Fight Scene

A Villain's Capture

"It never turns out right when I use my builder ability as it is. Over the few years I spent wasting away in some room I experienced first-hand a range of abilities. They had all of their prisoners wear these metal brackets around our wrists, specially made to block off our abilities. But since I was able to convince them I was a windweaver, and partially because they assumed I was too frail to cause any trouble, they gave me the wrong kind of shackles. I stayed up past lights out nearly every night, even though I would be punished whenever I got caught. I eventually learned to create my threads out of material floating around in the air." He let the string he had created fly away to be lost in the destruction he created, not looking to see where it goes. "We were left to take care of ourselves, outside of the little food and medical care they gave us. Every afternoon there would be guards to herd us outside to train. We weren't training, of course, because they wanted their test subjects to be weak. That was the whole point. None of us were seen as people anymore, just moving targets for sparring practice. I wasn't even allowed to remember my name." He laughed darkly again, and Demille loosened her grip. Egill looked at her solemnly and the harsh wind died down again. She knew she had no way of stopping him if he decided to run at that moment, but she felt like he needed to speak as much as she needed to hear. He stayed.
"What do you mean?" She asked, caught in a trance-like state. He heaved a sigh and his hand shook at his side, drawing her attention as if he would cut her head right off her shoulders that very second. He noticed her gaze and clasped his hands, winding his long, thin fingers together.
"Mindhunters, they had mindhunters there. I remember now because I searched, but the memories are just..." He looked at her and sighed, focusing his attention on the ground. "We were asked our names the first day, and the moment I responded it disappeared from my mind. Those who refused to speak up at first were beaten, and we all forgot our and each other's names in a matter of hours.
"I started acting out that first day, fighting every chance I got. I raised hell when they locked me up my first few nights, nearly outed myself trying to keep them from locking the door. They wanted us weak, see? That was the whole point. I think they were trying to see what the effects of living without being able to use our abilities would do, but they couldn't do that if we were constantly fighting them. So I started secretly practicing right in front of them all, as an act of silent defiance." He raised one of his hands and twisted his wrist back and forth, watching as if it weren't his own skin and bones. Demille paused before connecting the dots.
"It's an old reflex," she said incredulously. "You hid your ability behind the guise of a tick, but-"
"It ended up becoming an actual habit." He cut her off, dropping his hand. It made so much more sense to her now, but sent a pang of pity through her. She couldn't make herself like the man, but she felt a strange connection with him stemming from their similar past.
"I'm trying to destroy the raiding organizations." She said abruptly, unable to keep it in. "You're a bad person, and you'll be punished for what you did today and any other day, but... You can help me." She shook her head, placing a hand over her mouth in a moment of consideration. "No, I take that back. We can help each other." The two looked at each other for what felt like an eternity, reading any and every movement the other made.
"If I agree to this," Egill started warily, "then you do something for me. After they're disbanded." She huffed out a small laugh, hiding her contrasting mix of emotions behind a knowing guise.
"If I agree to that, you'll probably pull one over on me and escape punishment." The man chuffed and started to say something, but closed his mouth before any words could come out. His eyes suddenly shined with an anxious urgency that put Demille on edge. Shifting eyes the only thing revealing his worry, Egill spoke again in a low voice, forcing her to lean forward to hear.
"Find me after some weeks, I'll make it easy for you." Demille reached out with an arm to grab him but he jerked out of her reach, rising out of his crouched position.