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 Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2015 5:20 pm
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Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2015 2:58 pm
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 Night was a double-edged sword for Meriarijim. It was both peaceful and terrible, being a time for the quieting of the body, often leaving Jim to wander to his own devised, but time for an awakening of the mind. Something Meriarijim dreaded almost as much. With the night came dreams, and he had learned very quickly that he wasn't the one who would be given the sweet, joyful dreams. No romance, no love, no snuggles for him. Meriarijim's domain was nightmares.
As a foal, he had asked why the Great Spirit had seen fit to grant him so terrible a gift. The answer had been that it was because he was the one strong enough to bear it. Honestly, he hadn't liked the answer then. And he liked it even less now, with the nightmares that grew every night. More and more fear and pain in the world, and even though he had come here to try and help more directly, it seemed like there was no end. People lost their family, their loved ones, and that pain and terror fueled their imaginations, calling to him.
Sighing, he tucked his wings, falling into a dive that let the cool air blow through his mane, a blast of chill to awaken his own, tired mind. He needed a distraction. Something to help him keep his mind off of the pulls and tugs that tickled the edge of his mind. And then he saw one- a vaguely familiar figure. And he let himself fall, landing with a rough thump not too far from the smaller female figure. "Blight." He said her name as an acknowledgment and greeting, rough and abrupt. They'd spoken in passing. but he couldn't forget names, anymore than he could forget his responsibilities. "You're out late."
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Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2015 3:01 pm
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He gave a soft little huff of air as she turned to face him, boldly stepping closer at her acknowledgment and smile, taking it as invitation to approach. It was only polite to wait for such permission when you came upon someone in the dark! "It's been a little while." he agreed easily.
Having no children of his own, he could only have the vaguest understanding of what it was like to be a parent, and most of that, honestly, was from people's nightmares, and was thus most likely grossly inaccurate in depiction. So instead of choosing to agree or dissent, he tilted his head and focused on the desire for personal space.
"I suppose I am in this area for a similar reason. I was clearing my head. There has been much tribulation of late, and I find myself in an awkward place as to how I can help solve it. But perhaps the company of another will help take my mind off it for a short time, and I can return to fretting later."
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Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2015 8:00 pm
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His shoulders shifted, and he breathed out to try and let some of the stress drain from his frame at her invitation to remain for just a little while longer. He addressed the relief as being company, but another Soquili may have still impacted his heavy mind. And in many ways Blight still did as well, but his concerns weren't for the nightmares she had and the pain she felt.
It was for the nightmares she didn't have. Her dreams weren't his domain, so perhaps her thoughts were happy, but he had been drawn to her first through the nightmares of those close to her. Things she had seen... But Blight was a deep, placid lake. There was a threat of drowning underneath, but the outside looked so innocent and still.
"I think I'll take you up on that offer," he agreed. "Relaxation it is. Tell me more about your children." A nice, neutral topic he hoped.
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Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2015 7:59 pm
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In silence the stallion nodded, moving to Blight's side, brushing close but careful not to touch. They weren't that familiar. "A pond sounds lovely," he agreed, and followed alongside her, idly watching her wings dance in the night air. A long story indeed- there was a lot to start with. He was a ghost, visiting; He wasn't intimate enough with her life to be able to pick up the story in the middle. Not really. And it was a shame. Blight was quiet. In some ways it was unsettling. In some ways, she was one of the few who could give him peace, and he didn't mean that to sound romantic.
The walk was short and mostly silent, interspersed with the crunch and crackle of dying grass crunching underhoof. A red glow lit the way, staining the pure white moonlight with a haunting violence, coloring Blight's white hide and making the stallion look away, so as to not see - The water. He inhaled deeply, pulling his mind away from how his existence marred the perfection of the night. But the water. Dark and still, a darkness that could suck a soul into it if it weren't careful. Shaking his head, he explained, "I'll perhaps rest a bit later. I'm still restless. Perhaps standing a bit longer will do me good." Not long before he had been comparing her to this lake. If he'd known it would be so accurate, he wouldn't have been so presumptuous.
