|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2013 10:11 pm
Skinny.
Trinian's eyes widened as the thought ran through his mind. His hand was closed around a wrist. Or at least it looked like a wrist. It felt more like a bone or a stick, it was that slim. It was a surprise to Trini that there was actual skin in his grip, and that it moved.
The offender attempted to yank his hand away, but he was really no match for one who handles large birds all day. Trini barely felt the resistance.
He pulled the pickpocket forward, swinging the criminal around in front of him. Which really didn't help him get a good look at the miscreant anyway. Daylight had long since deserted the streets of Palisade and the Chirping Peasant wasn't located in the best area of town. There were large stretches in the lower areas of town where darkness prevailed and lamps were few and far between. Probably why the criminal had thought to strike under the blanket of darkness in the first place.
Trini considered. He could let the pickpocket go, the thief's deft hands hadn't managed to snatch his coin from him anyway....or... he could teach this one a lesson.
Long legs marched up the street, dragging the thief behind him. Trini could still feel the resistance the criminal put up, but it was weak and didn't hinder him at all...he ignored it completely.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2013 10:38 pm
Pehr was panicking internally.
In his past, he had had some close encounters and a few trips to the city jail, but that was all before Dearka. He had to provide for her now and if he was thrown behind bars he was sure she would die. So he was panicking.
It had been foolish, oh so foolish. He had seen the gentleman walking up Elm St. with a slight hitch in his step that indicated the man had just come from the tavern. From the look of it, the sir had also done pretty well with whatever game he had been playing. Pehr could see the slight wrinkles in the man's coat that indicated a heavy purse. A purse ripe for picking. A purse that would be better spent buying another meal for a gorgeous doe instead of being used to drown away the sorrows of some wealthy snob. So Pehr had moved in.
He had approach out of view and in the dark, thinking himself safe from detection. He hadn't anticipated the man's agility or awareness. Pehr had just moved the gentleman's coat a touch, ready to swoop in for the kill when an iron like grip surrounded his wrist. Pehr yanked his arm back. Or at least he intended to. The hand around his wrist didn't move an inch. Pehr pulled again. Nothing. The hand moved, swinging Pehr around to the front.
Pehr looked at his captor. The man was lean, but now Pehr could see that he was covered in lean muscles, especially his arms. It was no surprise Pehr couldn't move them. His face was unremarkable, at least in the dark, though the hard set of his lips didn't give Pehr any happy feelings. Close up Pehr also realized he was wrong in one respect. Although the clothing was well tailored and of good fabric, it was not the material a gentleman would use. Definitely not that of a higher-classman....though not exactly one of the lower folk either.
But none of these observations helped ease his panic.
And when the man strode off, Pehr's wrist still in his grip, there was little he could do but follow. And he barely managed that. The man walked fast, leaving Pehr to jog behind him. He once tried to stop and once he tripped. Both times the man dragged the ragged youth behind him till Pehr managed to regain his feet on his own.
Pehr was starting to get an idea of what his captor was like. He was sure he'd end up behind bars.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2013 11:10 pm
Trinian tossed the thief into the light. He had dragged the cretin all the way to a different district. One better lit and a little less rough around the edges. He had felt more than one pair of eyes watch him and his captive on their walk. Probably happy they had less competition.
Now he regarded the...Well... it was hard to tell really. The thief's head was hidden in a hood made of very, very dirty, what looked like teal, colored fabric. Otherwise he (she?) was swathed in rags. The only thing of note was the boots on its feet, which looked half decent. The criminal's head was down, blocking Trini's view into the hood.
Trinian scowled. What was the point of coming to the light if he still couldn't see the culprits face? He raised a hand. And paused as the slender wrist started to shake in his grip.
Trini slowly pulled back the hood.
A corpse stared back at him. Big doe eyes, overly large in the skeletal face, looked back at him. One blue, one brown. Dank brown hair hung down in slimy matted chunks, covering the child/boy/girl/monster's head.
Trini was shocked. He had seen poverty before. He had tossed pennies to the poor as he went to the tavern. But he had never seen starvation as blatant as this. This creature looked as though he already had one foot in the grave. Trini's eyes looked past the overly large skeletal head, to the thin neck and shoulders that supported it. Now he knew why the wrist had been so thin. It was proportionate in size.
He was shaken, and horrified, a rarity for the usually apathetic Trini. So he didn't notice the slight narrowing of the creature's eyes or catch the creature's other hand creep into his rags. However, He DID feel the sting of the cleaver as it bit into the flesh on the back of his hand. Instinctively he let go of his captive's wrist.
