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Post by Vyn on Dec 8, 2007 11:00:56 GMT -5
Rindal's laughter was still ringing in his ears, flying in his wake and nipping at his heels. Seki's legs weren't moving fast enough, they never did. With all those heavy weights, Rindal still managed to out lap him. Seki just wasn't strong enough to compete with the body-builder and without Mocha he was defenseless to. At least... At least he was finally learning the value of the protection he needed so badly. He had to get away. If he was caught again he was sure Rindal would finally kill him. Yet no matter how far and how hard he ran, the sight of the larger male looming over him would not leave. In his fear he would fail to realize that Rindal had stopped chasing him long ago, that the laughter was in his head, and that even if he ran a thousand miles in that evening Rindal still would've been able to find him. Blood splattered the ground behind him, a gruesome trail back to Rindal's prey had the brutal feline desire to pursue further. The loss alone was making him weak, making his head spin and spin...but not to greener pastures and pleasant thoughts. No, it played the events from earlier that evening over and over again. Memories that were degrading into nothing more than sound, movement, and pain. And then, abruptly, his running came, quite forecfully, to an end. Seki had launched himself around a corner and had, to his dismay, run headlong into a wall of soft, warm fur. This should've been a comfort but for the frightened child only one thing came to mind: Rindal. Thoughtlessly he let out a frightened mewl and stumbled back from where the impact had dropped him, trying to escape but his limbs...his limbs were steadily giving up on him. |
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Post by The Jenn on Dec 8, 2007 11:27:41 GMT -5
 A fourteen-year-old Lior wandered near the center of the Capital, not many streets away from the large fountain focal point or the crowded mass of the bazaar. He'd come again with his father and sister, too stubborn and bored to be left behind but not really wanting to partake in their Shopping Experience. It wasn't like Uncle Bernard had asked him to pick up magical supplies for a new experiment, or Dymphna had recommended a new jeweler who was all the rage in city fashion. No, he would meet up with them in two or three hours by the fountain. Until then, he'd been given full permission to wander provided that he stayed in the nicer areas that catered to well-off clients and tourists with money to burn. He neared a corner shop, eyes glancing curiously in at the window. It looked like a bakery and some of the pies and tarts in the window looked absolutely divine. Curse them all... he wouldn't be so weak-willed as to enter the shop. Would he? No, he simply couldn't afford to. Nevertheless, he paused by the window and glanced in longingly. Apparently his timing was That Bad, as another body slammed into his shoulder and sent him skittering back a few steps with the shock of the impact. "What...?!" he exclaimed, looking to see what had just thrown itself into him. Another feline, one with some strange contraption around his middle and... blood leaking from several nasty wounds. His bright gold eyes widened and he took another step back. With those colors, he had to be a Corvistown resident... but the wings and the bindings screamed Torquehelm. What a bizarre mixture. Even as he watched, the other cat mewled in distress and started to collapse. "E-excuse me, but are you alright?" Of course he wasn't, not with so much blood coating his fur, but Lior couldn't think of anything else to ask right off the bat. |
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Post by Vyn on Dec 8, 2007 13:33:05 GMT -5
"E-excuse me, but are you alright?"
That was most definitely not Rindal. Slowly Seki's shoulder's slumped and he allowed himself to collapse upon the ground. Despite the fact that he knew that he was now safe from Rindal he still couldn't manage to stop the tremors racing through his lean frame and it took him a few long moments to control his breathing and open his eyes.
The world around him was bright, pristine. He'd fled all the way into the upper-class part of town from the look of it, and the brilliant King standing before him was further evidence of that. Seki swallowed hard and slowly tried to gather himself to his feet, trying to maintain some semblance of pride despite his battered state and low rank. At nearly 18 years of age, Seki was at least four years older than the boy he sat before and yet he found himself cowering absently. Such an unusual stranger, with those big bat-like wings.
"I... Y-Yeah... I'll be okay."
He was lying through his teeth, anyone with eyes could've seen that. Dripping blood, barely able to stand...but the little diamond was desperate to keep some sort of pride about himself in front of such an attractive boy.
