<JETMODE> *Late evening has settled a couple of days after Whisper's arrest and two weeks into Genoa's long stay in the dungeons. The silence, a sometimes pleasant change from the bustle of the upper floors, is broken very abruptly by a female shriek made incoherent by outrage and shortly followed by a male howl of surprised pain.

<JETMODE> *The male then snarls something, and blows are exchanged, punctuated by screams of rage from none other than the occupant of the cell -- Genoa.

<TIAMAT> *Whisper, asleep in the next cell over, sits up very suddenly, blinking in confusion. She stands, stumbling through the dim light toward the door, and grabs the barred window, pulling her face close and peering out into the hall. "Genoa?"

<JETMODE> *Genoa doesn't actually respond, but she gives a snarl of "You SON OF A BITCH --" and one of the guards reels into the hall between the cells, fighting back with increasing desperation. "G-get off me -- HELP DOWN HERE --"

<TIAMAT> *Whisper watches, mystified, calling Genoa's name once or twice more. After a minute or so, there's a clambering of footsteps, and a trio of people appear through the shadows from the stairway: Benny Marks and his friend Mack, lead by Clyde, who were on evening patrol. Clyde trots toward the cell, pausing abruptly in the hall and looking bewildered. "Bill -- what --"

<JETMODE> *Bill, by now, is bleeding heavily from the nose and might be missing a couple of teeth, but his apparent attacker shows no sign of letting up, kicking him into the wall and suddenly ripping his sword from its sheath, raising it for a killing overhead strike.

<TIAMAT> *Clyde gives a yell and, yanking his own sword out, lunges in front of her, and the ringing sound of metal upon metal fills the corridor as he manages to parry the blow. "You two -- GET HER --"

<TIAMAT> *Benny and Mack, looking utterly startled, dart foward, each attempting to grab one of Genoa's arms and pin them behind her back.

<TIAMAT> *Whisper, by now, has fallen silent, and she watches the pitched battle in bemusement and fascination.

<JETMODE> *Genoa dodges them, ramming her shoulder into Benny and using her momentum to lunge at Clyde, eyes filled with a burning, terrible rage. She seems to have forgotten she's holding a sword, opting instead to punch him viciously in the jaw and following up with a knee to his stomach.

<TIAMAT> *Clyde gasps as the air rushes out of his lungs, and he doubles over slightly, clutching his stomach and dropping his sword with a loud clatter. Benny, after stumbling back up the hall a little ways, draws his own blade, growling a little and going for Genoa, while Mack attempts to wrap his arms around her from behind.

<JETMODE> *Genoa responds to Mack by driving him backward into the wall, remembering the sword she has just in time to lunge at Benny.

<TIAMAT> *Benny parries the blow, locking swords with her as Mack shakes his head a little and regains his balance; he dives for Clyde's fallen sword, snatching it up and going for Genoa from behind, this time attempting to stun her by hitting her in the back of the head with the hilt of the blade. Clyde, meanwhile, straightens, still panting a little, and starts for the stairs, yelling that he's going for help over his shoulder.

<TIAMAT> *Whisper, calling after him: Chicken shit!

<JETMODE> *Genoa reels from the sudden blow, stumbling slightly, but she recovers almost immediately, and it only seems to have made her angrier. She whirls on Mack, sword tearing through the air to smash into the blade and rip it from his hands.

<TIAMAT> *Mack, looking utterly startled, stumbles back, tripping over the sprawling form of Bill and landing hard on his backside. He crawls back hurriedly, away from Genoa, as Benny comes up behind her, placing the point of his sword between her shoulder blades. "D-don't move--"

<JETMODE> *She responds by whirling again, completely ignoring the sword, which cuts her across the shoulder. There's a screech of metal on metal as she locks blades with him, but this apparently doesn't satisfy her, as she breaks away and starts smashing at him over and over and pushing him up the hall, that same expression of fury on her face.

<TIAMAT> *Benny manages to parry the blows, but just barely, and a sort of horrifed panic rises in his eyes as she drives him all the way back up the hall, his hands numb from trying to hold onto his sword after so many blows.

<TIAMAT> *When they reach the stairs, he stumbles on the step, tripping backwards, but before Genoa can finish him off, another blade strikes hers, parrying with a lot more force than any of the others have demonstrated, and an enraged growl issues from its wielder. "RIVERMARCH!"

<JETMODE> *Genoa stumbles at the sudden resistance, falling back, but she almost immediately charges again, screaming a fairly incoherent response.

<TIAMAT> *Teal stands his ground, swinging hard at the incoming blow, but instead of disarming Genoa like she did Mack, the sword snaps right in two, leaving her with little more than a hilt in her hands as the blade clatters to the ground. Teal doesn't let up, charging Genoa with his shoulder and slamming her hard up against the wall with a low growl.

<JETMODE> *Genoa smacks her head against the wall and sags as the breath is crushed out of her, but she isn't still for long, using his grip on her to stay upright as she brings both feet up to kick him solidly in the stomach.

