The Romani of Night Raven

~Chapter 4-6: Desperate Times, Desperate Measures~

By the time Ezera opened his eyes, he found it was morning. He must have fallen asleep without knowing it during the night while digging. He groans as he sits up while rubbing his head, still groggy.

"We dug all night and the hole is just big enough I can fit my arms though." Grim groans himself as he wakes up.

"Our prison break can't be completed in a night. We at least made some progress for day one." Ezera says in encouragement. Just then, there was a rattle noise and the door to their room was slammed, Ezera making sure to cover the hole.

"Get up! It's time for our morning routine. We're all marching to the East Oasis again!" A Scarabia resident announces as he comes into the room. The two then start to stand up and walk over to him.

"Not you!" The student says to Ezera, stopping him in his tracks. "You're still on bed rest. Orders from the Dorm Head, but the cat is required to partake." He says while picking up Grim by his ribbon.

"What the--?! Hey! Let me go!" The feline protests as he's taken out of the room.

"Wait, Grim!" Ezera exclaims and attempts to follow, but the boy closes the door and locks it, confining the boy in the room. "Not again..." He sighs as he collapses to his knees, feeling helpless.

~*Twisted Wonderland*~

Left alone, Ezera could only dance or do a reading with his cards to pass the time, agonizing over when the others would return. He was seriously worried for Grim and Jamil, not to mention Kalim as he couldn't fathom what was going on. Just as he pulls out a familiar card, he jumps hearing a knock at the door.

"Ezera, it's time for breakfast." Jamil says as he opens the door. The Romani boy quickly puts aside the rest of his deck, slipping the card he was looking at under the pillow, and stands up, following the vice dorm leader to the lounge.

"Ezera!" A certain feline exclaims and jumps into his arms, eyes teary. "It was horrible! The oasis was dry but Kalim wouldn't give us water this time!" He says as the boy sits down with the others.

"Yeah, we're lucky Vice-Leader Jamil brought along some canteens just in case!" One of the Scarabia residents says.

"And we're supposed to do training after breakfast." Another says next.

"Jamil, I-I... I really can't stay in this dorm anymore." Another admits nervously, sounding pretty tired and not to mention worn down.

"Me, neither. I can't follow Kalim any longer!" A second says in agreement.

"How can you bear following his orders!?" One student then asks.

"Because... He is 'Kalim Al-Asim'." The said coal-haired boy replies.

"Because you've been with him since you were little?" Ezera asks while stroking Grim to sooth the feline.

"That is one reason." The taller boy admits, then looks at Kalim who's standing at the other side of the room. "...Let's save this for later tonight. I'll make sure Kalim won't be around. For now, eat and drink up." He says and they all do.

Once breakfast concluded, the students were led out to the courtyard for magic training. Luckily, Grim was now allowed to miss it, so he and Ezera were to wait in their room, which was once again locked, trapping them inside and Grim was too tired to continue digging their escape tunnel.

~*Twisted Wonderland*~

Once training concluded and it was now late in the day, Jamil came to fetch the Ramshackle duo, who were in the middle of a game of Mancala, with Ezera mostly teaching the fire cat how to play the game. The three then head back to the dorm lounge, where the rest of Scarabia's students were.