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Post by Lucca on Sept 5, 2009 8:40:15 GMT -5
 Her mother and sister had been right about this place. Eldryia was quickly finding that her home region was just as disconsolate as everyone said. The landscape even looked bleak. She'd only been here for a few hours, and already she could feel the nature of the Realm seeping into her, more thoroughly than it ever had, and an odd kind of depressed apathy settled on her like a heavy cloak. Why was she wandering around, anyway? She was never going to amount to anything. Why had her mother even bothered to save her life? Why had she bothered to live her non-existence all these years? Why had she ever given up on alcohol? Her eyes turned down as every self-doubt she'd ever had surged up with an energy that seemed to sap hers. The curse of the land had never been more real to her. No wonder she had to wear this binding...look how awful this land was. It surely must be cursed. Her one remaining ear was drooping, her pawsteps became heavy, and she felt her binding's weight as she hadn't in years. |
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Post by Harpsdesire on Sept 5, 2009 18:06:48 GMT -5
 A pair of bright violet eyes watched the feline from the shadows of a stand of tortured-looking thorn trees. Although she was clearly a native of the region, bound like most of the Cards she knew, something about the dark-colored cat seemed... interesting. More interesting than Dania's current activity, at any rate. She set down the book she had been reading, a collection of rather depressing free-verse poetry by a fellow Torquehelm. The rat struggled a little to rise, hampered by her bound leg, and called a friendly greeting to the young six of hearts. Dania was really unsure what the outcome of her action would be, since the stranger didn't exactly appear to be in a welcoming mood. Well, that's usually the case for Cards around here, the rat thought. No harm in at least trying to be friendly. She waved one of her front paws a little for good measure, attempting a cheerful smile. If it came out a nervous smile instead, well, she hoped the feline would appreciate the effort, at least. |
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Post by Lucca on Sept 5, 2009 21:02:24 GMT -5
Eldryia's good ear twitched at the sound of a voice. A...friendly voice. It seemed so odd in place like this, somehow, to be greeted like that...almost like they were two normal Cards, instead of two cursed inhabitants of a broken land. She shook her head with a slight growl. Was she really that affected with this place? Turning, she saw the other Card, a rat with a rather uncomfortable looking binding, waving at her and smiling in a way that normally would have seemed sad, but in this place was like a ray of bright light to the cat, and she felt her heart leap slightly as she waved back.
"Hi there," she called, perking up a bit and walking over with more energy than she'd felt in the past few hours. "It certainly is nice to see a friendly face. You'd think I'd feel a bit more...welcome in my own region." Her whiskers twitched pensively, and then she realized a better explanation may be in order. "You see, I grew up somewhere else, and this is my first time ever seeing Torquehelm. It's...a bit depressing."
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Post by Harpsdesire on Sept 5, 2009 22:45:18 GMT -5
The feline turned, growled, and Dania's smile flickered for a second. Was the other Card offended somehow? Apparently not, since she was coming over, an expression that Dania read as something almost like relief. A matching relief revived her smile.
She listened politely to the cat's explanation, then replied with a faint hesitance, "I'm sure you're as welcome here as anyone." Dania's tone was friendlier than her words, and she continued quickly. "Ah, I suppose it would take some getting used to. The um, atmosphere here... some Cards handle it better than others I guess. I've always lived around here, so it doesn't seem so bad to me." She shrugged with her usual tentative smile. By Torquehelm standards, it was actually quite a nice day. A bit of hazy sunlight was even filtering through the cloud cover to touch the struggling vegetation.
"So... where did you grow up?" Curiosity brought a new brightness to the rat's eyes, which formerly had a touch of the apathetic dullness often seen in long-time Torquehelm residents. "I'm Dania, by the way."
