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Gracious Conversationalist
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 Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2009 3:03 am
Private Metaplot-related RP between Rugovin (Graficcha) & Elst (Roots of the Cosmos)
Location: Wasteland – In the general area of the Western Forest
Weather: Dark and dull, on the eve of a storm over the plains. Humid-warm by the woods.
One rogue lost and trying to find his pack again, not even sure if they are still alive, another stray being grasping for the threads of existance and wondering if it's all truly worth it, filled with spite over recent pain.
A rather serendipituous encounter indeed.
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Posted: Mon Jul 06, 2009 3:21 am
The sun had blared a cruel blaze over the landscape, parching the soil of the Outskirts near the Western forest. Large birds, looked like buzzards of some kind, seemed to fill the air with their ragged cries back and forth to one another, looking for some miserable half-dead corpse to appear in their sights. But that was gone now, the twilight’s subtle power taking over, forcing that bright yellow orb across the horizon, bathing the world in dusk. Now, the occasional coyote could be heard, maybe a wild dog, the owls piercing the quiet every now and then with a subdued hoot now and then. Everything seemed calm now, the shadows seemingly soothing any and all harshness the terrain held. That is, except for one.
A silhouette in the evening, staggered about the ground, a tragedy, a deep self-loathing, all evident in his agonized expression, the darkness doing nothing to soften it. His eyes were a sickly ochre in color; the saffron hue of dead, perhaps dying leaves. It seemed as if Spring had fallen to a bloody, cruel Fall. The color, its decay signaled another decline; the man’s sanity. He was on the brink, now, trapped in an overpowering snare of denial, just strong enough to leave him coherent for a while. Tears streaked the man’s face; the man was Elst. He looked the very same age as he would when he eventually would meet his Essentic many decades to come.
Not that he seemed too human, now…his gait was shattered, his clothing tattered and torn, his hair knotted, languid, stumbling about aimlessly, his body degenerating into vines every now and then. Creases lined his face, as well; his expression seemed to crack as the dam straining back the fierce tides of his misery did the very same.
Unbeknownst to him, he’d earlier been incapable of negative emotion…but it all had to escape somehow, and, he stood testament; when it rained, it poured. And, to think of it…all this pain, the agonizing loss…
All. His. Fault.
The fact that he’d lost his will to live,
All. His. Fault.
Whilst the strength to allow himself to die and end the pain was lost, too.
All. His. Fault.
The fact that he had…lost her.
All. His. Fault.
But for now…it was locked away, a ghastly nightmare hidden in the subconscious of a small child, gone until sleep finally hit him once again. For now…he had pushed it all away, denial, denial, denial. The route of a coward it was, running away from it all like this, but it was like the one narrow tight wire suspended across the pits of Hell; it was dangerous, but the only choice he had. He had with him but one companion; out of his arm sprouted a lush, royal violet orchid, fused to his body though some means or another.
He staggered on, through the barren plain, the only other life visible being a few wild hares being torn apart by the blade-teeth of a wolf pack. They glared at him as he passed, but spared him no further acknowledgement.
Eventually, something familiar came in view; the edge of the Western Forest. He did not know that label for it; nor did he care. All it meant to him was trees, shelter, a connection to Mother Nature and her bountiful nurture. He limped into the cover of the trees, the only colleagues he had left, and collapsed against the trunk of one of the mighty ancients. His hand absentmindedly fell onto his chest, around his solar plexus; a spot where several bullet holes still remained. He may be a plant, and they may not have killed him, but it certainly put him in a world of hurt seemingly tailor-made to match his emotional state.
His head slumped, Elst peered up at the night sky’s plethora of bright little companions, with haunting xanthous eyes. If he could only escape with them…
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Gracious Conversationalist
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Posted: Mon Jul 06, 2009 7:18 am
Cruel dusk, merciful twilight... Rugovin sure didn't care about the weather or the time of the day as long as he found some shelter from watchful eyes, even if he detected no traces of consciousnesses beside his own in the general perimeter. He'd grown to appreciate the dark more and more, even if he lacked the influenced senses of the companions he was looking for now.
Oh well, 'looking for'. Ever since he'd run into 'that guy' he'd been slowly losing faith in ever finding them, but he knew where they'd been going. The forest was a safer place for them than the wasteland, and hopefully provided more food and less sandstorms.
