Roomed with a Captain...

Snow White slowly woke up and looked around herself it looked like she was in a new room. She bit her lip and sat up, her eyes landed on a man who was dressed in armor she couldn't see much of him as his back was facing her. She bit her lip and decided it wouldn't hurt to have a shower, on her way there she saw a pool of...blood. She almost screamed and clapped a hand over her mouth in horror, she really hoped that whoever's blood that was was all right. She gulped and then raced into the bathroom, she made sure to shut the door quietly as she didn't want to wake the man.

Shang awoke with a gigantic headache. He sighed, massaging his temples as he scanned the new room he was now in. Except for the presence of two mattresses and a large dark spot in a far corner, the room was fashioned in the same way as the previous room. He walked over and sat on one of the mattresses and stared into the camera across from him. I don't remember being moved. He became lost in thought until the bathroom door creaked open.

Snow White had just finished her shower and headed out to see the young man sitting down on a mattress, "Oh um hi, my name is Snow White." She said warmly. She was unsure what to say next, so she exited the bathroom and stood across from him.

Shang stood and calmly introduced himself with a bow. "I'm Shang." He watched her and smiled, gesturing towards the mattresses. "Would you like to sit down? I hope you don't mind if I ask a few questions."

Snow White was surprised at his gentlemanly behavior and smiled up at him, "Only a few huh? I'm guessing you're new here." She said, before she sat down on the mattress next to him. "So, what do you want to know?" She asked.

Shang watched Snow as she sat next to him. She doesn't seem as emotionally distract as Cinderella so he decided to find out what she's been through. "Do you know how long you have been help captive?"

Snow White glanced down and tried to forget the image of the glaring guard, "Its been almost three months now." She said quietly. She looked up at him and swallowed hard, "I'm actually grateful I wound up in here, I...was..." She trailed off and glanced down at her W mark on her palm.

Three months? Shang didn't know what to think as he stared at her mark and then to her. "You must have been through something terrible if you are grateful to be here." He was wrong. Snow White is definitely emotionally disturbed if was happy to be held captive and tortured here.

Snow White looked over at him and sighed, "I was raped before I came here the man who took me...well lets just say that I might still be....I mean if I hadn't been taken I would have.." She shook her head and sighed again. She looked away, "Don't get me wrong, I don't condone what the Villain does to the people he despises...I mean he killed a twelve year old and she...didn't deserve to die." She said quietly.

Shang listened to Snow and frowned when she told her tale but he couldn't help thinking she was strange for a woman being held captive. "Have you ever met this man? Does John Smith sound familiar to you?" He watched her for a response. She has been here 3 months and she doesn't seem to care too much about getting out.

"Only once, when I got branded I asked him a...personal question and he rewarded me with this." She held up her palm so that Shang could see her W mark. "It stands for Worm, the lowest of the low I have to obey any order given to me by someone who has a higher mark." She said bitterly. She sighed and ran a hand down her face, "I'm sorry if I seem a little out of it, I'm still not used to being held here...it reminds me of home." The last part was said in a whisper.

Shang frowned and put a hand on her back, patting it gently. He glanced over at the camera that was on and sighed. "What was the question you asked him?"

She bit her lip, "I asked him what had caused him to be like this, before I could react he burned the W mark on my palm and then he threw me on the floor." She said, his hand on her back was soothing she thought absently.

Shang stood suddenly and cross to the camera, turning it off. He turned and approached Snow, quickly, leaning close to her. "Do you know anything about a key?" He whispered, making frequent glances toward the disabled camera.

Snow White's eyes widened when he disabled the camera, "Oh um, yeah Cindy-Cinderella told me that Villain was looking for one and that he was really upset about it missing. Why?" She asked.

"Cinderella was the first person I met here. She got me up to speed on some of the things going on in this place." Shang stood and stared down at Snow. "Mrs. White, I am a prisoner like you but I want to do everything in my power to get out of here alive. Is there anything you can tell me about this key? How it went missing? Who might have gotten ahold of it?"

Snow White thought about about it, "It's Ms. by the way I'm not married and um no I haven't heard anything besides what Cindy told me. I'm really sorry, I wish I could help." She said quietly.

Shang sighed and sat down on the bed in thought. He couldn't help glancing at Snow a few times. "Tell me about yourself, Miss White. If you don't mind talking about your past that is," He looked down at his hands nervously.

