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 Posted: Tue Mar 19, 2013 2:39 am
1st Day - Average and Quiet...? Kettil was sitting in his own room this day staring at the papers sprawled out on his own desk. Freya had been out that made the dorm they started sharing together feel empty and lonelier than ever. It was funny since he had started hanging out there more often because everything reminded him of her and it comforted him, but after spending time with family and her as well it just made him lonely and he couldn't concentrate.
Not that sitting in his room was much better.
He'd been struggling with homework assignments. Books and essays about them were never his strong suit. He read the pages but felt he didn't really absorb any of the information provided to him about creatures with natural forms and how they worked and he so sorely wanted to impress the Professor by handing in the work on time. He supposed there was no excuse for it, he was simply incompetent.
Around the time he started beating himself up he felt movement somewhere behind him and he froze at his desk. "Hey!? Freya?! This ain't funny," he called out and turned to look but there was nothing there except for the restless shift of curtains at his open window. He kept the window open just in case ... Just in case....
Endzela would come back that way. In a fit of irrationality and sadness he simply kept all channels open, or at least as open as possible. The Familiar seemed to stubbornly resist his calls. He'd hurt her pride beyond repair or perhaps she felt betrayed by his accidental move to put her into the aether, though he wasn't aware of the act itself at the time.
It just happened. Why didn't she understand...?
"Tch. Y'should be doin' your homework not starin' helplessly at it," came a deep voice behind him, Kettil jolted and turned just in time to see the grin that he had inherited from his father mirrored at him and then blackness.
Coyote stared at the prone form of his son with a sigh and an amused shake of his head, he began to go through the pouches on Kettil's belongings, discarding the 'useless' or 'disallowed' things to the side and making sure to grab the boil's eyephone before he slung the prone form over his shoulder whistling as he left the dorm.
Later in the day, toward the afternoon, there was only one text message sent from Kettil's phone. Coyote grinned the entire time as he did it; it wasn't often that he got to scandalize a son's possible mate in life.
At least he hoped the ghoul was properly scandalized. He needed to show her some fatherly love, Blacke Family style. Luckily for everyone involved there was nothing scandalous in Kettil's photo album in the eyephone. At least nothing scandalous that Coyote could find but he wasn't looking that hard for it, doing that would be just a little too creepy. 
The larger Muut stared down at his Son where he'd been dumped in the middle of forested floor and grinned. Coyote knelt and patted Kettil on the cheek, "Ah, boyo. I love yah, my blood. I do this because you have a ghoul and it is about time. Soon, you'll want to nest on your own. If you can endure this then you can endure anything." That was when Coyote taped a note to Kettil's forehead and left the scene. He left no map. Coyote had strewn items about to potentially make a compass. He left parts of a fishing rod, and flint to help with making a fire later on. That was about as much as a father would provide for his growing boy...
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Posted: Wed Mar 20, 2013 1:41 am
1st Evening - Night so cold and lonesome...
It wasn't late in the afternoon that Kettil jerked awake with a throbbing headache and sore limbs. Every rock, stick, and leaf had decided to jab into him as he lay on the ground prone and unable to move. For about five seconds there was a panic because he couldn't see.
"I'm blind!" Kettil cried out until a gust of wind wafted through and lifted the paper enough to show that his eyes still worked, he was just stupid. Feeling ridiculous he took the note off of his forehead and read it as he rubbed where the tape had stuck to the skin. "...I hate that man," he mumbled under his breath as he started to get to his feet. While Kettil hadn't expect to have his Father coordinate a proper time for the Trial to be given but some sort of warning might have been nice. Then he could have told Freya and...
His eyes widened as he went to check his pockets instinctively, but found them empty of anything resembling an eyephone. Did Freya know? Did she get any sort of inkling about this? Would she be okay? What if she thought that he was going to be gone forever? Kettil felt dread overcome him as he imagined how well his absence would go over with the Valkyrie. Since they had started dating they were never apart for longer than maybe a couple of hours at best and now...