The creature jumped back a few paces, to the edge of the lamplight. He drew his hood back over his head, but Trini could still see the reflections from the creature's eyes. It was surveying him. Trini shuddered slightly, the blood from his wound dripping onto the street ...and watched as the creature licked the blood off the tip of its cleaver. It then disappeared back into the night from whence it had come.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2013 3:06 pm
Copper. The taste of copper overwhelmed Pehr's senses. It tasted so sweet, reminding the street-rat of meat. It had been such a long time since he had tasted meat, that he hardly remembered the taste. But now was not the time to dwell on it.
Pehr disappeared back into the darkness of the streets, back to his own district, back to the challenge of finding new prey to provide their next meal. The night was still young and he was still free to roam.
~~~
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2013 4:45 pm
3 Days Later
~~~
Trini walked through the bustling morning streets, one hand gingerly gripped onto the Teari's neck fur. Now that Guardians were recognized it wasn't all that odd to see them out and about, but Trini still felt better being in physical contact with the buck. Trini hadn't attend the ball himself, but he'd heard the stories, and well, the whole business put him on edge.
Still it was a bright cheery morning and everyone, for the most part, seemed to be going about their business as usual.
Curiosity
Trini had been watching the stag closely. He had spotted the stags head rise, his ears flip forward and his attention snag on something, so the mental pull hadn't been a surprise. Trini would have never believed how outgoing deer were before he became bonded to the buck. Now, he was always being dragged to see various "curiosities". He sighed, knowing that there was no stopping the creature once it had its mind fixed on something.
"Lead on, you daft creature." The words held a tinge of fondness and more than a bit of exasperation. His gesture to go forward prompted Teari into movement, following what he heard. After that, Trini was just an accessory for the deer, unnoticed as the creature was focused solely on what had heard. It was only when they were a few blocks, that Trini finally heard what his guardian had. and it didn't sound very encouraging.
whack, whack, whack.
Trini would know that sound anywhere, and as he rounded the final corner into the alley, pulled along by his guardian, his suspicions were confirmed.
Three young men, probably 16 or 17 in age, were beating ...something. They were all dressed in browns and coals, but they didn't carry the scruffiness of the street kids. Probably young merchant children Trini suspected. He didn't have long to consider as Teari snorted and lowered his head and stamped a foot.
"Hey wait! You ca-" Horrified, the words had barely left his mouth when the buck started his charge. The men looked up, leaving their prey forgotten and three mouths dropped open, surprised by the rather large beast heading straight towards them. "Run!!" One of them shrieked as he beat a hasty retreat, followed by his two scrawny ruffian partners. Had Teari been truly meaning to gore them, they would never had made it to the end of the alley. Luckily the buck was only looking to scare and choose a sedate trot instead, stopping once they disappeared out the end of the alley. The buck raised his head and glanced over his shoulder proudly at his rather disgruntled chosen. Amusement. If deer could laugh, Teari would've been. It didn't help Trini's mood at all. "Haha, I thought we were going to end up behind bars. Or worse, given to the lads' mothers to deal with...Now let's see what we have here." Trini had approached the potato sack. He listened intently, waiting to hear the mews of whatever dog the children we beating up on. Nothing. No sound. "May have been too late Teari." The buck watched intently as Trini crouched down and opened the drawstring on the bag.
He waited for the occupant to make its escape.
When nothing happened Trini stood up and wiped his hands on his trousers. He took a step back and rested a hand on his companions shoulder. "Too late Teari. Whatever it is is gone." The buck moved forward and softly nudged the bag with his nose, obviously still hopeful. A moment of silence and then a soft whimper drifted from the dirty sack. "Well then." Trini pulled his pocket knife and began to cut away the sack. Going slowly to avoid cutting the poor animal inside. Except it wasn't an animal inside, well it was, just not one Trini had been expecting. Curled in the fetal position was a child, swathed in rags, either unconscious or dead, Trinian couldn't tell. The child's face was bruised and swollen. Blood ran down from several gashes, soaking into the rags.
Without a thought, Trini scooped up the kid in his strong arms and took off at a run, chanting "s**t, s**t, s**t" under his breath all the way to the medica's shop. Teari following at his heels.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2013 4:52 pm
Pehr floated in a haze of fuzziness.
Faces, words, and images swirled around in his mind. But the image of a doe kept resurfacing, pushing its way to the forefront. Worry, worry, worry. Dearka. Dearka. Dearka.
"--mmm no worr', Dearka." Pehr faded into unconsciousness again.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2013 5:25 pm
Trinian sat beside the bed, its clean white linens arrange precisely in medical fashion, and watched his charge. This was the third day in a row that he had been here, in this room, wondering if this was a lost cause. Once he had found the boy, he had run him up to Loralynn's place. A hedgewitch with healing abilities, and one of the few people Trini trusted, she had immediately begun work on the child. She had healed his internal injuries first but after only a few hours she had declared enough.
