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 Posted: Fri Dec 11, 2009 1:11 pm
Well that had to have some advantages the dappled mare thought to herself as the stallion revealed his lack of a need for sleep - certainly it would be difficult for anyone to sneak up on him in the night, well unless his thoughts wandered - which they seemed to have a habit of doing - not that she was anyone to say something about that. She wondered briefly if the rats slept or if they like Thanos were un-dead as well and no longer required such things but this was a brief thought and didn't seem worth pursuing any further, I mean did it really matter if the rats slept? she didn't think so. She did notice somewhat off handedly that her apology to the rat hadn't made much of an impact. Perhaps they couldn't understand horses after all, stupid beasts. Back to the present. "Why were you laying down then?" she questioned while pondering how to answer the stallions inquiry.
"I..don't really know" Was the answer she finally came up with, and it was the truth since being...no don't go there she reminded herself...well suffice to say she didn't have any destination in mind, nor any reason to get there. Regret didn't have much of a reason to go or do anything anymore. She kept moving out of habit more then anything else "I don't really have anywhere to go, I just keep walking...to try and outrun my memories" now why had she told him that last little bit? It didn't seem sensible to go spilling her guts to just any other stallion - though it did seem ironic that she had done so to a stallion who was quite literally spilling his.
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Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 11:06 am
Thanos' ears twitched. Why had he been laying down? Well he wasn't sure, and clearly the reason for it wasn't that important since he didn't remember it right away. "I don't know." He told her, not wanting to dwell on thinking about it. Really, why spend precious time thinking about something as insignificant as why he was laying down.
"Weren't you laying down to think?" Peace asked.
"Since when does he need to be laying down in order to think? That's just stupid."
"Perhaps it isn't stupid. Even think that he could think better while laying down." Peace retorted. "No of course you wouldn't because all you care about is hate."
War jumped up and tackled Peace. The two rats began squeaking wildly as they thrashed about.
"Stop it you two." Thanos said with a glance back at the rats. Returning his glance to Regret he somewhat shrugged. "They always fight like this." He had mostly gotten used to it, unless their fights got too intense and then he would have to break them up. He did find it amusing at least that a brother and sister could fight so much. That made him wonder, did he have any siblings before he had died? Most of his memories of the family he had had were long gone, outside of what he had told the rats. He would need to ask them about this some time.
He lifted his head slightly as Regret spoke again. No destination in mind huh? Well that seemed a bit odd. Of course he often took to wandering around with no real plan of where he was going, other than away from the herd to think, so perhaps it wasn't that odd after all. "Outrun your memories?" He asked her. How did one outrun memories? Was that even possible? Funny how this mare wanted to run away from her memories and yet Thanos would do almost anything to have his back.
His head turned towards where he had left his herd, they still stuck relatively close to the mountain where the barrier to Hell was. But soon they would need to move. No more sitting around doing nothing. They needed to act. "Well..." He began somewhat hesitantly, looking back at the mare. "My herd....it is near the mountain. They aren't much for outsiders...but...you could head over in that direction....if you wanted to." He paused for a moment. "They won't do anything to you though, not when they know I want you to be there." His tail swished slightly. Did he just say what he thought he said. That he wanted her to be near his herd. No,no, he couldn't have said that. Must have been his mind messing up his thoughts again.
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Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 11:31 am
Regret swished her knotted ratty tail in the equine equivalent of a shrug as the stallion answered her, she supposed she could understand that - she did quite a few things she didn't have a reason for. In fact Regret spent allot of time trying to not think up reasons for anything she did. Thinking led to remembering and that was something she truly didn't wish to do. Ever.
Regret was startled out of her inner thoughts by the rats who had suddenly decided to beat each other up, the only outside clue of this startlement however was a blinking of her somewhat watery gummy eyes. She waited for one of the rodents to accidentally bite the stallion - surely he would rid himself of them should they do something like that, but Thanos stated this was a common occurrence and so Regret purged it from her mind. Who really cared why rodents did the things they did anyways?
"Mindless motion seems to keep me from thinking to much" She answered the stallion and though she was pretty sure there was no real way to outrun her past, this method worked for her and as long as it kept doing so then she saw no reason to stop. The invitation to join his herd was somewhat unexpected...Regret wasn't often asked back to herdlands, she was ushered off in most cases as she looked fairly sickly and diseased.
Of course she doubted Thanos really had to worry about that problem. "Is it a large herd?" She asked him after a few moments pause, not that she cared really..it wasn't like she planned to stay, but it would make them start moving again, she'd been standing still to long now, and with her talent for ignoring things she didn't want to deal with Regret ignored the 'want you there' comment. Perhaps she was just the first live horse he'd come across since leaving hell. Not worth thinking about in any case.