Cursing under his breath he jerked to his feet and started to rustle at various leaves and things on the ground as if it would provide him with an answer, unaware that he was scattering about tools. Maybe if he killed himself? Dissipation would lead him back toward school grounds, right? Then he could be back with Freya and...
That would be considered a failure.
He froze and looked around, "Endy?"
Silence came back at him stubborn and resolute. Loneliness came over him to add to his despair and unease. He pushed his fingers through his hair with a loud groan exiting his throat. What was he going to do? Not even a day away and already he was hearing voices. Well. Not voices per se but...
Kettil's brow furrowed a bit as he tried to organize his thoughts.
Some of his scuffling around had unearthed the flint his Father had left behind and he picked it up with a deep sigh. There was nothing to do but work as hard as he could to get back home as soon as he could. He knew his father wouldn't just let him stay lost in the wild forever, but Kettil wasn't going to just helplessly sit there without at least trying to get home. Quietly the Muut began to gather what he needed to make a fire. Tonight he would rest here and move on in the morning when he could use the daylight to see.
Checking his pouches again showed that his Father let him keep a couple of pieces of dried jerky which Kettil ate a strip of to tide him over for now. Somewhere nearby he heard a bubbling stream showing that he at least wouldn't dehydrate over night. These were very small kindnesses offered to him, he supposed.
"Still hate him," Kettil groused down at the makings of his campfire.
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Posted: Sat Mar 23, 2013 1:15 am
2nd Day - @*#$IN' BIRDS...!
Kettil wasn't able to fall asleep right away, there was the lack of someone nearby and the lack of the warm soft bed he'd grown accustomed to. Now that he was asleep he didn't want to wake up, he was lost somewhere in the realm of dreams where he was back home with Freya and making sure she ate breakfast and telling her what all he planned to do that day while Endzela napped on a nearby perch. It was a pleasant dream that kept getting interrupted by rustling through the leaves nearby.
Eventually he opened an eye and then another eye only to spy a nearby Corrividus c**k its head toward him with something shiny in its beak. Shiny and shaped like a hook.
Kettil's eyes widened as he hissed out a harsh breath and he made a sudden scramble for it but the avian saw what was happening and took flight long before the boil could make it over with the hook in its beak. The Muut stared up after it with a frown on his face.
Rabbits? He hated those. The only time he wanted to see one ever again was in a stew.
Next on that list would be that damned bird, but he wasn't sure if Corrividus were tasty roasted, fried, or in a soup. Was it healthy to want to eat things that caused you great annoyance...?
...He'd worry about that later.
The Muut picked himself up and dusted himself back up. He could compensate for the lost hook if he felt the need to get some fish later. Kettil started digging around on the ground to see what else was left behind for him, small inorganic things that were hidden or strewn apart on purpose by the sadist known as 'Father'. For the most part, luckily so, they were all well hidden enough that a greedy carrion bird couldn't find them. Kettil even found a bonus canteen of fresh water that his Father either forgot to take home with him or left there on purpose.
A quick glance skyward told Kettil that it would be daytime for a bit longer still as he crouched down and fiddled with the makings of a compass and piecing it together and once that was done he was mostly ready to move on for the day. The point of this whole trial was to see if he could find his way home even if Kettil didn't see the point of this and why it proved anything to anyone.
Was it to test his adaptability? Was it to test how smart he was? He wasn't sure. Standing around and debating over it certainly wasn't going to get him anywhere. The sooner he finished his the sooner he got home to those that mattered most to him.
His wanderings brought him close to some tall trees that canopied above him and an idea had occurred to him, perhaps if he got to the top he could scout around to see how close or far he was to some sort of sign of civilization. The boil soon had climbed his way up one of the bigger looking trees and swinging up over tree branches and climbing as high as he could go, if he had Endy with him he could have scouted ahead so much more!
He ignored the odd pang in his heart as he thought of his familiar.