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Post by The Jenn on Dec 8, 2007 13:58:30 GMT -5
With an ability like his, the amount of lying in that stammered statement metaphorically smacked Lior in the face. Every inch of the other feline screamed that no, he would not be okay, not with blood dripping onto the ground and his limbs trembling more and more with every second. He caught sight of the other youth's rank as he stood back up, a Five... maybe that was why he looked as bad as he did? In this part of town, he supposed it wouldn't be all that unusual for higher-ups with a bone to pick against lower ranks ganging up and beating him to a bloody pulp. He'd heard about it happening before. He'd heard his papa sneering at the victims. Hell, he'd heard his papa after torturing one of them himself, gloating about the weak, pathetic things.
"I think I should take you to a doctor," he said in a quiet voice, all thoughts of the bakery beside him gone in the wake of this unexpected encounter. The other boy was bleeding much too heavily and he looked far too skinny to be healthy. "I really do. What's your name? Will you come with me? Do you have family I can contact?"
Just because his papa enjoyed tormenting the lower classes and his father sneered at them at every opportunity, that didn't mean Lior would ignore someone in such obvious distress when they took the time to smash into him and get blood on his fur and then wobble like a strong breeze would knock them over. Sometimes poorer people disgusted him, but he didn't hate them. He'd just never really dealt with them before, beyond seeing a few that his papa brought home and... mutilated.
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Post by Vyn on Dec 8, 2007 16:09:52 GMT -5
Soft black ears plastered down to his skull, his eyes uncertain as he stared up at the older feline. Would he go with him? It was a King... A strange King and he'd just gone and bled on his gorgeous white fur. Seki was tempted to apologize profusely and run but even he knew that he could barely stand up. Another option was there, his basic Diamond magic, but he left it unused for now. He was afraid to step wrong, to displease the male before him. Funny wasn't it, how a boy his age -so close to maturity- should be afraid of a child. Once more he swallowed, shifting awkwardly beneath the other male's worried gaze.
"I'm S-Seki... A-ahhnd you are?" He hissed the words out as he tried to lift up and only succeeded in realizing he'd most likely bruised a rib...or broken it, considering his underfed state. Grunting a little, he remained seated and forged on. "I'll come with you but...I'd rather my family not know..."
They had Mocha though... Perhaps he could contact his dad and get her to slip away for him. Ophelia was always wonderful about keeping secrets and protecting him from that old brute he had to call a brother.
"At least not yet."
Seki sighed heavily, still shaking but calming down with every minute he spent with the younger male. He was trying, most likely in vain, to save a little face in front of the handsome youth. It was such a surprise to Seki, to have a King offering to help him when all he'd ever heard from his father was how pompous the Royals (and especially Royals from the Court of Hearts) could be. Of course Ophelia was not exactly the sort to snub her nose at anyone who passed her by, but she could not deny the embers of prejudice which held her so aloft from the courts.
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Post by The Jenn on Dec 8, 2007 17:20:03 GMT -5
Watching him try to stand and then settle back down with a hiss, Lior's gold-tipped ears twitched back with worry. Now that he'd decided to take a personal interest in whatever was going on with the other feline, he took stock of all the injuries and became more concerned. There was blood everywhere, but he couldn't tell if it was only a few injuries or many or if the running had just made it all worse, what with him going fast enough to crash straight into people.
"Seki, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked for your name before giving you mine. My name is Lior." Golden eyes lifted from the injuries to look closely into matching green. They certainly seemed pained, but he was too well-mannered to mention it beyond taking a few steps closer and offering assistance. "I don't have bipedal form yet, I'm afraid, or I would offer to carry you. Your injuries look... severe enough that I don't know if it's entirely safe for you to be walking far."
Something about the way the other male mentioned his family made Lior's head tilt but he wasn't going to pry. Heavens knew he had his own family issues and secrets and the like. He had no business delving into someone else's, especially not when that someone was injured and bleeding themselves to unconsciousness rather quickly. Temmin's presence would be ideal at the moment, the heron both bipedal and a doctor, but he was half a day away at the palace. There was someone else who sprang to mind, though... a specialist of sorts they had gone to see when something happened to his wings. His uncle had been worried the bones were forming incorrectly and, with a bit of correction, they were set back where they should have been.
The man practiced in the ritzier district... only a few blocks away, or so his memory told him. Even if he was a specialist, he had to know a little bit about general medicine and stopping bleeding or whatnot. He was a doctor, after all, a medicinal Corvistownean. "If you're able to stand, though, I think I know someone not far from here that can treat some of your injuries."
