27. Lost and Found Part 2

Title: Lost and Found Part 2
Pairing(s): one-sided Bloodshed/Thornstriker, mentioned others/Thornstriker
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Geishaformers, mentioned non-con, het, TFA
Notes: If you don't not know much about geishas and stuff, go here - fav.me/d4r7ekh.

XXX

Thornstriker was sitting at the foot of her bed, her arms folded on top of the covers with her face buried into them. She had been crying for the past hour in her room since she heard the news.

She had finally been purchased. To make it even worse, her buyer was none other than the daimyo Bloodshed, one of the most vicious killers of Kaon.

The geisha couldn't have been purchased by him. She didn't even know him! They had never met each other! Why would the daimyo want her? Had the proprietress just given him a list of names and pictures and then her name was somehow selected? She wouldn't put it pass her; she only cared about making a profit.

When she had come here, things were so much different than her old geisha house, the one that had been burned to the ground. She was lucky to have survived, but it was nothing to be happy over. She had been transferred to this miserable place where the customers were much more vile and perverted.

She could still remember the pain and the suffering from her mizuage. Her patron, Steelbolt, had been forceful and unforgiving. No matter how much she begged or cried, Steelbolt had his way with her.

She stopped trusting others. She stopped believing people would help. She was just a geisha. No one cared about geisha. They were there to entertain, to be bought, to be sold, to be used however their masters wanted. The world she lived in was one of survival. If she performed well, she would be rewarded with mercy. If she disobeyed, she would suffer and go through the pain.

The proprietress had told her that she would be departing the day after tomorrow, come early morning. Then, once she left, she would live under Bloodshed's house as his concubine until the day she died or the daimyo grew tired of her. She feared as to what the red mech could want. Primus, she had seen him every once in a while and the mech was terrifying. Bloodshed always looked like he was about to murder someone. If she were to mess up on anything, she could very well be the next victim.

The fear was enough to make her vomit.

She trembled violently as she wiped her tears away, knowing there was nothing she could do. Her fate had been sealed, just like every geisha and maiko that had been purchased. Crying wouldn't do her anything. She would simply have to pack her things and be ready for her departure.

Just as she rose to shaking pedes, she looked over at the window, staring out into the garden. Her optics widened as he walked over to it, peering outside. No one was there; it was completely vacant with no trace of life. Her breathing became hard and heavy as her spark rate increased, an idea forming inside her processor as she continued to scout out the garden for people.

Escaping was dubbed improbable, but not impossible. There were rumors of those who had escaped, both of whom had been caught and had never been found. Still, usually escaping took long planning. Not simply spontaneous fear like her. Yet, right now, as she looked outside, all she could see was her chance. She didn't want to be the geisha – and possibly slave – of Bloodshed. She didn't want to feel any more pain or misery. She was done with all of it. She just wanted out.

She quickly stripped out of her kimono and walked over to her drawers where her manual labor attire was; she threw on the gray, worn-out shirtdress, tying the thin brown sash around her waist. Quietly, she opened her window, peaking outside. Still no one in sight. She was grateful that her room was on the first floor. She climbed out of the window and onto the grass.

She was so terrified that his spark beat was so loud she thought Primus could hear it. Forcing herself to move, she dashed across the field and over to a tree, stopping to hide and look around. Seemed that no one saw her. Again, she ran passed the ochaya, quietly and quickly diving into the bushes. Once again, she waited for signs of life, but heard nothing.

On her servos and knees, she crawled through them. She gasped when he heard a gate creak open. She pressed herself far back into the bushes and looked out in between the branches, seeing the proprietress enter the garden. She paled and stiffened in fright. If she found her, she would kill her for sure. Though a small femme, she was strong and just plain evil. If she wanted to, she could and would kill her.

She gasped when she realized that she had left her window open and the lights on. She was heading straight for her room too. Oh Primus, she had to get out of here or else it would be too late.

"Thornstriker?" she called out. "Thornstriker, why is your light on? Turn it off. Thornstriker?"

Silently scrambling out of the bushes, she quickly ran over to the gate, looking over her shoulder to see that she hadn't turned around. She was now at her window, peering inside and yelling at her to come out. Without looking back, she dashed out of the garden, closing the gate behind her, running straight towards the ochaya. Once she climbed over the large fence that surrounded the entire geisha house, she'd be free.

Then, just as he reached the fence, she heard a pure scream of rage and the siren went off. She knew. She knew what she was doing.

Her panic and fear sparked as she heard footsteps heading in her direction. She jumped onto the fence, scrambling upwards to the top. She also fell a few times and the wires were scratching at her, ruining her clean cut plating. Yet, she was too wrapped up in fear to scare or even notice. She had to escape; she could notice the pain later.

Just as sshe reached the top of the fence, a bright light was shown in her direction. She gasped and looked back, optics widening as she saw the proprietress with the light, three guards behind her. She stiffened in fright at her murderous glare as she shouted, "You stupid geisha! Come down this instant!"

Yet, Thornstriker just forced herself to move, shaking her helm and jumping down to the ground on the other side. She was technically free, but knew she had to run. The proprietress had given the order to the guards to chase after her and drag her back.

She took off into the woods, hearing the mechs climbing up the fence. Since they were obviously more athletic, it would take less time for them to run and find her. She had always been weak, which was a disadvantage, especially now.

Yet, her intelligence and size usually made up for it.

Looking over, she saw a burrow off to the side. Immediately, she dashed over to it and saw that she could fit. She gasped when she heard voices coming closer and crawled as far back into the burrow as possible, pressed up against the rock and dirt walls. She held her breath in order to keep herself quiet, going rigid when the footsteps and voices drew closer.

"You see her?"

"No… Think she went that."

"But I saw her turn that way!"

"Oh, for fuck's sake! We'll split up! She couldn't have gotten very far. I'm going this way – you two pick where you're going."

"Yes sir!"

The footsteps went off in different directions and slowly and quietly, Thornstriker let out a breath of relief. Still, she knew she had to stay quiet and not move. The mechs could come back at any time. She just prayed that they would give up searching this area by the next night. The geisha understood that she could only travel by night or else she'd get caught.

Maybe Primus was on her side for once. Maybe He would help her escape from this.

But for now, Thornstriker would have to wait and pray she wasn't found.