Soon. One day. He'd call her up again and he would make it up to her for everything that was done and said between them. As he managed to find a sturdy enough segment to hold him and help him look out over the top of the tree he popped his head out of the canopy and stared for a long moment waiting to find some sign of smoke or other signs that a city were nearby. The thought that this might be cheating briefly fluttered through his mind on the wings of paranoia but he simply rejected the thought.
Maybe he didn't give himself enough credit or maybe he simply had small moments of low confidence but for whatever reason - he simply didn't believe he would think of this sort of thing on a normal day. Kettil knew he was not the best and brightest sometimes and that he still made mistakes. He couldn't even do a simple homework assignment given to him by Professor Selene and hand it in on time...
All the more reason to finish as soon as you get back. You can do it.
"I don't know," he murmured under his breath not questioning the source of that thought or emotion. Soon he managed to pick out clouds that were not clouds at all somewhere in the distance, his face broke out in a wide grin as he checked his compass and soon he was climbing down. The sooner he got home the sooner his life could be placed into order again.
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Posted: Wed Mar 27, 2013 12:40 am
3rd Day - The Helpful Pet
The pygmy eon was well aware of the boil's dislike for anything that resembled a rabbit. The eon had seen the event that caused Kettil's dislike and thus it simply knew that it could not openly adore the Reaper though it wanted to, for whatever the reason this minipet adored the unwitting owner. On the end of the second day the Eon napped on top of Kettil's chest and it was glad, quite suddenly that the boil was a heavy sleeper. In the early, early owner the Eon reached over and flicked a paw against Kettil's nose and bounced away to watch from the shadows as the Reaper awoke sneezing.
The small minipet hid in a small low bush and watched as the Muut turned a canteen upside down to discover it empty and that was when the cursing ensued. Was that were the water was kept? Well that was no good. The pygmy eon decided to try and help the boil out when the chance arose. When it seemed like Kettil was on the move the black furred minipet followed along hiding behind brush, trees, and anything else it could find to cover it.
It watched from cover as Kettil tried to very unsuccessfully uncover a source of drinkable water and much to the frustration of the pygmy eon who had a far superior nose. The boil kept walking right past the source of fresh water each time as if he didn't even hear the splash of small fish under the surface. Apparently not because the stupid Reaper kept walking past it each time, even managed to skirt around the water source somehow. The small eon wasn't sure what to make about the obliviousness of its master.
The eon sighed into its paws and scampered ahead. Tiny rocks were piled up just so, a knot of old root pulled up just right and then it scampered off to hide hoping the Reaper would fall into view of the water....
Kettil was frustrated. He woke up, had a meager breakfast, thought about Freya some, and then ended up figuring out that his canteen was now empty of all water. He was wasting valuable daylight trying to get home again and this is what he had to waste his time on? It was true it would do him little good to carry on without the water and it'd do him less good to dehydrate before he got home and...
"OMPH!" Kettil tripped and fell into some nearby brush and that was when he saw it. Water. Glorious water.
"...I knew it was there all along," he grinned as he picked himself up and went to check out the water.
In the brush the Eon bright both little paws up to its face and sighed deeply. Truly this was a thankless job...
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Posted: Wed Mar 27, 2013 2:00 am
4th Day - Father of the Year...not.
Kettil went to bed after the third day ended and awoke on the fourth day with the mystery of a warm chest on his mind. It was a small spot on his chest that always seemed warmer after he slept the night away. He rubbed it and dismissed it as heartburn.
Literal heartburn.
No one ever said he was a smart boil.
Through the forest he trekked along with relative ease. He paused and poked around for roots and things to eat if he was hungry. There was a brief interlude where he almost ate poisonous berries but something always seemed to scream in horror somewhere near him and when he'd go to check the berries would be mysteriously gone or ruined when he returned to the spot. Strange but not something he lingered on or gave much thought.
He knew he was getting closer as he always took a moment to climb a tree to see if civilization was getting closer (or father away). With some course corrections he managed to find his way to a small clearing somewhere in between.
