AN: I will be using "Italic" when they are conversing using Newland's native language.
Joza, son of Voka, son of Bodrak, proud warrior of the Blazebringer Village, sat in a cage with his hand with his hands and feet bound as he watched the goings on of his captors. In Joza's eyes, these people, with their brutish appearance, were more beast than people, they did not even dress in proper clothes, their men only covered their waists in furs and the only addition their women had were enough furs to cover their bosom, he watched in disdain as they went about treating their wounded and speaking some bastardized version of his language.
It was then that 2 of these hulking brutes came up to his cage, grabbed Joza, and dragged him off to a hut near the walls of the village. Struggle as he might, he could neither break his bonds nor wiggle out of the clutches of these brutes.
After entering the hut, the ropes binding his hands were loosened and he lashed out at the first brute, only to get a vision-shaking slap to the side of his face.
Joza was then forced into a chair and his hands were once again bound to the armrest of the chair, and soon after, so were his legs to the feet of the same chair.
Seeing the way he was treated, it was clear to Joza that these savages wanted something from him, but he would not yield anything to them, is a proud son of the Blazebringer Village, one of the most powerful villages around.
Once the brutes were done tying him to the chair, one of them called out to the entrance, and soon a familiar individual walked into the hut, it was the enemy witch doctor who captured him and used his foul magic to restrain his arms.
But unlike most of the old or feeble looking witch doctors that he was used to seeing, the witch doctor he was looking at was a brute among brutes, he was a good head taller than the brutes that brought him here and had broad shoulders even for one of his height.
And as for what armor he was clad in, Joza did not notice at first on the count of being apprehended while facing away from this brute of a witch doctor, but what he thought was just leather, he now recognized as some kind of thick dark maroon carapace.
As the armored witch doctor staked toward him, the only thing Joza could do was glare defiantly at his captor.
"What is your name and what village do you hail from?" the armored witch doctor asked in Joza's tongue.
"So the brute can speak." Joza snidely remarked, "I am, Joza, son of Voka, son of Bodrak, proud warrior of the Blazebringer Village, that name may not mean much to a savage like you, so ask those traitors you allied with, and they will know better than to hold me captive or kill me!"
For the whole of Joza's life so far, just the mention of his lineage and village affiliation was more than enough to have lesser villages tremble and take him seriously, they feared the strength of his village and especially his father Voka who was 1 of the village's top warriors and had the chief's ear in most matters.
But when he saw the reaction of the armored witch doctor, he did not seem impressed, which did not sit well with Joza, but Joza supposed that was to be expected of ignorant savages.
Joza's current plan was to rely on the strength of his village and his father's reputation, and if he played his cards right, he could be traded for the savages they captured during the attacks on their puny villages.
The armored witch doctor turned to 1 of the brutes on standby and said something in his bastardized tongue, the brute then walked exited the hut and Joza went back to glaring at the armored witch doctor.
A few minutes later, a woman of mesmerizing beauty entered the hut, from the look of her face and slender build, she was definitely one of the people, and even though she had a baby bump, she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, his wife back home did not compare.
The woman had a cute heart-shaped face, smooth facial features, and unblemished skin. As Joza's eyes went down from her face, he ogled her generous breasts that were threatening to spill out from what looked like a custom-made bra.
Further down, despite the baby bump, Joza could appreciate her smooth elegant belly leading to wide, child birthing hips and what was sure to be a well rounded butt, if only she would run around to let him have a peek.
As he admired the figure of female perfection, he could confidently admit to himself that he was smitten.
When the woman saw the armored witch doctor, she gave a look of tenderness on her face that he wished she would only show him. Emotions of jealousy and spite rose up from within Joza as he glared at the armored witch doctor once again.
The armored witch doctor then asked the woman, "Tala, this man claims to be Joza, son of Voka, son of Bodrak, warrior of the Blazebringer Village, is this true?"
'Ah… so the name of this idol of womanhood is named Tala… After I get back to my village, I will return with a conquering force to smash this wretched place, and then I will claim you as my wife.' Joza fantasized in his head.
