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 Posted: Sat Oct 05, 2013 2:08 pm
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Posted: Sat Oct 05, 2013 2:15 pm
The crack of sunlight through the slits in the walls woke Harper up with an aggrieved hiss. She rolled over on the dirt floor, becoming vaguely aware that she was, indeed, in a room of some sort in spirits only knew where. She rose to unsteady paws with a cough. At least she wasn't alone, or should that worry her? Maybe she could ask them for questions, but seeing as she was surrounded by bodies and mead casks she didn't think she'd have company for a while.
Instead, she maneuvered her way to the door, and slipped out. The intense sunlight made her curse. She tried to cover her eyes, but that only succeeded in making her trip over a pile of chopped wood by the door, sending her crashing into the grass near the well. The cattaur gave into temptation, and used what strength she had to pull herself up to work the pulley in the well. She didn't have a headache, spirits be praised, but she felt like she was dying of thirst! She needed a drink, and fast!
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Posted: Sat Oct 05, 2013 2:35 pm
Oh, sunlight. Oh god, sunlight. After burrowing his face in the grass to keep out the intense rays the cattaur breathed in the fresh dirt smell and then promptly spit several blades of grass out. The sunlight was great on his back, but could it just not be so bright? Like some sort of radiator that didn’t have to burn his poor retinas. The thought made him laugh as he groggily rolled over with his arms across his face. Did he have to get up yet? It was only morning still...
Ross yawned with a hiss before realizing that it wasn’t everything that was making the crashing noise which had woke him up in the first place. “Dammit. Do you have to make so much noise this early?” He yawned half of the words before wincing as he looked up towards the female cattaur. Something about her was vaguely familiar, but he just couldn’t place it. Maybe last night…he and she? But she wasn’t one of the girls who had brought him to the party last night. His gaze squinted as he pushed himself off of the ground and swayed towards her. His walk of ‘grace, however, was quickly stunted as he stumbled over his own paws. Groaning Ross rubbed his elbow which had caught him on the side of the well. Water, water was nice. Reaching over he grabbed the bucket of water she had been pulling up and scooped a handful into his mouth. Mmm, that was some nice water.
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Posted: Sat Oct 05, 2013 10:06 pm
The feel of the rough rope on her hands was enough to bring Harper's mind to the forefront. What had she gotten into last night? All she remembered was coming to come party with Emma and...Emma! No, no, Emma had left, she remembered her talking about it. Harper bit her bottom lip. Hopefully she'd gotten home alright...
At first, she'd been good at ignoring the male cattaur. Now, with him so close, she had to choice, but to look at him. Why did he seem so familiar? It seemed like there was something vaguely important about him, but what? Harper snorted at his 'swag', turning back to her water pulling until she heard his crash. She couldn't help, but to grin smugly, thinking that karma was a smarmy little thing, when he stole her water.
Frowning, the pulled the bucket as far away from him as possible and lifted it so she could drink straight from the source. Ahhh, sweet blessings, that was good! Almost on a whim she dumped the cold liquid over her head and shivered, gasping when the stark coldness of it shocked her. Sitting the empty bucket aside, she shook out her plastered hair and smoothed her bangs away from her face.
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Posted: Sat Oct 05, 2013 10:24 pm
Ross shook his head sadly at the other cattaur’s actions, “Such a waste of good water.” He felt some of the droplets from her hair fly towards him and could only sigh as he reached for the bucket himself. It would be nice to try to get his mind to actually wake up and function. There was still such a fog over everything. He looked back over at the female as he lowered the bucket and then began to pull it up.
“Excuse me, but have we ever….met?” He tilted his head before pulling the bucket up smoothly from the well and took a drink of the water himself. Ah, that felt good on a parched throat. Still he continued to study the female. She wasn’t the type he normally went after…maybe she had come onto him last night? That could have been the case. Ross nodded, yes that was probably it. He wish he remembered the two ladies he had come with though. They were probably back at home where they had wanted him to go with them, but he hadn’t. The random realization hit him. Why had he stayed here? He always stayed the night with a lady then left in the morning before he was found by a parent or lover…Ross frowned in confusion before dumping the remaining water on his own head.