A clearing with an odd figure seated upon a large boulder. As Kettil moved closer he noted with some amusement that it was a dummy with his father's face pasted on it with a recording device attached about its neck.
With some trepidation he reached forward and hit play.
"CONGRATULATIONS. IF YOU ARE KETTIL THAT MEANS YOU ARE STILL ALIVE. IF YOU ARE SOMEONE ELSE...WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU STARING AT?"
Kettil cringed at the loudness of the voice playing through the speaker. There was also triumphant music blaring somewhere in the background.
"IT IS TRADITIONAL THAT YOU PULL OFF A FEAT OF STRENGTH BEFORE YOU CARRY ON."
"But how will anyone se--.." Kettil began to argue but he was cut off.
"DON'T WORRY ABOUT HOW ANYONE WILL SEE IT, IDIOT. JUST DO IT."
There was a pause as Kettil stared at the figure and glimpsed around before he spied a much smaller slightly more loose boulder near where the dummy was seated.
"I'M WAITING..."
Seriously? Was it taunting him? In frustration he moved forward and managed to pick up the smaller boulder with a lot of effort. He needed to do something with it and the weight was starting to remind him that gravity still existed.
After a couple of seconds he waddled forward a bit and then exerted some effort to try and throw the boulder with momentum, it flew a couple of inches and fell with a heavy thud. Kettil bent over and panted heavily and he felt that every pore on his body was releasing sweat.
"GOOD JOB. EITHER THIS IS PREMATURE OR YOU ACTUALLY DID SOMETHING MANLY BY NOW."
Kettil moved closer to the dummy again to see if he at least got a prize of some sort.
"THIS MESSAGE WILL SELF DESTRUCT IN 3..."
His eyes widened in dismay as he tried to hurriedly look around for a place to avoid impact.
"1!"
"HEY YOU SKIPP--" Right as Kettil protested there was a flash of glitter, smoke, and confetti all over his face. "...You are the worst father ever," he spat out confetti and glitter for the rest of the day as he trudged away from the awful set up.
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Posted: Wed Mar 27, 2013 3:02 am
5th Day - I still hate rabbits...
Kettil was still a bit grumpy on the dawn of the next day. It had taken hours to clean out all the glitter and confetti out of his clothes, out of his hair, and off of his face. It was a real horror. He hadn't been faced with that much glitter since Freya letter bombed him during a festival.
...He missed Freya.
After a slow and saddened start to his day he managed to get himself going again. He was not used to being alone for so long especially not without his ghoulfriend now a day. As usual the small Pygmy Eon followed along within the shadows being careful not to trigger any suspicions of its presence to the Reaper.
...At least until it got caught in a Hunter's trap sometime in the afternoon. The small Eon struggled and tried to bite at the rope that had ensnared it and caused it to hang upside down but to no avail and it was left hanging there. At least until he heard Kettil meandering nearby. The minipet didn't wish to die and thus it began making as much of a fuss as it could. Screeching and swinging, flailing, and making a general ruckus. Soon Kettil was standing in front of it and staring.
"Hey. Hey. What is thi--," Kettil paused as he took in the minipet's appearance. "...Oh." Kettil turned and started to walk away.
In dismay the eon started to fuss again making Kettil pause. The boil gazed back at it and raised an eyebrow, "You deserve to get caught, stupid bunny-thing. I hate rabbits."
There was a soft whimper and big round sad eyes. If the pygmy eon wasn't upside down it was certain its ears would be drooping by now.
Kettil groaned in annoyance as he stomped over and then held it up by the ears, it just dangled there sadly, "I hate rabbits. I don't want anything to do with you don't make me feel bad for you."
Another whine and small black paws pawed at Kettil's face. I helped youuu. I was good to youuu. I made you warrrmmmmm on the cold coldie nights...
The boil stared at the black creature. Maybe it was the several days of loneliness, maybe it was the way it was looking at him, or perhaps Kettil suddenly learned how to understand minipets (no, no he didn't). Kettil sighed and went to work freeing the Eon so it could scamper off but it cuddled up to his foot instead.
