If you missed the last chapter, you can find it [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/219923995/0/0]here[/url], or if you need to find a previous chapter, you can find them all in the [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/218618986?sort=0&page=0]Table of Contents[/url]. Please give a bump or leave a comment if you enjoy this and any other chapter! ***  [i]Tap, Tap, Palm, Tap, Pat, Palm, Pat.[/i] I wait for Ari to finish before answering by smacking the floor. [i]Pat, Palm, Tap, Palm, Pat, Tap, Tap.[/i] He smiles in spite of himself. [i]Palm, Tap, Tap, Pat, Pat. Tap, Palm, Pat, Pat, Tap.[/i] I meet his smile as we revel in the brief connection we get to share. I flick my eyes to the pipes hanging overhead, wondering again if I can spy the cameras Taniks has hidden in here. We’ve had to be more careful since he stupidly outed his surveillance system. As my eyes rove, I think again that Taniks would’ve been able to manipulate us far more effectively if he hadn’t told us about his cameras – but luckily for us he thinks all species are naturally dumber than he and his brethren, which makes him blindly arrogant. Works out better for us, though – he probably just thinks we’re smacking the floor for fun. [i]Palm, Tap, Tap, Pat, Palm. Tap, Palm, Tap, Palm, Pat.[/i] I follow Ari’s eyes to the door again as he repeats himself: [i]Tap, Palm, Tap, Palm, Pat.[/i] [i]No schedule.[/i] My brow furrows as I think over all the intel that Ari’s learned over his time here. [i]They feed us at different times, pick victims at different times, barge in at different times, all just to keep us guessing, keep us on our toes and off-balance. It’s all just mind games to isolate and break us. Palm, Tap, Tap, Tap, Pat, Palm[/i], I respond to Ari. [i]We will not be broken.[/i] Ari’s eyes look down at his legs despite himself –– Taniks has left them shattered so that Ari has to crawl everywhere now. [i]Tap, Tap, Pat, Pat, Palm, Palm, Tap[/i], he answers. We don’t have a choice. I bury the tears of anger that spring to my eyes thinking about how much crueler Taniks has become. [i]Pat, Palm, Pat, Palm, Tap, Tap, Pat.[/i] There are always choices. I look around again at the other Tanises pointedly looking away from us – there’s no fight left in them, and nothing left in them to fight for. I can see a few curious glances every now and then, but most of them are just completely gone. None of them are like Ari, who despite his long imprisonment still retains his dignity. [i]How did he manage to do this for so long?[/i] I find myself wondering again. [i]How did he remain so strong? How did you?[/i] the sensible part of me asks. [i]Because…. I’m just awesome[/i], I respond with a smarmy, internal grin. All I feel is an eye roll from the more logical part of me as the door suddenly opens and the Dregs enter, seizing another Tanis. [i]How long has it been since they’ve fed us?[/i] I can’t remember – days? Weeks? There’s a small water tap that turns on only once a day so that we don’t die of thirst, but it’s never enough – my tongue’s swollen and my throat’s sticking together most of the time I’m awake. And even when I’m asleep, Taniks or his guards will barge in to keep us unbalanced. Burying the misery again, I turn back to Ari. I see him quickly turn away, averting his eyes. I watch his face as he keeps it hidden, but there’s something else nagging the back of my mind, something….important. Someone was coming to get me out of here… [i]Who would even know I was here, though? And why would they care enough to come get me?[/i] The itching in the back of my mind intensifies, like I’m forgetting something…..[i]What is it? Tap, Tap, Pat, Pat.[/i] I turn to Ari – carefully, one eye roaming around the room for cameras, he pulls a small, makeshift cup from the corner of the Trophy Room. He catches my eye and slides it across the floor to me. [i]What….[/i] is all my mind can muster as I gaze at the little cup of water. [i]Tap, Pat, Point[/i], I ask Ari. [i]For me? Pat, Pat, Point, Tap, Tap[/i], he responds. [i]You need it. Tap, Pat, Tap, Pat, Point, Palm – How did you get it? Palm, Palm, Tap, Pat, Pat – Not important, just drink.[/i] The sensible part of me is wary, but my thirst is beyond all sense at this point. Letting the mask slip for just a moment, I greedily pour the soothing, miraculous liquid down my throat, its relief painful but welcome. [i]Better hope that was just water,[/i] the sensible part of me observes. And then the door crashes open again, and Taniks enters. The other Tanises push themselves to the corners of the room again, but Taniks only has eyes for me. I look up at him as he looms over me, staring joyfully at the small, makeshift cup in my hand. “[i]Was good?[/i]” “Not bad….but I’ve had better,” I answer defiantly. Taniks leans down, bringing his snarling, wicked face within inches of my own. I bury the innate terror that leaps into my throat, heart pounding, as that I gaze blankly back at the Fallen monster. “[i]Does it still feel good?[/i]” he asks, giddy. [i]What…[/i] I think again before it suddenly hits me – a groggy, disoriented feeling, like…. [i]The water[/i], I realize with horror. As my head starts to grow heavier, I look to Ari, tucked as far into a corner as he can get – he’s trying not to meet my gaze, but I keep staring until I see him quickly look at me with one eye. “Look at…..at me…..you….you….asshole….” My speech is starting to slur already as I finally start to grasp what Ari’s done. “You….you….why did…..” “[i]It’s simple[/i],” Taniks purrs, positively overjoyed. “I[i] said I’d stop hurting him if he helped me hurt you. You didn’t care if I hurt them, you kept defying me. But they’re not so….selfish.[/i]” “You…..” I manage as I look around the spinning room, barely keeping my head up, speech labored. “….traitors…..” “[i]No betrayal,[/i]” Taniks answers, stooping down to pick me up. I try to fight him off, but he simply grabs the arm I swing at him and breaks it again. I’m almost thankful for whatever was in the water for dulling the pain so I don’t scream. “….traitors…..” “[i]No betrayal,[/i]” Taniks repeats. “[i]You didn’t take offer. They did. What allegiance do they owe you when you won’t lift a finger to stop their suffering?[/i]” Through the door, several Vandals and Dregs enter, followed by a small servitor. They gingerly lift Ari off the ground and onto a stretcher as he winces. “[i]Last time I took him, I told him only way to fix his legs was to help me. I will fix him. You were responsible for breaking him. No betrayal.[/i]” “You….sick…..lying….” I manage to get out, even my rage losing to the whatever the sedative Ari gave me was. “[i]No lies. He did his part, his legs will be fixed. You didn’t, so you will suffer.[/i]” So much for trying to help the others, the sensible part of me thinks. I rue that I’m too groggy to respond coherently. The Dregs move toward me – I try to fight them off weakly with my one good arm, but they just push my swing away and seize me, dragging me out of the room. “[i]And now you will be broken,[/i]” Taniks revels as he turns to leave. “[i]Many more ways left to break you, and you [u]will be broken[/u].[/i]” As the Dregs drag me out of the Trophy Room behind Taniks, I try to catch Ari’s eye again. He’s firmly avoiding my gaze, but he can’t resist looking at me once before I’m gone. [i]I’m sorry[/i], his eyes try to tell me, but I bury it, just like everything else.