Shaking the stray, steaming droplets off the cattaur suddenly gaped at the female with some clarity. “Harp....Harper” But he frowned again, why did he know that name? Was it hers? Rubbing his forehead Ross sighed heavily, “I know you…I swear it. And I promise I’m not hitting on you – obviously you’re not my type. But really, it’s buggin’ me.”
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Posted: Sat Oct 05, 2013 10:34 pm
"Depends on your perspective." Harper ran her fingers through her hair, and fluffed up the short strands with a little sigh. She pulled up on the bunched up ends, wringing out a good bit of water.
With a groan she stretched her legs in front of her, and popped several joints before finally giving into a standing action. Harper paused, poised in a feline sitting position as she looked at him. "You too, huh? I just get this feeling like I know you, but I don't really...." If she could just put her finger on it. Maybe he was one of the guys that had clung onto Emma last night? Was he the one she'd castrated? She tried to subtly get a look, but yeah, not with him being grounded, so not gonna happen. Oh, maybe he was the guy who couldn't hold his liquor and passed out outside? That would explain a few things.
"Y-yes?" How did he know her name? She tilted her head, confusion on her maw before it was taken up in irritation. "Oh, forgive me for not being up to your standards, mi'lord." Giving into a mock bow, she pulled herself in a full stand. "Ross! That's it. Your name is Ross. You came in with the wenches last night." She'd almost feel sorry for him, having to pay for company, if he hadn't offended her so early in the morning.
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Posted: Sat Oct 05, 2013 11:00 pm
Ross chuckled, “I suppose so.” Considering he had used the water the same way himself he really couldn’t say much. It was refreshing to feel it cascade over him like a waterfall. He frowned at how weird that thought should have sounded. Great, breaking family tradition by being in love with water. What sort of fire cat was he?
“I know right?” Ross sighed as he leaned against the well, “You really…did strike me as familiar and since we woke up at this place…” He trailed off. How bad had it gotten last night? Seriously he was trying his hardest, but it was so hard to place her. It was a sinking feeling though as if it should be of great importance. He rubbed his temples some more. If he recognized her and if he hadn’t gone home with one of the girls he had come here with…then had he stayed because of her? Did she pull some crazy stunt on him last night? Did she get into a fist fight for or with another? She seemed like the type to get drunk and cause a ruckus after all.
That sarcasm…”I swear you’ve done that to me before.” He replied not even offended by her comment. He waved his hand lightly in the air towards her to brush aside the comment as if she were actually forgiven, “And thank you very much they were not wenches. They were merchant daughters looking for some fun last night. I do not sink that low to pay for my company. I don’t know what type of males you’re used to, but I treat others with respect. Doing such things belittles them and makes them property.” Nor did he keep company with easy ones because the spirits only knew who they had already been with. He grimaced at the thought, but it was probably just his slight headache causing all this talking to be so painful.
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Posted: Sat Oct 05, 2013 11:15 pm
"Uh-huh. Tomato, Tomahto." Harper shrugged her shoulders. If he wanted to call them merchant daughters, let him. She knew how important a male's pride was, and it wasn't her place to shoot it down. Let his mate do it for him one day, or hell, when he got home. After all, if he had any real respect for the girls, he wouldn't have brought them here, of all places. "I'm pretty damn cheeky, so that's not surprising. Seriously, though, do you think we should wake someone up? This is starting to get to me, and I- "
Harper had been popping her fingers when she pulled away with a curse. She shook her sore hand out, surprised that it had been hurt anyway, when she saw a ring on her other hand. She held it up to the light, "What the hell-?" When had she gotten this? Harper wasn't big on jewelry, so this...this was just another odd thing for the evening.
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Posted: Sat Oct 05, 2013 11:29 pm
Ross frowned at Harper’s reaction to his protest. Fine, fine. Let her think what she wanted. He didn’t care since this was most likely the last time he’d ever have to see her. “Who should we wake up? Another taur who was so wasted last night that they can’t remember anything?” He retorted before turning away, “I’m sure it’s nothing anyway. We both drank last night and went to the same place. We were bound to at least say hey to each other.” He shook his throbbing head, “So as it is I say it’s a good deal, we’re done here so it’s time to go recover.”
