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 Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2005 8:26 pm
Dwarf Plush! : A lesson learned.
It was just as well that Vidya had to go after dropping off the plush, because father and son weren't home when she had come to drop off the gift. Pales and Armel walked up the path toward the house about an hour since Vidya was there.
Something about it was different though, and Pales wasn't quite that observant for a few moments until Armel pointed out the plush and note without seeming to skip a beat.
"Look! Someone came over Da. We must 'ave just missed them." Armel spoke out, catching Pales' attention to what was lying near the door.
"Indeed, we must have. Let's go see who it is for and who it is from." Pales smiled and walked side by side with Armel up the steps. The ram-horned boy bent and picked up the plush and held up the note to Pales for him to read.
"My, my, seems Vidya came over and dropped off that plush for you." Pales smiled as he read the note, "Even wrote this note for you. How thoughtful of her. Such a sweet girl she is." The man commented tucking the note away to paste into Armel's album later.
Armel only half heard his Da speaking as he turned the plush over in his hands with a mild look of curiosity. It was a fine looking toy the boy noted, also noted that Vidya has excellent taste in plush-beings, "I'm gon' name 'im Flint, Da. Does that suit 'im?" Armel looked up at his father-figure with an expression that asked for approval.
"It's a fine name Armel. It is a very fine name for a fine looking dwarf like that one." Pales smiled down at the boy, "Let's get our new friend inside, it is getting a bit chilly out."
The boy nodded and waited for Pales to unlock and open the door. Once the door was opened Pales allowed Armel to go in first before following after. Armel was holding Flint before himself and speaking out loud as if the plush could hear and understand what was being said, "This is your new home, Flint," the boy announced, "and you'll be sleepin' wi' me in m'room. I'll show ye that later though."
Armel then went straight to the kitchen followed by Pales. The man knew the boy would likely be hungry, as they were out in shops since breakfast.
Pales went over to the cupboard digging through the dried food stuffs for a moment, as he glanced over his shoulder he saw Armel seated in his usual seat, in the chair next to him sat the dwarf plush.
"So what do you want to eat?" Pales asked casually stopping the search in the cupboard to move to the fridge. The boy lofted a brow and simply shrugged in response. Pales chuckled a bit and shrugged back, "Sandwiches sound good at all?"
"Aye, that sounds decent." Armel commented as he glanced at the plush, "An' Flint agrees."
Pales grinned and chuckled slightly, "Right then, anything special on it?" He asked as he got out the bread and other fixing, effortlessly moving about the kitchen as if it were all just a normal routine.
"I want roast beef, some mayonnaise, and some lettuce." The boy stated as if it were quite obvious, "I'm thirsty too, Da," he added as an afterthought.
"Alright then, want some cold juice to drink?" Pales responded as he threw the sandwich together as 'ordered'."
Armel took a moment to think kicking his short child's legs at the air aimlessly, "Apple-cranberry juice sounds good, Flint said."
The man repressed laughter and nodded, rarely did the boy take to a toy so much, "Good, cause that's all we have left at the moment." Pales replied as he finished the sandwich and then went to go get the cup of juice for Armel, "I have to make some more later."
The juice was poured into its usual white cup and then the sandwich placed on a paper plate. Pales brought juice cup and sandwich over to Armel and set them before the boy and then took a seat across from him and taking up an apple for himself from a near by fruit basket.
The boy took a bite of his sandwich and chewed on it thoughtfully for a moment or two before swallowing, "Y'said Vidya wrote the note right? Think I can learn t'write too?" Armel asked softly. The question caused Pales to sit a little straighter in his seat.
"Of course you can, Armel." Pales smiled a bit, "I'd be glad to help you out. Besides you have to know how to write so you can put stuff in your new journal, right?"
The boy nodded somewhat vigorously in response, "An' I can learn how t'read too?"
Pales chuckled, "They usually go together like that."
Armel chuckled a bit in response, "Aye, when do we start, Da?" He asked, as both legs now kicked at the air, making him bounce in his seat.
"Stop that kiddo, you'll bounce right off of the seat, and whenever you're done eating. Don't rush yourself though." Pales added the last part quickly as he saw Armel trying to just cram the whole sandwich into his mouth at once. The boy pouted at his Da and then reluctantly sat still and ate his meal properly.
"Going to go get some pencils and paper, and you finish your sandwich. Don't try to hide it because I am pretty sure I'll find it later." Pales added again, seeming to see the thought cross the boy's mind before it was finished being plotted. Being denied of his mischief caused Armel's face to skew up into another full fledged pout.
When Pales returned he found Armel finishing up the last of his juice, and the sandwich was gone. 'Thank goodness for small favors' was all Pales could think as he reclaimed his seat across from the boy and laid out the paper. The man took up the paper and one of the pencils and began to print out the alphabet in lower and higher case letters across the top of the paper and then moved it toward Armel, "Practice those for a bit and I'll make a few sentences for you to practice reading."
Armel took the paper and furrowed his brow, this looked harder than he thought it was going to be, but he refused to let that stop him as he took up the other pencil and then studied how his Da wrote before he began. The boy mocked the man's grip on the pencil and then began to get to work. The letters clumsily looking and quite misshapen, and quite a few of them backwards as the boy couldn't figure out how to correctly position them for the same look that was displayed in Pales' writing. Though Armel seemed to refuse to give up, his tongue stuck out as he concentrated patiently on forming the letters.
Pales having long finished the sentences to be read watched Armel with mild interest, occasionally pointing at something or explaining calmly how to do it in order to correct him without making him feel smothered or like an idiot. Soon an hour passes and both sides of the paper are filled, with progressively neater handwriting. Pales looked it over and nodded approvingly, "You're going to have an interesting handwriting-style when you get more comfortable with it... I think next time I will challenge you with a bit of cursive."
Armel grinned at Pales' compliments, "I did good, aye?" He asked anxiously. The man responded to the question with a nod and a small smile.
