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 Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2011 8:06 pm
Claudine's mind danced around to different memories in time, mostly of her childhood. Since her return to her grandmothers home she had been trying to preoccupy herself with memories of her childhood, even though they were not much better then the event that brought her back in the first place. Claudine had never realized how horrible she had been as a foal towards her family, let alone the very few soquili she had met before her ultimate mistake. What had triggered her to be that evil and malicious? Was it only a matter of time before she killed someone herself? Was it fate that she had met Barracus and been tricked or just an accident like she had previously thought? These questions were constantly floating around her head. And most of the time she could not shake them for very long.
"Today is going to be different." She said to herself in a attempt to somehow make it true. "Just take slow steps...." She continued to say as she began walking towards a small river that seperated the herd lands from the forest on the eastern side. Since Claudine had been back she spent most of the time in her grandmother's garden, hoping to gain knowledge from the flowers on how to fix her life. Victoria, her grandmother, told her that one could not be told what they could do to change their life by another because it was something that had to come naturally. Otherwise it would never work. Claudine sighed as she reached the edge of the river. Then why is it so hard to figure out? She thought to herself as she kicked a pebble into the water.
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Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2011 8:20 pm
Christian took to the wilderness in stride. It wasn’t often that he was out on his own without his adoptive father hovering over his shoulder, and it was a welcome change. Sometimes Jack could be a little too preoccupied with his son’s welfare; so much so that he became an annoyance rather than a help. The nightmares….they’d kicked in again. For a while, spending time with his herd was enough to keep them at bay, but ever since he had taken in his own adoptive son, the memories came back. Of running in fear, hiding in little caves with his mother, of her openly submitting and agreeing with the beatings that were sure to come from the man she had chosen to mate with.
He shook his head with a yawn. Best to just take it easy today and see what came of tomorrow. Christian lumbered down to a small river, his leonine tail snaking around his legs with each step. It was then that he spotted the mare. Seeing her as nothing more than a passerby, he dipped his muscular head into the water for a drink.
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Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2011 8:33 pm
Claudine hadn't heard the steps of the unicorn stallion that approached the river until his mouth was dipping in to get a drink. Slightly spooked, she looked at him with wider eyes then was necessary. After a few seconds she calmed herself down and took in a deep breath. She desperately needed to practice her socializing skills if she was ever going to sucessfully change her life. Besides, unicorns were supposed to be friendly creatures right? Claudine cleared her throat by gulping somewhat loudly. "Umm...." She said, trying to get the words to come out of her mouth. "Hello..." She said, flashing a small smile that looked a bit awkward. "The water's delicious isn't it!" Claudine spitted out, instantly regretting opening her mouth in the first place. He's going to think I'm some kind of crazed idiot. Or maybe that I'm some kind of creeper! She thought to herself, dropping her head slightly.
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Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2011 8:53 pm
Christian raised his head up to quick an eyebrow at her. Of course, with the way his bangs fell, it was completely invisible. He hadn’t expected her to actually talk to him. What was he supposed to do now? He took a hesitant step into the water, and rose up completely to give her his full attention. That was right, right? Stand up and look assertive. Or slightly aggressive, in his case. “It’s…water.” Christian blurted. “But it is nice. Very cool and crisp.” Why was she lowering her head? Did she not want to talk to him anymore, but chose not to walk away? Mares. “I can leave if you’d prefer. I’d rather leave than make you uncomfortable.”
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Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2011 8:55 pm
"Oh no it's not that!" She replied, her head shooting up to look at him. "I just...." Claudine said trying to make herself sound more confident thent she felt. "I'm not very good at talking to others." It was best to tell the truth... Right? He really was going to think she was crazy or a creeper. No! This meeting would go better then that! Claudine tilted her head slightly as she tried to read his facial expressions. "What are you doing this far out?" Claudine asked, not intending to sound rude or demanding. "Umm... That's if you want to tell me." She mumbled just loud enough for him to hear what she had said. WHY IS THIS SO HARD? She thought to herself.