He took only one step forward before she made the exclamation. “What now?” Ears pressed back into his head the cattaur turned back to catch sight of her holding her hand up towards the light. His gaze widened in surprise as well as it only took him a second to recognize the intricate golden ring. “Why are you wearing that?” Oh no. This was totally not happening. That ring was special, so special that he could instantly recognize it anywhere. His hand slipped into the satchel which he had managed to keep on him last night and feeling around for a velvet pouch he sighed as he felt nothing inside. That was it then. Reaching out he grabbed her hand and pulled it closer towards his face just to double check. Yes that was his ring….dropping her hand he pressed the palms of his hands against his eyes in pain. What was up with the random memory of sliding it over her finger?
“I do?” He choked on the words as he looked back up at Harper, “Did you say I do last night?” Why would that ring in his head just now? There was only one reason those words would ever be strung together with a ring….oh no. It wasn’t possible was it? Okay maybe they should consider waking someone up now.
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Posted: Sat Oct 05, 2013 11:45 pm
She didn't want to retort with how she didn't feel hungover, but rather edging off the steps of particular mushrooms or some sort of concoction. Harper had never been the drinking sort, but natural relaxers...those were a different story.
"If I knew, I'd tell you. Trust me." Harper got a good look at the expression on his face, and felt her gut tense up like acid. This...this wasn't good. Not at all. "H-hey!" Even with her hand in his she didn't pull it out. Actually, she was hoping she could give him more details than he was, other than the fact that this ring obviously belonged to him.
Or it had, at one point.
Harper gulped, her eyes wide and frozen as she looked down with horror at her hand. She'd never wanted to cut off an appendage as badly as she did at that moment. "...Yes." She admitted, looking back up to him before slowly putting her head in her hands. "Oh spirits, I said I do, and you...we..." Harper groaned. She couldn't say it. She couldn't say that she remembered snippets of a ramshackle ceremony, of the ring, of the slurred words...
Straightening in a snap, she walked back over to the hut and tossed open the door, letting the natural light cause a stir within, giving her a chorus of waking groans. Someone was going to get her an answer, she just needed to know who.
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Posted: Sun Oct 06, 2013 12:04 am
That ring. Ross could not believe it was on her hand. Out of all the crazy stunts he could pull, this one was so impossible that he just wanted to smack himself so that he could wake up from this dream. That ring had been his ever since he was a teen because he had been given it by a grandma who he had helped out. It had been a family heirloom for her that ended up being his since she had no one. It was so lovely he couldn’t refuse and the promise he made with it was sincere. That ring was supposed to go to his one and only. Not to some drunken mistake! There had to have been more than alcohol around him last night for this one to occur.
The horror only grew as she confirmed the snippets of memory he still had. “Oh by the spirits.” This was ridiculous. It just was not possible that the ceremony of sorts they had last night was true. Surely it was just a drunken act that meant nothing. Finding the same idea of her’s the cattaur followed Harper into the hut and picked up the nearest taur who seemed slightly coherent. Grumbling the centaur frowned at Ross before trying to mutter, “Whut?”
“Please tell me what happened here last night.” He growled quietly, his spine leaping with crimson flames.
“Well you see we all had a good ti-“
“Not that part.” The interruption came from a foxtaur who was curled up in the corner with a bottle of rum, “The mate wants to know about his weddin’? It was lovely and short of sorts. But your official centaur ran off with the documents earlier this mornin’. Had some more business to attend to with puttin’ mates together and such. He meant to leave the confirmation with ya, but couldn’t get his act together in time.” He raised the glass bottle to his lips and casually drank despite the shocked expression on Ross’s face as he dropped the centaur. He was really married? That female…Harper was his mate now? His gaze slid over towards her and his gut clenched. They were going to have to find that other centaur.
