This was sickening... He hated feeling so defenseless. Hated that Louie had captured him. Hated it all! He let out a rumble lashing a forepaw at a boulder. It hurt his paw but he managed to send it scurrying away down the side of a cliff. He felt a surge of satisfaction before it was smothered by a feeling of hopelessness. He couldn't fight Louie. Couldn't save Booker. Couldn't save himself. He just had to sit in Monoceros and wait until Louie wanted to attack the Bonebound. Hmph. At least he actually liked the Bonebound... unlike the assholes here.

His paws thundered across the ground as he made his way over to the one source of water at the Gorge. He needed to soak and hopefully forget about his troubles. Booker was fine for now... He could feel that through there link. He was off with Louie and though that infuriated him to no end he was still safe. If only he could get them out. If only he wasn't half of a dragon right now. Until he rescued them he would continue to be half of a dragon. Despite all of the bravado he talked he wasn't himself... He only put on a show to keep the Merrymen off of Booker. If it wasn't for the numbat he probably would have given up altogether.

The dragon sighed as he sank down into the water. His body wasn't completely covered, he'd gotten too big for that but it did cover over half. It felt nice and brought a bit of happiness... He turned his head and tucked it into his flank, underneath one of his wings as he rested. He was idle, falling into restfulness as he waited to be called upon... Like a servant. It boiled his gut but again, nothing he could do. Helplessness. Tame. That's what he was.

Sad...

That's what he also was.

For Booker... He would keep living for Booker.

Alone. It gave him more time to think, more time to ponder over what he'd done and how far he'd come. From his days as a babe up to now. So many had tried to help him, so many had been hurt by him... In the moment he enjoyed the fighting but afterwards when it was gems that he cared about... Those that he loved, even those that he didn't even know... It hurt. He didn't want to hurt, he didn't want to destroy, he didn't want to kill. He was forced to by the thing inside of him. The evil thing that he really was. How could Booker keep seeing the light in him when it was nearly gone out?

This whole Merrymen thing, he hated it. Hated what Louie wanted him to be and hated that Magdalena had turned traitor. How could she let half-face do this? He hadn't hurt her. No. Not even when he Bloodlusted but... Well, that had to be traumatic. He knew it had probably left a bad impression but still. Hadn't they been friends? Couldn't she talk to him and forgive him? He hadn't meant to do any of that. If he could go back and change time he would.

His eyes closed, holding back tears as he tormented himself over these thoughts. His Bond he tried to squeeze shut. He didn't want Booker to feel this and be forced into comforting him. He was supposed to be the strong one... He was the fighter. Today... He was not. He was vulnerable and pitying himself for what he had become.

Today he did not wished to be bothered by anyone... but fate had different plans.

He heard them. The soft footfalls of the dog and the heavier stomps of the mutated rhino. What did they want? To gloat over half-face's new pet? Ugh... he hated that word but really that's what he was. Forced into servitude and bent to the fox's will. He was a pet. If he was a pet then that meant he was also a shame to Ae'thiya and a shame to dragon kind itself. Maybe they speak or attack him... perhaps he'd be lucky and they'd kill him but no... If they attacked he would be forced to defend himself. Not just for Booker but because of the Bloodlust, it would force him into action even if he didn't want it. It would be that way till the end of time. His soul could be dead but his body would never allow him peace.

He could have spoke, could have begun a pre-preemptive strike but it wasn't in him. Not now. Especially with Booker not around. Without his brother he felt no need to protect himself except to keep his body prepared to protect the smaller creature. Instead he fell to the tactic of his youth. Not speaking and pretending to be mute or dumb. However, it wasn't for a perverse sense of humor but to get the others to leave him be. Baratheon didn't even flick an ear, move his wings or scarcely even breath. Perhaps they would just walk away if they thought him to be asleep.

It seemed as if he would get no peace, no rest, not today. Today whatever gods watched over him would see that he hung for his crimes. Perhaps the All Mother was real and she hated him for not believing. Today she would seek retribution by sending the traitorous dog and her companion. No, not even that was real. He was just an unlucky white dragon to be tortured by creatures that would love to see him burn.

Her footfalls reached his ears as she paced but still he did not move. Beneath his wing his one eye opened but it would be unseen by those condemning him. It was hopeless to think they'd leave him now. A pause. Then words rang in the air. They were fancy words, confusing to his glazed and self-pitying mind but after mulling them over they made perfect sense. It was like she could see into his mind yet there was no sympathy in her voice. She cared not for his torment for she was just a bystander coming to watch the condemned at the guillotine. To hear his last words before the knife came sliding down.

Her question, the first one, he left hanging in the air. His sadness grew, rang throughout his entire being. He was a large creature and there was much room for emotions to run rampant. Magdalena was helping to cultivate those emotions and give them more room to take root and grow. She was right... Booker falling into Louie's clutches, falling before him... wilting away. It was his fault in any case. If only he had been there if only he'd taken action, taken that swipe before it became too late and his soul was infected. Tears sprang into those bright pink orbs as he shut them against the world. Still. He did not visibly move. Not because he wanted to them to leave, he did but he had given up all hope that they would fulfill his wishes, but because he could feel even more guilt and sadness in his body.

