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 Posted: Wed Dec 28, 2011 10:26 am
Running, she'd been running for far too long that she wasn't sure that she knew anything other than running. Running and surviving and begging....healing? Pain she knew well the scars all over her flank were proof of it but really living... That was a dream for those who were free. She was free, in a way, free of the chains that had bound her to servitude but never from the memories or the physical marks left by it.
She remembered the night she was 'turned loose'. Her Master had come in and unlocked her from the wall she'd spent most nights chained to, behind a locked door that said she was off limits for more...tiring activities. He'd taken her to the bathing room and ordered her to scrub down. Used to this she hadn't batted an eye and bathed as quickly as she could while still being thorough. After that he'd given her some clothing to replace the threadbare cloth she'd been garbed in before. A quickly muttered spell with the application of key to lock had snapped the slaves collar she wore. She was...surprised by the action and just stared at her master...former master in shock. He explained to her the rules of owning slaves where they were, and that a slave was paid for tasks they did, with the cost of living subtracted from their earnings. It took a slave many many years to work off their cost while still making a profit for their owners, but apparently she had done it.
He fed her one last time and told her that unless she wanted to be a slave again she'd better hightail it out of there. There was a grace period of a week before she was free game again and with her skills there would be a great deal of people salivating to acquire her.
So she fled and continued to run even though she'd been long clear of the place she'd called home for many years. Now she didn't know where she was and the loneliness was eating her alive. Beautiful scenery could only sustain her for so long before everything started to blend together. With a tired sigh she sat down on an outcropping of rock, high above a valley and just looked down. A flash of yellow and blue on a bird teased memories of a happier time to the front of her mind. Absently she wondered how her friend was, if he was even alive.
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Posted: Wed Dec 28, 2011 10:39 am
Octultus took his time in cleaning with wings this day--he planned to fly south to the Tower in search of work. The infamous Alchemaster there was always in search of someone to do the manual labor around the place.
His wings raised high and with a great thrust eh was off the ground and on his way... There were so many places to see o the way... the great lake and of course the mountains and forest. He was not even sure he was ever going to make it with all the sight-seeing he did. And gods-forbid he pass a traveler in need he could not help himself but to assist them.
(In fact--he was now shirtless for that exact reason!)
With his mind full of plans and mapping out his path ahead he found his wigs getting rather tired and seeing an outcropping decided that the lovely little place was a good one to land in...
His wings set him down in a bollowy valley field of golden wheat raisig just above his knees and still in its growing season.
The rocks just shead were plenty large enough and would surely be warm and provide a good lookout place for him should any encroachers come about.
He let his wings fold against his back as he began to walk toward a tall set of stones...
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Posted: Wed Dec 28, 2011 11:02 am
There was a rustle of wings somewhere behind her and the wind brought to her the scent of another Mearh. She snapped her eyes shut and curled up as best she could, form trembling. She hadn't encountered another soul while on the run and now...did they catch up to her? She'd fight them if they tried to take her back but right now she was so very tired. No, being tired was what had gotten her captured in the first place.
Lips pressed into a thin line Jadus uncurled from her ball of misery and stood, spinning on a heel to glare down at the intruder. She stood tall as the other strode up the same path she had earlier and her breath caught in her throat. It couldn't be..? Octultus's father? In this place? The stallion in question was a faded memory much like her own parents, but those markings were hard to forget. Many a night she dreamt about those patterns, wishing with all her might that reality was nothing more than a fever dream and she wake safe and secure. It was always hard to face the day after reliving all the good times of her past.
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Posted: Wed Dec 28, 2011 11:11 am
Octultus heaved himsef up another rock; not having even noticed the female mearh and certainly not caught her scent with the wind blowing at his back. His feathers ruffled a bit and finally he reached the height of the rocks! It ws like he as a kid agian with his eyes shut he imagined he was palying on the rock ples near his town with friends... He missed his foalhood and with a bit of his father's grimmace looked up to a rock just higher than the one he was on...
A female looked down at him with discerning eyes and taught features. She reminded him of his friends back home and for a moment he wished he was there again in the green fields and tall trees.
