"Ah," the woman said. Arthur looked at her, smiling as a result of his tricks, while she sat up, holding the blanket over herself. She turned a suspicious eye towards him, moving her blanket out of the way and looking down at her crotch and other areas.
Arthur was quite ashamed and revolted by the implications, before he groaned with an "euagh, no, I didn't touch you or do anything inappropriate, so quit inspecting like I'm Bill Cosby or something!"
She looked at him and gave a sharp exhale, leaning back and resting her head on the floor.
"Was the blanket your doing?" She asked in a monotone voice.
"Yeah, yeah. He came down and asked if I needed anything as a special guest, so I asked for a pillow and blanket."
"Yet you couldn't ask for a mattress?"
"Shut up!"
It was silent for a moment, before she sat up and stretched her limbs.
"Though, if you are not a liar, then I am willing to give you a round of applause for your actions. In this, that man is the villain, seeing as I've never had such treatment," she said with a hint of true gratitude.
"That being said, under the assumption you did this with intention to seduce me, you have failed. I do love blankets, so I won't be ungrateful, but nothing romantic shall come of this. Only words of praise and gratitude shall come from my lips for the next few minutes."
"Tch, so full of yourself!" Arthur yelled. He grabbed the pillow and chucked it at her. She caught it with her face—as in, she got absolutely pelted by it. The back of her head hit the ground softly, as she saw the pillow flying and spinning through the air before smothering her face.
"Ow."
He'd gotten upset at her assumption that he'd done it for the intention of romance. She wasn't wrong, but it was still very arrogant to assume.
She put the blanket under her head, getting some neck support for the first time in a long time.
"Hm. Perhaps it isn't so bad to be imprisoned. It would help if I could bathe and our wastes aren't sitting in buckets just a few meters away from us."
Arthur's eyes widened, as he was caught off guard. "Meters?"
"Yes, meters. Are you some sort of alien which is unfamiliar with human units of measurement?"
"No, I'm American, there's a difference. What continent are we even on, what the heck?" Arthur asked, sitting against the wall.
"I have no clue."
Silence.
Arthur snickered. "It wasn't an actual question. Are you some sort of alien who is unfamiliar with rhetorical questions?"
"Hm. Perhaps you should commit suicide."
"That's not funny! If I died, he'd probably take out the blanket and pillow, so you'd be stuck again!"
"Hm. Then do not commit suicide."
"Yeah, that's… ugh, whatever. Didn't you say you were only going to have words of gratitude and praise for me?"
"When you make it so difficult to praise you, it's only natural I am unable to."
"Agh, okay, jeez. You're really rude, y'know that?"
"It is not rudeness I overflow with. Rather, it is patience which I sorely lack."
"Well, maybe be more patient, I guess."
"You enjoy this, so I feel comfortable being able to get away with it."
"I don't enjoy this, y'know. It sucks, being insulted."
"Then why do you look so happy?"
"Cause it's a hot woman doing it in a way which doesn't make me feel like it's personal, that's why."
"Hm. Yes, I suppose that makes sense. Your kind would do anything if a hot woman gave you positive attention for it, wouldn't you?"
Giving her a sharp glare, Arthur crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow.
"Are you racist or something, what do you mean 'your kind?'"
"Men. Or to be more specific, porn addicts, perhaps?"
"I'M NOT A PORN ADDICT!"
"———"
"...Say something."
"That's exactly what a porn addict would say."
…
The idea of sitting out the rest of his month with this woman was quite tempting. However, Arthur still had a job he wanted to do.
"Tell me," she said. "If you could have a little dog or a big dog, which would you prefer to own?"
"Agh, I dunno, I'm not really a dog person," Arthur said, trying to pull out the bars which held them captive.
"Personally, I would prefer a little dog. See, a little dog requires less food and water, so that saves money."
"But big dogs can protect you, and stuff. Plus, the small dogs' arrogance is unearned, so it doesn't make sense why small dogs bark at people like we couldn't just punt them across the neighborhood."
"How weak of a dragon are you to need a big dog to protect you? Unless it's for surveillance, it's unnecessary. Though, that latter point is quite convincing."