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Post by Lucca on Sept 5, 2009 23:08:19 GMT -5
Eldy opened her mouth to explain she hadn't meant any offense to anyone she'd met here, and it was really more an overall sort of atmosphere, but then decided it wasn't worth it. She nodded to the rat, feeling secretly glad that her binding was not nearly as bad as hers...well, not in her mind at least. Being bound with your own tail seemed fairly humiliating as well as uncomfortable and inconvenient. "I could see that," Eldy said, though poking at a withered shrub, she couldn't help but add dryly, "I am so sorry." Growing up here would be like a nightmare. Her life had been hard enough without a constant cloud of gloom hanging over her at all times to remind her of the curse. No wonder her mother was rather...off.
"Eldryia, but you can call me Eldy," she said by way of introduction. "I..." A moment of hesitation, and then the Feline decided to trust this Rat. Torques just seemed more naturally able to keep secrets than those of other Realms. Except maybe Avingtons, but she didn't trust them. "The Court of Hearts," she admitted finally. "That's where I spent my childhood...such as it was." She smiled a bit bitterly. She'd had to spend most of her life up to this point hiding and pretending she didn't exist, since her Father would surely have killed her had he ever known she was his child. He had died just recently, hence her ability to really live. She thought one of the best ways to make up for lost time was to travel for a while.
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Post by Harpsdesire on Sept 8, 2009 16:41:38 GMT -5
The feline's expression seemed almost pitying as she responded, which made Dania bristle a little, although she tried not to show it. Instead, she laughed quietly. It was a little forced, an oddly sad laugh. "Don't be sorry. I had as nice a childhood as anyone." It was the truth, she supposed, but the irony of a 'happy' childhood in Torquehelm was not entirely lost on her. At any rate, she certainly did not want to elaborate on the matter. If there was anything Dania didn't care for, it was people who tried to analyze her, particularly if they thought they could figure her out without her noticing.
She mentally braced herself for the expected "prying", and was a little taken aback when an introduction, then a sort of confession was offered instead. Blinking a bit, she replied with a stutter, "Pretty name, Eldy." Dania shifted a little on her three functional paws, somewhat unsure of how to take the confidence Eldy seemed to be placing in her. Sure, she had offered friendship, but it hardly occured to her that it might actually be accepted... She smiled again, her oddly sad smile bringing a new prettiness to her sharp rodent face.
"Growing up in court must have been... err, interesting." Dania replied, dubiously. She noticed the cat's bitter smile-- despite growing up outside of the realm, Eldy definately looked like a real Torquehelm at heart. Again, curiousity and apathy seemed to have a minor battle inside the rat's mind. "I've never been to a real court. Did you meet Kings and Queens there?"
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Post by Lucca on Sept 9, 2009 22:26:39 GMT -5
"Better than mine, then, I'm sure," the cat laughed bitterly, but felt no need to pry into the rat's childhood. After all, they had just met and the rat had not implied her childhood was interesting, in fact she had indicated it was fairly normal. As much as Eldy sometimes wondered what a normal childhood would have been like, that wasn't the sort of thing you asked someone else to describe for you. Heh.
"Oh...thanks," Eldy said, blinking in surprise. She could honestly say she could never remember anyone telling her that before. Huh. "Your name is nice too." She fought down a grimace, hoping that didn't sound too awkward. She was still adjusting to this whole socializing thing. Even the rat's smile looked affected by this place, though...but she didn't say anything else about Torquehelm, since Dania actually seemed to like it a good bit.
"Oh, you have no idea," she sighed, rolling her eyes. "You're not missing too much at the moment, trust me. The Courts are drama-filled, dangerous, and highly cliquey." She smiled a little, to show she was sort of joking. Ehhh. It was a fairly accurate description. "Yes. My sister is a Queen there, actually. My mother is a Jack. But..." She gave Dania a serious look. "I was sort of a...secret. So I didn't get to meet very many people as a child." Hopefully the rat would also apply that to any social awkwardness she may have.
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Post by Harpsdesire on Sept 9, 2009 23:13:28 GMT -5
"Maybe." Dania's answer was accompanied by a small shrug. Inwardly, she chided herself for not being more interesting. Then again, Torquehelm just wasn't the sort of place where interesting things happened. Unless, of course, you counted the news of various Cards' mental breakdowns or suicides as "interesting".
