How to Catch a Fish (ManxMan)

Prologue

[AN: This is Book Two, so you'll want to read How to Tame a Cat first. If not, good luck! Also, make sure to read the AN at the end; it's important.]

~Prologue~

It has been a long day. But then, every day is long here. Or maybe it has been a couple of days, and that is why it feels so long. It is not like I can look outside to see the time of day; there are no windows. And since no one thought to put any clocks in here, night is when we say it is.

The only light source in this mostly-empty cell of mine is a candle that does the only thing it should never be able to do – burn me. Fire used to love me. And that is why it was my first clue.

Blurry shadows stretch out into the dark hallway, coming from every room but not the hall itself. Only the rooms have light sources, letting us see how dull our lives are now. At least you're alive, says the angry voice in my head. You don't even know how many of your friends are dead.

My second clue was the slowly-dying creature in the next room over - a bridge troll who once fed on magic. Now she is the one being fed from, the magic being pulled from her too slowly to kill her instantly. Her pained cries used to keep me up at night, but she stopped screaming a week ago and hos not started again. I do not know what I will find if I check in on her.

The third and final clue was the complete lack of magic in this prison.

Instead of teleportation, everyone just walks. Instead of magically-lit rooms, there are flames that barely scare away the darkness. I expected them to seal my magic away. After all, it is the smart thing to do when dealing with a prisoner of war.

What I did not expect was for them to steal my magic and the magic of every other living creature in this prison. Hell seems like a child's theme park compared to this place. And I would know, too, since I live there. Well, used to live there. Now, I am stuck here, in this prison of the damned.

There is a knock on the ceiling in front of my cell, forcing me out of my thoughts long enough to see the half-giant standing - crouching, really - outside my room, peering through the doorway with no door. It might seem stupid for them to not have put doors on the cells, but it works just fine since it is not like anyone has ever managed to escape anyway.

"Someone's here to see you, demon."

My gaze lingers on his sneer for a moment before drifting over to the girl standing next to him. Lean, pale skin, brown hair, and...human? Except, humans have no place here. Wolf? No, eyes are too shifty for a wolf...a cat, then.

While she takes in my living arrangements, I take in her state of health. Bruises run up and down her uncovered arms, disappearing beneath her bloodied green tank top. Her black jeans hide her legs, but I bet they look just like her arms. She also has a mostly-healed black eye, making her look, well, beaten. However, when she catches me looking, she smiles brightly, as if her numerous bruises are not probably hurting like hell.

Definitely not beaten, then.

The halfling lingers, looking between us with unconcealed curiosity. He like wants to know why someone would want to visit someone in a place like this, as most people tend to stick with those they arrived with or hide out on their own. Most likely, he suspects there is something more going on than just a friendly visit, but I honestly have no idea who she is. Still, she apparently was looking for me - or maybe just a demon in general - so it must be something important, and I doubt we will want an audience for it. "Shove off," I grunt, waving my hands as if to shoo him away.

He glares at me but still starts shuffling down the hall, too big to actually walk properly but too prideful to crawl. Once the doorway is no longer blocked, the girl quickly enters and offers me her hand. "Atasah, right?" She asks, and I nod once, sliding off the bare mattress I had been sitting on to shake her hand. "My name is Heather, and I'm here to break you out."

[AN: There are now two version of this story: the old version and the new version (each are only about thirty-three to thirty-four chapters long). If you want to read the new version, just keep reading normally. If you want to read the original version, it starts around part thirty-five under the title "Original Chapter One: What Happened to Hope?"and continues normally from there. They both follow the same main story line, but the relationship plot is relatively different. To see those differences, check the tags below.]

{Relationship Tags (AO3 style)

-New tags: Mild Bondage, Dom/sub, Poor Coping Methods, PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Atasah Needs a Hug, Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares, Cultural Differences, Safe Words, Bisexual Main Character, Mild Subdrop, Touch-Starved, Subspace.

-Original tags: BDSM (focusing more on BSM), Somewhat Unhealthy Relationship (by human standards), Mild Humiliation, Nightmares, Poor Coping Methods, Dubious Consent (but definitely not non-con), PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Cultural Differences (but to the extreme), Bad BDSM Etiquette, Bisexual Main Character, Touch-Starved (sort of).}