Arthur continued pulling, noticing that the metal holding them in wasn't too strong. Though, it didn't seem like it would get anywhere. He looked around for a key, even getting near the poop buckets, which he covered his nose while doing so, but found nothing. He walked away and sighed in frustration.
"Why're you even asking about big and small dogs? Is this like a metaphor, or…?"
"Why does it need to be a metaphor? Though I lack patience for stupid things, sometimes it is fun to envision hypotheticals. Would-you-rathers are very fun."
"You 'lacking patience for stupid things' is kinda an excuse to be an asshole."
"I would certainly hope not. I have quite a distaste for such people, so I would rather not be one myself."
Arthur didn't really know how to respond, so he kept it silent, which was fine by Rachel. He continued to try and figure out a way to escape.
"I'm hungry. When's he gonna feed us?" Arthur asked.
"Typically, it's once every… Well, I do not know, but it is rare. But water comes by quite often. Though, if I were him, I would starve you to death, as it seems he wishes you to die here."
"This fricking sucks, dude."
"I am not a dude."
"'Dude' is gender neutral. Stop being so soft, liberal."
"Fair enough. Though that last part is irritating, I shall forgive it, to spare you the taste of my Mega Extreme Death Punch of Fury and Chaos."
"The heck kinda name is that?"
"An awesome one."
It was then that Arthur, who'd been wracking his mind for a bit, had an idea. It was really, really dumb, but he wanted to give it a shot.
Arthur stuck his hand through one of the open slots inside the bars and reached out, trying to turn his hand into a dragon when he went past the "area" of the cage.
However, it did not work. So, he resulted in plan B, biting his lip until it bled, as well as a nail until it cracked. He gathered the blood in his lip and spat it out as far as he could, before flicking blood from his nail over to it.
Now with a small amount of blood, he tried to use Blood Armory from afar. It had evolved, so as long as it was his own blood, he could transform it from afar. With this tiny amount, he managed to form a knife.
"I need us both to bleed, like, a lot. I mean, for you, a girl, you could probably produce a fair amount, so when—"
Realizing what he was asking, he made a sharp inhale and stopped speaking for a second.
"Uh, do you have any spare blood to borrow?"
"It's within the poop bucket, which has yet to be cleaned."
'Crud. Well, I can't exactly make a bunch of blood normally, and my own blood isn't worth too much, so…'
"My ability is to transfigure blood. Just with the small amount you saw, I was able to create a knife. If I can get even more blood, then I can make a tool which is able to get us out of the cell, and thereby let us use our dragon powers more."
Rachel looked at him, her typical blank expression turning into emotions. As for what, Arthur could only guess, whether it be shock, disgust, awe, hope, or intrigue.
"Very well. My teeth have not been brushed or given much nutrients, so they are very weak. We have no objects to cut with, and I refuse to use the metal from the poop and your cum bucket—"
"Don't call it that, please…" Arthur interjected.
"Very well. I refuse to use that metal, so I understand," Rachel said. Arthur walked over to her, and looked her over, for which area would be best to cut with his teeth.
Her dress was long sleeve, with a long skirt and the shirt showing her neck but not much skin. Arthur looked at her neck, to which she looked up and sighed.
"If you're going to stare at me with such eyes, focus on the mission at least."
"I am focusing on the mission, dummy. You have tender areas like maybe, uh, nips, which would be easy to make bleed, but obviously that's gross. So the only real options are your ears, neck, and wrist."
"Hm. I volunteer my neck."
Arthur looked at her with a small surprise, saying "huh? Why?"
"My ear would in fact be harder to heal upon escape. My wrist would be quite hard to bite, and you'd just scrape it over and over again. So, the neck, a soft area which is easy to heal, will be best." Then, she looked at him with judgemental eyes and a sour expression, saying:
"It seems like it's what you'd like to do, so consider this to be us getting even after you gave me a blanket."
"Blegh…"
Though, she wasn't entirely wrong. Arthur, unbeknownst to even himself, did like biting. However, he preferred for the woman to bite him. But that's something for another day, perhaps.
Arthur got down on his knees, and they got quite close to each other. Arthur began to sweat, which got a snort of laughter from her.
