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 Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2008 8:48 pm
Akteon snatched something in his teeth and pulled, but the thin just wouldn't budge. He cursed under his breath, "It's.... it's....."
Finally, with a final tug, the thing came loose, and the unicorn tossed it over to Paul with a yell, "AN EVIL ONE!"
The dark thing went flying toward Paul but missed by a long shot, and langed in the ground. All it was was a frozen piece of wood, and there was no way it was really that difficult to pull from the groun.
Akteon's eyes said more than enough - it was merely a prank, and one that had him highly amused. "Now you are Taiiiiiiinted!" And with that, the stallion turned around and ran... ran to get away from the 'Tainted' Paul!
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Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2008 8:53 pm
"Aaaaah!" Paul Revere turned and tried to hide from whatever it was - itwasevilitwastainteditwascomingSTRAIGHTATHIM -
- it hit him and he winced away, but it hadn't hurt too much...
The stallion opened his eyes and looked at...a frozen piece of wood. Slowly, comprehension dawned in his eyes, as Akteon ran off.
"AKTEON!" he roared, torn between laughter and anger at the prank, and chased after the other Soquili as fast as he could. He'd decide what to do to him after he caught up to the unicorn.
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Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2008 9:19 pm
Akteon felt as if he flew. He dodged trees and branches - almost slithering on his belly to keep his antlers from catching on a stray twig. All he needed was to run into some bark and land ungracefully onto his side. The stallion didn't break stride but wove through trunks and logs.
His laughter of the Hunt echoed through the cold Forest. He didn't even notice that the general sounds of the woods were disappearing and that he was leading them straight to.....
...until he saw the blood and smelled the scent of true Evil. Akteon stopped. Simply stopped. His ears were perked and his nostrils flared into an attempt to place that Evil.
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Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2008 9:24 pm
Paul Revere was running flat-out at his top speed, determined to catch up with the swift Soquili. Heedless of the scratches from twigs and bushes and other forest detritus, he lowered his head for as much speed as he could get.
Suddenly Akteon was getting a lot closer by the moment - the orange stallion realized the blue had stopped a second before they collided.
The next thing Paul Revere knew, he was lying in the snow, sore and bruised. Then he noticed that just a few inches from his nose was a pool of blood. Instinct took over and he started kicking out, trying to get up and get away from the bloodscent.
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Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2008 9:34 pm
He had forgotten why he was there, and so Akteon was not so prepared when Paul came up from behind and bowled him over. Not that he shouldn't have expected that... The two of them got a little tangled, and the sores and bruises the orange stallion because familiar with were not the only ones.
When their motions finally ended, Paul was by the blood but Akteon had his head very close to those thrashing and kicking hooves. Every hit connected with that impervious skull helm, and the stallion was grateful for the protection.
It didn't take too long, with his head clear though his body battered, Akteon rolled and got back on his feet to wait for Paul to repeat the action. He got close to the stallion and murmured in his ear. "It is quiet here, is it not?"
Looking down at the blood in the snow, his ears pinned very close to his skull. "Can you smell the Evil? The blood is someone - or something - else, but that other... the scent if faint but definately there." Akteon looked at Paul. "Someone is changing into something else..."
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Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2008 9:38 pm
It took a bit, but Paul Revere also managed to regain his feet, though he moved until he was a few steps behind Akteon, and away from the blood. This place unnerved him.
"I couldn't tell ya if it's Evil or not, but I don' like it here. Let's go," the orange Soquili insisted, no trace of laughter in his voice for once. Every hair on his body was standing up, and he wanted no part in whatever had gone on here.
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Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2008 9:49 pm
Akteon, though afraid, was a bit curious. He took another sniff and though he frowned distatefully did take a step forward. The silence was what unnerved him more. Looking back, he saw how Paul was taking it... and turned to leave. Perhaps he was right. Akteon definately tended to get himself into more trouble than situations called for.
"Whoever was here is long gone now," he twisted to look at the scene quickly once more, "but you are probably right, let's leave here..." Akteon followed Paul, who seemed to want to be anywhere but here.
He was chewing his bottom lip thoughtfully. Something wasn't right, something was definately Evil, but something was also something new.... and Akteon didn't like not knowing.
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Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2008 9:54 pm
Paul Revere was past caring where they were going, he just wanted AWAY from that place and he picked a direction at random and headed there at a very fast walk.
"Whoever was there, I don't want to meet," he commented breathlessly and kept going. If Akteon wanted to investigate in his role as Keeper of the Forest, he could. But Paul was having no part of it. None at all.
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Posted: Mon Feb 18, 2008 4:26 pm
Paul's fear and feeling was palpable. Akteon could taste it, and he followed the other stallion as they quickly paced away from the scene. "But..." he argued, trying to reason with the stallion, "...they're long gone. I don't know, it seemed odd. The scents didn't match up very well."