"Now onto reading," Pales moved the sentences for Armel to see, leaning forward himself and moving the page filled with alphabets near the sentence filled page, "See, each letter makes a sound." He demonstrated each sound by doing them himself after he went through them all he explained a bit further, "Certain letters when joined make different sounds." He wrote those down on a separate piece of paper and sounded those out for the boy.
Armel listened intently and nodded showing he was understanding, or at least trying to. When it came time to put what he learned to practice, it was a little harder than it seemed. Though he still learned slightly faster than most his age, and thus got to where he could read the first three lines his Da had written up for him. These likes were not sentences but more like simplistic words: rat, cat, mat, and hat, chat, that, and so on. They varied in difficulty getting harder to progress. Pales allowed Armel to try and tackle the challenge set before him for an hour before gently removing the paper, and smiling at the glowering face.
"Time to go play and relax, you can continue later." Pales said softly, "It doesn't do to just sit and learn the whole time. Have to give your brain time to relax." Pales tucked the paper away and stood circling the table and planting a kiss on the boy's head, which got a response of a simple grunt from Armel.
Pales smirked and shook his head, "Now go show Flint the room he's going to stay with you in. I'm going to go about cooking dinner."
Armel sighed and grudgingly muttered, "Alrigh'," then got up and gathered Flint and tromped off to his room with his new plush.
Pales chuckled and cleaned up the pencils and papers, "Whatever am I going to do with you, Armel?" He asked to the silent air before him with a reverent tone to his voice.
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Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2005 8:27 pm
Strange Dreams: Part 1
"It's mine, it's pure and, as decent as I can make myself
Inside, we all know, only the strong survive
Why don't you think about that?"
Flaw // Only the Strong
Armel lay back in bed staring at the ceiling. Pales had just left the room assuming the boy had fallen asleep, but that was not so. Armel was trying to stubbornly stay awake, staring hard at the ceiling as if that would make him stay awake. He needed to do something he needed to - Darkness.
Wicked sleep caught up with Armel, as he just dozed off without actually noticing it. If the boy had known he would have clobbered the little sandman and shown him what for, especially for sneaking up on him. The fact remained that he had finally fallen asleep however. It was a deep sleep, one that caused all sorts of dreams to swim of to the surface. Dreams of oddities and perhaps a strange past life, but Armel knew nothing of this as he slept. He dreamed his dream in ignorance, likely wouldn't remember any bit and parcel of it or would he?
Tsssst.
The sound of cooling metal always seemed to relax the Prince turned his head away from the billowing steam that erupted from the barrel of cooling water as it touched red hot metal. Arthmael withdrew the tongs that held the metal and looked at what was pinched between them. A dagger he was working on for his father's birthday. He smiled at it and ambled back toward the anvil where he had been working, placing the metal back to the fire to reheat it back up a bit on his way. He picked up his hammer and quietly looked it over, until a shorter shadow was cast over the anvil. The Prince noticed it without even turning his head, as his eyes seemed quite adept with peripheral vision.
"Go away, Dogan. I don' want trouble w'ye an' yer crew this day." Arthmael grunted as he now looked up at the young dwarven face grinning at him somewhat wolfishly now. The dwarf was barely out of his teens, a late beard growing from his chin the color of rust.
"Aww, come now Prince Arthmael. Is tha' any way t'treat y'subjects?" The young dwarf replied as if he had just gotten his heartbroken by what was said, even mocking heartbreak by putting a stubby-fingered hand to his chest.
"Cut it out. I'm busy. Can't ye see that?" The taller elven man replied somewhat snappishly as he turned back to retrieve the metal he had started to heat.
"I can see jus' fine, Elf." Dogan now growled all the fun and mockery now gone once he saw that the Prince wasn't going to play into it.
Arthmael glanced at the dwarf called Dogan and noted he was alone this time and lofted a brow and shrugged, "Aye, indeed. Then see y'way out of here. I'm busy." Arthmael reiterated more forcefully as he returned to the anvil.
"I ain't gotta listen t'no elf. Prince of the dwarves or no, y'still are a no good elf." Dogan retorted with a small sniff and stayed where he was. Arthmael glanced up with a glare that could kill if it had just a little more power behind it. Dogan just grinned back and added, "Pointy eared freak," with as much venom as he could muster into his gruff voice.
The Prince glared at Dogan and took in a deep breath as if to heave a large gusty sigh, "Get out before I call this harassment in to my father!" He bellowed, this time sounding a bit more impressive, or so he felt.
The dwarf took a step back eyes wide for a moment before he started to laugh as the words sank in, "Going to get daddy to solve your problem. He isn't your real father pointy-ears! In case you forgot!" Dogan chimed back tauntingly.
Prince Arthmael had enough at that point, snarling in rage he flung his unfinished dagger at Dogan shattering project entirely as it landed on the young dwarf's feet. Dogan had the gall to look surprised before making a very undwarf-like scamper out of the forge.
"Stupid dwa---"
"rf..." Armel muttered as he awoke again. He sat up in bed looking sleepy and perplexed. The room was still dark, so he had obviously not slept long.
He flopped back unto the bed with a tired sigh. Was he that Prince Arthmael? Armel wasn't sure. He didn't quite remember seeing the man's face, or was it his face?
Armel wasn't sure. He laid there restlessly for long moments at a time wondering if he should get his Da and tell him of this. Instead he found himself back into the velvety darkness of slumber.
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Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2005 8:28 pm
Strange Dreams: Pt. 2
The moment of darkness gave away to disjointed dreams that meant nothing other than to be totally and utterly weird for the most part. These were dreams which were pleasant if not a little strange to anyone that was sane. It is always the insane ones one forgets upon waking.
The dreams soon gave way into something more lucid and solid feeling, a familiar place and a familiar time. All of which was now very unfamiliar to a young Tale named Armel.