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Posted: Sun Oct 06, 2013 4:04 pm
As pretty as it was, this delicate little ring felt like a stern manacle around her finger. A snake that had sunk it's fangs into her and wouldn't let go. Harper felt like she was going to be sick. The feeling of being tied down frightened her, and to be mated with...Where the hell was Emma and why had she let her go through with this? When she saw her, she was going to throttle her 'sweet' sister.
"So it's true." Harper murmured. She'd been holding out hope that this was all still part of some grand hallucination, but now that it was a no go she didn't know what to think. She crossed the floor of the hut, snatched the bottom of rum out of the foxtaur's hands and knocked the rest of it back herself before tossing the empty bottle at the wall near his head.
She slammed her hand on the wall beside him and glowered down at him, her hand clenching as shots of blue flame and lightning danced across her finger tips. "Where did he go?" Surely if they could find a trail he couldn't have gone far.
"Garthos." Came an answer from yet another area of the hut, this time from a swarthy looking cervi lass. She rose, stretched, and then on an afterthought started to pull on her top. The male cervi on her lap stretched, murmured something and went back to sleep. "Said he had some young thing named Evan mating off today. Kept complaining about how little he was getting paid, about how violent blah blah blah the usual." She shrugged. "If I were you two, I'd just get over it. You seemed happy enough last night. Just start drinking again, and you'll be fine in no time."
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Posted: Sun Oct 06, 2013 7:40 pm
So it was true then. Ross had to brace himself against the wall as the realization slowly sunk over him. The female who was currently being pissed and questioning a foxtaur was his mate. Hah, it was funny though that he was mated before his brother. The thought amused and sickened him. He was not the type to settle down, at least not yet. This was ridiculous. Once he found this centaur who had done this to them and got this fixed then he would make certain that idiot would remember not to marry random partiers together.
Gah, another pulsing pain spread over his skull and Ross had to dig his fingers into his head in order to keep himself from groaning out loud. What had happened to him last night? He never got that wasted before. Distracted he nearly missed the female cervitaur talking, but the mention of being happy last night made him chuckle darkly. After this he didn’t think he would ever want to drink again. “So happy, eh?” Ross glanced over at Harper, “Then I guess I’m off to go thank that centaur, honey.” He headed through the doorway and paused to look back over towards his….mate.
“Are you coming with me to meet our matchmaker?”
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Posted: Sun Oct 06, 2013 8:10 pm
Harper felt her rage come and go. Or was that her conscious thought process? She couldn't think straight with the effects of whatever she'd taken last night still in her system, and the news she'd just received. She pushed back away from the wall, and kept her hands as fists at her sides. Taking a moment to look at her 'mate', all she wanted to do was yell. Not at him, but the b*****d who had settled her with him.
"Just let me get my bag, dear." Harper searched the room in a hurried rush, careless of who she bumped into and woke in the process until she came across her beloved satchel. Once it was in place, she stalked out the doorway, pausing only when she was hit with another burst of sunlight. "Do you know how to get to Garthos?"
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Posted: Wed Oct 16, 2013 9:32 pm
Leaning against the doorway the cattaur watched as Harper searched the room. He knew better than to even offer to help the female and so just gained some amusement from her actions. He was just glad she found what she was looking for else he was afraid this place would be in flames as they left, “Alright dear.” He replied with a faint twitch in his tail of silent laughter, “Let’s leave this place then.” At her question Ross paused before nodding slowly.
“Garthos…” He tapped two fingers on his bottom lip thoughtfully before pointing up a path that cut through the woods towards the west coast, “It’s in that general direction. Might be some mountains on the way, but it’s by the ocean side. Pretty place really.” Admittedly it wasn’t too hard for him to figure out directions in the area considering his past with his traveling mother and brother. At the same time places like Garthos tended to blur into one another since it had been a while…but this place he was certain of. The reason why was lost somewhere in the back of his memories, but the cattaur remembered the distinct path that took them forever to climb. His nose wrinkled at the memory of the mountains. Such a cold, dreary area it had been. Still the ocean view that came with Garthos had been worth the trip. And this time there would be a better reward for making it as well. The thought made him peer towards Harper with a frown. His freedom was at stake here after all.
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