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Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 12:35 pm
"Mindless motion huh?" He somewhat repeated. Maybe that was his problem, he always took to wandering while thinking and yet this mare wandered to stop from thinking. "Does it work?" He asked her. Maybe if he stood still long enough his memories would catch up with him. If that indeed worked well then he supposed he would be staying still alot more than he used to.
"I would stop if she would stop attacking me all the time. Not like I want to fight." Peace yelled out as he continued to fend off War's attacks.
"Silence you fiend!" War screamed as she again lashed out at her brother.
Well since it seemed they weren't gonna stop that would mean Thanos would need to intervene...again. He shook his body hard causing the rats the tumble apart. And even though the fight had been broke up the rats still stared at each other like it might start all over again.
Ignoring the rats he turned his attention back to Regret. Hmmm how large was his herd. Well he wasn't certain if it was large or small, although sometime told him it was more on the small side than anything else. Maybe he should count them next time he was back with them. "No, it's kinda small." He finally told her. Well if he was wrong than so be it. Although he hoped that if by chance his herd was large that Regret wouldn't mind it.
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Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 12:49 pm
Regret didn't think the stallions comment a really a question - though he had phrased it at such, it looked like he was thinking about it internally more then anything and so Regret merely waited patiently for him to come up with some sort of conclusion. She was pretty sure the stallion would proclaim it stupid, or strange but that was fine by Regret - she didn't much care what this stallion thought of her anyways now did she? Of course she didn't! she told herself firmly - you don't care or think anything about anything anymore..remember? of course she did, how could she forget?.
"It does for me" she stated simply when the stallion actually asked her a real question "though I don't know exactly why" she continued furrowing her brow slightly as she started to think about it..and then shook her head when she caught herself doing so, it she thought about it to much it might stop working and then she would be in real trouble. Once more Regret was saved from the fate of thinking as Thanos suddenly gave a violent shake - it seemed with the intention of breaking up the rat fight, she wondered briefly why he bothered. If he just let them kill one another then they wouldn't annoy him anymore...but the way he acted said he was somewhat fond of the creatures. How very peculiar.
Even more peculiar was the fact that the undead stallion didn't seem to know how large his herd was, or at least he had to think about it for quite a while before coming up with his answer. Oh well..he didn't see how the stallions apparent memory problem as anything she needed to bother with. "I don't expect it matter's in any case" She told him "Large or small it's still in the same spot" She concluded, a spot that she hoped was still near the place they had left Hell. Perhaps she would go with the stallion..and maybe she would see for herself if it was possible to walk into Hell.
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Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 1:24 pm
His tail swished in thought. Well if walking kept her memories away then perhaps standing still could work for him. Although the mare did make a good point, something that worked for one may not work for another. Well there was only one way to find out, and that would be to try to think while standing still. Not now of course, he was far too distracted to try it now. But later when he was alone again and could concentrate on thinking.
"Why bring her back with us? She is a useless waste of space." War spoke her mind once more.
"And you are not?" Peace retorted quickly.
"Why you little..." War once again launched herself at Peace, teeth posed to bite him.
"Come on!" Peace tried his best to get out of the way but War was much faster and stronger than he was, and once again found himself fighting to protect himself.
Okay this was getting out of hand, Thanos thought. Stupid rats and their bickering. That wasn't why he kept them around. They were supposed to be helping him, not distracting him. And what's worse, is that War had called Regret useless. He didn't think the mare was useless at all. Perhaps a bit run down but he didn't mind that at all, it meant she wasn't perfect, just like him. He almost...liked her...in a way. "She is not useless." Thanos snapped at his rats, totally forgetting that Regret was there for a few moments.
"She is usless!" War called out while trying her best to pin down her brother.
"I'll show you useless." She told the rat and as quickly as he could he laid down on the ground and began rolling back and forth trying to crush the rats under him. Although he knew it wouldn't hurt them, they were undead after all, but perhaps it would finally break up the fight. He could hear them squeaking underneath him as he rolled and finally after a few moments got back up to his feet.
"That was highly uncalled for." Peace told the stallion while trying to regain his balance. Never before had Thanos turned on him and his sister like that.
"You stupid horse! You could have gotten us killed!"
"You can't die you stupid little vermin." Thanos snorted at War while staring down the rats that sat on his back. Then his head tipped in thought. Wait, wasn't he doing something before he took such extreme measure's against his rats. His head swiveled around until his eyes landed on Regret again. He suddenly felt....embarressed...was that the right word? He had to do something quickly before she thought he was completely insane and left him. "Uh...I'm sorry you had to see that. But they really got on my nerves." Well that wasn't the best explanation but it would have to do.