His heart started to melt, though he tried to deny it. With a sigh and a grunt he leaned and picked it up, "Fine, if I take you with me then I get to keep you."
The Eon let out a small happy chirruping sound.
"Mmf. Let's find our way home Tulekish." Kettil muttered as he started wandering in his original direction.
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Posted: Fri Mar 29, 2013 2:37 am
6th Day - I just want to be dry...
It rained the entire day. The rain started early in the morning and it was what awoke Kettil along with Tulekish clambering into his vest to get somewhere dry. Kettil felt that this was a very poor start to his day, but he was determined to get home and not just be stranded by a few droplets of water.
It made for miserable travelling.
Kettil let the pygmy eon camp out inside of his vest for the entire day. The Muut's only real comfort was that he was that much closer to home when he climbed up a large tree to check out his progress. By the time evening rolled around the rain had finally tapered off and Kettil managed to find a small abandoned cave that was dry enough to hang out in until morning. Building a fire was a challenge.
Tulekish made a small chittering sound as Kettil tried to find dry enough twigs and bits of wood to make a fire and before the boil knew it the small eon was scampering out of the vest as he leaned to pick up a stick.
"Where are you going?" Kettil asked suddenly dismayed at the thought of being alone. The minipet didn't answer and simply disappeared into the brush.
The boil made a small grunt. He knew rabbits were no good. He picked up what firewood he thought was good and wandered back to the campsite of the evening. When he tried to get any bits of wood to catch fire it seemed pointless. It all seemed far too damp. Kettil was about to give up when Tulekish returned with tiny, tiny twigs in its mouth. The eon dropped the twigs at Kettil's feet and then scampered out again.
Kettil was surprised but pleased. He let out a small sigh as he picked up the small bits of wood and tried to make them work. When Tulekish came back with a couple of groups of twigs there was enough to at least start a fire.
The rest of the evening passed uneventful and quiet as Kettil talked to the Pygmy Eon who stared at him with rapt attention.
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Posted: Wed Apr 03, 2013 1:46 am
7th Day - What if...? He was alone in emptiness. He wasn't floating but he may as well have been since he could not see ground below him or sky above him either. Kettil urged his feet to walk forward, he wanted to get home. He needed to get home. Freya counted on him for her wellbeing and he had made her a promise.
There was also another driving factor. A voice was calling his name.
It sounded like Endzela.
She sounded distressed and she needed his help. What began as a walk soon became a run as he headed toward a strange blood-red tinted light. Once he arrived at the source of the light it made his heart stop cold as the vision filled his eyes. There was his familiar with her wings sprawled out and her features contorted in pain, beak drawn open as if to cry out and worst yet she was impaled by what seemed to be a jagged spike. A was like an odd totem of some sort covered in words.
'What if she doesn't come back?'
'What if I am not good enough to protect her?'
'What will I do without her?' 'I shouldn't let her risk herself for me.'
'I shouldn't...'
'What if...'
On and on they went, all of these words spiraled around the spike, almost as if these words were holding it together and gave it strength. Kettil's hand reached to touch the spike and suddenly Endzela screeched in agony and the pillar burst into a bright, gruesome light. It felt hot like fire, it burnt his skin and yet it felt so cold. It was so cold it burned.
He jerked his hand away expecting a burn mark on his palm but there was nothing there and then he knelt down next to Endzela's head.
"What did I do? What can I do? Is this my fault?" His fingertips reached forward to brush the familiar's head, this didn't seem to hurt her as she only stared at him. Blood was pooling up around under his feet, it seemed odd that his familiar had so much blood to lose but he thought nothing of it. Not now. It hurt too much to think about.
Endzela's eyes gazed up at him, they seemed dead and glazed over, "You crippled me, Kajika. Now I want to just go away...You don't need me..."
He shook his head and slashed a hand through the air in a violent swipe, "No! I need you! You are my Endy. I waited for you for so long as a scareling! Remember how I cried when you appeared? How I held you for as long as I could maintain the Fear that made you?" Tears streamed down his face as he recalled those precious memories.
