[PRP] A Fight with Time ((Harrison))

[Nisshou H]

This is a private RP for Nisshou H's Harrison. Please don't post.
Notes: These events take place before the other couple of RPs I've done with Harrison. His sense of time only gets worse from here.
Grandfather clocks have existed since the 17th century and other time pieces since long before then. If there's some issue with there being a clock in this please let me know and I'll just make it be the little one on his hat instead of a grandfather clock.
In case it's not clear he's been put on a ship in the cargo area.

 

[Nisshou H]

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick… tock. The constant, rhythmic sound of a device echoed throughout the wooden structure. The only inhabitant within -a tawny, dappled stallion with ears like a rabbit and mismatched feet- flinched with every sound. He had begun to sway to and fro in counter rhythm and not just because the structure seemed to be shifting beneath his feat to a beat all of its own. He was exhausted. He hadn’t slept in he didn’t know how long since he’d been captured and brought here. He had tried plenty of times but the sound, the awful ticking and tocking, had kept him from rest since his first step down into the dark, wooden room.

Tick tock. Tick tock. The floor underneath him suddenly surged upward causing him to stumble into a pile of wooden boxes. One of them crumbled beneath his weight and before the stallion knew what was happening he was on his back, staring at more wood, with the only sounds being his own startled breathing and the ever present tick tock from the polished wooden menace with the round face that stood at the other side of the strange shifting room. The whole thing was tied down not unlike the stallion was. The stallion’s bright blue eyes looked to the thick corded rope that was looped around his neck and wrapped firmly around a post nearby. If not for that he would have left long ago.

Tick. He rolled himself to get off of the boxes and stretched his neck to check for injuries. He seemed fine. Sore and exhausted, but fine. Tock. He thought to push himself to his feet but the struggle didn’t even seem to be worth it. Tick. He closed his eyes hoping that this time he could sleep. Tock. He opened his eyes and shook his mane, the dark brown waves didn’t feel right on his face and neck. Tick. He felt groggy. Tock. Had he managed to sleep? Tick. He couldn’t tell. The sound, the sound that never changed no matter what made it impossible to understand how much time had passed.

Life went on. He couldn’t hear the chirping of the birds or the cry of the wolves or the laughter of foals at play inside his wooden prison nor could he see the sun rising or setting. Seconds could be hours. Days could be seconds. Years could be months. Hours could be minutes. The only disruption in the ticks and tocks came when the humans did. They always spoke nonsense words he could understand no better than his pearly faced nemesis. The stroked his neck and whispered in soothing tones and gave him dried up grasses to eat and stale water to drink. Each of them seemed to take particular interest in his ears while he took an interest in the strange things they covered their bodies and heads with. Part of him wanted to fight them but doing so would surely result in his starvation.

Tick. “Tock.” Tick. “Tock.” He lay on his side staring at his nemesis answering its every call. The room was moving more than usual today. He hadn’t been able to stay on his feet so he had just elected to stay on the floor. He had given up on understanding time, it had stopped being relevant. Nothing seemed important anymore, not even the fact that he could hear shouting and screaming above the constant mocking sounds from the pearly faced, wooden monster. It became important when he was thrown from one side of the room to the other. The rope around his neck snapped and he tumbled freely through the open space much to his discomfort.

It took him a moment to come to his senses but as soon as he did he bolted for the wooden stairs that the humans always came down. He kicked at the board separating him from freedom and it flew open to a chaotic scene. Rain was pouring down from a darkened sky that brightened every so often followed instantly by the roar of thunder that shook his chest and made his ears ache. Humans were running to the sides of the wooden structure and none of them seemed to notice him at all. He followed after them but came to a stop at the edge; a bright flash showed that below the wood was nothing but water. The humans had climbed into smaller wooden crafts and were lowering them into the choppy waves but there was no space for him.

Another flash and a crackling sound came but the light didn’t go away completely; it only faded and changed in color. He turned to see the wood burning and without thinking about it Harrison jumped into the tiny boat full of people.


Tick.


Tock.


Tick.


Tock.

His eyes opened. He was on the sand and it was light out. What was it called when it was light out again? Night? Tick tock. He lifted his head to find a small version of his enemy laying in the sand next to him. He got to his feet and stomped on its back as hard as he could putting an end to that infernal sound for good. He removed his foot and looked at the dented gold backing. “Tick.” He said, there was no answer. “Tock.” He replied pawing at the ground nervously. “Tick tock.” He continued as he walked down the stretch of beach. He could hear everything he’d been missing in the wooden room. The sound of birds and the breath of the wind, but it all seemed strange now. “Tick tock.”