What was on his mind wasn't half as dark as Elst's thoughts as he too strenuously made his way to the forest edge. At least he managed to keep up some speed, despite the pain still livid in his system. He'd been going for several days, weeks now. He hadn't lost track of time but simply didn't care how long it had been exactly since he escaped from the 'loony bin', that remote bunker place with that young jack-a-spaz. Creepy kid, but he had to give it to him -he owed the lad his life somehow, for now. The man'd rather never meet him again though, he wasn't sure if he wouldn't still be 'sore' over the matter. For now he was still plenty banged up, narrowly not enough to actually prevent him from running.
Going on his own tempo, suppressing the discomfort but leaving enough to flow freely to keep him alert, Rugovin was heading onward steadily, and thanks to the drop in temperature and his invigorated core now that he was outside again, he was actually able to discern a presence closing in on him. Relatively speaking, of course, he was the one moving here, and moving rather fast, too. Nearly tripping over his own exhausted legs when he reflexively ground to a halt, he began scanning the darkening area, quick glances left and right, trying to find what had alerted him.
Nothing moved much, and he cautiously approached the treeline, managing to be mostly silent. Not much noisier than a stray dingo he was, even if his footfalls were much heavier. Chest heaving, breath drawing into his lungs controlledly, narrowly not wheezing after that sharp end to his dash, pale eyes darting from spot to spot, he tread closer, smelled the oxygen-filled air, the moisture wafting out from below the canopy. All in all it didn't take him ridiculously long to identify the source of his alarm, and if it even occurred to Vin that this individual could be dangerous, that impression didn't last very long.
Looked more dead than alive.
Looked dead enough not to worry about, at least. If this guy proved to be a potential danger he was fairly certain that even in the state he was in himself, he'd be able to dispatch him. Let's not get too hostile right away though, it was rare enough to run into potential sources of information out here. Maybe he could be useful, if he didn't snuff it. Not abandoning his alertness though, he ever so quietly walked closer, not attempting to hide himself very much lest he give the impression he was sneaking up on him. Not only that made him choose the option of approaching bluntly, though. Something was off about this person.
Maybe the fact that all things considered he should be dead? In the dark he could still see Elst's tracks, and deducted he had dragged himself here on his own strength. No local execution, to be left for dead, nope. Would you look at that, he's awake indeed, more or less. What in the world was he here for, and why was he such a mess? If there were people... humans nearby he'd rather find out before he ran into a shotgun's muzzle. Whatever this guy had done, it sure as hell hadn't been received well. At least there was no doubt he wasn't an Essentic, the parrot would have known if he had been one.
Ready to jolt back at the slightest hostile move, Vin knelt down beside the odd pale guy -oddly coloured he looked, what was that now? Hard to tell in the dark- and leaned over slightly to get a better look at him. He held back a small noise of pain when his still damaged legs protested -a dejected sharp click was enough-, laid his feathers low against his scalp and narrowed his eyes slightly. It wasn't as apparent that they had some odd quality to them apart from their colour when he did that, he'd found, and he did want to get a better look at this man.
”Hey.” A beyond dull, dry call, a word like a thud in the dark. You there, dude?
Already Vin had no real idea what he was doing. Guess he'd find out as he went, hmm...
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Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2009 1:09 am
A second lost soul, though lost by different means, entered the forest for her shelter from the world…
Elst remained deathly still, even as a few barely audible sounds issued from a ways away…Maybe another wolf, a coyote even, just padding along.. They sometimes got close, but never really bothered him as he lacked meat. He hadn’t the right scent to him, anyway, to attract predators. Those buzzards sure were eying him, though…but hey, they just saw that, whatever that miserable thing was, it seemed about to die.
They were disappointed that day, though, for the wretched plant mass had dragged on, to his present position. And that noise continued, footsteps, so very faint…Wait. There were…That wasn’t the sound that wolves made when they walked, those weren’t four legs. This was bipedal, and…
Before he knew it, a figure emerged from the cover of the other trees. Was it…human? Elst stirred weakly, not quite getting up, but his hand moving towards the opening of his jacket. It got closer, closer, and at the sound of his voice, Elst jolted to the side, shoving his self backwards with his strong arm, the other, a jagged bullet hole sitting right in its bicep, grabbing inside his jacket for a moment. It feebly removed a heavily blood-soaked gardening machete, handing it to his now unoccupied uninjured arm. His ochre eyes held a crazed look to them, almost animalistic yet colder. As the figure drew closer, Elst then saw, just what was approaching him…just who…
An Essentic. Elst dropped the machete, half trying to push it away from himself, half trying to push himself away from it. He seemed horrified, mortified by its very existence all of a sudden, before he got far away enough from the sanguine blade to refocus on Vin. A pang of regret was very visible in his expression, for a moment. His voice was shaky, yet somewhat coherent; the presence of another whom had met suffering at the hands of humans cleared his mind, in a way.
