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Post by carcinoGeneticist on Nov 7, 2007 0:27:56 GMT -5
The rumors of her sister's strange disappearance had not, in fact, been mere rumors. She had been looking for her elder sibling for days now, and she hadn't been able to find even the faintest of hints as to where she had gone. Of course, it was not until recently that she had dared to leave the Forest, but... What should that matter? The feathers on her cheeks were wet with tears as exhaustion and fear began to take their toll on her. It had been a long time since she had last stopped to eat, and she knew her mother must be worried sick... But she couldn't leave without finding Ceren again. She simply couldn't. Darkness had fallen on the streets of Capital City, bringing with it the cold of night. She was shivering and she knew it, but she had to stop for at least a little while. The stones under her feet were painful to walk on and cold, so she made her way towards a nearby bench, leaping up onto it and fluffing out her feathers in an attempt to bring some warmpth back into her small body. She should never have attempted something like this. She was too little, too weak, too small... She would never be brave like her siblings. It was a wonder to her that they had even kept her around. Her eyes closed as she curled into the armrest of the bench, legs and wings aching as she felt the familar tightness in her chest that marked her having overworked herself. It was going to be a very rough night.  |
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Post by seraaches on Nov 7, 2007 0:49:44 GMT -5
 Shinrai was wandering the night streets as he often did. He was still learning the City, but he was a great deal more comfortable in it now. A fact he was certainly pleased about. He had to obtain a new cloak; his old one had disappeared in wot he hoped was the hands of a frightened little Four of Clubs, but he had no guarantee that George had come back for the item. A check the next day proved it was gone either way and the horse had been obliged to purchase a new one. He still wondered worriedly about the human-shaped child and Rai often found himself wandering closer to that bar where he had lost the Club. His feet were moving in that direction again when his attention was captured by a small ball of feathers quite out of place in this rougher neighbourhood. His ears went back and the Jack considered moving onwards. In that ball of feathers, however, he saw the image of large, too old purple eyes and, with a sigh, Rai gave in to his need to check on the tiny creature. A bird, probably a sparrow if he could tell anything at all in the gloom of the chilled night. With a flick of his tail, Rai noticed with concern that it was shaking terribly. Blast. Well, he could always buy –another- cloak. With a practiced movement, the horse unbuttoned the dark blue material then flung it over the tiny form. The heavy material was warmed by the stallion’s body heat and Rai felt the loss almost immediately. His grey-green eyes were on the bird he had just covered and he intoned, ”Isn’t it a bit late for you to be out?” |
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Post by carcinoGeneticist on Nov 7, 2007 1:15:14 GMT -5
In her exhausted mind, images of her family were flashing as she drifted seamlessly in and out of sleep. She could see her mother's worried expression as clearly as it had ever been in person, fawning over her softly. Her father, always brave, strong, handsome, and perfect to his youngest daughter. Her brothers, especially Ez, who never once denied her the time to talk, or to make her mane into a pair of lovely braids that made her feel absolutely adorable.
There were images of her sister, too.
She was so gorgeous, especially as she had aged. When her mane had grown in, she had tossed it and winked at her sister, her glance speaking volumes. Mori was her mother's daughter in almost all of her qualities, and the mane that her sister had finally grown in was proof that she was clearly both of their parents' child. There had been compassion on her face, but it was masked by the slight sneer that marred her beak as well as the glance of pity that seemed to scream 'I'm so glad I'm not you'.
Then she had left.
Mori was violently jerked awake by something large and heavy falling atop her. Something large, heavy, and amazingly warm as it turned out, and instinctivly she moved deep into it. She glanced out of the blanket, the sleep gone from her eyes, and was met by a the gaze of a large and slightly imposing horse. She moved back into the blanket slightly, beginning to cough once more before clearing her throat to the point that she could speak in reply to the green horse.
"Y-yes, but I need to-" she was caught short by another fit of coughing, one that shook her small body violently. "I need to find my sister... S-she vanished." the shaking seemed to be subsiding as the needed warmpth hit her, and as she gazed up at the stallion once more he might notice something familiar in the small bird.
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Post by seraaches on Nov 7, 2007 2:08:28 GMT -5
Rai’s grey-green eyes narrowed sharply when the small bird looked up at her. She looked suspiciously like… but no. That couldn’t be right.
Could it?
Still, her coughing was of more concern right now and if she was related to whom he thought she might be, the stallion could not leaver her alone on the streets. He gave an inner sigh and levered his head down to something closer to her level. ”Where is your family, little one?” Despite his fierce features, his tone was fairly gentle, though he couldn’t take away all of the hard edge in his voice. ”They will be worried about you when they discover you are missing.”
He had the distinct feeling he would end up housing her for the night but that would be fine. The problem was that he’d have to go back to that *&^% office where that &#&*@ skunk worked and there was no guarantee that Theofilus would even be in. Too late at night now in any case.
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Post by Kasatsu on Nov 7, 2007 8:31:44 GMT -5
He was on his way home from an run his partner, Mnemosyne, had sent him on a few days ago. The jewels he had collected from the patron jingled sofly in the pouch he wore on a belt.The rodent shivered, fluffing up his fur in an attempt to keep warm. The nights were really starting to get cold, he would have to get his cloak out soon. Making his way down one of the main streets he came across a familiar figure.
Squinting he carefully looked the creature over. It looked familiar, though the last time he had seen it, the creature had appeared quite abused. Though he doubted if the horse would recognize him, he decided to investigate anyway.