"So, you said it was a long story. I have all the time you need, Blight. Where should we begin?"
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Posted: Sat Dec 26, 2015 5:54 pm
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She smiled at him slightly before gesturing to the lake with a nod, "It all started right here you know..." She sighed heavily, "My son Skaalbjorn was playing in the plains well within sight but somehow, someway he disappeared and the next thing I knew it was like he had never existed! His scent just stopped here." She couldn't help the grimace that marred her face. "It turns out a Kalona had kidnapped him and planned on teaching him all that his blood was from his fathers side... Teaching him to be a killer!" She was becoming hysterical already, but she forced down the memories and the feelings they generated trying to calm herself lest she look the fool in front of Jim. "He snapped and his personality split in half. He became a monster and I wasn't there to help him." She looked up at the red eyed Angeni wondering what he thought of all this. "His rampage went far and wide as he grew to adulthood. Even we heard of his wrath but we knew not the name of the monster reeking the havoc." She huffed thinking of how she made a monster with the simple act of falling in love. "I was told years later that a half angeni mare found him mid meal and actually decided to help, despite the fact that he tried to kill her and had been eating another Soquili. Eiryn, spirits bless her, found him help and he was reborn in the waters of the ritual becoming a whole but still broken person. He lost all his memories from his kidnapping to then, and he returned to me with the help of Eiryn and now he's back but he seems so distraught at the loss of his memories." She paused a waver had begun in her voice, "He's so lost and I don't know how to help him. He wanders frequently and still consumes the flesh of small animals and fish to keep the hunger at bay. He feels like he's slipping away from me again..." She ended the first story on that note, trying not to look at Jim expecting he'd disapprove of her helplessness. She didn't know him all that well, just in passing but she wanted to, and now she was worried she'd scared him off.
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Posted: Fri Jan 22, 2016 4:23 pm
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Meriarijim had mentally prepared himself for a long, sad story. Surprisingly, it started off short, and even more violently than the angeni had possibly imagined that it could. he was no parent, but as Blight spoke he could almost imagine the rush of fear and adrenaline that must have gripped her when her child was taken away from her, disappearing with no trace. Skaalbjorn, and the Angeni of Nightmares closed his eyes to try and focus on conjuring an image in his mind. Too late he realized it may have come across of more of a grimace than anything else, but he opened hsi bright red eyes hastily and returned his attention to the white mare who stood in front of him, recounting her tale. The colt, kidnapped by a kalona, with the intent to what? Convert him? Had Blight, who struck him as so gentle, loved something as unkind as a kalona? It seemed unlikely, but there had been odder matches that he had seen over the years.
Either way, the kidnapper had succeeded in one goal- this Skaalbjorn had wreaked havoc on the plains. If Blight had loved a kalona then it only made sense- she was partly unicorn in heritage, and unicorn blood and kalona blood sat well together little better than oil and water. Perhaps if he had beem taught differently, more gently, such suffering as he had caused could have been avoided, but the child had become that which he had been taken to become. It was no fault of Blight's that it had happened, or the fault of the child. Raised to be that which his (presumed) sire desired- for he could think of few enough others who would steal a child and raise it, even and especially among the kalona- Skaalbjorn had been presumably innocent in his crimes, and then unable to comprehend the suffering he was causing. "You are hardly at fault for the events of your son's abduction and growth, Blight." A kind word was all he could offer.
It was a brief enough light to be told of how a half-angeni had attempted to assist the broken stallion, for the story was not shaping up to be ending well. It was surprising that Jim hadn't found himself summoned to some of these events by virtue of his domain. For such suffering and violence surely must have caused at least one nightmare to be had. More than one. Assuming that any survivors were left; though it was certain whoever found- well. There were more things to be focusing on than why he hadn't heard this story before. "The consumption of flesh is not inherently a bad thing. It is difficult, yes, but it isn't evil." It could be hard for the herbivore family members to understand the needs and desires of their carnivorous dear ones. Jim kept his rough voice as gentle as he could manage, for there was no crime in being afraid or worried. "You and this Eiryn have been very brave. Perhaps he can still yet be helped past any lingering violence."
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