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 Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2008 6:51 pm
 Martin dragged himself deeper into the forest, crying out in pain every time his leg was jiggled even a little bit. He came to a stop next to a small stream. A stallion scream escaped his mouth, and he fell to his knees, then to the ground. He lay there, shattered and probably dying. The world spun, memories of the recent battle flitting back in forth. What had happened between him and Nightshade? All he knew was of the deep slice running the entire length of his leg, so much that bone was exposed to the outside world, and a gaping hole in his neck from where Nightshade's teeth had ripped and shredded.
And that during the battle something had happened, he had become as bloodthirsty and ruthless as the kalona he had been fighting. Martin gasped for breath, and took a few faint hearted gulps of water from where he was lying on his side, then choked violently, and spat the water out. He swam in and out of concisnous, he didn't know where he was, what was going to happen, only that his life was delicately balanced on top of a very tall mountain, and it was leaning ever so slightly the wrong way.
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Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2008 7:10 pm
 Cobalt walked in the shadows by the stream, enjoying the quiet that he rarely had. His training with Iofiel had been progressing nicely, but it left him with little time to himself. As it was, he was happy to be training so hard. His body was more muscled, and although it gave him a more rugged appearance than usual, he was proud to be learning how to fight.
He rounded a curve in the stream, and suddenly noticed a light blue stallion lying in the stream. He seamed to be injured! Cobalt, seeing the oh-too-recognizable marks of a Kalona fight, rushed to his side.
"Are you...are you alright?" He asked hesitantly.
Cobalt felt exposed, standing out in the light. He was so used to hiding away in the shadows...where no one could see him, where he could stay safe. Perhaps he could reason with this blue stallion, to show him that he truly meant no harm.
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Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2008 9:39 am
Martin groaned and wearily opened his eyes. His heart froze, his mind went blank. Standing over him was a male Kalona. All of a sudden, that horrible feeling re entered Martin's head. The feeling of wanting to kill, to taste blood. Then the feeling took over again. Something else was controlling Martin's body. He jumped to his feet, letting out a scream of agony as his front leg buckled underneath him, but he stayed upright on three legs.
"You horrid Kalona scum, what, is this a tag team battle? Nightshade leaves me to the point of death, then you come in and finish me off?" He rasped, the hole in his neck taking its toll. His eyes glinted red, and menacing chuckle grew in his throat. On three legs, he threw himself at the half Kalona, and sunk his teeth into his flank, battering his belly with sharpened hooves. If he couldn't kill Nightshade, maybe he could kill her half blooded minion.
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Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2008 12:16 pm
Cobalt had expected fear. Even a bit of aggression. But this...this was a new reaction. Obviously, this stallion was in quite a bit of pain, yet he had the gall to attack. Wincing with pain, Cobalt leaped up in the air, hovering a few feet above the stallion. Cobalt had expected this behavior from Kalonas. This was a normal stallion, without wings, but he fought madly, as if he couldn't control himself...just like a Kalona.
Still...he didn't look like a Kalona. So, where did this anger come from?
His question was answered in the words uttered from the stallions ravaged throat. Nightshade. She had not harmed Cobalt upon their meeting, but had made known her nonacceptance of him. This stallion...Cobalt knew she would have shown him no mercy.
"I assure you. I am no friend to Nightshade. I have no intention of harming you!" Cobalt frowned, knowing his words would only seem a lie. So...best give him something more believable. "However, if you choose to attack me, I will have no choice but to defend myself." Hot blood dripped down his flank. A simple flesh wound...yet it bled something awful.
The smell of blood tickled Cobalt's nostrils, calling to a part of him locked up inside. "No..." Cobalt muttered, "I will not be like the others." He could not deny his Kalona half, but he wasn't about to indulge it either. Not to mention that he would feel guilty for weeks afterwards.
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Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2008 3:25 pm
Martin screamed, "Lying trechereous scum! Nightshade is a traitor to all things, she sent you! I KNOW SHE DID!" He raged madly, that the half blooded Kalona was too high for him to reach. He paced, like a tiger trapped in a cage. Kalona's, all they told were lies, lies and more lies. Martin saw red again, and he ached to tear into this Kalona's flesh, to rip him limb from limb. He wanted to stop, his leg was rendered useless, his neck bleeding like mad. But this new personality drove him on, even if it meant that he should die fighting this half Kalona.
He snarled, and rasped, "You are nothing but an abomination, unfit to walk this earth. Shunned by your own kind, and by everyone else." He tried to laugh, but choked instead, "You're pathetic" He leaped into the air, trying to grab ahold of the kalona's leg, but fell back to the earth.
All fight gone, the bloodthirsty personality deserted Martin, and he was left helpless and weak. A fresh throb of pain roared through every part of his being. Martin wanted to scream, but he couldn't, everything was gone, black. Why couldn't he just die, then the pain would end, everything would end, but was that the warrior way?