The young elf stared at himself in his mirror sitting at bigger and more human sized dresser and vanity. Prince Arthmael reached out and touched the reflection he could have sworn he just saw something off out of the corner of his eye in the mirror. When he turned to face it, it was gone. Arthmael frowned and shook his head. Were such illusions and shadows also apart of an elven life? He was learning about elven language, life, and history through a tutor his father had hired some time back.
Probably not, as Miss Shalandri would have told him about it during the lessons of elvish language and history, or would she? He had no basis for which he could trust her, other than she used to be his father's most trusted ally on and off the battlefield during the wars which had once raged heavily across the land.
Arthmael bushed his hands over his hair quietly, the bottom heel of his hands just slightly grazing over the pointed tips of his ears. They were a curse to him in this place, and he knew none of the dwarves would follow under his banner when his father did die. They would likely rebel against him. The Prince's face fell into a stern frown as he looked back unto his dresser surface. He didn't want to go face his father even though it was the old king's birthday, but he had no gift for him, as the dagger he was laboring over was ruined thanks to Dogan's taunting.
He grudgingly went to his bedroom door, a slender hand closing around the handle before turning it and yanking it open in order to trudge into the main hall the keep.
The dwarves knew how to party that was for certain, ale and food was everywhere and bright and cheerful decorations were placed along the main hall which was now serving as a feast hall just because no one wanted to just walk all the in just for some ale, finest stock or not.
Male, female, young, and old were all here. There were bawdy jokes told by the veterans and some lewd dwarven drinking songs sung into the air as everyone got totally, utterly, and thoroughly drunk.
The only exception was Arthmael's father who sat at the head of the banquet with a somewhat bored look on his face. The Prince gathered as much saunter as he could to put into his step, in order to fool his father into thinking that he was happy. Which was only part truth, Arthmael was happy his father lived through yet another year, but unhappy about lacking a proper tribute to the man that had raised him as his own son for all these years.
"M'boy! Glad to see ye here, honestly thought I goin' t'have t'suffer through a birthday w'out ye." His father bellowed and then grumbled at him changing tones smoothly and easily. Arthmael got a few sour glances surrounding young dwarves, Dogan being one amongst them.
"Ach, sorry Da'," Prince Arthmael muttered back, "was doin' some studyin' in m'room and lost track o'time." He replied looking somewhat abashed. Yet more partial truths but more like full out lies. Arthmael was thinking, not studying, and perhaps a little thinking about studying. The fact remained that none of it accumulated into studying at all.
"Aye, lad, that be fine, just don' forget about yer dear ol' Da." The elder dwarf grinned up at his much taller son.
Arthmael halfheartedly grinned back at his father figure and nodded, "Aye, ne'er doin' that. I Promise," the Prince promised solemnly.
"Good, now go enjoy y'self. Y'can gimme yer gift t'me later," The King growled lovingly at his adopted son and then went back to falsely enjoying the festivities.
Arthmael sighed and wandered away, to 'mingle' though they all treated him as if he carried some sort of a contagious illness. He decided to tell his father of the broken gift later, when they were alone.
The Prince wasn't alone for long before he was firmly and unceremoniously shoved. Arthmael caught himself up against the wall then turned to see Dogan standing there looking quite smug about. This time the young dwarf was surrounded by his toadies.
"See, I tol' ye Arond. An elf can ne'er keep a firm foot 'pon the ground, they jus' fall o'er." Dogan and his friends laughed together as if it had been rehearsed.
"Not in the mood t'mess w'ye and yer band o'merry idiots." Prince Arthmael muttered as if exhausted by the antics.
The amused laughter stopped at the insult and there was a round of eyes glaring up at him, all of them frowning in purple-faced righteous anger.
Arthmael smirked at the angry faces, "Now, now. Getting' angry in 'ere will just cause ye some trouble. We don' wan' trouble."
Dogan was the only one to speak up, "Shuddup, Prince Freak!" He bellowed spittle spraying the distance between them hitting only air and finally ground in a soft unnoticeable spray, "Bet yer too scared to go out from y'Da's watchful gaze t'get an a** whoppin' from some real dwarves. You are fraud Prince and we all know it!"
Everything in the room went silent and quite chilly as everyone turned to regard the confrontation between the 'Elf Prince of Dwarves' and the rebellious rabble
The King pulled himself to a stand and slowly hobbled to the grouping with a disapproving stare to his eyes, "Why, Dogan, ye'd hurt your King so durin' his celebration? Ye'd question the Prince's abilities right before 'is very on da?" The old dwarf asked reproachfully.
Dogan turned and looked contemptuously at King Haden with a high and mighty look in his eyes, "Aye, I do. I think ye are too soft in t'head. S'why y'took in an elf child instead o'lettin' it sit in the Wilds and lettin' nature take care of it."
Haden frowned and shook his head, "Arthmael is more o' a dwarf than ye are Dogan. Ye and yer band o'thugs there are no bet'er than our dark and incestuous cousins the Dreugar that live deeper in these mountains than we care to go."
The young dwarf's mouth dropped agape as if amazed at the new low King Haden had dropped to in order to deliver such an insult, "Aye? Well let's see 'im take pain! Y'never let 'im hunt with us!"
The King raised a bushy brow both in concern and curiosity, "What do ye suggest Dogan? Y'know Arthmael is a better fighter than ye and yer lowbrow mine-rats."
Dogan and his group snorted in almost perfect unison, "Fine then 'ave 'im take on tattoos. Just like the humans do to show their toughness."
Arthmael now spoke up after watching them in silence, "Alright. I'll do it. Let's go above ground, there's a human city near by, right?"
Everyone in the room, even Dogan and his crew looked surprised, they hadn't expected the Prince to step up to the plate like that.
"Ye sure son, ye don't have t'do it!" Haden almost pleaded, it always pained him to think of his son hurting much less to see it.
Arthmael nodded stubbornly to King Haden. The determination was easily seen in the young Prince's eyes, "If they aren't satisfied by the first trial I'll get a second one on a place of their choosing."