The beach was strange too. “Tick.” The sand was covered in things he’d seen with the humans. A hat here, some printed cards that they had played with, a coat he’d seen on one of his feeders, a belt he’d seen on another, and so many wooden planks some burnt and some not. “Tock.” He gathered the things up in a pile and stood amongst them. “Tick.” Where was he? “Tock.” How long had he been gone? “Tick” Would he see his home again? “Tock.” He nosed at the time piece he had stepped on earlier noticing for the first time that its markings looked like the same ones he had wrapped around his neck.

Was that why he had been taken? Somehow he doubted he would ever know.
 

[Nisshou H]

Harrison wasn’t sure how long he had been standing motionless on the sandy beach. Long enough for the sun to dip down beneath the horizon and leave the sky in darkness once again, that was all he knew. He needed to move, go somewhere else to find out where he had turned up. He ought to go somewhere that had food and water for drinking. He couldn’t just stand around on the beach for the rest of his life staring out to sea and wondering. But still, he couldn’t bring himself to leave behind the few objects that had become familiar and comforting to him.

He nudged the large hat with one of his cloven front hooves knocking it over so that it rolled slightly on its side. He didn’t want to leave these things but he couldn’t stay here. He worried over his situation as he watched the hat turn this way and that; the brim was much wider than the rest of the hat so it seemed destined to merely turn around a fixed point every time a breeze nudged it. As he watched it, Harrison finally remembered that the inside of the hat was as hollow as a rabbit’s warren. He could have kicked himself for as long as it took him to figure out such a simple solution.

Taking the brim in his teeth he turned the hat over so that it stood on its flat top. Once Harrison was certain that the hat was stable he began to move items out of the sand and into the open mouth of the hat. His time piece went first, then each individual card, the belt, and every other piece of brick-a-brac he had collected from the wreckage. Once the hat was full to the brim he picked it up just to remember that he was forgetting something very important: the coat.

Taking care not to spill anything, Harrison set the heavy hat down and turned to face the long, brown, and now sandy coat. He couldn’t leave this and take everything else but it certainly wouldn’t fit in the hat with everything else. Harrison didn’t even know if he could fit the coat in the hat without everything else.

“I suppose…” Harrison’s voice rasped as he spoke and he jumped a clean foot in the air to realize that he had actually said something. How long had it been since he had done anything besides mimic the ticking and tocking of his brown enemy? It would be good to get in the habit of speaking again lest he become his nemesis himself, he already had the marks for it after all, perhaps that was how it all started.

“I suppose I could wear the coat, like the two-legged did.” His voice was scratchy and weak and only seemed to get scratchier the more he spoke. He idly wondered if talking more would fix it. It seemed worth a shot. “But my legs would never fit in these… cloth tunnels. They are too narrow.” His voice was growing both rougher and fainter with every word and his throat felt unbearably dry now.

“Perhaps like a blanket.” It sounded like he was wheezing now but that didn’t deter him. Harrison stooped and seized the coat in his teeth before draping it sideways across his back as best as he could manage. It took several tries before he got it on well enough that it didn’t slip as soon as he released it.

“Now I can leave.” He tried to say but the sound was lost to the wind as faint as it was. It didn’t bother him; he picked up the hat and turned his back to the sea to head inland. His voice would return, it had likely just become timid after being neglected for so long. With proper nurturing it would grow to love him again and the first step in caring for his voice would be to find it a drink.
 

[Nisshou H]

Harrison’s search for water took far longer than he cared for. He knew that all water flowed to the ocean eventually. It was something his parents, both rabbits like himself, had mentioned to him once. He couldn’t remember if it was something they were informing him of for some purpose or if they had simply been conversing with one another where he had been able to overhear. Whether they had intended him to learn the information or not he was using it now. Since he had come from the ocean there was bound to be clean water nearby. The only trouble was finding it. The coast was such a long expanse of land and there had been no signs of a river near where he had washed up. He had headed further inland since anything right at the coast would be contaminated with salt but he was beginning to question that decision as he had gone several minutes now with no sign of anything remotely resembling fresh water and it had been so long that he could no longer hear the ocean waves over the sounds of the wind.
 

[Nisshou H]

Harrison set the hat down and smacked his lips together before running his tongue between them. They tasted like salt and felt as dry as his throat felt. He needed water soon. He couldn’t go much longer without a drink with as badly as the salt from the sea water had dried him out. Carrying around a stiff piece of fabric loaded down with trinkets wasn’t helping any. If he didn’t find a drink soon he was going to start feeling the effects of thirst in more than just his mouth. Unfortunately he still didn’t have a clue which way to head.

He turned in one direction and took a few steps that way; he could see thick greenery in the distance. On the other hand… he turned the other direction because it looked equally as green if not more so that way. He whimpered as best as he could with a throat full of sand. Never before had he been so lost.
 