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Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 4:54 pm
It seemed the stallion had fallen completely into his own thoughts this time - or at least he didn't say anything for a time, just stood there swishing his tail while his rat's squeaked the way rats were apt to do. Or at least sh assumed that was the way rats were supposed to act - to be honest Regret didn't know many other rats and these ones seemed a bit like their..keeper? was he their keeper? or their friend perhaps?...who knew...but regardless of the fitting title they like him were a tad unusual.
A tad? more like completely batshit heaping full of unusual, but hell it's not like she was completely normal anymore either. Perhaps she never had been. She was shaken from pursuing that line of thought any further by the rats ho with a leap and a screech started to fight one another again. well..at least they were distracting, she supposed that was one good about them.And then in the middle of all this bickering Thanos entered the fray with an entirely confusing comment. She's not useless? who?..her?..maybe a rat? was one of them a she?..Regret didn't know and she certainly wasn't going to check..no she'd respect the rats privacy on that particular issue.
He had to be speaking about her, which was even more confusing...who had called her useless? Had the rodents insulted her? For a brief moment Regret felt a flare of anger, felt her nostrils flare as a insulted snort left her..but them re remembered that she actually as quite useless right now, and she wasn't supposed to care about it anymore anyways. A shadow flickered by overhead..what was that? glancing up for a second she caught sight of the culprit..damn. The Raven was back, she watched it for a few moments as it glided in for a landing close by..watching her with its beady little eyes. It must feel safe now that Thanos was distracted.
Speaking of Thanos, Regret looked back at the decayed beast only to find him ...gone? no...a rolling mass of movement drew her gaze. He was on the ground...killing his rats? No, apparently not she realized when he stood up and continued to berate the two, who seemed perfectly fine despite the ill treatment. Had he been defending her in some way? How very strange.
"I understand completely" The mare remarked in a bleak tone. Lot of thing got on her nerves..or they had, she didn't have the energy to let things get on her nerves anymore. Except The Raven. Bothersome beast. Regret heaved out a large sigh "Which way is your herd?" she finally asked the black..since it seemed he'd become distracted and forgotten they were supposed to be heading in that direction.
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Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 5:45 pm
He hardly believed that Regret completely understood how annoying the rats could be at times. Sure she had a raven that followed her around everywhere, but that was it, and as far as he knew it didn't talk so it couldn't be half as annoying as War and Peace were. He had noticed the raven's return but didn't say anything, chance are she had noticed it too and if not well probably not something to bring up anyways.
Oh yes he was supposed to show her where the herd was. "The herd is..." His head swiveled around a bit trying to gain his barrings. Then he spotted the mountain. "Over there." He said with a gesture of his head towards the mountain. It was a good distance away and with Regret beign in the shape she was it would likely take them some time to get there.
"Oh yes, let's bring another useless horse to the herd. Don't we have enough of those already?"
"Stop with the useless talk. Clearly he wants her to come with him."
"We are wasting our time with all these do nothing horses."
"Better to be wasting time with horses than listening to you two." Thanos said quietly although he was sure Regret would hear it. In a way he didn't care, she obviously had her own flaws so why couldn't he. He snorted at the thought of the rats being his flaw. If anything he was his own flaw, all broken and mindless. He turned his attention to Regret. "Shall we go then?" And he took the first few steps in the direction towards his herd, making sure to keep his pace slow so the mare could keep up.
His head turned back to make sure she was following. "So, how long have you been wandering?" He asked her in hopes that a bit of conversation would make the trip feel shorter.
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Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 6:10 pm
The dapple mare once more found herself waiting while Thano's gathered his thoughts, she didn't mind though - it wasn't like she had anywhere else to be at the moment or the foreseeable future. When his head darted around she had to wonder for a few moments if he had forgotten just where his herd happened to be and she questioned the wisdom of following a horse who lost his herd...and his thoughts most of the time. On the other hand...what else did she have to do? Nothing.
When he motioned towards the mountain she swished her tail slightly - it was a good ways off, but she'd been traveling for so long now that distance just didn't seem to matter anymore. Nothing much did. Better to get started them she thought to herself, or they wouldn't make it by nightfall. Honestly Regret was pretty sure that goal had already slipped into the realm of impossible anyways lets face it she wasn't in prime condition anymore.