Dogan smirked whilst his band of dwarven hooligans laughed derisively behind him, after the laughter faded away the young dwarf spoke up, "Fine, let's go then," Dogan said still wearing the smirk. So the Prince wanted first choice fine. No matter where the tattoo was gotten they'd make him have another one alright, and he knew just the perfect spot.
Haden looked hapless for a moment before speaking up, "Let me go with you then, Arthmael or at least take Shalandri with you, if not y'own Da'." The King looked so pleading that Arthmael nodded and waved at him to come instead of Shalandri. The woman elf didn't need to see the Prince to go through blood and pain just so he could prove himself 'properly' in the eyes of a bunch of brash young dwarves.
Without little ado everyone went about getting ready. The main hall was made into its usual dour appearance as before the party and the King and Prince prepared for their travels as they saw fit. It would take a day or two travel back and forth, but who knew how long the tattooing itself would take in general. Dogan was off somewhere with his cronies plotting things against the Prince so as to try and make things harder for him after the first tattoo was had.
"We'll make him get it on the arm," Dogan muttered lowly to his crew, "After we all had a chance to punch it at least once. Don' do it too hard 'cos then the man doin' the tattoos won't work on it anymore. Since it'd be our choice we'll make 'im get somethin' real involved."
The youngest of the group spoke up, "Make 'im get a knot! Make it real detailed like," he called out, as he was on the very edge of the group playing lookout. The rest of the group looked at each other and grinned.
"S'a great idea'r, Adion! Ye'll work yer way up real fast if ye keep that sort o' talk up!" Dogan complimented to Adion, who grinned hopefully back at his apparent idol of the group, "Now ye all go get ready. We 'ave much preparin' t'do, and not a lot o'time to do it in," with that said the group split up to go ready themselves for the fun they figured would await them much longer. Each dwarf was sure that the Prince would weep like a babe by the end of it all.
Meanwhile the Prince was in his room preparing a bag. Miss Shalandri sat on his bed watching him with an almost motherly concern. Shalandri was much older, with white streaks in her long chestnut brown hair and kind aqua blue colored eyes. The woman elf was shorter than Arthmael and much slenderer. She wore a simple gray dress, not seeming to like to dress fancily as most of her kind do.
"Arthmael, your father and I are worried about the affects this will have on you. Are you sure?" She asked in her usual soft toned voice, "You know how much we care about you." Shalandri reached and took his hand to turn him toward her, but the look he gave her was a rather venomous glare so she let go and looked away as if wounded.
Arthmael's glare relaxed and heaved a long sigh. Packed what he had in hand and then went and knelt before her taking Shalandri's slender feminine hands into his own, "Y'know I love ye like m'ma, an you know I love m'da too," he said to her patiently and as mildly as he could without anger in his tone, "I 'ave to do this so Dogan and the rest leave me alone and maybe I can get their respect along with it." Prince Arthmael stared up into Shalandri's eyes with a solemn expression that showed how serious he really was about going through with this.
Shalandri sighed and withdrew one of her hands and reached up to touch his cheek with a small frown upon her lips, marring her pretty features, "Arthmael, I really do wish you were my son sometimes." She said as her voice seemed to tremble a bit out of its normal dulcet tones making it sound thick and distorted making it seem as if she was on the verge of crying which was a rarity for her. Shalandri cleared her throat and rapidly blinked her eyes as she regained control of her emotions and reigned them in before speaking, "Do what you feel is best, but please come back in one piece." She said her voice now taking an earnest tone, matching the expression on her pale face perfectly.
Arthmael smiled a bit and nodded, "I promise. I 'ave to go now and make sure Da' is ready." He stood and took his bag and waved a little to her, "'Ave my lessons prepared for when I get back. I'll want to learn somethin' after being around so much stupidity for so long." He winked at Shalandri before turning to leave. Shalandri's smile appeared for a short moment accompanied by a short chuckle. The smile was short as it disappeared after Arthmael officially left the room. Shalandri's head dropped a bit as she let tears flow. These were tears of worry for a young man.
Dogan and his crew were already waiting at the exit of the Dwarven city. Arthmael and Haden were walking up just talking to each other as they shouldered their packs. They barely even acknowledge the awaiting glaring crowd before them. Instead they just walked past and out of the city, and just kept walking causing Dogan and his band to scramble after them with a sort of a strangled grunt sound of shock and what seemed to be dismay. Dogan trotted up next to Arthmael and Haden glaring at them.
"Were ye plannin' on leavin' us behind back there?" Dogan demanded somewhat angrily, though he became cowed when King Haden gave him an even stare.
Arthmael took it upon himself to answer, "We don't need a big old ritual for leaving do we? Da and I wouldn't dream of being as lucky as loosing you and your badmouthed under-dwarves behind in the dust." The dwarf-raised elf replied with an even chill to his voice, not even rewarding Dogan with a look, which seemed to make the young dwarf angrier than usual as he just stopped walking just long enough for his friends to catch up before continuing to walk once surrounded by his small pack of friends.
The hours had somehow past by quickly as they trudged up to the nearest mountain city. None of them really spoke, and the two groups stayed a fair distance from each other. When they walked into the city no one really paid them much mind, and the streets were mostly deserted as it was late in the day and most had gone to bed.
"Don't men of the markin' trade usually live near ports?" King Haden asked glancing back at Dogan who seemed surer than any of them here that someone lived here that could tattoo Arthmael.
Dogan nodded a bit, "Aye, he is retired, but for the right price he'd get the stuff and do it for ye." He grinned somewhat darkly, a grin the King didn't seem too comfortable with but sort of turned a blind eye toward it.
"I see, and you are paying, aren't you Dogan? Since it is your idea?" Haden's brow lifted as he looked ahead again as if unable to bear looking at Dogan any longer.
Dogan smirked at the back of the king's head before replying, "Aye, we'll pay for all o'it. Trust us."
Arthmael now glanced back and spoke up, "That is the problem. We can't." Then he looked away. The King and Prince dropped behind Dogan and his group to let them lead them to the place since they obviously knew where it was.
