He opened his eyes in darkness. Was he dead? He assumed not, since he was in pain all over. Still, why was it so dark, and...why was whatever he was lying on so soft. He blinked a few times, eyes adjusting to the darkness until he could see. It took a moment, seeing as he had no idea where he was and felt pretty weak, but he managed to lift himself into a sitting position.

Curiosity prevalent in his bright-red eyes, which practically glowed in the dark of the room, he ran his hand over the ground beneath him. It wasn't a floor or dirt, he could see that clearly as well as feel it. It was soft and made of what felt like a bunch of thick pelts. Was he on some troll's pile? It was shaped like a pile. How had he ended up here...where was here? More importantly, why wasn't he dead?

He checked himself over, finding his torso and his wrists covered in what he assumed was gauze. He appeared to be wearing pants, which was a relief, though they seemed like shorts. He wasn't cold, though; one of the pelt has been draped over him and the end was bunched up in his lap. Wherever he was...it was comfortable.

Moving slowly so as not to unbalance himself, Signless slid off the pile and got to his feet. There was a faint reek of blood in the air, though he wondered if it was just from his own wounds.

Looking around the room he was in, he noticed a few faint splotches of something that he couldn't make out in the almost completely pitch-black room. Trolls were nocturnal, and thus could see in the dark, but even they needed a bit of light, whether from the twin moons or stars, to be able to see clearly.

There was what appeared to be a recuperacoon on the other side of the room, along with a desk, dresser, and a chest. Signless could make out two door in the gloom, and so he headed for one and tried the doorknob.

Locked.

He sighed, though it wasn't like he had expected to be able to waltz out of the room so easily. There was always the other door, though. This time when he turned the doorknob, it opened easily. From what he could make out, this was a ablutions block.

He fumbled along the wall, eventually finding a switch and flicking it up. Dim light appeared from a light in the ceiling, bright enough to see but not bright enough to hurt nocturnal eyes. It was indeed an ablutions block, a bit messy but it seemed to be mostly kept in a hygienic state.

Signless left the light on as he left the ablutions block, using the dim light from the doorway to find the light switch for the main room. With light now illuminating the room, he could make out his surroundings better. It was obviously some troll's respiteblock, but it was the walls that gave away who it might be.

Large splotches of a rainbow of colors decorated the walls, and Signless doubted it was paint. He was in some purpleblood's respiteblock, and he knew of only one purple that would have an interest in him alive.

Highblood.

Still, Highblood had given him up out of loyalty to the Empress and the ridiculous hemospectrum. Did he expect Signless to grovel at his feet, thanking him for keeping the mutant from dying in the execution that he had led Signless to? Oh no, there would be none of that. Sure, he was glad he wasn't dead, but this was not going to change what had happened between them. They had each chosen their paths and Highblood was not going to change Signless's, even if he thought he could.

Well, if he was going to be trapped in here for a while, he might as well make use of his time and try to find something that would help him figure out where he was and if it really was the Highblood who had brought him here like he assumed.

First stop, the desk. Signless walked over and rifled through the few papers he found sprawled out in the desk's surface. It was mostly supply counts; food, clothing, weapons, medicals supplies, etc. The numbers on the paper indicated enough supplies to sustain a small army.

He looked over a few more papers, eyes widening at what he found. He was indeed in the same place as Highblood, so there was little doubt that was who had brought him here. According to the papers in his hands, he was on the main starship of the Church fleet. He was trapped in space with a bunch of purple zealots and blues. Just great.

Signless was startled out of his thoughts by the click of a lock. He dropped the papers back onto the desk and spun towards the door, though it was not the Highblood who walked through the door. Before him was a blueblood, just a bit shorter than the Highblood and quite clearly a high-ranking guard.

The guard seemed surprised to see him awake, his antlerbeast-in-the-headlights look mirroring Signless's own. "O-oh...I see you are feeling better." The guard stuttered, the nervous tone contrasting with the deep sound of the blueblood's voice. The guard cleared his throat, seeming to compose himself before speaking in the commanding tone he was used to hearing from Imperial guards. "I will alert the Highblood and bring you something to eat. First, though, I am going to change out your bandages."

Signless resisted the urge to roll his eyes; the blueblood before him was clearly trying to put on the big-bad-highblood routine, but it was obvious by the way he hesitated to step towards the mutant, and the slight attempt at a soothing intonation in the blueblood voice, that the guard before him probably wasn't a naturally demanding sort.

With that little observation in mind, Signless quietly complied as he was motioned towards the chair at the desk. He sat still, a curious look on his face as he watched the blueblood change out his bandages. The guard was clearly trying to be careful, flinching back each time Signless showed a hint of discomfort as if afraid to break him. Signless wanted to laugh at that. This was the first time an Imperial guard was trying to fix him instead of break him. And...was that the faintest hint of a blush on the other's cheek? No, it couldn't be; he was just imagining things.

Soon enough, there were clean bandages around Signless's wounds and he was left alone once more. He took the opportunity to use the load gaper, then check himself over in the reflection pane.