She decided not to comment when Thanos cast out a random comment about wasting time with horses, she wasn't sure if she agreed with him or not, horses in her experience were nothing but trouble, then again his rats seemed like an awful lot of trouble too. "I suppose" She told him as he started off towards the mountain, her head lowering as she shambled after him in her typical slow manner, she might have decided to follow him to his herd but she didn't see the need to hurry to do so.
"I don't know really..." She replied to his secondary inquiry "I lost track of time a while ago" she concluded, quietly wondering just ho long he had been wandering now. Of course to figure it out for sure she would have to remember..that day...the mare shook her head "Its not important" she stated firmly. "HO long have you been out of Hell?"
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Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 6:30 pm
He wasn't sure why exactly she thought her time spent wandering was not important. Oh well, something to ask about later. He kept his pace slow so that she could keep up, in fact he made sure that he didn't lead, but walked along side her. That was an odd thing to do and he wasn't quite sure why he did it. His eyes moved up to the sky for a moment, it was already quite late in the day, and at this rate, well it would be dark well before they got to the mountain. The dark didn't bother him, but he wasn't sure how well Regret would manage traveling at night. Plus she was a mortal horse after all, she would likely need to rest at some point.
Damn, why the hell was he so concerned about the health and well-being of this mare. This wasn't at all the reason why he had left hell. In fact he came back to do the opposite, bring about pain and destruction...right? It seemed to him that mares caused more trouble than good. The mares in his herd were wastes of time and effort, they wanted nothing to do with his and Thorn's plans of reshaping the world. They wanted...oh what was it called...a second chance? Yes, that sounded familiar. Second chances for horses that were once in Hell, didn't make much sense to waste it on love and families. Then his eyes drifted back to Regret. So why was he bringing her to the herd?
"We'll never make it at this pace. She will die before we reach the herd." War let out a little evil cackle. "Quickly, increase the pace, wear her down!"
"Don't you have any nice thoughts at all?"
"No!"
"Well maybe you should try it sometime."
Here they go again, he thought. This would be a long walk for sure, not because of the slow pace, but more because it gave the rats more time to bicker over his actions. "Not long." He told Regret answering her question. "We came out on the night know as Hallows Eve" At least that's what he thought it was called. And ever since then his herd had done nothing but sit around eating and drinking and trying to be social, it sickened him, which was why he spent so much time away from them. Sure he had spend alot of time with other horses too, but it's not like he sought them out to have a friendly conversation or anything. No, he had been wandering trying to gather his thoughts and always seemed to run into a horse each time. Which is exactly how he came across Regret.
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Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 6:42 pm
The stallions answer might have made more sense if Regret could recall when Hallow's eve was - or ho long ago it had been. She thought it was sometime in the fall...and it was certainly cooler out at night now and it hadn't snowed yet so she assumed it must still be in the same season. He hadn't been back long at all then - she'd been wandering for far longer then he'd been alive. Or re-alive...she wasn't sure exactly how to phrase that particular thought. Re-alive seemed to work as well as anything else she could come up with without putting to much thought into it.
After Thanos spoke they shambled along in silence for a while - or rather she shambled and he adjusted his pace to walk alongside her, which seemed strange considering her pace, most horses would have gone ahead and waited impatiently for her to catch up in an irritable fashion. Thanos was hardly a typical horse he reminded herself.
But unusual company or not this as going to be a long trip if they just wandered beside each other in silence the whole way. Regret generally didn't mind walking in silence when it was just her but when you had a companion it seemed a bit awkward. Regret blinked at the black stallion for a few moments as she tried to come up with a suitable question or statement to make things less awkward and which didn't require to much thought on her side of things.
"Why were you in hell?" She finally asked, perhaps if she got him talking about his own past he would forget about asking about hers for a little while.
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Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 7:16 pm
His head lifted slightly when she asked her question. Of course she would ask that. Too bad he didn't know the answer. "Well, I don't know." He stated as they continued their slow walk. "That is, I don't really remember anything about what happened before I ended up in hell." He shook his mane, that never really bothered him too much, he obviously had done something wrong to have caused him to go there. "In fact, I don't even remember how I died." He said with a slightly chuckle. Although he wasn't entirely sure why he found that funny.
Most horses after all would be somewhat concerned if they couldn't remember such important things as that. But none of that really concerned him. He had left his past in the past, not because he didn't want to know it, but because he just couldn't remember it. Although he was sure at one point he would have been part of a herd, whether he was a leader of that herd he didn't know.
"You are a pathetic creature for not knowing your own past."
"Isn't that why he told us things, so that he wouldn't ever truly forget them."
Indeed he had shared many things with the rats, and while they annoyed him a lot he would be nothing without them. He did feel kinda bad about what he did to them earlier but they seemed to have forgotten about that for now. What was the worse that could happen even if they were still mad at him? Surely they wouldn't leave him, they had been with him for so long now the idea of that was just silly.