"I--I'm sorry. Did I frighten you?" he askewd in earnest as she looked rather alarmed beneath her solid expressions he could see her shaking ever so slightly.
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Posted: Wed Dec 28, 2011 11:41 am
The wind was playful as it teased her hair, blowing it into her face before letting it dancing easily around her. She knew it was knotted and looked like a mess but... She squashed the self-conscious feelings easily, having been trained out of having them. "I-I know you." She whispered, voice hoarse as she took a step closer. Familiar, he was so very familiar it was nearly painful trying to recall just where she knew him. The voice wasn't the same as she remember Octultus's father having, it was younger for one and didn't hold the note of authority his had.
She shook herself out of the trance his familiarity brought. "You didn't scare me, only startled me." She said finally.
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Posted: Wed Dec 28, 2011 12:23 pm
Octultus felt his heands reaching up and he lifted himself to her level rathe subconsciously with his wings giving him an extra boost on the way up so his landing was softer and almost vade no sound at all.
"I was going to say the same thing." he spoke with a puzzled look on his face.
Octultus let his hands drop and finally cross as he sat on the rocks.
"Sit I won't bite." he said with a smile trying to liven the mood. He was not as adept to the wind on the groun it was tame compared to the sky which he loved so much to be a part of.
He waited a bit before speaking again.
"Yo seem a bit...uneasy. do you need any help?" he asked in his gentlest voice. He was not sure how she would react; perhaps the reason she was remembering him was his father who had similar markings?
His were brighter like his mother's but he caught his fathers strength and his mom's bright color and gentility.
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Posted: Wed Dec 28, 2011 4:42 pm
"I don't need any help, I'll be fine once I get my bearings." She said, declining the invitation to sit down. She'd spent days, literally, on her feet before so this was nothing. Her hands twitched as if she wished she were holding onto something, or perhaps felt as if she were loosing something. It didn't matter, she needed to know why she felt as if she knew this Stallion. She shifted her weight and felt the slight shiver of the piercings along her spine shift with her. Tiny silver hoops just large enough to slide a wire through that could be extended all the way up to her neck, where it would have attached to her slave collar.
Another humiliating thing to add to the list of it all.
The silence that settled between them was thick and uneasy but not quite suffocating. Finally she asked, "You aren't Osin...are you?"
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Posted: Wed Dec 28, 2011 5:12 pm
Octultus let his hand run through his mane before letting it settle on the ground. "Suit yourself. I've been flying a long while though so forgive my lack of attention span" he laughed a little.
His father's name escaped her lips and he; still not any incling to who she had been to him, was surprised this female brought back the tender memories of foalhood.
"Me? No--that was my dad " he looked back this time taking a long look at her. She was...like a fog. In his memory he was sure there was something there but finding nothing he mentally shrugged and continued to enjoy his flight break.
"My name is octultus," he said, standing and letting his hands cross in front of his chest.
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Posted: Thu Dec 29, 2011 9:07 am
Jadus took a step back, reeling as if struck, this was her Octultus? Her cute little friend from her dream-like past? The one creature that had kept her from simply submitting fully and becoming little more than a will-less puppet? What happened to him? He was...he was still supposed to be tiny, cute not...not an adult. She dropped unceremoniously onto the rocks at her feet and pulled her knees to her chest.
No, this wasn't her Octultus this was someone else. A family member, cousin or uncle with the same name. Yes...that had to be it. She felt the tears trail down her face as her mind scrambled to find some excuse to deny everything that she'd thought nothing more than a nightmare from becoming the reality. She knew it was all true, she knew it, but that didn't meant she had to acknowledge it. Even if one truth of it was staring her right in the face.
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Posted: Thu Dec 29, 2011 11:42 am
Not sure what he had done wrong ; Octultus followed her to the ground and as she wept he looked confused and upset... did he d something wrong? Was she hurt?
"Are--are you ok? Was it something i said??" he asked; similar to the way he had helped her when she scraped her knee so long ago. He sat with his knees to his chest as well and wings flitting behind him anxiously. They twitched in the light breeze and felt heavy on him as he considered why she was upset?