When the house was found, Dogan knocked, when the door flew open a somewhat crusty older gentleman opened the door peering at them from slightly squinting eyes. The human was scrutinizing the whole bunch before him for a moment before looking down at Dogan, "What is all this, eh? A bunch of dwarves an' an elf comin' to m'home at this late hour," the human laughed a bit, "What do you all need of a retired man such as me?"
Again, it was up to Dogan to speak up, "We want ye to mark the elf up. He wants to prove his strength to us through 'is ability t'take pain. We come with a good gold and gems in trade for yer good services."
The human stared up at Arthmael and then at the King next to him for a moment, he seemed startled and perhaps a little confused before replying, "I see, come in then, lest someone gets suspicious of your intentions." He stepped back and let both groups in. The elder man introduced himself to the group, "I am known as Oswald."
The King, as regal as any dwarf could manage to be nodded his head politely and smiled, "Aye, I am King Haden and this is my ? son Prince Arthmael." He nodded to the elf next to him, ignoring the flummoxed expression on the man's face.
"So I see. So what can I do for the lad this evenin'?" Oswald moved to sit in his overstuffed chair staring at all the dwarves and then at the lone elf before him. It was about as an unlikely bunch as any to come to him for his services.
"I want a tattoo to run up along one side of my torso, something somewhat involved and intensive." Arthmael spoke up. Dogan peered at the boy and smirked.
Oswald nodded slowly, "Ye know I use the tribal method right? Bone and hammer?" He said responded to the request.
Arthmael nodded a bit, "I understand this and am quite pleased to hear it. It'll only serve to drive home the point." He peered at Dogan, and the two made eye contact and both looked away at the same time with identical frowns on their faces.
Oswald took measure of the situation but said nothing and simply nodded, "Luckily I keep my parlor set up no matter where I am. Come along to the back then." He stood and walked toward another room, leaving the group to follow after him with no formal invitation to do so.
They followed him, though it was just Dogan, Haden, and Arthmael. The rest of the group stayed behind after noting that the parlor itself is a smaller room than the one they stood in.
Arthmael removed his shirts and sat up on the seat that resembled a reclining barber's seat and laid back as Oswald puttered about getting ready, meanwhile Haden stepped up and muttered, "It's not too late to step out of this you know."
The elf stubbornly shook his head, his face still set in determination. Haden sighed lightly and then nodded in response to Arthmael, he then stepped away, to take a more observatory position somewhere in the background.
When Oswald returned, he had a table tray filled with various inks and implements, "I'm gonna do a tribal design. That okay?" The human asked as he began to ready everything. Arthmael remained silent and nodded. Deep down the young elf was trembling in fear and slight unease.
The human muttered something that sounded like a prayer and then set to work, upon the right side of Arthmael's torso. The pain was torturous as the man relentlessly worked the needle against the skin. The only relief the Prince received was when Oswald had to go get more ink, or insisted that a rest was needed.
Arthmael refused to bite down on anything though his jaw hurt from clenching so as to avoid crying out in pain. It was early in the morning before the tattoo was officially finished. Dogan milled about bored with watching, as Arthmael wasn't screaming or squirming though he did look a bit tense about the whole ordeal. It offered little comfort to the group knowing that it hurt more than it looked it did.
"There, it's done." Oswald muttered as he blotted some of the blood and ink from the skin. Arthmael inhaled sharply for a moment staring down at the black markings outlined by angry red flesh that was irritated from the tattooing process.
Haden looked over and nodded then looked at Dogan, "Are ye all satisfied now?"
Dogan stubbornly shook his head, "Didn't look painful at all!" he replied in an indignant tone, "'Ell! I could have sat up there longer than he 'ad an' got m'whole body done. I want him to get his arm done!"
The King bristled immediately as he stomped forward, "Now listen! He endured just about enough from ye all! He paid his penance to you."
Before the king could go further however Arthmael placed a hand on Haden's chest just as he was starting to walk past him to get to Dogan in order to give him a good thrashing, even if it wasn't as young as he used to be.
The lack of fear inspired or otherwise was very evident, Dogan also showed how much he respected his very own King by showing a few rude gestures as he tried to make their way to him.
"E'eryone just calm down for a minute," Arthmael sat up and bellowed causing everyone to stop and just look at him. Oswald had long ago just started napping in his chair for a bit until everyone had come to a decision of some sort. It was good to rest his eyes after so much work.
Haden and Dogan glared at each other for a while before just looking away from each other stubbornly.
Arthmael sighed for a moment and glanced at Oswald marveling at the way the man could sleep through such tension and chaos, but he tore his mind from that and spoke to the others again, "It was the bargain we all agreed to, and so if Dogan and 'is group are made unhappy by what has progressed then we shall acquiesce to their demands."
The King growled deep in his throat and moved to back to his observatory spot and Dogan called in two of his heaviest hitters that still waited in the other room, "An' ye gotta let us punch ye in the arm at least once. We won' bruise ye or else Oswald won't work on ye. Now pick an arm."
Haden made a strained sound but Arthmael just shrugged and pointed at his left arm staring at the trio somewhat apprehensively. Dogan and his two dwarf-thugs stepped up and each hit him once on the left arm, to which the Prince barely made a face. Then Dogan woke up Oswald with nudge and explained to him what exactly he wanted.
Oswald lifted a brow and nodded, "Alright then." He said in a thick voice full of sleep he then got up and adjusted everything to where it was all in reach from where he sat and began to get to work...
Armel sat up in bed shrieking loudly. The pain was unbearable and there was blood everywhere on his night clothes and on his sheets...
Pales was suddenly in the room kneeling next to the bed looking hopeless, anytime he touched Armel on the arm or tried to cradle him it seemed to make the pain the boy seemed to be feeling worse. The blood alarmed the man most of all. Instead of trying to pick him up or anything Pales took a hand, "Armel! It's me! Da! Remember? C'mon it's okay...Shh. What is all this?"