The woman looked at Joza's scar marking he received upon becoming a warrior and confirmed his identity, indicating his clan affiliation as a blooded warrior.
"His markings indeed show him to be a blooded warrior of the Blazebringer Village, as for him claiming who he says he is, I cannot confirm, but then again, it would be highly unusual for a warrior to claim to be another, it is considered as highly dishonorable. Besides, if his father, Voka hears of someone claiming to be of his lineage but is not, that person would be hunted down by his family for the dishonor." Tala said
***
Grud thanked Tala and sent her on her way, he then turned to Joza.
"Ok, Joza, I will only ask you this once. Where have the people from the attacked villages been taken?" Grud asked in a monotone voice.
"I do not know what you are talking about. But if there was such a thing, I am sure I could be traded for many of these captured people you are talking about." Joza said playfully with a shit-eating grin on his face.
'Let's see if you still dare touch me when you know that your fellow savages' lives depend on my safety.' Joza thought to himself.
While Joza was thinking himself untouchable, Grud was not in a charitable mood after witnessing Joza's attitude. Without saying a word, he grabbed Joza's right hand, pried out his ring finger from his clenched fist, and effortlessly bent the first segment of the finger 90° to the right with an audible crack.
This made Joza start howling in pain as he jerked around in his chair, "What the fuck was that for? Did you not hear me? I can be traded for your captured peop-" *SMACK!*
Grud's "light" slap uninterrupted Joza's pained ramblings and made the chair he was strapped to tilt to the side and almost toppled over.
Grud waited until he could see the lucidity in Joza's eyes before continuing, he put his hands on the side of Joza's head and started applying pressure, this elicited pained and panicked screams as his eyeballs danced around looking for a way out of his predicament.
At this point, Joza started reconsidering his imagined untouchable status.
"Quiet." Grud said in a low commanding voice, almost growling. This immediately shut Joza up.
"I have neither the time nor patience to play your silly little games. Tell me where the captured people are, or I will start moving on to the more important… extremities." Grud growled menacingly.
"T-T-They were taken to the Riversong, Wisperwind & Fangfall villages, that's all I know, I swear on my ancestors!" Joza shouted in panic as the pressure on his head was increasing.
"Oh… That's all you know… Then what were you doing spying on us?" Grus asked.
"I-I lost a bet and was stuck with the job of monitoring this village for a day." Joza frantically answered.
Grud raised an eyebrow incredulously, "Let's say I believe you… how do you know the captives were taken to the Riversong, Wisperwind & Fangfall villages?"
"B-Because I took part in the attac- AAHHHH!" Grud did not mean to do it, but hearing that this thing that calls itself a warrior, took part in the attack against the young tribes, he accidentally increased the pressure of his hands squashing Joza's head.
Catching himself, Grud eased off the pressure, and commanded, "Continue."
"After the attack, we handed off the survivors to another group of warriors, I did not ask why, I only overheard them saying they were heading back to the 3 villages!" Joza blurted out as fast as he physically could.
Grud stared into Joza's eyes to look for any signs of falsehood, but the only thing he saw was fear and panic. 'I suppose this answer will have to do in this short amount of time.'
Grud let go of Joza's head, grabbed the collar of his tunic, and in 1 fast motion, ripped a good chunk of the tunic off and walked toward the exit of the hut. Before he exited, Grud said over his shoulder, "If I find what you said to be false, I am coming back for the rest of those fingers, and I will not stop there, your death will not be quick."
When Grud exited the hut, Chieftain Thagrak was there waiting for him, "So? What did you get?" Thagrak asked expectantly.
"He says the captives were brought to the Riversong, Wisperwind & Fangfall villages. As for why, we don't know, but I am going to find out now." Grud said as he picked up his spear leaning next to the hut's entrance and started walking toward the main gate.
Thagrak nodded and followed Grud to see him off, as they exited the main gate, Thagrak thought he was going to round up some of his men to go on the scouting mission with him, but he just kept walking until he went beyond the last tent of his men.
Thagrak grabbed Grud's shoulder, "Wait! What are you doing? Are you going on a scouting mission on your own?"
Grud looked back at Thagrak and smiled, "Yes. Yes, I am."