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Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2008 5:40 pm
 And it was at that moment when Alyna appeared, flowers braided into her curly tresses. "Cobalt? What are you doing up...MARTIN?" Shock completely covered her face. "You're hurt!" She raced to his side, concern in her eyes. Cobalt, still aloft, merely grimaced and commented snarkily, "You know this stallion? I was going to help him, but he decided to attack me." Cobalt wasn't going to land anytime soon. He wasn't about to be attacked again.Alyna's brows furrowed. The Martin she knew wouldn't hurt a fly...then again, she had known him as a foal...Still, he was gravely injured. She should help him, even if he attacked Cobalt. Maybe he didn't know that Cobalt was nice? Alyna had been afraid of him at first, so she understood that. "Martin, is this true? Did you attack him?"
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Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2008 6:44 pm
By now Martin was numb to everything, so it didn't suprise him that an old childhood friend was allied with such an evil being as a Kalona, even a half blooded one. He tried to stand, but fell, and the last of the fight left his eyes. He was too tired to fight anymore, or argue, so he rasped, the breath catching in his throat and making his eyes water. Finally he managed to choke out, "Yes, I did."
He narrowed his eyes and glanced at the Kalona hovering in the sky. What a coward, couldn't even fight his own battles and had to call in someone else to fight them for him. Still though, this was Alyna, one of the best friends he had ever had. As she came closer, he felt his nose start to tickle, his eyes began watering, and he sneezed violently, then let out a scream of pain as the wound in his neck was streached and ripped even further. He sneezed again, followed by another scream.
He could barely see, the white hot pain of his neck blinding him, but he managed to make out the outline of flowers in Alyna's mane. He rasped, "Alyna, flowers." And sneezed again. The pain from his neck had turned numb, but Martin could feel waves of blood coming from it, and that it had streached out from a small hole to a giant gash, running from his cheak bone to the base of his shoulder.
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Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2008 9:25 pm
"OH! Oh, no! Gosh, I'm so sorry, Martin!" Alyna said, scampering off to the edge of the forest to discard her flowers. After shaking them all out of her hair, she returned to Martin's side. "Oh, Martin, who did this to you?" Alyna looked up at Cobalt. "Go get some moss to pack in these wounds. It'll stop the bleeding."
Cobalt was happy to have an excuse to leave. He could tell that Martin still didn't trust him. And it was becoming obvious that the stallion was close to death. How he had managed to stand, let alone attack, was beyond Cobalt's knowledge. He would've left him to die...but he was a friend of Alyna's. He could tell they were close, or had been in the past. If he didn't help in every way he could, and the stallion died, Alyna would be unhappy...and Cobalt could have her sad. She was like a little sister to him, and he loved her.
And so, he landed neatly beside the nearby forest, and went trudging off for moss.
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Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2008 10:05 pm
Martin grinned weakly as he saw Alyna frantically take of the flowers, and he said in a pained voice, "Thats okay, its been months since we've seen eachother, I'm not surprised you've forgotten" He sneezed once more, then groaned in pain. Now his head was throbbing. He heard through a fog Alyna asking who had done this too him. And he rasped in answer, "Nightshade, she might," He broke off and wheezed for breath, "still be around" He shuddered at the thought of Nightshade ripping into Alyna, who had no battle training whatsoever. "She's injured too, can't know for sure."
He froze as he heard the sound of wing beats, but relaxed as he saw it was only Cobalt flying away. With the half blooded Kalona gone, it took a lot of stress away. He looked at Alyna and asked tiredly, "Why trust a Kalona, they're nothing but evil trechereous fiends." He felt weak from bloodloss, but the wounds were getting clotted up, so he felt a little stronger.
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Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2008 10:22 pm
"Yeah, last time I saw you, you were a foal...we were both so young." Alyna smiled at him weakly, as the sight of her friend in pain was very saddening to her. "We don't have to worry about Nightshade then, if she's injured. She'll be off licking her wounds, and if she comes around here looking for trouble, Cobalt will take care of her. He's been off training with some mare, and he's come back tougher and stronger than ever..." She trailed off, a grin on her face. She was so proud of Cobalt for learning to fight. It was something she felt she could never do, and it was nice to feel protected when she was around him.
"Because Cobalt is my friend. And because he's not treacherous, or evil, or anything bad or malicious at all. He's not like other Kalona, Martin." She sighed, seeing that it would be difficult to convince him otherwise, especially since he had just been attacked by a full blooded Kalona.