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Posted: Thu Dec 29, 2011 12:40 pm
"You can't be him," Came the broken reply, "You can't be." A sob prevented her from carrying on with her denials and she stopped clinging to her knees to cling to his arms. "You can't be Octultus, he was-was tiny-" She bared her teeth and clenched her eyes shut, swallowing any other protest. She pushed away from him and through tear-blurred eyes searched his body for any marks that would prove his identity.
There and...and there little scars faded by time from the antics they used to get caught up in as children. Slowly her tears stopped, her body long since gone numb. "You're...him. My Octultus." She whispered, defeated by a foe neither of them could touch. She slumped down to stare at her hands. "It really was real, all of it."
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Posted: Thu Dec 29, 2011 12:48 pm
Octultus looked at her a bti bewildered; he had not seen any childhood riends since...well...childhood. their tiny mountain home was mostly empty now. Everyone left and those that survived the raids did not care to return...Only his father Osin and the guild leaders remained.
"You--can't possibly mean...Jadus?" he questioned; her hans still clingingto his arms with a grip that could put a logger to shame. Her tears were hot as they fell ont his feathers which in reaction ruffled and puffed up.
"Jadus?" He asked with eyes a little curious; he saw her...but she too was not hersef. Not as he remembered.
Not at all...
This mare was defeated; lonely... left for dead in the wilderness he supposed. And all this time he forgot how refreshing it was to know someone. Really. To know them for years and it be true!
He; whilst thinking of nothing but his friend could not bare to clench his fists anymore and whe she finally released him Octultus flew at her; grabbing her up and great embrace. He surrounded her with his wings protectively.
"Its alright--You don't need to fear anymore."
He wanted to cry too but the cold chill of time had solidified his norally light heart. The ice of winter had slowed it beat and until now he thought perhaps it had stopped entirely...
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Posted: Thu Dec 29, 2011 1:07 pm
"It wont ever be alright. " Jadus muttered, leaning into his offered warmth. He was warm, so very warm. "The village...is gone isn't it? I remember flames and my parents....they're gone aren't they? I saw them set the house on fire as they left." She said in a detached manner, "Why did they attack us Octultus? Why did they set the events for this nightmare into motion?"
She buried her head into his chest and listened to his heart beat. The shadows offered by his wings were comforting and she couldn't find the strength within her to protest the treatment or the offered support. As much as she had hated to lean on someone as a filly, she had learned that it was best to take what was offered even if you didn't want it. Besides this was her friend, the one who had kept her darkest days from totally breaking her, just by being in her thoughts.
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Posted: Thu Dec 29, 2011 1:54 pm
Octultus let himself stay a while and felt his chest wet from her tears. It refused to dry outside f sunlight and the wings spread open again only partially shading the mare.
"It..well. We can talk about that later." He huffed not sure how to tell her the whole of the village was gone and ony the guild remained there and most of it was corrupt by now... How could he do that? How could he say to her her family was gone and his family too? Osin had diappeared and no one was sure of his whereabouts which is why Octultus now flew south in search of his lost clans-mearh?
Arms holding her now lik a cradle he let the two of them sink to the ground to be more comfortable. The warm wind breezing past picked up and his wings wanted to take him far away and they twitched in anticipation at the thought.
The wise had gathered in his village years ago to discuss the matter of children.... and Octultus; instead of being offered as a sacrifice to stop the raiding slavers was stolen away by his grandfather who raised him thereafter atop the mountain. Leaving his father...who was blamed and banished...and the Village; burned for their lack of offering to the Slavers nearby.
What a horrid story... he did not want to and would not tell her this tale for good reason.... Let her rest a bit. Let her find a feather of peace among the needles of painful memories.
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Posted: Thu Dec 29, 2011 8:31 pm
"I've got time now. but you're right. This isn't...isn't a good time to tell me what you know." She murmured, slowly pushing away from the safety zone he offered. With a sigh she scooted back and stood, ignoring the ache in her throat and the tears on her face. She already knew she looked like a mess so there wasn't any further need to acknowledge it. "I need someplace safe..to stay for a little while." She said, wrapped her arms around her waist, "Do you know..anywhere I could go? I don't have any money but I'm willing to work for my lodgings. I can heal if that matters any."
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