael's motives. Rare are the times this measure of kindness has been shown to her. She honestly expected Kael to be a lot like Phlanders, and every other Resistance member she encountered. Angry and hateful over the loss of good men, but Kael seemed to be exactly the opposite.

Wyvern looked back to Kael. "Would you like me to get those for her? I probably have some old clothes that would fit her." She was really worried about Tali. It seemed so cruel to have her locked up, but at the same time she knew that the young girl had taken out more of the Resistance single-handedly than any other person alive. "I can also probably find something for her to eat, and some water. Don't know where I could find some mint, though..." she trailed off, thinking of the surrounding area and where that particular plant could grow.

"Ratyd would know," Zrech told Wyvern, his voice smooth and calm ... and sounding as though he would never harm anyone. And it wasn't just for the fire child either, his voice was always like that. He he would, and did fight savagely when he had to.

Ratyd, while not being gifted, always knew exactly where plants were, and seemed to have a bit of a green thumb. He was one of a few in charge of growing gardens whenever they found a semi-permanent hideout. It was natural to send someone to him for such things.

Talana blinked up at the girl questioning her blankly for a moment, before shakily raising a hand to her throat and shaking her head.

Her questions brought a hint of a smile to Kael's face, "I do not want you to feel like a prisoner. From what I've heard so far you already have enough of that treatment with the king. Besides being rough on you is not going to help either of us."

"If you could get all that for her Wyvern that would be great. Take Zerch's suggestion and have Ratyd find the mint for you.", Kael continued to talk while turning away from Tali.

He held his hand out to the guard with the key and was given it. Kael turned and unlocked the door, leaving the key ring hanging from the lock. Phlander's looked a little rattled by this as did most of the guards but Kael did not care. He had already made his character decisions about her. Which while are considered hasty by most usually end up being right, and Kael was an all or nothing guy.

"Lets get you out of that room. That is if you feel ok to stand.", Kael said as he stepped into the room, offering his hand to help her up.

Once she was ready to go he intended to move her to where the guards usually sat in the prison area which was around a small card table with a few barrels acting as chairs.

As he got closer to her Kael started to take in more of her details. Tali's hair especially caught his interest. While he took note of what she looked like he kept his head in the game. A sudden change of heart by the prisoner could end up being one very bad situation. While Kael was confident this would not happen it was his job to stay on his toes.

Melora immediately saw what the girl communicated. She probably had been asleep for quite some time now, and as a result, had lost some speaking abilities.

"Can you walk? You can just nod or shake your head," Melora asked the girl. She knew what it was like to sleep for a while, and this girl probably had slept longer than her! "You might want to see a healer, though they might not be able to heal this kind of thing."

Melora hoped that it would work, for this girl had to be fit if she wanted to stay around here. But she seemed so out of shape! What had happened?

Pure shock showed through on Tali's face. She had expected to work hard at convincing the Resistance leaders that she was trustworthy, but he was making this a little too easy. Instantly, Tali remembered how the king often did some of the same things too her. He would act kind and friendly before he turned on her. It was often in retaliation for something she'd failed to do for him. She would go along with it to keep him happy, but she wouldn't let her guard down for anything.

Slowly, she stood up from the bed, trying to keep her tummy from flipping on her again. "Okay," she said as she breathed out, catching the guards, well, off-guard when they saw the fire come from her mouth. Instantly, they leveled their weapons at her, afraid that she was going to incinerate Kael. "What? It's only me breathing. It's only forty-five degrees in here right now anyways. I just happen to create fire with my breath, but if it makes you feel better, I'll only breathe through my nose." Slowly, the guards raised their weapons, still glaring at the small girl. She obediently followed Kael over to a small card table with a few barrels for chairs and scrambled up onto the barrel, having to jump a bit to get her butt high enough to sit on it. "Any other questions you have for me, Mr. Kael?" she asked, cocking her head slightly at the man.

Wyvern nodded, and after watching where Kael was taking Taki, she went outside to find their resident gardener. After asking around a bit, she managed to find him in his little vegetable garden that he had set up. Why she hadn't checked there first, she didn't know. "Hey, Ratyd, do you think you could help me find some mint? I need some; Kael was needing it for something." Wyvern was pretty sure that it would be a bad idea to spread that the fire-child was in the prison building right now. It would only have terrible outcomes. "If you could do that for me, I need to go find some clothes. If you find some before I get back here, I'll be in my tent." She turned and started walking towards the area where most of the tents were set up.

Dimitri looked at the armor bits in front of him. He had gone up to the blacksmith's tent to see if he could use the forge, and of course the crabby man said no, but he did grab a few tid-bits of steel to add to his armor. He headed back and thought that something was going on. Not in the camp, but outside of it. He noticed that some of the animals were acting strangely. They were running. From what though. He pulled a sword from his back and walked towards the commotion. He hid in the trees and saw a terrible sight. A small garrison of Royal Soldiers, bound to have a few gifted with them. He ran to tell the others.