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Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2011 9:04 pm
“You too?” Christian tilted his head to the side, allowing one of his lime green eyes to be seen as he mimicked her. He didn’t know if he wanted to leave anymore, or stick around. The mare was acting a lot like his friend Broderick’s newest fling, and that scared him more than anything. Why is she still talking? Spirits above, he’d missed the last thing she’d said! The Clydesdale Uni shuffled his hooves in the little river nervously. “Just walking. I needed a break from my father so I…took off.” As he spoke, the stallion began to slowly roll his head towards the sky. Then, just as slowly, he brought it back to her.
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Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2011 9:11 pm
Claudine looked at him suspiciously with a little bit of confusion mixed in. "You have a father?" She asked with surprise. "I mean one that you are still living with." Claudine sighed. "I'm Claudine." She said trying to smile once again. After he had returned to look at her she cocked one eyebrow before she looked up towards the sky like him then returned her head to the previous position. "What?" Claudine asked slightly worried that something was above them. "Is there something up there?" She asked with wide eyes. Maybe it's just a bird or something.... Claudine thought to herself as she tried to calm herself down.
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Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2011 9:19 pm
“Unfortunately.” Christian rolled his eyes with an agitated huff. “How can I explain it? …What was it he said?” He pondered for a moment, flipping his ears back. “Oh, right. I am unfit to be left alone in society.” And that basically summed it up. He didn’t want to come straight out with ‘I have delusions’ or ‘I go into a rage when I see a Kalona’ to someone he just met. She wasn’t likely to understand that demonic side of him that he constantly battled with.
And once again, Christian found himself look at the sky. “Just clouds, from the look of it. I thought I saw something, but I was wrong.”
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Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2011 9:52 pm
Claudine's mood instantly changed from awkwardness to sadness after he talked about how he was unfit for society. "You don't look like you're not fit for society." She said with a small smile that faded once she began to say her next words. "If you are unfit for society, then I should be dead right now." Claudine frowned. He had surely never killed anyone else. He knew nothing of that pain and sorrow and hopefully would never have to. "I've done terrible terrible things in my life that you probably couldn't even imagine." She replied, her pain from what she had done showing on her face.
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Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2011 8:49 pm
"Looks can be deceiving," Christian murmured, shifting his hooves on the slippery stones. The thick fetlocks around his hooves billowed out around him like flowers in the stream.
Despite her words, he found himself curious. If he had been a sensible stallion, he would comfort the poor mare and turn away from the subject. However, Christian never was one for tact. "Try me." He challenged, then tried another approach. "What could you have possibly have done to cause you so much grief?"
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Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2011 9:12 pm
Claudine looked at him with sullen eyes. "Fine. I'll tell you but you will hate me once I do." She said with a sigh. Why couldn't he just pretend like she hadn't said anything at all? Well there went her chance of possibly making her first friend. "Well I guess I should start with how everything happened." Claudine said, thinking of a good place to begin. "When I was a foal I was very mean and hateful to everyone, even my parents. I honestly didn't see how I could be related to them. I thought I was left behind by a kalona or skinwalker." She replied, wincing as she said the word skinwalker.
"One day while I was out wandering I came across a skinwalker who told me I could join him when I was older if I wished. So every day after that I did anything and everything I could to get my body ready for anything he could throw at me. Then when I grew up I sought him out and it didn't take long for me to find him. I teamed up with him and did everything I could to prove myself worthy." Claudine said, her eyes filling up with tears. "Then one day he tricked me. Sure I had hurt soquili with him, but what he tricked me into doing went against my own moral code..... He told me to find someone we could torture for a bit, like usual. So I did and brought them back to him. Then he jumped out and killed the soquili right before me." She cried to the stallion. "I led someone who didn't deserve to die to their death." Claudine said, her legs wabbling and shaking underneath her.