[Nisshou H]

“Are you lost?”

Harrison lifted his head, confused, and quickly looked around. He hadn’t seen anyone in the area just moments ago but he had certainly heard a voice. After his second inspection he caught sight of her: a mare as white as the moon with hair the color of earthen clay. She wore a few bits of cloth similar to what the men that held Harrison captive had worn. Her face was in shadow but Harrison could tell that she was watching him. Of course she was; who else could she be looking at? He was the only one around. Her words were in the same language that he himself knew and he was beginning to wonder if he had been taken far at all. After all, he had met foreigners to the land before and many of them had strange words that he couldn’t decipher at all. That he understood her gave him hope.  

[Nisshou H]

“I need water.” Harrison rasped, the sound wasn’t even loud enough to qualify as a whisper. He tried to clear his throat but it didn’t make things any better. Harrison’s ears folded back, distressed. He had come this far and was so close to help but even though he understood her he could tell by the tilt of her head that she hadn’t understood him. He was not ready to give up when he was so close though, he could make her understand.

With determination Harrison turned around to gesture to the ocean to help him communicate but was devastated to find that he couldn’t see the great expanse of water any longer. His mouth gaped like a hooked fish for a moment before he turned back around. He could try something else, he had to. He licked at his lips before smacking them and looking at the mare imploringly. She had to understand, she simply had to. Yes he was lost and for the time being she was his only chance at finding himself.  

[Nisshou H]

Harrison watched with determination as the mare puzzled out what he was trying to tell her. Her shadowed eyes looked behind him missing his real hint entirely and Harrison wished he hadn’t turned around in the first place. He tried the lip smacking thing again and this time she took notice. At first she didn’t seem to understand what he was getting at, tilting her head to one side confused, but then it seemed to dawn on her. A flood of relief washed over Harrison as she nodded her head and told him that she did know where water was.

Hurriedly Harrison scooped up his hat of trinkets and ran over to the mare. She took note of the strange items but didn’t say anything. Running to her had left him unusually winded but he let the mare lead him on anyway, resting when water was so close at hand would only be like torture for Harrison.  

[Nisshou H]

The mare didn’t seem to want to converse with Harrison as they walked down the paths and trails that she was leading him on. He wondered if she thought that he was a mute, which was reasonably close to the truth for the time being. He wished he could be a better travel companion for her but she seemed rather content to talk to herself. Every so often he’d catch a few whispers but they were so soft that he couldn’t make out words over the sounds of their hoof steps. He didn’t complain. For starters he couldn’t, his voice wasn’t working quite right, and then there was also the matter that every so often the only words echoing around in his mind were ‘tick’ and ‘tock.’ By comparison talking to oneself under ones breath seemed very normal indeed.  

[Nisshou H]

It took far longer than he had expected to locate the water. The mare had seemed to see it fit to take the longest most winding path there that she could. Any crossness he was feeling over the length of the trip vanished with the blink of an eye when Harrison saw the most beautiful little stream of water that he had ever seen. He surged forward as quick as lighting, dropping his hat in the process, and shoved his entire mouth into the cool water, breathing be damned. He only came up for air when the burning sensation in his lungs became too much to ignore but he never stayed above the surface for long. He’d take a few deep breaths before plunging back in until his belly felt like it was going to burst from the poor treatment it was receiving.

“That was the best water I’ve had.” He croaked turning to look at his guide. It was painful for him to hear how raspy his voice still sounded even with his throat freshly lubricated but it was worse still to see the look on the mare’s face. She looked both concerned and horrified at the same time. He flashed her a sheepish and apologetic smile. He must have looked like something unnatural just then, or at least more unnatural than he normally looked. There were few of his kind running around with ears as long as his.

“I’m sorry; I just haven’t had anything to drink in a long time. Minutes I think.” From the way the mare wrinkled her brow he suspected he’d gone and said something strange again though he couldn’t quite figure out what. Minutes meant a lot of time had passed right? Tick tick tick. There were quite a lot of ticks in a minute that’s all he knew.  

[Nisshou H]

“Could I ask your help one more time?” He said abruptly to change the subject. “Where is this place?”

The mare considered him critically for a moment before answering. “Not far from the Kawani village.”

Harrison’s heart did a backflip. All that time locked away in that wooden prison and he’d ended up not too far from where he had started. It would be a long walk back to his home but that was better than what he’d been expecting. It did leave him wondering though, what had been the purpose of putting him in that wooden cage if the humans hadn’t planned to bring him anywhere? He really couldn’t imagine. He also didn’t really care.

“Thank you! Thank you a thousand times thank you!” He cried out to the mare. “I shall never forget you miss!”

“Alyse.” The mare supplied. “My name is Alyse.”