The Owl exhaled sharply and her eyes became full of blame and hatred for her Reaper, "You won't let me fight! What is the point?! Certainly you listen to me and consider my advice but...When it really counts? You won't let me protect you." There was a soft hiss toward him that made Kettil recoil a little in response. He felt guilt. So much guilt.
The boil knelt next to her and quietly reached out to touch her feathers again and to try and soothe her spirit, "I'm sorry Endy. I just...I get so scared. I'm scared all the time. When you're hunting or when we are apart and I don't know what is happening to you...If we spar or fight with other folk ... What if you get hurt so bad that...You disappear and won't ever come back...? If I can't protect you then I can't protect Freya or anyone else that is important to me..." He felt more tears crawl down his face.
Endzela sighed but her expression of hatred softened a great deal as she understood the core of her Reaper's hesitance, "I'll always come back, Kajika. I am made of your Fear. I am you. Part of you. If battle takes me away then you can call me back. Don't you recall? It was one of the lessons your Father first taught you."
Kettil wiped at his tears with the back of his hand and stared down at his Familiar, she no longer looked to be in pain. The red tint of the light was slowly fading into a different, more pleasant color. Slowly the jagged spike seemed to be falling apart. "I...I know. I just get so scared. It hurts so much when you get hurt..."
"We are Owl. We are Muut." Endzela said firmly, "We get knocked down but we will always survive, Kajika. We have those that we love too much to let go of this life. We can't move on until we protect them all with our wings."
The spike began to tremble.
"Prove your strength," Endzela demanded more loudly, "set me free."
Kettil didn't need to be directed to know what to do next. He didn't need to be told more than once as he stood and his hands grasped the narrow part of the spike and began to pull. It felt much heavier than the boulder he had thrown a day or two before, the memory felt far away and hazy.
One. Two. Three.
It took three tugs at the spike before it came free and dropped it off to the side as it began to crumble apart. He picked up his familiar and hugged her close in his arms as they both became swathed in soft white light.
"Soon." She whispered softly.
His eyes shot open welcoming the bright sunlight of the day. The pygmy eon that had been his companion was off to the side staring at him in confusion and a little bit of dismay; the creature had noted its master behaving oddly in his sleep and even heard him cry out for someone a time or two.
Kettil gazed over at Tulekish with a small smile, "Today we go home little one," he murmured as he wiped at his eyes with the back of his hand, he felt moisture at the corner of an eye, showing that he had been crying in his sleep but he felt no shame for it. It was a dream that needed to happen. Soon Endzela will be back again. She had promised.
Kettil cleaned up his campsite after he ate a small breakfast. It was time to move onward. Tulekish hid in one of Kettil's empty belt pouches for the time being, it was time for a nap.
It was a little unexpected when he found his way out of the forest to see his Father standing there looking proud and even thankful.
"You did way better than Onyx did when he went through his trials. I had to go in and get him," Coyote laughed with a bright grin.
Kettil wanted to both punch and hug his Father for all that he had been put through. The Reaper sighed as he wandered forward and hugged his parent tightly, "Yeah, that's not much comfort considerin' Onyx is a bit 'challenged' in the brains department," he mumbled as he felt Coyote return the hug affectionately along with a firm pat on the back.
After the embrace Coyote offered Kettil his phone and other pouches back.
"There ya go. Ya passed with flyin' colors. I hope you learned a thing or two while wanderin' through there." Coyote said with a small grin.
Kettil flashed a small smile and nodded as he checked out his phone and saw the messages his Father had left for his ghoulfriend. The boil let out a small groan, "Thanks. She's probably thinking all the worst things right now."
Coyote clapped his son on the shoulder and beamed, "Yer welcome!"
The two talked for a while longer before they parted ways. Kettil made his way first to a maul. He needed to buy Freya a present to make up for the texts his Father sent and for being dragged away. He sent her a text after he got out of the maul.
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