Ratyd blinked after Wyvern a moment. "Of course m'lady," he murmured to himself, amusement dancing in his eyes as he stood and brushed his hands off. "I'll be back it a bit, lovelies," he told his garden. Most poeple in the resistance found him a little odd in that he actually talked to his garden. However, as his garden also tended to grow faster, and larger than anyone else's, they didn't tend to complain about it. So, wondering who the plant was for, Ratyd hurried off to find it.

Zrech followed behind Kael and the fire-child, never saying a word. He knew about her misgivings, but didn't tell Kael about them. He would either gain her trust or not, but he wouldn't be able to do so with Zrech telling him everything that went through her mind. He was only there to make sure she kept telling the truth.

Talana shrugged lightly, endeavoring to push herself into a seated position.

Aletheia rushed in to the room. "Sorry it took me so long. Alright. I heard you guys needed my help? Wow, she doesn't look good at all. I'm guessing your the patient. I'm going to do a scan on you and see what's wrong. I have to put my hands on you, so I hope you're niot skittish about that. It can't be helped though." She put her hands on the girl's shoulders and examined her. "Well, she seems to be okay, just a lot of adrenalin. I'll bring those levels down manually, and she should feel better. I'll also slow her heart a bit, so she can relax more. And I'll treat her nausea too. She doesn't seem to have much wrong with her other than having a fright of some kind. Did you guys scare her somehow?"

Dimitri kept teleporting andaccidentally bumping into people. He kept hearing people yell at him and say "What do you think you're doing?" He was saving their fat butts, that's what. He teleported again and landed right in front of Kael and the others.

He coughed and stopped for a minute, catching his breathe, "We've gotta get moving, a garrison of soldiers is a quarter League that way," He said, pointing towards the hill where he had come from. "I think they're an advance party. They had way more weapons then men. I don't know how many more are on the way."

Keal took a seat on one of the barrels casually, unlike the guards he showed no signs of being upset, "I just want to know your story.", Kael simply stated to Tali, "Take your time and start from the beginning. I know you were in the king's service for quite some time and that during this time you were very destructive to the Resistance. Was that your choice? Did you enjoy what you did or was it torture for you?"

He spoke sincerely and his face showed a flicker of concern. After realizing that this could easily turn into a question spree he quieted himself and took in a deep breath before trying again.

"I want to hear your story Tali. Tell me about yourself and start wherever you like.", Kael sat there now with a slight smile on his face.

Soon after his questions Dimitri would appear out of no where and Kael would topple back in his chair from surprise. But at the moment he sat attentively waiting for Tali to start her tale.

"Enjoy killing all those people?" Tali questioned, eyes full of disbelief. "You're a sick man, you know that? Have you ever heard the screams of hundreds of people burning to death? Smelled their skin char while they were wearing it?" Tali gagged as the memories from earlier returned full force, and had to stop her questions before she threw up again. Thankfully though, Kael changed the subject from interrogation to a telling of her past.

It was a topic she found much easier, though still hard, to converse about, especially with Kael's kind attentiveness. "My Papa was a teleporter in the King's Army, while Mama was just a seamstress the King happened to favor, or so Papa told me. I never met my mom, but that's besides the point. I grew up in the castle, so it wasn't really a surprise when the King discovered I was Gifted. He had me tested, and it turned out I was a Fireworker. When he saw the full extent of my abilities, the King declared that I was the greatest Fireworker in the world, and quickly put me into his army after Papa passed away from a sickness. From then on, he became my father, but he wasn't nice like Papa. He sent me out to kill everyone in the Resistance every time they attacked from the time I was seven. He beat me if I let even one Rebel escape, no exceptions. That's how I got all these scars; I let people go. If I know the king, he's probably sending troops to come and take me back as we speak, though if, or how, he knows where I am, I have no idea."

Tali's words proved prophetic as Dimitri popped into existence in front of them, shortly after she had finished her story. "Do you want me to help?" Tali asked Kael, feeling it was a good opportunity to prove her sincerity.

Wyvern had managed to find a shirt and pants that she thought would fit Tali, though the sleeves and legs would have to be rolled up. Hoping the younger girl wouldn't mind wearing dull brown, she excited her tent, heading towards the garden to see if Ratyd had managed to locate any mint. Along the way, she saw Dimitri appear out of no where, and then dissapear again. She was curious as to where he was going, and what was so urgent that he hadn't bothered with walking.

Reaching the garden, she looked around, only to find that Ratyd hadn't returned yet, so she sat at the edge of the forest to wait for him. Wyvern didn't dare enter the trees. Not only would she likely get lost, they were highly flamable, and she didn't want to set one on fire if something startled her. While she may have been getting better at that, she was no where near in control over that aspect of her gift.