<TIAMAT> *Teal stumbles back a step, losing his grip on his sword and nearly losing his grip on her as his breath catches in his throat. He takes a slightly choked breath and, holding her arm firmly in one hand, slams her against the wall again, immediately grabbing her other wrist with his free hand and pinning her arms against the stone, holding her bodily against the wall. "Don't -- make this any worse, Rivermarch --"

<JETMODE> *Genoa squirms violently, but on finding herself completely pinioned, she jerks her head toward Teal, rears back slightly, and spits in his face.

<TIAMAT> *Teal snaps his head sideways, taking most of it in one eye, and he utters an infuriated roar, calling Genoa something very rude. "How DARE--" He slams her against the wall yet again, harder than the past two times.

<JETMODE> *Her head lolls slightly at the impact, but she's still conscious, and she's glaring at him hatefully. Before much else can happen, however, a sharp voice calls from around the corner. "What the hell's all this damn noise?"

<TIAMAT> *Teal glances sharply up the hall, one eye clenched shut, and snarls. "Tempo! It's about damn time -- do you have the draught?"

<JETMODE> <Tempo> It's a long walk from upstairs, you know, even if you are in a hurry.

<JETMODE> *He comes around the corner and looks at the scene curiously, eyeing Bill, still slumped against the wall farther down. "I take it it's not him who needs it."

<TIAMAT> *Teal growls again. "NO. Get over here and give it to her -- pour it down her throat, if you have to--"

<JETMODE> *Tempo continues his observation, ambling over easily. "My, my. How does one little girl make all this mess?" He glances at Genoa, who starts struggling again at his approach, but she doesn't make any particular headway, and when she attempts to jerk away from the liquid, Tempo grabs her professionally by the jaw and forces her mouth open, pouring it down. "There's a good girl -- know it doesn't taste good, but it's really not supposed to."

<JETMODE> *Genoa chokes and splutters, but when it comes to either drinking or drowning, she decides to drink.

<TIAMAT> *Teal holds her firmly against the wall until Tempo gets it all down and she swallows. "Hellcat. Don't know how it happened, Tempo, I just got here in time to keep her from murdering one of my men. I swear, if it weren't for that infernal dragon.."

<JETMODE> *Genoa sags slightly, and Tempo steps easily away. "Well, she ought to at least be docile now -- want to put her back in her cage?"

<TIAMAT> *Teal nods sharply and eases away from Genoa a bit, wiping at his eye as he drags her back down the corridor toward her cell, shoving her roughly inside. "Next time, Rivermarch -- link or no link -- I may not go so easy on you." He slams the door shut, locking it, then turns to look down at Bill and Mack, the latter of whom is staring at the cell a little fearfully.

<TIAMAT> *Clyde, who appeared shortly behind Tempo, is back by the stairs, helping Benny up.

<JETMODE> *There's no response from inside the cell, aside from an audible thump as Genoa tumbles to the floor.

<JETMODE> *Tempo, on the other hand, makes his way over to Bill, who is attempting to get to his feet and staring a little blankly through his good eye.

<TIAMAT> *Whisper watched the entire interplay -- or as much as she could through the small window in her cell, anyway -- in silence; she frowns a little when she hears the thump next door, and grabs the bars, rattling them a little. "Hey, Teal -- what'd you do to her?"

<TIAMAT> *Teal ignores her as he helps Bill up. "All right, Larson? What the hell happened down here?"

<JETMODE> *Bill flinches, gaze darting quickly between the cell and Teal. "I.. she.. I just -- I just brought her dinner! And -- and she w-went crazy on me!"

<JETMODE> *Tempo arches an eyebrow, but he doesn't say anything, checking Bill over and finding him mostly all right.

<TIAMAT> *Whisper growls, rattling the bars again, a little harder this time. "That's bullshit, someone brought us food over an hour ago--"

<TIAMAT> *Teal glances sharply back at her, glaring. "Shut UP." He turns back to Bill. "You sure that's all that happened?"

<TIAMAT> *Whisper scowls, slamming her palms against the door.

<JETMODE> *Bill nods weakly, flinching again at Whisper's reaction. "Swear, Baron, it's what happened!"

<TIAMAT> *Teal sighs and nods a bit. "All right -- you should probably go to the infirmary -- can you patch him up, Tempo?"

<JETMODE> <Tempo> *arches an eyebrow* He doesn't need my attention -- just wash him up a little and he'll be fine. Nothing serious.

<TIAMAT> *Teal nods again. "Fine." He pauses, glancing back at Mack, who had been standing back against the wall quietly. "You -- get him out of here, help him get cleaned up." Mack nods nervously and starts for the stairs, where Clyde and Benny are waiting. Teal turns back to Tempo. "How long will she be out?"

<JETMODE> *Bill trails along after him, looking thoroughly unnerved. Tempo shrugs. "Day or two. She'll have a bad headache when she wakes up, and she's bound to be in a foul temper. Make sure she gets something to eat right away -- I know you don't like her, but it's the humane thing to do."

<TIAMAT> *Teal sighs, rubbing his temples slowly. "Right, right, I know. Thanks for your help."

<JETMODE> <Tempo> *drily* Any time. If that's all..?

<TIAMAT> *Teal nods sharply. "I'll walk out with you." He starts down the hall, and from behind him, there comes another clatter as Whisper hits the door again, cursing at him. Again, he ignores her.