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Post by The Jenn on Jan 16, 2008 21:44:13 GMT -5
 Lior felt even more depressed in this place than he did at home, something he hadn't thought possible. It almost seemed dangerous, this pervasive feeling of gloom and darkness on the land. How could anyone live in a place like this? How could anyone find happiness when the very place they lived cast a pall across their lives? He found it hard enough in the splendor and beauty of the Palace of Hearts. A place like this... he thought that he might have killed himself by now if he'd been born to Torquehelm. What a hideously depressing thought. And that was the result of this place too, wasn't it, that train of thought? Ugh. Still, he'd come here to find out a bit more about where the Torquehelm feline at the palace had come from, what made her who she was, and how she had managed to find herself an odd little niche so very quickly. He hadn't learned much about it beyond the fact that anyone from this place would need to have a strong will to rise above the depressive atmosphere. No wonder she was so odd and friendly. She'd escaped this place. |
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Post by Nathalia on Jan 20, 2008 23:56:44 GMT -5
 George was trudging. He had been running, but over the last two hours he had felt the familiar burning sensation crawling up his left leg. Experience had taught him that if he didn't stop soon after that, the limb would go numb for awhile...making it very difficult for him to take off should someone pop out at him. In the vague distance, less than a mile he guessed, he could see the outline of a forest. If only he could make it there...maybe he would finally be free of this place. He had hoped that the place of his heritage might hold some key for him. Perhaps a final place to stay, to hide him.... But the residents here were mostly abominable, he had never seen so many unhappy people in his life...and that was saying something for him. He didn't like all of the unhappiness, he had hoped for some cheer. He could see a line of thistle looming up, it would be a little harder to push through...and he would have to carry Merlin, but it was doable. If only he could make it to the forest, then maybe he could sleep. |
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Post by The Jenn on Jan 21, 2008 0:23:17 GMT -5
The last village he had cared to visit left Lior with distinct chills running up and down his spine. They all looked at him like some sort of alien, foreign creature. In a land of dark gloom and black-purple inhabitants, he supposed he was, but still... he didn't dare so much as touch his magical ring when looking at any of these people. He had a niggling feeling that watching them at their worst would send him screaming into the Wood like a madman or some such nonsense. It was already bad enough having seen those things about his father... his papa... his uncle, even. He hadn't dared take a glance at Linda yet. That would just be too painful.
Still, that left him with the decision of whether or not to try another village or two. Should he just go home, abandon this place as a lost cause, and accept that Peaches was truly a bizarre individual? Not that she wouldn't be even if he could grasp something about her strangeness, but still.
This region really was a hideously unpleasant place. Dark trees, patches of prickers and thorns and thistles everywhere he looked, and not another person in sight since the sad little collection of people that called itself a village. But wait, wasn't that someone there, up ahead? He caught a flash of paleness and blinked in surprise, focusing in on the slowly moving form.
That was... a human? A human Torquehelm, most likely, what with the dark hair. It looked younger, though, even younger than him at seventeen now. Was the person a natural-born human? Rare, that. Uncle Bernard was one of the few who could claim such a thing. Usually they were quite high-ranking, like Uncle being a King. He hadn't yet run across a young Torquehelm who had been anything but morose and dejected, outside of the Capital anyway. Those seemed to be the lucky ones, to 'escape', if only physically. Should he approach?
Well, it couldn't hurt. He stretched his wings, then tucked them in and started towards the young man at a slow trot. "Excuse me," he called out, "but could you tell me where the nearest village is in the direction you've come from?" He hadn't been that way yet.
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Post by Nathalia on Jan 22, 2008 16:05:57 GMT -5
A voice off to his left startled George. His head turned and he made an odd sound somewhere in between: "What?" and "Huh?"
He was so tired that he first looked over the other card, searching for the higher placed face of an adult, the sound of the voice not fully registering in his mind. His legs had stopped moving, his eyes travelling down as a result to try to find out why.
"Sorry?"
He finally asked, forcing his mouth to move, his lips felt gummed together at the edges, he would need to find more water to refill his bottle soon.
Finally lifting his head gods since when did it weigh so much? he caught sight of the stark contrast to the landscape giving him a worried look.
George's eyes widened.
Highlander!
His eyes darted instantly to the Feline's chest, but the large wings obscured the marking. Please no...how had they found him here?
He finally realized that he had frozen when his Bander, Merlin, nipped his master's ankle to check in on the boy's processing ability.
"Ow! I...I..."
He couldn't help it, he wanted to bolt, but he knew his legs wouldn't take him fast enough, this was a cat after all...and had his Animal form. If this guy was looking for him...he was damn well found...
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Post by The Jenn on Jan 22, 2008 19:37:47 GMT -5
Lior paused, looking at the boy with a slightly tilted head. Now that he was somewhat closer, he got a better look at his face and something about it was naggingly familiar. He couldn't quite place it, though. What about the boy reminded him of... someone?