"Cobalt's very unusual...he looks like he's almost a full-blooded Kalona, but you can tell because of his tail being like ours that he's not. But even though he looks so scary, he's really a very nice guy underneath it all. A bit shady, but he wouldn't hurt anyone who he didn't have a reason to hurt. And he never harms an innocent. He told me that once...when I was afraid of him, he said that I had nothing to fear, because I was an innocent...And you're an innocent, too! You haven't done anything wrong...Cobalt's used to everyone being afraid of him, calling him names, and attacking him for no reason." Alyna smiled sadly, wishing Cobalt had an easier lot in life.
"And he's not bitter or mean about any of it! That's the amazing part. Because he's been treated like dirt by everyone for his whole life, and he's still one of the most honorable stallions you'll ever meet." Alyna smiled, and turned back to look at Martin again. "I know you probably won't believe me, and I understand because I felt the same way once, but sometimes you just have to give someone the benefit of the doubt until they prove otherwise. Half-Kalonas are sometimes not evil at all, sometimes they're very nice and gentle and sweet. You just have to give them the opportunity to show you that they are."
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Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2008 10:30 pm
Martin closed his eyes as he listened to Alyna talk, the sound of her words was like cool water rushing over him during a hot afternoon. It struck him how much she really cared for Cobalt. Not in a lovey dovey way, but in a brother sister sort of way. He was still doubtful, but then he wondered what it would be like if his dark personality was always in control. He'd be shunned too, even though he was a nice guy.
Martin let out a soft sigh, this was all so complicated. To please Alyna, he'd trust Cobalt until he did something that proved him untrustworthy. It unnerved him a little that Cobalt had been trained in the art of fighting, but perhapes he could learn something from him. He remembered his father saying to him, 'You can learn something from everybody, even if its how not to be.' He asked aloud, "Why do you trust him." It was a simple question, with thousands of answers. He wanted to hear Alyna's.
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Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2008 10:37 pm
An easy question. Alyna smiled warmly. "Because a long time ago, I met a Half-Kalona who showed me that just because he had a barbed tail, it didn't mean he was evil. So, when a Half-Kalona showed up with scary wings and dark colors, I was more inclined to trust him because I had already learned half of that lesson." Alyna shook out her mane, getting her unruly curls out of her eyes.
"And as far as him specifically...He showed up one day with tears in his eyes because he had been rejected by everyone he had ever met. He wound up thinking I was a hallucination...and begged me not to reject him too. I figured anyone who could cry couldn't be evil...and he proved me right. That's why I trust him. Because every single day, he's still proving me right." Alyna thought for a moment, then asked, "Why don't you trust him?"
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Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2008 10:48 pm
Martin contemplated Alyna's answer, not thoroughly of course, because of the pain that was still rolling down his body in waves, but enough. He thought a long while, then answered, "Kalona's have never given me a reason to trust. Cyander almost killed my mother, Spyro almost ripped off my leg, and Nighshade has done a pretty good job of killing me." He laughed harshly, and continued, "Why should I trust one, when three have given me reasons not to trust. You do the math." Martin had worked to long and too hard to stay alive, and protect the ones he loved, just to fall and trust a half kalona's words.
He said aloud, "Its easy enough for him to say he means no harm. But does he really? He has a good side, and a bad side. Thats half and half. What happens when the bad half wins out over the other at some point, even if its only for a minute." The hard feeling behind Martin's words was concealed fear, fear for himself. This was him speaking, not talking about Cobalt. What would happen if someday his bloodthirsty side won out over his gentle? Even if it was only for a minute, that was sixty seconds to maim and kill others, a posibility for him, and for Cobalt.
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Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2008 10:57 pm
"Then...then I hope that I am nowhere around during that minute." Alyna's voice shook a bit, but she continued anyway, "I still hold firm, though, to stay by him...because everyone has a dark side, although some have more of it than others. And how can I turn him away? He needs me...he told me yesterday that he never had a sister...and that I was probably the closest thing to it that he'd ever get. I don't think that he would hurt me, even if his bad side won out. If you really love someone, you'd never, ever hurt them, no matter what." Alyna grinned at Martin. "Besides, he's too tough to let something like that happen. Just like someone else I used to know, hmm? You turned out to be pretty tough yourself...although I seriously question your reasons for being anywhere near full-blooded Kalonas."
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Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 4:40 pm
Martin sighed, it was apparent that Alyna placed her trust in Cobalt, and nothing he said would make her change her trust. He shuddered as a ripple of pain rolled down his neck again, and screwed his eyes up tight, willing himself not to cry out. He gasped for breath, then the pain subsided, and he cracked open his eyes. The world was becoming clearer now, not double anymore. He could see Alyna looking over him with concern, and he asked, his voice raw and thick, "Where did that half Kalona go?"
He tried to raise his head to drink a bit of water, but the deep gash on his neck prevented any movement. He winced and glowered angrily, he couldn't believe that Nightshade had done this much damage to him. He wasn't dying anymore, or at least, he didn't think he was, but the pain was so great he wished he was dead.
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