The unicorn looked around with some concern. "Do you really think whoever smelled Tainted is still around?" He was starting to notice the sound, or lack thereof. Akteon wasn't fully afraid, he had called himself the Keeper, the Protector - but he would feel responsible if anything happened to this newly-found stallion. Akteon couldn't quite figure out what it was, but he liked Paul, even though they just met. Maybe it was his running from the idea of raising a baby... granted -and Akteon shuddered at the thought- he didn't blame him.
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Posted: Mon Feb 18, 2008 4:42 pm
Paul Revere shuddred again. "Gone or not, I still don't want to be anywhere near there," he said emphathetically.
He looked up, startled as Akteon gave voice to the dreadful possibility. "I...wouldn't know," he replied slowly, quietly, looking around, alert to run at the slightest hint of malevolance from the surrounding woods. The Soquili had a sudden, fierce longing for the snow-covered grasslands, where it was possible to see a threat coming from quite far away.
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Posted: Mon Feb 18, 2008 5:01 pm
Akteon was a bit distraught from Paul's reaction. He wanted to comfort the stallion, to say he would protect him too, to tell him that he would keep away the Evil Ones...but he wasn't sure if he could live up to such words, not to mention it wasn't something a stallion said to another... maybe to a mare.... and Paul was definately not a mare.
"Okay, we're leaving." He smiled kindly, not wanting to bring Paul into a panic. "I am sure we could..." Akteon paused and listened. Yes, there were animals sounds again. His smile got bigger, "I just heard an owl... want to go look?" He liked owls.
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Posted: Mon Feb 18, 2008 5:08 pm
The orange Soquili "harumphed" a bit, fully aware that he was being a scaredy-cat and beginning to be ashamed of it. If they went back to that...place...he'd feel justified in full-out fear, but here, a good distance away, he felt a bit silly.
"Uh, sure. Owls aren't Tainted, right?" Paul Revere tried to joke and chuckled weakly, though the attempt fell flat.
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Posted: Mon Feb 18, 2008 5:22 pm
Akteon chuckled, "Tainted Owls?" He paused a bit, to truly think about the question and didn't comment on Paul's attitude, "...none that I know of, to be perfectly honest."
The unicorn altered course and trotted quietly towards where the owl was. He had an uncanny memory and his ears were his own sense of direction. The nose was good, but his ears were better. Akteon paused in his movement, recalculated how far they went, and looked up.
There, fluffed up like a comfortable blanket, was a very small barn owl - and she wasn't alone. Eyes sparkled next to her, and when he looked down, Thistle saw that there were two soquili down there. Time to be social.
The little -and cold- fluttercorn bowed dramatically to the owl, "Well, it was nice talking with you, Milady. It seems we have company and maybe I should go offer some greetings."
He turned from the little owl, who only whooted her own pleasant response. Thistle lept from the branch and landed lightly on his feet, only slightly getting a bit bigger. In fact, he still stood much lower than a foal. The stallion wasn't even phased as he looked up to the stallions, totally at ease. "Good Evening, Gentlemen." He smiled toothily. "Forgive me that I am not eye-level, but this cold weather does not agree with my fine-tuned bones."
Akteon arched a brow, though it wasn't noticed since it was under that thick skull of his. "Hello. Were you really talking with that there owl?"
Thistle nodded, "Why of course. She has her own stories to tell, and as I am not well acquainted with nighttime she was kind enough to endulge my curiousities."
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Posted: Mon Feb 18, 2008 5:27 pm
"Well, that's good to hear," the stallion replied, a bit sheepishly. He trotted after Akteon towards the sound of the owl.
He was disconcerted to see that there was a Soquili chatting with the owl. A...tiny one. A Flutter. At least this one was male and purple. Still, it was a bit unnerving, especially as he was trying to escape a particular Flutter at the moment. But she wasn't here, couldn't possibly be here, so what had he to worry about?
But still, this was no time to be weak! Paul Revere shook himself mentally before speaking to the new Soquili. "Well, that was mighty nice a' her," he said to the small stallion. "But if yer so unfamiliar with the night, why're you out here?"
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Posted: Mon Feb 18, 2008 5:32 pm
She was upset.
No.
She was pissed.
After all that hard work of finding a good spot for the basket to lie in, that rude giant had had the audacity to actually RUN OFF on her. He thought she hadn't noticed. OH-HOH, how she begged to differ on THAT, yes she did.
The dusty red flutter buzzed angrily about in the forest, irritated at the stallion that had fled his responsibilities, forcing her to leave behind the unprotected basket into the care of the tree it sat beneath. How in the world did he expect her to care for a basket of that size?! He'd found it with her, so it was just as much HIS duty to care for it as it was hers. It wasn't like she wanted to play parent to it, but who in the world would just let a foal DIE???
Her eyes narrowed as she spotted a bright orange blur in the distance. That incorrigible Paul Revere. He couldn't hide from Zahara, no no no sir. And who were those blurs beside him? Had Paul gone off to HANG WITH FRIENDS while SHE was left BABYSITTING the defenseless basket??
Oh no, this wouldn't do. This wouldn't do at all.
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