Dania didn't seem to notice the awkwardness of Eldy's response. "Thank you." She smiled wanly, "My parents always hoped they'd have at least one boy, but I'm the only one of the litter that made it. They were going to name him Daniel after my dad-- You can probably see where I'm going with this." She repeated the shrug, which she performed carefully, since her balance was impaired by her bound leg.
"Drama, ew." The rat wrinkled her nose in distaste of the idea. She was well aquainted with drama, and had learned over the years that it was a thing to be avoided whenever possible. "No offense, but that doesn't really sound as nice as what I imagined. I like it when things are more, well, calm." Dania really didn't know a lot about the courts, and she was mildly disappointed when Eldy's description fell short of the grandeur and elegance she had daydreamed about as a child. It became clear as she aged that she didn't have the temperment to go to the Court of Diamonds: she was neither ambitious nor politically inclined. Still, the courts always held a special fascination for her-- a place she imagined was totally unlike the drab and gloomy region of her birth.
"That's pretty neat, being related to a Queen." Dania looked somewhat impressed. "But being a secret? That's..." She paused, not sure what to say, "That must have been pretty rough." She smiled in a gentle way, sympathetic. Although she was now even more intrigued, she resisted the urge to press Eldy for more details. That would be nosy, and she wasn't a total hippocrite. Instead, she would offer more information about herself, an action that she considered a sign of trust and goodwill towards her new companion.
"I've always wanted to rank up a bit... To nine, any way." She leaned a little closer to Eldy and said, in a conspiratorial whisper, "Both my parents are eights." Dania grinned, and for once a playful mischief nearly eclipsed the melancholy in her eyes.
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Post by Lucca on Sept 10, 2009 21:30:23 GMT -5
Eldryia raised an eyebrow. "Could be worse. You should hear my mother complain about -her- name and her mom's reasoning for it. Or lack thereof." She grinned slightly, an action that felt odd here, in this gloomy vista. She hadn't so much as cracked a smile in hours, but apparently this was amusing enough to break through the cloud of impenetrable melancholy. "Peaches," she added by way of explanation.
"Oh, no offense taken. Those of us who live there would be the first to agree with you. The Courts are not a lovely place, sorry to disappoint you. The others might not be quite as bad as Hearts, but..." She shook her head, figuring if the girl hadn't heard of all the nastiness going on currently, she was better off not knowing. Her whiskers twitched. She wouldn't have been too bothered if the rat had asked her more questions, she could almost expect it with what she had said.
"Yeah." But if she wasn't going to ask, Eldy would volunteer nothing more on that subject. She'd been emoing about it enough already that day. "Ah, I see, well I hope you'll be able to do it," Eldy said, looking curiously at the Rat. Amazing how such a simple thing as ranking up could bring such a light to the Torquhelm's eyes, but hey. Eldryia had never really care to do anything about her own Rank. She had seen the way the Courts were run, and had no desire to join them, ever, and she associated ambition to Rank with ambition to join the Court.
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Post by Harpsdesire on Sept 10, 2009 23:01:59 GMT -5
"Peaches... is a funny name." Dania commented. "Although peaches are delicious. Not too many fruit trees grow around here. Unless you count crab apples." She sighed. Dania was crazy about good food, and in this area truly tasty things were hard to come by. The young rat was of the opinion that Torquehelm as whole would be a much more cheerful place if they imported more chocolate cake.
"Well, I never could understand politics." Dania seemed to recover from her disappointment very quickly. Disillusionment was not a new experience for her, and by now she had learned to take it pretty much in stride. "I really don't need the ranks for anything much... I guess I mostly just want to see the look on dad's face when he notices I outrank him. I think that'd be a pretty good day." The grin on Dania's face was playful, but it seemed to hide layers of conflicting emotion. "I, well, I just want to show him he's wrong." She shut her mouth suddenly and tightly, as if regretting how much information she gave away. Could Eldy be trusted?
Dania decided that the answer was probably 'yes', and relaxed a bit. She returned to her seat under the thorn tree, motioning for Eldy to join her. Standing on three legs and staying balanced could be tiring.
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