As he expected, the usual brink-of-starvation look he had carried with him for the majority of his life was there. However, it looked odd to him now. Gone were the flecks of dirt that he could never quite completely remove, seeing as he had lived almost entirely outside, and the squeakbeast nest that was his hair had been trimmed and combed quite thoroughly. The curls that gave him so much grief were now only just below his jaw, instead of brushing his shoulders like they so often had; while the curls still had their usual untameable look to them, a quick brush of his fingers through them found no tangles.

It was...strange.

There was a knock at the door, the blueblooded guard alerting him this time before stepping back into the room. He had what appeared to be some cloths draped over his arm, a tray with what smelled like food balanced in his hands.

The guard set the tray down on the desk, moving some papers out of the way. "I figured you would like something more...covering." He explained as he laid the clothes on the back of the chair. "The Grand Highblood will be with you shortly. If you have need of anything else, inform the guards outside your door. I will leave the door unlocked, but the Highblood has instructed that we not let you wander quite yet."

"Alright." Signless murmured, somewhat distracted by the smell of food. "Thank you...uh, I don't think I quite caught your name."

"Darkleer." The blueblood answered, informing him once again not to stay silent if he should need something before leaving.

Signless watched the door click shut, then went about changing into the clothes provided for him. The smell of food was tempting, but if the Highblood was on his way, he would rather be dressed in something more covering.

He wasn't quite sure what he expected the clothes to be, but he was pleasantly surprised to find them a simple purple sweater and pair of black sweatpants; something that wouldn't cling to his still-healing wounds and cause him discomfort or open them up again. He could do without the glaring sign that Highblood was trying to own him, though, what with the purple that certainly wasn't a seadweller's shade.

Well, it was better than nothing.

Now comfortably clothed, Signless sat down and dug into the food. It was soup, he assumed provided so that his stomach, which was still recovering from being pierced with an arrow, wouldn't have to work too terribly hard. Signless made sure to slow down to eat, though habit urged him to scarf it down like he had had to do many times on the run.

The door clicked open once more as he was eating, causing Signless to tense up. He doubted it Darkleer returning. Even as he heard somewhat familiar footsteps and a recognizable huff, he didn't turn around. He stared pointedly down at the soup before him, the neutral expression on his face morphing into a frown.

"Even after I saved your sorry ass, you continue to ignore me?" The Highblood's gruff voice spoke up from behind him. Signless pursed his lips, brows furrowing as he turned his head slightly.

"From the execution you set up for me. Excuse me for not groveling at your feet to express my...gratitude." He spat in reply, the words coming out a hint more venomous than he had intended. He winced a bit at the sight of Highblood's eyes narrowing dangerously. The taller troll was certainly more hot-tempered than he had been in his youth.

"An execution that would have never even been suggested if you had just fucking stayed." The Highblood's accusing tone countered. Signless huffed, pushing back and up out of the chair he was sitting in, turning to face the Highblood and trying to hide the slight buckle in his still-injured legs that the sudden movement caused.

"Don't even start. We both made our decisions that day, but it seems that even know you think you know better than I do what's best for me." He growled, crossing his arms over his chest. "No matter what I felt for you back then, I can't approve of what you stand for and who you are loyal to. You have chosen your place in the Empire and I know where I stand."

"Surely you understand how dumb all of this is? You almost died, all for a bunch of lowbloods who will never appreciate it and who will never amount to anything!" Highblood shouted, causing Signless's eyes to widen with an expression of offence.

"I'll have you know that I am one of those 'lowbloods' that you are so keen to think of as nothing less than barkbeasts that can talk!" Signless yelled, head subconsciously tilting forward in a classic threat display. His horns weren't all that intimidating, though, and he hadn't even meant to do it. Nevertheless, it got the tone of his point across. Or so he hoped.

Highblood glared at him for a few minutes, almost tilting his horns in the same way before he straightened his head once more. He let out a frustrated growl. "You're different." The purpleblood insisted in what was almost a mumble. "You've always been different. Look at you; it could be argued that you're anything but low." He gestured to the earfins on the side of the mutant's head. "You're obviously nothing like them. A miracle from the Messiahs themselves...even if you've strayed from the righteous path, little woolbeast." He added with a grin.

Signless pinned his fins to his head, turning around again and flopping down into the chair with an exasperated sigh with no regard for the blood that started soaking his bandages as his harsh actions reopened a wound. "You're insufferable. Just leave me alone, will you?"

Highblood let out a bitter chuckle. "That's going to be awful hard, seeing as this is my block. You're stuck with me, and I'm not letting you room anywhere else until you come to your senses."

Signless groaned, kicking his foot against the desk in a somewhat childish manner, which really only ended with pain shooting up his leg. "If this is your attempt at romance, it's a sorry try." He grumbled, causing Highblood to laugh with a bit more amusement.

"Brother, you'll know when I get my woo on. I promise you, I'm going to sweep you right off your motherfucking feet and you'll forget all about this ridiculous rebellion business. It'll be just like all those sweeps ago."

Signless grimaced, wondering if Highblood knew how horrible that sounded. He was trapped here, far from anywhere he had ever known, with the troll responsible for his capture and near-death, and Highblood expected him to fall back into flush with him as if nothing had ever happened?

He was going to need all the patience he could get.