The boy's shrieks turned into whimpers and he began to crawl toward Pales and leaned against him as the man pulled himself up to the bed. "Da...A dream I 'ad a dream...but...It's real..I..." Armel at that point began to weep causing Pales to be unable to drag anything more out of him.
Instead the man sung softly to his son, softly stroking the boy's head and brushing hair from his face. The song was nothing but a soft lullaby his mother had sung to him on countless occasions when Pales himself had bad dreams.
"So now I'm bleeding, on myself yes once again
Seems I trusted another deceitful friend, my
Fault should've known the deal."
Flaw // Only the Strong
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Posted: Thu Oct 20, 2005 9:25 pm
When'd you get these? / Who or what am I?
The morning after the 'nightmare' Armel sat at the table staring into his breakfast food instead of eating it. The afterglow of the dream seemed to be settling hard into the young boy's mind. Pales had gotten Armel to sleep again after cleaning away the blood from the boy and the bed. The man had settled upon putting the sheets and bloodied items in a water solution that was rumored to say to get bloodstains out. It's amazing the things one can find out if you just looked hard enough.
Pales was sitting across from Armel with just a cup of coffee in front of him staring anxiously at the ram-horned boy. Every time the man tried to initiate conversation with Armel all he got was grunts and noncommittal shrugs. After a while obviously Pales gave up and began to brood over Armel's brooding.
A small bit of pink fluff glided in and landed on Pales' shoulder giving a cheerful sound but no one responded. The fluff endured it for a moment before letting loose a louder sound, and since she was right next to Pales' ear he started, and almost knocked her off much to the small fluffy sprite's dismay.
"Gah, I'm sorry Toki. You know better than to do that right next to my ear." Pales chided gently at the fluff.
Abashed the fluff addressed as Toki seemed to blush turning a deeper shade of reddish pink where her cheeks assumedly where. After a moment Toki spoke clumsily apologizing at first, "So-ree. Wrong?" she enquired after a moment of assessing the situation of before and now. Armel was watching them somewhat stonily and didn't even crack a small smile.
Pales gave a long sigh it seemed to be quite obvious enough for even the sprite to notice that something was very wrong in the D'Arcy home this morning. After a moment of mentally cursing at himself he spoke soothingly to Toki, "Nothing is wrong. Armel is just upset over a dream he had."
Toki blinked and let loose a low soft childish sounding, "Oohh, me sor-ee little brother dream bad." She began to move toward Armel before the small sprite noted threatening glare and decided that it was time to take her leave, "Toki goes play." The sprite said suddenly and glided out as quickly as she could manage.
Pales watched after and then fixed Armel with a disapproving stare, "She just wanted to make you feel better," the man now chided his son for his behavior.
Armel shrugged and finally spoke, "Not in the mood." He accented his speech with a gruff grunt and finally began to eat.
Pales now sipped his coffee tension seeming to melt away a little for now. He looked thoughtful, "Might be a good idea to take you to see a doctor."
The ram-horned boy stopped mid-chewing and stared at Pales as if waiting for the man to laugh and insist that he was joking. Though for all the waiting in the world it didn't change the fact that his Da' was indeed serious about what was said. What little Armel knew of doctors he knew he didn't care to go visit one. He had seen too many movies where everything went completely wrong just from a visit to a doctor not to mention the horror stories of the morning talk-shows.
"No, we ain't goin' t'no doctors." Armel now spoke up fearing that his silence might be taken as him agreeing to the foolish idea.
This is what Pales feared. This very reaction, and then again it was his fault for allowing the boy to watch almost anything. Should have stuck to the children's shows no matter how annoyed it made the boy, "The doctors won't hurt you, Armel. Just please do this one thing for me?" the man was near pleading with his son now.
Armel sat there glaring at his Da' for a moment before just continuing to eat his meal in stony silence for a moment and seemed to behave as if he was just greatly insulted by his Author's 'betrayal'. At least that was how Armel interpreted his Da's suggestion.
After the ram-horned boy had finished eating Pales got up and retrieved the boy's plate and eating utensils and went about washing them off and setting them aside in the dish drying rack and nothing more was said between them for the rest of the day, which for now suited Armel just fine.
Armel sat in his bath that Pales had drawn up for him. The ram-horned boy stared into the bubbles as they swayed about in the ripples of motion in the water caused by the boy's regular breathing. He was left alone for now, left alone to think his own thoughts and not having anyone around to meddle in them. He had all day for that but something about a nice bath just seemed to help with the meditative state of a young and already reeling mind.
Why? Why me? What is wrong that this had happened t'me? Something must have happened, but I cannot remember what it could be... Is it why I have these horns on my head?
Armel's right arm reached out and swept across the top of the tallest tower of bubbles that was closest to him.
Am I not what I think I am? It is the only thing that sounds sane to me.
... Sane that don'nae seem to exist here. Who am I, who am I really?
A soft and almost familiar voice whispered in response to his thoughts, "Shh, my child you are too young yet to work under this particular toil. Things will come to light soon enough."
Armel's back went straight as he looked about wide eyed, "'Ey? Who was that?"
The sudden voice mental or otherwise did little to cure the young boy's angst. Still he waited for a reply, which was hopefully forthcoming.
Drip...
Drip...
Drip...
The leaky bathtub faucet was the only thing that replied to his vocal outburst. After a moment Armel allowed himself to slump and relax though he didn't have long before a sharp stinging pain edged up along his spine like a million razor blades. The pain was focused toward his torso and marked arm which didn't surprise him as much as the blood that seeped from them. It was as if the mental entity had torn open his newest physical wounds just to get its point across.
Suddenly movement outside the bathroom door and then Pales peeked through, "Hey? Are you alright I thought I had hea.." Then the man's voice stopped letting out a surprised squeak. The man noticed more than the blood, but what seemed to be a blackening of the wounds on left upper arm and entire right side of the boy's torso, "Oh my..." Pales couldn't finish what he was saying he rushed over to the boy and started the shower and drenched the boy in more water to clear away the blood and then he ever so carefully lifted up the boy from the tub and dried him off as carefully as he could, trying to avoid the protesting swatting and trying to still the fidgeting of the young child before him.