Footfalls. Moving. Again. Was she leaving after sowing seeds of destruction? No. She was simply placing herself elsewhere. Words came again. Normally they might have filled him with rage, might have made him speak obscenities against the one he called half-face but that was normally and when his Bonded was near.

His Bonded was not around.

He was sad.

He was alone.

He had no rage to give.

He moved.

His long neck uncurled from beneath his wing like a swan freshly woken from slumber. His eyes turned to face the white dog who had broken into his very soul with her truthful and harsh words. Those eyes held no anger, the only thing in their depths was sadness... Sadness and the blanket of tears that glistened across their surface. Those tears rolled down his muzzle and fell into the waters below him.

He was alone.

He had no rage to give.

He was broken.

He was hopeless.

No words came from his maw. He simply stared with intense sadness down at the dog and the rhino. Where he once might have gleaned anger at the form of the one who had helped down him those weeks ago he now could pull nothing from the depths of his heart. He felt only pity. She was trapped just as he was. The half-face had a chain around her neck just as there was one around his.

He finally spoke but in his voice was nothing... None of the inward sadness. None of his pity. He was empty. His voice displaying nothing but defeat. He knew Magdalena held all the cards so he would play her game. What else could he do?

"How can I? He has my Bonded. He has my soul. I am trapped... I will not escape." His eyes raised. Looking beyond them, staring off into space as if he could see a way out. He did. This way he could not take... Not without leaving Booker. He would stay. His eyes lowered back down to the pair before him. "Monster or not... I can do nothing." Was that what she wanted to hear? Perhaps. Maybe he was giving her what she wanted but he didn't want to fight. No fight was in him this moment. Give them what they wanted even though it was the truth.

He expected no sympathy, no pity, no sadness from them. He was the monster in their eyes. He had come uninvited to their home for a second time and this time it was to interrupt their normal rhythms of life. The rhino, while she had put him down, he'd likewise helped do it to her. Bathing her in radiation before she had been snatched up. He felt no guilt for it because it had been self-defense but he could see why it influenced her now. Magdalena... Why was she turning even more of a traitor? Sympathy would not come so why did she visit him now? Just let him wallow in his sadness. He didn't need their help in fueling it further.

Her words assaulted his ears again. Empathize? It sounded like she could do no such thing. Her words were not sympathetic. They were harsh, razor blades against his tortured soul. "You cannot." He said simply. Even if her words had been tempered and kind he still would have spoken thus. No one in this world knew what he went through. No one could know what it was like to share your very soul. It was the greatest joy in life and yet it was the greatest weakness. Booker brought him many great things, joy, love, patience, companionship. Oh... so many things and yet it was so easy to capture the tiny creature and bring them both into imprisonment.

Love was one thin but taking it to the next level with Bonding... No one in all of the caves could empathize with him. No one except Booker.

For a moment he was lost to her, his ears lowered his eyes closed while the tears leaked from underneath. Weak. That's what he was now. He hated it. He hated himself for what he'd become. He could look back and remember when he'd fought with all his might against this slavery and now he'd just given in. Pathetic. Useless. Only a meat shield to keep his Bonded safe. Perhaps he'd die in the war if they wouldn't do it for him.

His body moved, he started to turn and lie down again. This time if he laid down he would move and react no more. He would shut down and close himself off to the judgments of the white dog and her companion. His turn was almost complete when she said those words.

"She was just a child."

No more movement. His body tensed, eyes widened. Magdalena had been there, had nearly fallen victim to himself. In the blurry haze of his memory he remembered her standing over his prey-- Delphine. Standing over Delphine. Protecting her while he wreaked havoc on all the others. Delphine... the one who he'd apologized and bonded with. The one who was innocent and sweet. He had made her bleed. Magdalena wouldn't forget that... Who would? But surely she could forgive. He hadn't meant it. It was an accident.

His gaze turned to the dog, eyes boring into her. Still, no rage, just guilt in those deep rosen eyes. "I.... I didn't mean it. I wasn't myself. I... I..." Excuses. That's what they all amounted to. They sounded sorry even to his own ears. "Truly, I am sorry for what I did. To Delphine, to all the innocents that fell victim to me in my Bloodlust. I can't change the past or what I did. But I wish I could... Delphine didn't deserve what happened to her..." His voice broke, trailed off. Eyes shut against the world as the demons of the past haunted him. From that long time ago when Giggle had sent the vision and he'd spoken to his own demon within. The one that assured him he was made to do nothing but kill and destroy. It hurt... He didn't want it but he couldn't get away from it. That demon would stay within him forever to make sure that he would never climb out of his hole to seek redemption.