"You look very afraid," she mocked.
"That's cause I am," Arthur replied with a mild flavor of harshness. He looked at her neck, swallowing his spit in an attempt to remove the lump from his throat.
"Do your best to hurry after you've bitten, as I should have only 15 seconds before I pass out. If I pass out, I can't heal, and I'll die."
"You're really gonna trust me with this?" Arthur asked.
"Meh, it's fine. At this point, my brain is like an egg on a simmering pan. I want the money, but if I can't have it, I'm fine with dying. Or am I? Your thoughtless attitude has spread to even mineself."
Arthur took a deep breath and opened his mouth. He stuck his teeth onto the area where the carotid artery should be, biting down and tearing her up. Blood began to spurt in intervals, which Arthur cupped and tossed away.
Blood Armory wouldn't work while in the confines of the cell. So, it needed to leave in order to be activated.
"And if this goes wrong, please don't do anything nasty with my corpse," she said. Arthur took it as a joke and continued to toss the blood, before it all piled away. He transformed it into a sledgehammer, the handle long enough to reach, before he grabbed it and pulled it inside.
He began to swing away at the bars, which were admittedly not too sturdy, as they were rusted and the like. He hurried as best he could, and since Blood Armory had evolved to where things that normally shouldn't be possible now were, the sledgehammer was able to break through.
Arthur shoved Rachel outside, where she quickly healed, before he left the prison himself. She healed herself, sitting against the wall. And Arthur noticed that after he left the prison, he felt the blood he had used in his "strong cutlass" return to him.
With that, he formed it once more, exhaling and walking up the stairs.
"Oh? Where are you headed? Do you believe yourself capable of taking them on?"
"Yes."
Arthur rushed up the stairs, leaving Rachel behind.
…
Rachel didn't mind too much, as she herself was quite tired. While Arthur finished before she passed out and died, he took longer than she would've hoped, so now she was dealing with hunger and an unfavorable amount of blood.
"Good grief. Ah, it would be quite awful if he left me behind, I hope—"
BOOM.
"AUGH!!"
She jolted, quite afraid of the sudden scream. The door slammed open, banging against the wall and tumbling down after being blown off the hinges. Thuds repeatedly hit the staircase, which she couldn't see as she was taking cover behind a wall.
Finally, a half-dead man arrived at the foot of the stairs, his entrails leaking from his body. The intestines and inner organs found themselves spread out across the stairwell, as they leaked during his tumble.
Rachel took note of the man's face, seeing that it was the person in charge of their imprisonment.
"Arthur, did he—"
A blade was plunged through the back of the man's head, impaling the ground. Arthur ripped it out, walking down the steps with the lumbering of heavy footsteps. Upon reaching the foot of the staircase, they met eyes.
The two stared at each other for a moment, Rachel looking him over. He was covered in exorbitant amounts of blood, such that surely any Blood Dragon would find it incredibly satisfying. She, however, was not.
Quickly averting her eyes from the carnage, Rachel looked into his eyes, which seemed dull, filled with a mild sense of impatience.
"I cleared the path," he mumbled. "Every one of them is dead. I was able to hit them with one of my special moves if you will, and I finished off the rest."
"Ah… I… I see, then," she said. She tried to remain calm, but was ultimately a bit frightened. Arthur shifted his cutlass to his left hand and extended his right, which she took and was lifted up.
"Can you walk on your own?" He asked.
"Yes," she answered. Arthur left her in the basement and she walked up the stairs. It was a bit slow, as she felt woozy, but it wasn't to the extent that she needed help.
She looked over the large house, seeing daylight for the first time in a long time. The sound of running water graced her ears, and she wandered over to it.
She opened the door to what she assumed was the bathroom, finding Arthur looking under the sink for stuff. He then found an unused toothbrush, placing it on the counter.
"Wash yourself and then brush your teeth," he instructed her.
"Hm? I'm grateful, but what is the reason behind this?"
Arthur looked at her with a hint of confusion.
"Isn't it obvious? I'm taking you with me. I'm either escorting you to your family or to one which is good for you."
Such was his will.