As Melora rushed to the girl's side, she heard some sort of ruckus outside. Melora quickly tried to assist the girl in getting up.

"Well, there seems to be something going on, as I hear marching and people getting upset. It might be serious, so we might have to hurry a bit. Hopefully nothing bad happens," Melora spoke to the mysterious girl. Sadly, she had a feeling that it would be quite serious indeed.

As Aletheia entered the room Kael offered a smiling, "Its quite alright. As far as the scaring goes I would be too if I was thrown into a cell of the enemy I had been fighting for a long time. Oh and when Tali is done talking if you could perform some of your healing on me. My muscles are sore after using my powers is all."

It was exactly the answer that Kael was looking for. She was not some sick perverted monster created by the king like some believed. He continued to listen as she told the story of her past in a nutshell. This was his favorite part, he almost always asked for a story of their past. Much like the visions he received of their future it explained a bit of who they were.

Suddenly Dimitri appeared out of no where. Kael shouted out of surprise and threw his weight backwards sending him sprawling onto the ground. He listened to the news that was delivered from there. The timing of his arrival was written in the fates Kael was sure of it.

"No. You are no longer a weapon to be used.", Kael said to Tali, "I believe you when you say how much you hated the killing. It can stop here. The only way I would allow you to help is if you truly want to join us in the fight against the king. I kill as well but only to stop a mad king who cares nothing about those he stomps on if you wish for the same you join us. If you never want to kill again I suggest that you run. Run out of here and find somewhere untouched by war if such a place exists."

Phlander's had exited the area after hearing the report from Dimitri. He was most likely going about rallying the troops outside to prepare for battle. Kael knew that most in the camp were in relaxation mode and not ready. They would need some time...

"You guards and Dimitri fall in on me.", Kael commanded in a stern even voice, "Zrech if you could go about helping to inform the camp that would be great. Aletheia stay with Tali."

While he was not holding an actual commanding rank Kael was used to rallying people under him. Those in the room knew they had no real obligation to follow any of the orders he gave it was more like strong suggestions than anything else.

He turned to Dimitri to ask more about what they were up against, "How many soldiers are there, twenty five? Fifty? More?"

His thinking was that if a force could be gathered to ambush them that the weapons could be intercepted and never reach their true destination. If that could happen then perhaps the main force will be left without new weapons or supplies for many of their men.

Talana gave Melora a small smile and nodded. She closed her eyes a moment, and took a slow breath. When she didn't collapse into another coughing fit, she took a deeper once. Then, leaning heavily on the girl, she stood. Her legs immediately tried to give out on her, but she tightened her grip on Melora and got them back under her until she could force them to keep her up.

She'd managed many things before, most of which had been through sheer force of will. This was going to be one of them.

Zrech nodded, already racing out to do as ask. Kael was as close as they came to actually having a leader. So, while they weren't under any real orders, most people listened anyway. As he informed the resistance of the incoming soldiers, he wondered about the sleeping girl, and made a note to check in on her cavern before they left. Because, no matter what, she had to come with them.

Before long, Ratyd returned to the garden, his stride hurried. "I didn't get the mint," he told Wyvern. "I think we've got other things to worry about. The king's soldiers are coming."

Wyvern's eyes widened at that information, and she stood up quickly. Grabbing Ratyd's wrist, she began to run towards the caves, dragging the gardener along with her. "Come on. You need to get somewhere safer. I know for a fact that the caverns have two ways out, just find the other one if things get bad. Kael would have my head if he found out something really bad happened to you and I could have stopped it. As it is, I'm probably going to be needed to help fight." She looked back at him, smiling slightly, despite how worried she was on the inside. "Just make sure all the injured or those who can't fight with us stay safe. Anyone willing to help fight, send them to us." By now they had reached the caves, and Wyvern stopped, letting Ratyd's wrist go.

"Go," he told her, "I know the way." With that, he entered the caves and headed for the back entrance, gathering children along the way. Ratyd was a gentle sort of man, and all the children loved him, so he had no problems calming them down and herding them towards the back.

Wyvern nodded, turning and running towards the prison building. She wouldn't want to get in the way, and if anyone would know what was going on, it was Kael. Everyone seemed to report to him, even though he was in no official leadership role. Also, she was worried about Tali. The soldiers were either here on her orders, or to get her back. Neither was a pleasant option for the young girl, in Wyvern's oppinion. She realized that she was, miraculously, still holding onto the clothes she had found for the fire-child. She sped up a little, knowing that Kael would have already heard, assuming that the soldiers were the reason Dimitri was in a hurry.

"Okay, I'm all done. You said you needed help too, Kael? Let me see." Aletheia put hand on his arm. "I see. Alright, I should have you fixed in just a bit." She closed her eyes and concentrated. As she did, she quieted her mind, and her senses became sharper. "What's that noise? It sounds like something is going on outside? Maybe some sort of guest has arrived? I can't hear it very well. It could be nothing."