He supposed it didn't really matter. Sometimes human faces could really look alike, with the exception of the ones he'd known from childhood. This boy looked awful, though, now that he could take a closer look. The bruises under his eyes from lack of sleep, the general slump to his body, and the twitchy, almost panicked way in which he regarded a stranger. Was the boy just naturally paranoid when meeting new people? It was possible, from the look the feline was getting now. He supposed his being a Highlander wouldn't help in terms of familiarity, not with his pale and golden fur, two things that were almost never seen in this gloomy place.
"Ah... I... was wondering if you could tell me where you came from." That was what he'd asked, yes? The unusually startled response had thrown him off. He wanted to know about the direction the boy had come from so he could decide whether or not he should go that way before leaving this accursed region.
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Post by Nathalia on Jan 23, 2008 16:11:18 GMT -5
"Where do I...?"
His pupils actually dilated and he didn't notice that he had begun to hyperventilate, as he glanced desperately around himself, looking for any means of escape.
"You too? I don't- I never wanted to- Why?"
He had started backing up, unable to for a coherent enough thought to put into words as a twitch in the Feline's wing revealed a flash of red. He didn't know the rank...but this Highlander was probably a Heart. What else could it be if the cat was looking for him.
"My mother, please don't hurt her..."
He whispered, barely audible as he edged toward the line of thistle..toward the outline of the forest. His limbs were practically screaming in protest at the continued movement, but he had to. What if they took him back? Were there others with this cat?
He couldn't stop the terror, even though his mind was desperately trying to tell him to calm down, the cat didn't seem much older than him, maybe he could talk his way out of it?
He's come to drag you back to your father, so that he can execute you and your mother like he did to Uncle Nathaniel
Any semblance of rational thought was gone, he trembled, on the verge of trying to bolt.
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Post by The Jenn on Jan 24, 2008 22:34:33 GMT -5
Lior felt so lost as he watched the boy's eyes widen in apparent terror, glancing this way and that as if he needed to run. Run from the feline? But why? He hadn't even done anything, and for all that many of the inhabitants of this region gave him odd looks and sometimes avoided him, none of them had seen fit to run away. He wasn't exactly a frightening figure, so far as he could tell. His rank was probably the most intimidating part of him, and even then, he didn't make efforts to lord it over anyone unless it seemed called for, which it rarely had.
"Wait... what?" he asked, thoroughly confused. "Why would I hurt your mother? I don't even know your mother, or you, for that matter. I don't even know your name. What in the hills is the matter with you?"
He really couldn't understand what this boy's problem was, besides the fact that he looked terribly exhausted and underfed, and scared out of his mind. Maybe he should just leave if he was having this affect on someone. He didn't need to stay somewhere he would make people have apparent impromptu panic attacks.
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Post by Nathalia on Jan 25, 2008 16:09:36 GMT -5
Somewhere in the back of his mind, George knew he was being irrational. This cat wasn't doing anything to him...
Yet. Another part of his mind hissed, the part that had driven him for the past six years. He hasn't hurt you yet...but he will once reinforcements show up.
"Y-you may not know my mother..."
He whispered, small sparks of anger trying their hardest to fight through the fear, and failing.
"But you know my father...don't you?"
He continued to back toward the thistle as he spoke, hoping to confuse the other card long enough to get his legs moving properly again. His shirt slid sideways as he leaned to avoid a branch, revealing quite plainly, his rank and suit. George barely even noticed, surely this other knew who he was by now, it no longer mattered, he just had to get away form him.
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Post by The Jenn on Jan 25, 2008 16:17:52 GMT -5
Lior's stare was even more confused now than it had been before. Was the other boy some sort of paranoid? He'd met people with conspiracy theories before - his Papa had made a point of introducing them to people like that, right before he Did Things to them so that they stopped spouting their crazy nonsense. Or anything else, for that matter. Pravus was very thorough in his work.
He pushed thoughts of his parents aside for the person in front of him. Whatever was plaguing the young Club's mind, and a low-ranking Club at that - a Four and a human was bad luck, wasn't it? - it had nothing at all to do with him.
"I don't even know what you're talking about, much less your family," he said with a touch of flatness in his voice. "I don't make a habit of visiting Torquehelm. This is the first time I've ever done so. I don't know that many Clubs either, so unless your mother or your father works in the Palace of Hearts, I doubt I know them. Would you just calm down? I mean really, I'm not doing anything to you..."
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Post by Nathalia on Feb 5, 2008 21:42:27 GMT -5
The Highlander's facial expression became even more intensive, George hesitated. What was the matter with this guy? Why couldn't he just leave?
Then the Feline's next statement came out, cool and slightly annoyed if George could tell.
What?
"You...you don't know who I am?'
He blinked, stuck somewhere between relief and an even stronger urge to run.
Then he laughed, still backing into the Wood, he laughed loudly, a shrill short bark which seemed to be all he had breath for.
"You don't know who I am? Then it doesn't matter, and you won't be able to send them after me... Sorry, but...I have to go...goodbye."
He then turned and hurried into the thicket, crunching through the bracken, his Bander wheezing after him.
He wasn't taking any chances, this burst of adrenaline would take him as far as he could push it. He just had to hope that the Cat was telling the truth...and that it couldn't fly.
The Wood loomed up ahead, George didn't know what it was, but he knew it felt off...maybe it would keep everyone at bay. Maybe they would leave him alone at last...
Maybe.
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