"It hurts!" Armel howled just for good measure it seemed.
Sighing Pales continued, "I know but I have to dry you off so I can see what is happening and so that the gauze will stay on."
Both repeated themselves until Armel finally went still figuring it the best way to get things done and it seemed to be a surer way to get his Da' to leave him alone.
Now that the boy was still Pales looked over the markings with a parentally concerned gaze, they were gray when the man first noted them and they were now almost black. The blood was still seeping through and the black marks were still outlined by angry red looking markings, but nothing seemed to be rotting or even infected. Pales sighed as he straightened and got out the First Aid kit and extra gauze from drawer attached to the sink.
"What is going on here?" Pales breathed as he administered salves and gauze, which caused Armel to howl out in a bit of pain as well as give out some sort of hissing sound like that of a hurt and severely abused animal.
"Y'almost done, Da'? I can'nae stand it no longer! It hurts it hurts it hurts!" Armel was riling himself up into another protest. The protest merely caused Pales to sigh and stop what he was doing so that he could firmly place his hands upon the Tale's shoulders and stare into the boy's eyes firmly just to get his point across. For a few moments Armel refused to heed before he calmed down again, and with a great deal of reluctance.
Once Armel was settled Pales finished applying the gauze to the torso and then began on the arm. Occasionally Armel would try to yank his arm from Pales' grasp before realizing it was more pain than it was worth and stopping.
"We are going to see a doctor. No matter what you say. Now get on your pajamas and come to the kitchen for your writing and reading lessons." Pales raised an eyebrow at the defiant stare before drawing himself up with all the parental poise he could muster and uttered sternly, "Don't look at me in that tone of voice. You and I are going to the doctor and that is final. It is not normal that dreams should do this to you. Dreams should not bring you pain."
The ram-horned boy replied with a soft almost feral growl as Pales turned around and again left Armel to his own devices. The boy replied to the demands with stubbornly taking his time finishing dressing and brushing his teeth. When he finally came out Pales was merely reclined in his chair staring at the ceiling as if contemplating it. Armel slid into his customary seat across from his Author and got to work with his lessons.
It was not an hour or two later when the lessons were done and Pales put Armel to bed now that it was cleaned and freed of the mess it was in earlier. As Pales read a story to his Tale he felt a small hand on his forearm and he looked up into the golden-yellow eyes of Armel with a raised brow, "Something wrong?"
Armel shook his head and simply said, "You said earlier t's not normal for dreams to do this t'me, but mebbe ... I'm not normal at all."
The man looked startled for a moment and closed the book he was reading and replied softly, "You and I both know you are very special. You remember your origins, at least how you began for now. Also, I have your own Tome hidden safely away." It was hard to admit the last bit to the boy. It felt silly to hide such an important thing, and Pales was halfly amazed the Tome didn't take it upon itself to appear on his Tales' desk one morning.
Armel blinked a bit and withdrew his hand, "what do y'mean Da'? I came from a book? Aye I vaguely 'member that, but y'never remind me. Why? An' why did ye hide m'tome?"
Laughing a bit Pales shrugged making the boy lay down gently as possible so as to avoid harming him, murmuring gently in reply, "I was afraid that ... If harm came to the Tome, then harm would come to you too. As your guardian I want nothing to ever hurt you." He leaned and kissed Armel's forehead.
"Aye, I guess I can un'erstand that..." The boy replied drowsily. Pales shifted Armel's blankets about him and then left the room turning off the light before leaving. As the man left the room the ram-horned boy was already softly snoring...
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Posted: Thu Oct 20, 2005 10:11 pm
Playdate - Andrael and Armel
Description: Andrael and Armel meet in the doctor's office. Neither of them seem to desire to be there. Though they seem to form a small fragile friendship of sorts. Though Andi seems to get drastically ill after a while. Pales and Arrikanez have a small conversation...
Link: Thread!
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Posted: Thu Oct 20, 2005 10:12 pm
[ Message temporarily off-line ]
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Posted: Mon Oct 24, 2005 11:13 pm
Non-Tale RP - Pales, Armel, and Tyr
Description: Armel meets and converses with a human. The non-Tale seems to make an impression on the boy. Pales behaves strangely after a while -- wonder what is up? o_o!
Link: Thread!
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Posted: Mon Oct 24, 2005 11:14 pm
You were acting so weird : Because, I have secrets to keep...
After lunch with Tyr they went to a hardware shop and bought things for a koi pond. Most of it was delivered by truck, but it didn't seem to bother Pales much at all. Armel was interested but made no questions of it for the moment. Armel enjoyed visiting the hardware store. The tools there were fascinating but none there that really piqued his interest at the moment.
When they got home and everything was delivered and put in place Pales made Armel join him in the backyard. Once everything was separated and set up Pales had the ram-horned boy sit in a largish sized faux-boulder.
"You sit here, and supervise." Pales said cheerfully, and seemingly ignored the confused expression on the boy's face and took up a shovel and begun to dig. The man of course wore 'work' clothes and put Armel in the same just in case the boy refused to listen as he is sometimes want to do.
Though for the most part Armel remained silent until he finally spoke up, "Da', what does it mean for me to supervise?" It wasn't the only question on his mind, but it was a start. It was also much better than to sit in silence while his guardian dug a hole around himself.
Pales paused for a moment then stopped digging, the answer was simple, "It means you sit there and make sure I don't hurt myself and so that I don't do anything wrong."
A dubious stare followed the explanation, "I don' e'en know what yer tryin' t'do," Armel retorted in a matter-of-fact tone.