Right, back to what he had been doing. Explaining his reason for being in Hell. "I suppose..." He began once again. "That I had done something wrong in the past to cause me to go there. But that detail eludes me." In time he may find out, that was if he could retain his memories. Sure he could always ask the rats but in the end he just kept forgetting things. One day he would begin remembering again, not noly that but keeping his memories as well. One day.
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Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 8:33 am
Regret wasn't sure if she actually cared why the stallion had been in hell or not, it had been a question born purely from the desire to keep out of the limelight herself. Anything to keep from being questioned on and therefore reflecting upon her own past. But she listened to the stallions answer anyways - not really caring was no reason to be rude. She found herself envious of the memoryless stallion - how much nicer would life be if she could forget..truly forget...everything in her past. To loose the flashbacks and the memories forever rather then constantly having to battle against these recollections.
It was certainly something to wish for, though it was a wish that was probably unobtainable. Well...she reflected that did tend to be the nature of wishes, like foals who wished to fly and stallions who wished to rule over all. Wishing was a waste of time thought to herself and yet horses everywhere continued to to do it, shamefully herself included. "Perhaps it isn't important" She replied once the stallion ceased speaking "You were there..and now you are here, maybe it is a gift that you don't remember, your past then cannot reflect upon and influence your future" She concluded as she stepped along after him.
Their journey might be slow, but even Regret could tell they were making some progress, and the mare wondered fleetingly if the rest of Thano's herd would look as he did. Decayed. Did it matter? probably not she concluded, she'd already become accustomed to Thano's strange ways and unless one of his herd members displayed some strange powers or sprouted wings she doubted they would be able to startle her any further.
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Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 9:13 am
His tail swished in though as she spoke. Well she was pretty smart having said that. Thanos never considered it that way. He always thought it was a curse to have forgotten things and yet this mare told him that it might even be a gift. "I do hope you're right..." He said as they continued the slow walk towards his herd. "That it is a gift to have forgotten those things." His eyes moved around the horizon a bit, trying to judge just how far away they were from his herd. They had made good progress but they were still a ways off. "And yet, there are some things I wish I had have never forgotten. Mainly...what I had before I died. Did I have a family? I don't know. Was I part of a herd or a loner. I don't know." He shook out his mane, a bit in frustration. "Those unanswered questions have bothered me since the day I found myself in Hell."
"You're dumb. We know all the answer you are looking for." War snapped at Thanos.
"That's true, we do know those things, but being told them is not the say as remembering them." Peace said softly as he curled into Thanos' mane.
"It's funny..." He continued after a few moments of quiet to think over what the rats said. "I almost envy you. You can remember things and yet you choose to run away from your memories. And I....well I would do almost anything to have mine back." The night air was colder now as the sun moved closer to the horizon, cold didn't bother him, not after being trapped in Hell for who knows how long. But he wasn't sure how well Regret could handle it being so thin. He slowly turned towards the trees, it would still lead them towards the herd but he hoped the trees would provide a little shelter from the cold for her. Why he cared so much he didn't know. Perhaps because she was the first horse he had came across that didn't seem bothered by his looks or ways. Yes, that's it, he told himself. That is exactly why he was doing these things, because she showed some respect for him, and therefore she deserved the same. Right?
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Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 9:34 am
Regret knew she was right, what good had personal memories ever done her? None. In fact as far as she could tell personal memories didn't do anything but hold horses back. They stayed in herds they weren't happy with because they had a few happy memories there, they stayed with mates they no longer liked..because they recalled having liked them at one point in their lives, or they recalled terrible tragedy's that well..turned them into the likes of her. Good or bad it seemed memories didn't do anything helpful, quite the contrary - horses she concluded would be better off if their memories weren't quite so sharp. She didn't have any answers for Thanos about what he couldn't remember... personally she thought it would be better if the stallion just stopped trying altogether and got on with his life...err unlife.
She couldn't help but let out a slight chuckle at the thought of anyone envying her "There is nothing here to envy" the mare responded after a few minutes "my memories would not be wanted by anyone, it is likely that I more then you belong in the place you came from" the mare concluded as they shifted their path. Why had he done that? Taking her eyes from the ground in front of her feet she looked up, ah he was heading for the tree's, shelter perhaps? It as getting chilly out and the cold hit her harder now then it had...well no point in going down that road of thought. Suffice to say she got cold easily and while she didn't care, cold was just one more misery to endure in her miserable existence she supposed the trees shelter might be welcome. Or at least she wouldn't balk at entering them.
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