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Post by Vyn on Dec 8, 2007 19:26:53 GMT -5
As golden orbs met with those uncertain pools of emerald, Seki felt his cheeks flushing and a weak but undeniably thankful smile touching his maw. So few were this considerate, so few offered to help him like this. Most just passed him by, especially in parts of town like this. Who was interested in a little mixed-region Five of Diamonds? Not many.
"Any help at all is...more than I expected. T-Thank you, Lior."
He didn't want to say 'life-saver', but he knew that's what Lior was. Seki had been in such an unreasonable state of panic that he would've undoubtedly run the risk of running into someone else. Someone who would not have been so forgiving of his rude arrival in their life or so sympathetic of his current state. It was relieving though, to have met someone who had been.
Sucking in a sharp breath of pained air, he managed to rise to his feet. Closing his eyes he felt his legs wobble beneath him before he allowed himself to surrender and lean against the winged feline. His breathing was heavy, something he couldn't help but realize now that he was leaning against Lior. Keeping his eyes closed for a long moment, he managed to steady his heaving chest by keeping pace with Lior's breath.
"Watch out for my wires by the way, Lior... I would hate to snare your wings." His warning was whispered, but he wasn't stuttering or trembling over his words now. Better, much better. Now if only he had Mocha. "I think I can make it."
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Post by The Jenn on Dec 9, 2007 5:53:34 GMT -5
If any of Lior's family found out about something like this, he would probably be questioned and teasted mercilessly. Linda might understand, but at the same time he really wasn't sure. His parents would both be horribly disapproving, that much he knew. But they disapproved of his anyway. Why should this be any different?
He returned Seki's smile, which didn't feel false to him for all that it was small. Smiling he could do, and easily, despite the worrying condition of the other boy. He was always smiling, it seemed.
With that fragile-seeming body standing and trembling under its own power, he held himself very still so as not to disrupt fragile balance. "Take as much time as you need. We can start walking whenever you're ready. I think the doctor is... four block from here?" He'd only been there twice before, but he had a decent enough head for directions. Before he moved, he definitely wanted that quick-paced breathing to calm down a little bit.
Wings pulled tight against his back, Lior nodded and took one small step, then another, carefully keeping pace with whatever gait Seki managed to maintain. He didn't want his wings skewered. Nor did he want to watch the mix feline collapse in another little heap. It would be a slow, arduous process to the doctor's, with some passerby stopping to stare at the unusual spectacle, but he just smiled at them and continued with his business. It was certainly none of theirs.
He hoped talk didn't get back to his father. Or his papa...
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Post by Vyn on Dec 9, 2007 9:26:42 GMT -5
Seki wasn't sure what to think of the kind King that was escorting him to help, nor of the situation at all. Lior was so soft... Thanks to the other male's even paces, he was able to manage walking alongside him as they made their way from block to block. Curiousity made him long to ask about the other male beside him, but exhaustion left him struggling to simply remain on his feet.
Perhaps once he was sitting down again, he could find out more about the unusual but shining King. Something about him was honestly...familiar. If only he could place where he'd seen him before, since it surely wasn't in any court. Silvanus's children were the only ones who really seemed to be rushing in that direction. Maxwell's litter seemed far more interested in well, their individual eccentric pursuits. No, he doubted he'd actually seen him before. A relation then?
Oddly enough, Seki had a near-photographic memory when it came to faces...but when it came to little things like actual names or, per say, where he put something, he was often at a loss. In fact, he could swear he was forgetting something in all the chaos that had just ensued.
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Post by The Jenn on Dec 9, 2007 9:48:15 GMT -5
Lior had certainly never seen the other feline before, had never even seen anyone of his particular mix. He only knew what he saw, what he heard, and what he felt. All three of those senses screamed that Seki needed to reach a doctor as soon as possible. The mincing steps seemed to taunt them with how long it took to go even one block. By the time they reached what he remembered to be the doctor's house, he was terribly worried that his companion wouldn't be able to walk any further.
He pulled a low knocker on the door with his mouth and let it bang on the wood a few times until he heard footsteps. A Corvistowne swallow answered the door, his wings large and beautifully feathered as he stood with them back, bipedal form quite tall for an avian. He looked at Lior and bowed slightly at the waist. "Your Highn-" He stopped abruptly, taking in the sight of the feline leaning against the Highlander, and immediately ushered the pair of them in.
"Oh, I don't even want to know. Just get him in here. Warm water... I'll get some cloths, some bandages... needle and thread... and with company no less, dammit all. Quickly, bring him in further."
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