Snow White smiled over at him, "Well my mother died a year after I was born in a chemical fire and my father shut himself away for most of my childhood. As a result when I started getting older, I wandered outside the grounds and met Cindy when I was five. We soon became good friends and then when I turned ten, my father decided that it would be a good idea to induct me as his own personal thief. From then on I was trained and I could never leave the house for a very long period of time without him finding out about it. My life, if you could call it that has always been a prison....and its the only thing I know." She said with sadness.

Shang frowned as she talked and every so often he would rub her back in consolence. Well, that explains her hopeless demeanor. He became lost in more thought and had not heard Snow when she asked him a question. He snapped out of his daze to see her face in his. "Huh? Did you say something?" He stared into her eyes and couldn't help holding his breath.

Snow White held Shang's gaze with her own until she started to fell self-conscious and looked away, "I was just wondering about you, if you wouldn't mind telling me about your past." She said quietly, she tried to forget the deep hazel hue of his eyes but it was difficult.

He cleared his voice. "That's fair I guess. I'm a Captain of China's army and I was working to become liuetenant like my brother was..." He broke off when he mentioned his brother and looked down, sadly. "Before I... ended up here. Were you an only child, Snow?"

When he mentioned his brother, Snow White could tell he was upset about something. "Oh, I was an only child so I didn't have any brothers or sisters." She said quietly, deep down though she had always wondered what having another sibling would be like.

"That's sad..." Shang commented. "My family... I miss them. I was the middle child actually. My parents were always teaching us to have honor and me and Mulan, that's my younger sister, did what we could to follow that." He smiled at Snow and chuckled at the memories, he recalled. "Having siblings is one of the best things in life. Well, at least, it is for me. They teach you so much and help you move forward. I wouldn't have even thought to join the army if not for my brother." He sighed. "I wanted to bring honor like him..."

She smiled as he talked about his family with her, "It sounds like you miss them, your brother and your sister sound amazing." She said encouragingly. She bit her lip, "Cindy was as close to me as a sister.....or thats what we always told each other. When I turned ten and never saw her again...I felt like something had been ripped out of me." She turned to look at Shang, "I don't want you to have to feel that same way, so I am going to help you find out more about this key." She said and gently placed a hand on his forearm.

Shang placed a hand over Snow's. "That is very kind of you but..." He glanced over at the camera. "We're going to have to be very discreet about this. If this key is really what has our captor going ballistic, we don't want him to think we have anything to do with it." He thought for a moment. "Or do we? Snow, do you know what it takes to get John to physically show himself?"

Snow White frowned as she thought about it, "I'm not exactly sure....maybe if you caught his attention or something...but I don't know." She squeezed his hand, "I'm sorry, I know I'm not helping much am I?" She asked.

Shang smiled and hugged her. "Its fine, Snow. I just want to get as much details as I can and every little bit helps. Believe me. If we can just get in contact with someone on the outside, we could be home free."

Snow White was not expecting Shang to hug her and found she didn't mind all that much. She cleared her throat, "All right, but how do we let anyone know that we're stuck here?" She asked, she glanced over at the camera that Shang had disabled, "How long can you have that turned off, before he notices?" She asked.

Shang turned his head towards the camera. "That's a good question. Any idea where we are located? By the looks of this place, I would think we're in some kind of hotel." He walked over to the dark spot on the floor and narrowed his eyes, finally realizing that its a pool of blood. "Disturbing. I'm guessing he doesn't have housekeepers."

Snow White shuddered when she saw the pool of blood, "I really hope that whoever's blood that is, is ok." She muttered. She tried not to think of Eric or Sinbad or Poca she really hoped that it hadn't been any of her friends, "I never really thought about it being a hotel, but you're right." She quietly admiited, she ran a hand through her wet curly hair.

Shang observed the puddle. "Whoever it was, may be dead." He looked at Snow. "From what Cinderella has told me, there are quite a bit of people being held here and this building must have a lot of rooms to hold us. What puzzles me is why he switches us around? Why would he want to us "sinners" to meet?"

Snow White frowned, the thought had never dawned on her before "I don't know....my guess is he likes us to get to know one another, so that when one of us dies its even harder to deal with." She said quietly. She hoped she was wrong, but she doubted it.

"I wonder.." He went over to the camera and held it up to her. "He uses this to watch us, right? Does this serve any other purpose than that?"

She frowned and then she pointed to the t.v., "Once Cindy made it into the booth where he watches us, and he's also able to control the television sets. The last time it was on, there was a news broadcast about how the police have stopped the search for Cindy and Sinbad." She said and worked out a tangle in her hair.

So he watches and records our interactions to find ways of messing with our heads. How interesting. He turned to Snow and pointed to the camera. "I'm going to turn this back on. The last thing we need is an even more out of control captor." He turned on the camera and set it down. He stood staring into, wondering what it would take to get the villain even more paranoid and uncontrollable.