Coming closer to the green creature he discovered upon closer survay that it appeared to be talking to a smaller creature huddled on the bench. His interest really sparked now, he made his way more determined towards them. Upon arriving close enough to be heard but not close enough to be attacked should the horse swing out his hindlegs, he sat back on his hindquaters and raised a paw in greeting.
"Long time no see, Whip. It is good to see you in better shape then before."
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Post by carcinoGeneticist on Nov 7, 2007 15:20:23 GMT -5
The cough was indeed worrysome, and did not seem to abate for long before she was hunched over once more, her entire body shaking hard. She was frail to begin with, and her long adventure followed by a cold night seemed to have taken its toll on her. As time passed, the cloak around her seemed to be making less and less of a difference, her small body trembling from the cold once more (whenever it wasn't being shaken by coughing, anyway).
The horse made her nervous, that was obvious by the way she shuffled when he looked at her and by the way she tried to avoid looking directly into his eyes. She was burrowing into herself from her exhaustion and fear, and it took her tired brain a moment to process his words. With another feeble cough, she looked up at the horse. "My-my family? M-my mom lives in Kahmden, and my d-dad has a buisness at the Lakes, but I think h-he has an office in the Capital City... I t-think." she fluffed her feathers and looked at the horse again. He was just so... Angry looking.
At the sounds of footsteps, the little bird turned her head, and found herself looking at a mouse with... Horns? How bizzare, but then he seemed to know the horse that had given her this blanket. She hoped that he was a nice man, but something about the way he kept his distance from the horse made her wonder.
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Post by seraaches on Nov 7, 2007 22:50:42 GMT -5
A father with a business in the Lakes, but an office in the Capital; further confirmation of whom he thought she was related to. The cough and shivers were both very disquieting and it was doubtful he would let her remain out in the cold for much longer. ”You came all this way without certainty of your father’s office?” Further questioning, however, was interrupted by a newcomer coming up behind him.
Shinrai’s ears led the way to turning towards the Card who addressed him. His nostrils flared as he caught sight of the strange creature. A Morganberry mouse with horns? Very strange indeed. He wondered if it was a mutation or if it had been a scientific experiment. ”I’m afraid you have the advantage of me,” the stallion replied quietly. The horns were vaguely familiar, but he wasn’t certain of even that. Whoever this mouse was who knew him, Rai wasn’t likely to stick around for very long to sit and chat; the little bird was too cold.
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Post by Kasatsu on Nov 7, 2007 23:28:21 GMT -5
"Ah! So you do not remember me. It is as to be expected I am sure. You were kind of out of it there." He said matter of factly, as if that should explain the whole situaton to the horse.
"The name is Aderlass," he continued, giving the name to both creatures.
As he came closer to the creatuers, in what he hoped was a non-threatening movement, he finally got a better glimps of the smaller creature who was huddled within a cloak that was obviously too large for her. Though he liked to think that he was not often taken to feelings for other cards, the sight of the poor bird had him wanting to help the creature.
"Wot is a little thing like you doing out here at this time day?" he asked softly towards the figure on the bench, turning towards the horse he added, "Whip, are you threatening this creature? I would sorely hate to have to cause you pain after having spent precious time in rescueing you from it." He said matter-of-factly though a small sense of humor was added in hopes of showing the horse he meant no insult and that he did not want to tick him off.
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Post by carcinoGeneticist on Nov 8, 2007 0:13:06 GMT -5
"I wasn't here for my father!" she said softly, voice insistant. "I-I thought that I would have found Ceren by now..." At her mention of her sister's name, her eyes began to grow watery once more. She missed her sister! The shaking was beginning to make it hard for her to speak, but something had changed in the horse's demeanor and he seemed to be treating her much more gently than before. Could it be that he knew her father? It seemed that his mood had changed as soon as she had begun to speak about him. The thought that she really did look awful didn't once enter her mind.
It really was cold. She pulled the cloak a little closer to herself, looking up at the horse in what she hoped to be a grateful expression. She peeked out from her little cave ever so slightly to get another good view of the mouse as he moved closer to the two. Her blue eyes were watery, and as he moved closer he could probably hear her sniffle slightly.
"T-trying to f-find my s-sister." she said softly, eyes locked on his deadly-looking horns. First a huge green horse with a dragon's tail, and now a mouse with horns... Somewhere in the back of her mind, she wondered if maybe she was dying and these were all just hallucinations, but she pushed that thought away. "N-no! He w-was helping m-me!" she chattered, glancing back at Shinrai as if looking for a confirmation that he really was here to save her. "H-he g-gave me this cloak..." the humor seemed to be completely lost on her, as her initial fear at the stallion's approach had been more than real enough.
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Post by seraaches on Nov 8, 2007 3:41:28 GMT -5
Rai’s ears quirked backwards briefly at the mouse’s explanation; wot in the world was the Morganberry talking about? He didn’t have a chance to inquire, though he made a mental note to do so at a later time. He wanted to know wot exactly Aderlass was talking about.
Shinrai gave a small, insulted snort. ”I do not injure children,” he said, head going high in indignation. But the little bird was swift to defend him, so Rai subsided easily. She was back to shivering very quickly and wotever interest Shinrai had in conversation was eclipsed by the fact that she needed out of the night air. ”Come along, little one,” the stallion said softly. ”We need to get you somewhere warm.”
He did something nearly unheard of, he bent down before the bench, silent encouragement for her to crawl up onto his broad, warm back. He couldn’t bring her to her father tonight, but he could take her to the company office in the morning.
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