"Rest, he needs rest and food. He doesn't have the strength for any-more healing, yet." The softening of Loralynn's eyes told Trini all he needed to know. She didn't believe he would live out the night.
But he had, though fever gripped the youth. The second day was as bad as the first. Trini had bathed the youth, only to discover that most of what he had assumed was grime, was actually bruises. Though there was grime and dirt as well. And Fleas. Lotsa fleas. Also, Loralynn had been right, the youth was too weak, too skeletal to handle more healing. Trinian still found it eerie how thin the child was. So he ended up spoon feeding some weak kind of soup down the youth's throat several times a day at Loralynn's insistence. He couldn't get her to do it, as the youth was already taking up one of her bed's for no fee. So Trini told some of his underlings to watch the mews while he was gone and bunked down at the hedgewitch's place.
So it was day 3 of Trini's vigil. The youth slept, Teari grazed and Trini wondered about his decisions.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2013 5:45 pm
Pehr surfaced.
worry, confusion, worry
Grogginess, confusion and worry battled each other as Pehr cracked open an eye. He took a moment to focus, and was even more worried then before. Sunlight streamed through a large window, alighting his surroundings. A clean room, sparse in furniture but containing a dresser, a table and a man who Pehr had met before. He shrunk back into his pillows, panicking...and drew the man's attention to himself. He watched the man's expression change, from relief, to puzzlement, to surprise, to horror. It would've been comical if Pehr didn't feel as weak as a day old kitten....and if he knew where Dearka was.
Dearka.
Pehr pushed back the covers and jumped out of the bed, running to go find his doe, his companion, his heart.... Or he would have if he hadn't been recovering from a near death experience. Instead his hand reached the edge of the covers and he lost all strength. Frustrated, tears sprang to his eyes, unwilling to believe his own inability.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2013 9:42 pm
Trinian blinked and wrestled with several emotions. His charge had finally woken up...and Trinian wouldn't have forgotten those mismatched eyes for the rest of his days. He was relieved that the boy was alive, but surprised he hadn't recognized the thief earlier. Perhaps the bruises had changed the kids appearance somewhat, or maybe Trini had just subconsciously ignored the parallels between his charge and the thief. Either way, it was just now that Trini realized who he had saved, and realized how desperate the youth had been a few days earlier. It didn't help that the boy made a move, as if to rise, before tearing up.
"Hey lad, you're in no fit state to be up and about just yet. Give yourself a few days...you're safe here." Embarrassed at the kid's moment of weakness, and the situation in general, Trini's words game out very awkward. "This is my friend's place. She's a hedgewitch, probably the reason you're still alive actually. She'll be back shortly, hopefully, and do a lil bit more work on ya. You were too weak before, but since you woke up it should be fine now-" Trini was rambling, and he poured tea as he spoke, trying to distract himself as much as he was trying to distract the thief. "-She left this for you, it's apparently good for healing. Said it knock you back out and help you recover faster." He moved to place the cup in the youth's hand, then reconsidered. He'd seen the weakness in his charge's action earlier. Instead he redirected the cup to the youth's lips. "Drink. And rest."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2013 10:14 pm
Pehr turned his head away. His stomach was a bundle of knots, clenched with worry. There was no way he could even think about drinking that concoction when his mind was filled with Dearka's safety. He wasn't given much of a choice though, when the man grabbed his chin and poured the contents down his throat. It was either drink or choke, so Pehr choose the former, seething internally but too weak to protest much. Though if glares could kill, the man would have definitely been slain where he sat.
The potion immediately began to take effect of Pehr's worn out body and he could feel his strength fading. Dearka. He still needed to get to her, save her. With his last bit of strength he reached for the man's hand. "'ave er. Dearka. eh 'ross Cheerping 'easant. ley. 'idden. 'elp." His eyes slipped shut and Pehr faded back into darkness.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Sep 05, 2013 11:02 am
As the lad subsided back into sleep, Trini puzzled over what he could make of the thief's words. He generally was fairly good at making out the language from the docks and poorer parts of town, but the child's words were almost beyond him. Chirping Peasant had been the only thing he could make out from the lad's words. Well the boy was asleep now so there was no harm in going to look for...whatever it was that the thief was so concerned about.
Trini found Loralynn feeding Teari out in the yard. After catching her up on the events that transpired, he and Teari were off again. In search of the mystery. All afternoon they hunted the streets around the Chirping Peasant but they managed to find it.
A fawn. It was curled in a ball, stuffed in the crack between two buildings. Dirty, like the thief, but on the whole, healthier looking then the lad. It had taken some coaxing, and Teari's presence to draw the creature from its hiding spot. But out it had come. Teari had been all paternal, snuffling its brethren over for injuries. Trini too, checked the creature over, but found nothing obviously wrong with it. He gently carried the animal back to Loralynn's where they feed, cleaned and pampered the frightened thing.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