"That's a good idea." Snow White said and was relieved that her hair was starting to dry, "So any ideas on how to pass the time?" She asked.

Shang tore his gaze from the camera and sat down next to Snow. "Lets do something that'll clear our minds. Have you ever done meditation?"

Snow White smiled up at him with interest, "Meditation?, no I haven't I guess you're going to have to teach me." She said with a laugh.

"Alright then." Shang stood up and smiled, taking Snow's hand. He led her to a corner in the room, away from the camera and the pool of blood. He nodded in approval. "This particular corner will be reserved for meditation only. When you stand in this area, you should switch off any thoughts of the past and future that you may be having. If you understand that and want to continue, please sit."

She tried not to let her shock show when he grabbed her hand and led her to the other corner, before she could change her mind she sat down. "All right then, so what's next?" She asked with a smile.

Shang looked down at this pretty young woman and couldn't help but chuckle at her eagerness. "Well, first, sit with your legs crossed like a pretzel." He laughed a her attempts and started to circle her, straightening her back and finally sitting across from her in the same position.

Shang observed her at bit before reaching forward and cupping her face in his hands. Her skin is softer than I thought it would be. He cleared his throat. "While trying to build your meditative vibe, relax all the muscles in your body. No smiling. No tensing up." He moved her arms, placing her hands in her lap. "Close your eyes slowly and take a few deep breaths. Try to focus on quieten your breathing."

She nodded and smiled at the warmth his hands provided and slowly closed her eyes, she could feel herself start to relax. It was odd, but she felt safe with him in the entire time she had been held here she had always felt exposed. She could feel her breath start to lighten and she could almost watch all the memories that she had sink away. The smile slowly left her face and her senses seemed heightened, she was mostly concentrating on the feel of Shang's roughened hands.

He smiled at her before beginning his own meditation. It was difficult at first. He couldn't quite shake off tje thoughts of his ambush and captivity. When he finally managed to push those thoughts out, an image hit his mind hard and he opened his eyes fast, his face going red as he managed to stifle his gasp.

[Ooc, now I am dying to know what image popped into your head XDD]
Snow White was breathing lightly, it was relaxing she thought absently she hadn't been this relaxed in awhile. She thought she heard something but she brushed it off as her overeactive imagination, every now and then a random memory would pop into her head. She squashed those down though and hoped that Shang hadn't noticed as particular nasty image came full force to her mind, she was barely able to smooth her grimace.

ooc: you'll find out soon enough!

Shang tried to relax and get in a meditative state again but decided to abort the idea when he peeked at Snow and saw a grim expression flash across her face. He shook his head and put a hand on her shoulder, standing as he sighed. "It's difficult to do at first but meditation really helps expand the mind and ease the soul. In a situation like this, it would be great for giving us a good feeling towards the world." He collapsed on one of the mattresses, trying not think about that image of Snow when she first came out the bathroom.

[OMG!! *falls over and dies*]
She looked over at him and smiled, before heading to the other mattress; "Hey Shang, thanks for teaching me how to meditate." She said and smiled warmly at him. It wasn't long before she fell asleep, for some reason even after she she fell asleep she couldn't stop smiling.

He nodded when she thanked him and he watched her drift off to sleep with a goofy grin on her face. He looked up at the ceiling as sleep began to take over and he couldn't help smiling when he realized he was infatuated with Snow White.

[Ooc *SQUEELS* *cough* YAY!!]
Snow White woke up later with her heart pounding and her forehead drenched in sweat. She was grateful that this time she hadn't woken up screaming, she didn't want Shang to think she was some child. She sat up and wiped some stray tears that had worked their way out of her eyes. She glanced over at Shang and felt a wave of calm wash over her, he looked so peaceful while he slept. She smiled and her fingers itched to stroke his hair, she swallowed hard the last time she had felt this way it had been because of Phillip. She crawled back on her mattress and smiled, one thing she did know, she liked Shang maybe even more then that...

ooc: I'm SORRY! My brain is processing REALLY slow here! Dx

Shang opened his eyes and looked over at the other mattress where Snow was. Had he been dreaming about her? It was hard to recall. He smiled and shook his head as he got up and smiled down at her. His face grew bright red when he realized he had been staring at her lips and he quickly removed his cape, placing it over her like a blanket. She was still smiling in her sleep but he noticed small dried up streaks on her face. Has she been crying? He frowned and, without thinking, he leaned down and kissed her forehead before going back to bed.