As the occupants of the shower room moved into the next darkened room, the lights snapped on, revealing cots that were little more than simple slabs. What mattresses were present were stained, foul-smelling, and so thin that the metal bars that composed the frame could easily be seen through the mattresses. There were no blankets, pillows, or anything needed for typical comfort.
After the last member of the group filed into their new, temporary home, the door to the shower room slammed shut, trapping them inside. Again, the disembodied voice came over a hidden communicator, "Get some sleep. Your testing and training begins in the morning. If you fail, you die." When the voice died out, so did the lights, leaving the new slaves in total darkness to grope for an empty bed.
::Klae::
As the lights flickered out, the Balosar's extrasensory antenepalps subconsciously began feeding more data to the woman - giving her indistinct sounds and auras of emotions from the now quietly tousling group. Their breathing, heart rates, footsteps, fear, terror - and angry impotence from someone. Most likely a man struggling with what sounded like a young woman - maybe a girl - for a rack. The little thing had terror and confusion pouring off of her while the brute seemed to enjoy taking his last bit of control over others out on her as a quiet thump rang out with a small yelp of pain followed by frightened sobs from the girl.
Threading her way through the slowly dispersing crowd to where the pair was, Klae spoke in a sharp hiss, reaching out until she connected with the chest of a larger man - shoving him away from the huddled girl,
"Hey, Bludfly! Take the floor before I put you there." She heard the man step back staggeringly - his emotions turning to that of a yellow bellied coward, it made Klae feel sick. After the man silently walked away and hearing him slump to the floor against a wall, Klae turned to the female sentient, finding a shivering shoulder and then reaching for her hand as she said soothingly,
"Hey, hey, it's alright. He won't bother you again. C'mon lets get you up onto this bed, I promise it's more comfortable than the floor." As she practically lifted the poor creature off of the floor and set her gently onto the bed, Klae turned to find an empty space - stopping when she felt a hand on her forearm and a small voice say,
"Please, I'm so - cold..." Had the lights been on, the girl would have seen a bare-faced look of confusion then shock at the unexpected plea. With an awkward frown on her face, Klae got up beside the little girl who promptly curled into a ball against her chest. Uncomfortable with the whole situation, Klae's heart softened when the child finally drifted off to sleep, her little body warming against the smuggler's. Curling up around the girl, an arm propping her head up from the musty padding of the slab, Klae kept her other arm down the length of her torso, awkwardly keeping some form of her 'distant, uncaring' reputation - or was it just dumb pride?
With a quiet huff, the woman shook her head and fell asleep beside the small, innocent form of the girl sentenced to a life of slavery before she'd even been allowed to live any kind of life. Klae's dreams turned dark and sinister - the environment bringing back her time on Balosar, when she'd tried so hard as a little child to save her younger brother from their miserable existence - runaways from deadstick addled parents, homeless and starved, running from slavers. A slight frown creased Klae's sleeping brow as she subconsciously began to feel a resolve, to get these people out of here - save them, how she couldn't save her brother Ebin. In her sleep, Klae instinctively pulled the small whimpering form closer, tucking her under her arm protectively - the terrors of their situation held at bay for the brief time they were allowed restive sleep.