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Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2011 9:36 pm
Christian merely nodded; silently letting her know that he was ready. He couldn't imagine that anything she was about to tell him would be so shocking that he would hate her afterwards, though. So, he branched out over to the bank and tucked his legs underneath him, prepping himself for whatever kind of tale she would spin.
And what a tale! Mean and hateful? A skinwalker? Christian couldn't help making a face. Seriously? She didn't look very mean to him, but then again, appearances could be deceiving. The tears in her eyes proved her repentance, however. He shot back up to her side, using his body as a crutch to keep her from falling into the water. "If that was supposed to make me hate you, it was a piss poor attempt." Christian looked down into her eyes solemnly. "What you did was wrong. You were a brat, who was easily deceived by a monster." He paused, his expression softening. "However, you're not killer. Misguided, yes, but not a murderer."
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Posted: Thu Sep 01, 2011 2:31 pm
Claudine was slightly surprised when the stallion pushed his body against her's to keep her stable. Without realizing it she leaned against him and buried her face into his neck, feeling completely broken and weak. Her eyes hurt in their sockets from all the crying she had been doing as well as the strain from admitting her mistake to someone outside her family. "He didn't decieve me... At least not before causing me to kill that soquili." Claudine cried. "I had hurt many others before him, willingly." She replied honestly. Maybe she wasn't a monster for leading the soquili to their death but she was positive she was at least one for hurting countless others for no reason. Claudine raised her head and looked into the stallions eyes. "I'm sorry." She said with a cracked voice.
Finally she had stopped crying, not that she didn't feel like she could continue crying, she just had no more tears left in her body. Claudine still felt wobbily on her feet so she stayed leaning against the unicorn. His body was warm and his pelt smelt a bit like flowers and trees. It must have been from the otherside of the small brook, but she almost wondered if he had been on this side before in Victoria's garden. Claudine took a deep breath in, soaking up his scent. "You smell like home." She said, closing her eyes.
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Posted: Thu Sep 01, 2011 2:52 pm
It felt odd to have the mare nuzzled into his neck, but it gave him solace. At least she wasn't running away from him; she was taking what little comfort he was able to provide for her. "Naive." Christian stated again, keeping a calm head in her flurry of emotion. "What you did was naive because you didn't know any better than to do it, but you've learned and grown, don't you think?" He looked down into her eyes with nothing, but acceptance. "If you hadn't been tricked, you would have still been that way. If anything, you should thank him for that."
Christian didn't move from his post. He couldn't say that he'd never felt like breaking, and he couldn't say that he'd never cried, but never with someone so close. He'd been on his own, but he wished he hadn't been. She felt so small and fragile next to him that he knew he couldn't abandon her now. "Home must be a lonely place, then."
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Posted: Thu Sep 01, 2011 3:44 pm
Slightly taken aback by the stallions words, Claudine realized they might have some truth in them. "You're actually sort of right." She replied lightly. She turned her head up to look at him once more. "I have grown, and I am much better then I was before. I don't want to hurt anyone. In fact I'm afraid to hurt anyone." Claudine said with a nod. His next remark made her smile slightly. "Don't be so hard on yourself." She replied, referring to his comment about home being lonely. Which of course she assumed was a hit against himself. "Home is just... not really home anymore." Claudine said honestly. "Not really lonely, just not mine anymore."
After a few moments she stepped away from the stallion, but not before taking in one more big gulp of his scent. She would always remember it as the day she met a stallion who made her rethink her whole life. One day she would have to repay him for it. "I think I am better for now." Claudine said, smiling the best she could. "But..... You should...." Claudine stammered her words, not sure how to say what she felt. This stallion was hopefully a new found friend, one that she hoped wouldn't run away now that she was better. Just tell him he should stay a little bit longer. Maybe offer to show him around Victoria's herd. Claudine thought to herself. "Would you like to stay forever?" She mistakingly asked. Her eyes went wide and a dark red burned her cheeks. "I-- I--" Claudine said, not sure what she should do.
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