Pales sort of shrugged and shoveled out a bit more dirt not sure how to reply to that. He told Armel what the parts did, but never what they were for. The man sort of hoped to keep it a surprise, though at this point it seemed just a bit pointless. "Well, I am making a pond and water feature," He answered and watched as Armel's face went from dubious to confused again, "When that is all done we shall put fish in the pond, koi to be specific."
The boy bounced his foot against the fake rock for a moment as his mouth formed an 'o' shape, but said nothing in response.
"So that is what we are doing today. Also, as a supervisor you make sure I stay on task, and assign me breaks." Pales finished and began to dig, assuming that was all the boy wanted of conversation. Oh how wrong he was.
Armel cleared his throat and went onto a new line of questioning, "Why were y'actin' so weird around Tyr?" he asked the question while noting with a certain bit of satisfaction the almost guilty flinch the man made mid-dig.
"Was I acting weird? I wasn't acting weird. You were imagining things." Pales replied and then began to dig a bit faster.
Taking measure of this Armel just shrugged, "Aye? Well, that be fine then, Da'. Yer actin' kinda guilty though," he observed with a shark-like grin upon his lips. Once he was onto something Armel wasn't really the kind to let up off of it. He stubbornly followed leads for what they were worth!
Pales stopped digging a moment and sighed, there soon would be no escaping this, but he tried to avoid telling the whole truth whilst dancing around the actual reason, "I just liked him a lot, and didn't want him to think badly on me. It is a grown up thing."
Armel raised an eyebrow sitting up a bit straighter, "'Ey? 'Ow is likin' someone an adult matter?" he sounded offended at mostly being shoved off like that, "'An' if ye like 'im why not just tell 'im so?"
"It isn't that easy when you are grown up, 'Mel." It was the first time Pales used any sort of nickname to Armel. Though the boy didn't seem to notice and still stared at his father expectantly. Obviously he wasn't seeing what the big deal was and probably wouldn't til' much later.
Armel just rolled his eyes after a few moments as if giving up, "Aye, whate'er then. Keep diggin', mole-man." He laughed at his own wit and just crossed his arms over his chest, and pondered what to ask next to unnerve his father with. It was discerning to the boy that his Author was so avoidant when it came to certain truths of being Pales.
Pales chuckled and saluted to the boy on the rock and resumed digging. For now he had avoided having to tell everything, and avoided having to explain anything birds-and-the-bees like.
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Posted: Tue Oct 25, 2005 6:23 pm
Playdate - Viddy and 'Melly
Description: Viddy comes to visit! Then there is a swimming lesson! Then...SPAGHETTI YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYA! All in all, a successful playdate. Viddy has quickly endeared herself to Armel (moreso. Being Donny's sister is just an + 20 million bonus points). [This description may be changed *slightly* depending on Pally and Enoh meeting goes.]
Link: Thread!
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Posted: Tue Oct 25, 2005 6:24 pm
Armel's Journal EntryEntry #1 - Dated: Oct. 25, 2005  Aye There;
Content Coming Soon
~ Armel D'Arcy
Entry #1 - Dated: Oct. 25, 2005  Dear Journal;
Content Coming Soon
x. Pales D'Arcy
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Posted: Wed Oct 26, 2005 1:01 am
[ Message temporarily off-line ]
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Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2005 6:37 pm
Part 2 of Albion Appearance...
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Posted: Tue Nov 01, 2005 9:24 pm
Armel's Journal EntryEntry #2 - Dated: Oct. 31, 2005 Aye There;
T'day we went and did this thing called 'Trick or Treat'ing. I still dun understand it really, but it was fun enough, an' I got a lot o' candy. Da' dressed up as some sort o' person from a video game called Shadow Hearts. He says I am too young for video games. Feh, whate'er.
He dressed me up as some character from a book series called DragonLance. He says I looked just like Tasslehoff, but wi' horns. Da' showed me pictures o'course, and the Tas person looks kinda interestin'. Da' also said he'll scare me up some books f'me to read. I look forward to it.
Albion went wi' us for the trick or treating thing. He and Da' couldn't seem to agree on the exact history of this Halloween thing. I call Albion Gran'da now and I think it makes him happy or somethin'. I mean he acts just like I think a Gran'da does. Which means 'e annoys me every chance 'e gets, but he also teaches me new things. After trick or treating me and Da' parted ways w'Gran'da and we went to this Festival thing. We didn't stay very long, Da' said it was getting late.
...Meh. Then he made me show him all the candies we got and he threw out the ones that were opened. He only let me 'ave one piece...Scrooge.
Any'ow. I feel beat an I'mma go t'bed. So g'night!
~ Armel D'Arcy
Entry #2 - Dated: Oct. 31, 2005 Dear Journal;
Today was Halloween and I tried to explain the whole concept of this holiday to Armel. It didn't help that Albion kept interfering and told half-truths and kept blowing stuff out of proportion. The only thing me and the old son-of-a-gun agreed on was that mostly, now a days this holiday was for the children as far as most people go. That is unless you believe or follow a different line of religion.
I dressed up as Yuri from Shadow Hearts and Armel went as Tasslehoff Burrfoot from DragonLance. He made an adorable Tas, but I dared not say that in front of the boy, because he probably would have torn off the outfit just as soon as I got it on him. I need to dig up those books for him some time soon. I hope he likes them as much as I did growing up.
Anyways we did our rounds of getting candy and Albion went ahead home, but I think he probably stopped off else where, but I don't care so long as he doesn't use my name to get him out of whatever trouble he gets into. We dropped by a festival afterwards, but we didn't stay for very long. We got a couple of prizes, which were interesting.
When we got home Albion was resting on his perch, since his preferred form is that of a Crow when resting. He often tries to tell me I'd be better off the same way, I disagree.
I took inventory of Armel's haul and allowed him one piece of candy, which I don't think he appreciated much. He muttered something that sounded unappreciative under his breath. Heh, kids will be kids I guess.
I still can't seem to stop thinking about what has happened over the past few days. It keeps popping up like some sort of a reminder, like it fears I would forget about it.
..I think I need some rest.
x. Pales D'Arcy
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