A Bounty to Fight

by NightSugar pone

chapter 11

When Star awoke it was to the soft purring snores coming from the soft mass beneath her, and when she opened her eyes and looked up, she saw that Windbreaker had fallen asleep holding her. She had begun to feel better and got up to stretch while she was still on top of him, but she made an effort to get off of him without waking him up short after. She knew that he couldn't stay asleep like that with guard patrols still on its way to them, so she gently nudged him awake when she felt ready enough to.

“Hey sleepy head, you might want to wake up now, guard patrols might just catch you in here if you don’t,”
He groaned sleepily and sat up slowly, before rubbing his eyes and carefully getting to his feet, almost falling over as he exited her cell. But as soon as he was out he immediately plopped down beside the door and resumed his sleeping, leaving the cell door unlocked and forcing Star to close it and lock it herself.
She had managed to close the door and put the key into the keyhole when the sound of talons clicking on the floor made her rush and nearly drop the key as she hastily locked it and tossed the key over to Windbreaker, the sound of the key hitting the floor was enough to wake him up and the now closer sound of another guard approaching made him sober up quick enough to make it look like he was awake before. As the clicking of the talons got closer Star got the idea to push the tray out into the hall so it would give Windbreaker something to do that would be more convincing than just standing there, and although it took him a moment to remember that he needed to take it he did finally get the picture and comply without a word.
As he passed the guard as his way down the hall he tripped and ended up face first in the mushy food, and as he pulled his head out of it the guard merely grunted in disapproval as he walked away. Star, on the other hand, had stuck her head through the bars to look at the source of the noise, and when she saw Windbreaker with the mess of mashed meat on his face she frowned before glaring at the other guard as he began to pass by. But the moment he saw that he saw her hand poking through the bars he turned his full attention to her, before forcefully pushing her head back into the cell, even though it was small enough not to push with such brute force. And as her head was forced back in she had fallen to the floor, softly grunting in pain as her stomach felt like it was twisting with the sudden movement.

“Keep all limbs inside the cell at all times! next time I see you sticking your head out like that I won’t be so gentle,”
She slowly managed to sit up as she held her stomach with a hoof, trying to hide the fact that she was in pain.

“I wasn't trying..to cause...any trouble,”
She said as her pained groans forced her to focus on the floor in front of her, but the guard suddenly opened her cell and walked over to her, a malicious grin set into his mature features.

“What’s wrong little bounty hunter? not the kindness you were expecting? I Thought you were supposed to be stronger than this, you look like a useless petty mare,”
She glared up at home coldly, her still heaving chest making it hard to seem well composed as she stared him down. But the staring only seemed to make matters worse as he stepped closer to her, forcing her to back away from him for few that he would take advantage of her vulnerability.

“Do you have a problem with me little mare? you don’t seem so tough now that You're outside of the ring, I bet you're really just a weak little filly who acts like she's tough shit. You’re a sad excuse for an elite bounty hunter,”
by now she was pressed up against the back wall of her cell, and he was standing over her as he got so close that she could smell the death on his breath, and she winced each time he spoke.

“I bet I could crush you right here and no one would care, it wouldn't even matter If we lost one star act,”
This time he had gripped her by the neck and slammed her head against the wall, forcing her to face him as he held her there, gradually tightening his grip on her throat. She was squirming around and trying to pull his talon off of her but it only seemed to excite him more, as he quickly tightened his grasp before releasing it enough for her to breathe again.

“Sir, is there something I can help you with?”
Windbreaker was now standing in the doorway of the cell and glaring that other guard, and soon after he heard the question he dropped her to his feet, leaving her gasping for air and holding her newly bruised throat.

“ I was just having a little fun with this waste of a bounty hunter, I don’t think I need anything else from you,”
he spat, as he began to leave, and once again they were alone, with Star sitting up and frowning at the ground as she sat there. Windbreaker held her close and stayed with her to comfort her, letting her know that he was there for her. she felt wounded but didn't bother complaining, breathing hurt now and she didn’t want to just sit there and give the bruise the chance to swell up, but she also didn’t want to use her magic all at once to heal it. so she looked up at him with pleading eyes, looking for approval, and he slowly nodded as he gently stroked her mane. and with a deep breath, the purplish wisps of magic healed her neck little by little while Windbreaker watched her in the calm quietness of the room.

“I really didn't mean any harm..and I’m sorry that you have to see me like this, weakness was never really my strong suit,”
Her voice was hoarse and scratchy but she didn’t move from his side, she felt safe with him holding her like that, it just felt right to her.

“It's no trouble at all, I don’t mind taking care of you, it gives me a stronger sense of purpose and you already know how much I care about you so it shouldn't really be a surprise,”
He said, and his smile was warm as he stared down at her and squeezed her closer to him, making her giggle softly before she leant on him.

“You really deserve a raise, keeping me alive and well is something that the other Guards haven’t tried to do, so that's another reason why you're special,”
she gently traced her hoof around the crest of the gryphon Kingdom carved into his breastplate, and he blushed a little bit as he smiled.

“Are you flirting with me?”
He said with a chuckle, and she just gave him a smirk as she looked up at him and held his gaze as she stared into his golden eyes.

“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t, but what would you like to hear me say?”
She said as she smiled a bright and confident smile, but his expression changed to one of uncertainty, and she frowned in confusion when it did.

“You're a bounty hunter, you probably flirt like this all the time to trick your targets into trusting you right? are you lying about your feelings for me?”
Her ears folded back soon after the question left his beak and she bit her bottom lip as she moved away from him slightly.

“Why would you think that I would try to manipulate you? do you really think so little of me? that I would have no remorse or even care about how you feel?”
Her tone was and offended one and she tensed slightly as she stared into his eyes, looking for and unspoken answer within the brow streaks of his irises.

“No, I was just thinking about it and wanted to be sure, that I wasn’t getting played for a fool here,”
She moved out of his grasp and stood up as she began to take a few steps away from him, her face now twisted into and inquisitive and cold glare.

“It was one of the other guards wasn’t it?! one of them said something, what did they say to you?”
She struggled to keep her voice down but managed to get the words out without it sounding like a snarl.

“Ok ok, they said that I should be careful when watching you so I asked why, and they said that you were known to be manipulative and violent to get what you wanted. I didn’t believe them but I just wanted to be sure that you weren't just using me to get out,”
Star had begun to pace as she struggled to stay calm, she felt a little betrayed but also so angry. who were those guards to her? they didn’t even talk to her and they already thought they knew her.

“Do you trust me..and I mean really trust me?”
He stared at her in silence for a few seconds before quietly saying yes, and she sat down next to her cot with her back turned to him.

“You better go back to your post, I wouldn’t want you to get in trouble because of me,”
He wanted to go over to her and hug her but he thought against it and made his way out of her cell quietly.