“Th-the blade…’m s-sorry, I… thought you were…someone, something else…I…” His head sunk, a little, his body shuddering violently as he reached his strong hand to his heavily-shot chest, his shirt and ribcage both full of gaping wounds. “I…don’t know what…I’m doing a-anymore…I didn‘t…” He fell silent once more, shivering, though the night was still quite warm.
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Gracious Conversationalist
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Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2009 11:37 am
So it at least paid off to not rush headlong into things. Not that in his current state, Elst could've really done Vin any harm with that overgrown hack'nslasher of his. Tsh, looked like he'd handled it like a kitchen knife or something, on a very, very raw steak. No, the Essentic wasn't intimidated by it, not by the machete nor the overall impression the plant-man made.
”Something else? You don't look like you're being chased by hogs...” Oh, wait. Yeeees, that sort of 'different' you mean. ”Ah.”
Well, that was a decidedly dry look right there... How had he been able to tell that quickly? Not that it mattered, though. Now he'd have to find out of this guy would be capable of ratting him out, but somehow Vin wasn't too concerned about that. Even if this guy was, had been in possession of a bloodsmeared weapon, he really didn't look like the type to revel in using it. That odd delayed reaction to it, as if it had transformed into a rattlesnake in his hand instantaneously, was about enough proof.
”'s Okay man. I forgot what I was doing a while back too. I suppose right now I'm trying to find out what's the deal with you...” he spoke to Elst almost casually, informing him rather exactly of what he was visibly pondering now, eyebrow raised. His heartrate had slowed again, and he'd stopped having to wheeze to get enough air. ”Didn't expect to run into a.. uhh... halfdead living vegetable?” That's what that smell was, quite unlike the blood scent he was used to. Sappy, in a not-literal-style-mocking manner. Correct me if I'm wrong eh dude, don't mean to offend anyone.
”... with the luxury of jumping to conclusions here, if you think you're being followed by people you want to avoid, this really, really isn't a place to crash, man.” Admittedly, you do look like crap, but even with my limited knowledge in basic biology, I have the impression you shouldn't even be able to speak. ”I wasn't planning on hangin' around here, but now that I ran into you, I'm not going to risk having your potential pursuers start to tail me as well, either. Hope you don't mind...”
Yup, Vin'd made up his mind already, no second thoughts. He'd take this oddity with him, both as a safety measure as because of this odd feeling of being in the same sort of trouble here. If there was one Essentic who had no qualms about sensing kinship with those not of his own kind, it was him.
First rule, don't leave tracks, traces. Calmly, he reached over, picked up the machete off the grass, and slid the handle under his belt. A little makeshift, but it'd do, as long as it didn't cut. Right after that, he quite bluntly picked Elst himself up, not without some serious effort and another series of dejected clicks when his shins complained, but he managed. Wobble wobble, quite a length this person had. He was still heavy, but nowhere as heavy as he could have been. Veggie indeed, nice and lean.
And then he started moving, deeper into the forest, first in a rather erratic path, appearing even more random than it was, crossing with his own tracks a few times, before picking an insuspicious direction and heading onward. ”Whatever got you got you good... you're lucky to be alive. Or not, I suppose, depending on how much trouble you're in.” But don't worry for now, I won't let them catch you, or me. Ye gods, why was he so curious about this man now? It wasn't his business, not one bit.
Vin had been about to ask him for his name and about what had happened to him when he was distracted by his most recent little 'gift' acting up a little, the discharge almost invisible in the night, but that feeling of a starting connection was enough to make Vin grunt annoyedly. Oh come on, what's it this time. I can see the guy's in pain but do I really have to, want to? What did a plant feel anyway... Wrong question, now I'm actually curious to try and find out. But not yet, not yet, not in the middle of nowhere.
Indeed, no idea of what he was doing, lugging around a complete stranger with an undefined sword of Damocles hanging over his head, at the edge of a forest he'd never been in, and only heard about recently.
Oh well, that's Vin for you.
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Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2009 12:40 pm
Hogs…he wished that was what he ran from. Those men…were lower than swine, and now, so was he… Elst shuddered again as he thought of what he’d done to them, eyes not daring to return to the machete. Ohoho, Vin certainly needn’t worry about Elst of all people ratting him out; even if he wanted to, he wasn’t about to go anywhere near human society. The next time he’d be near humans, oh, by then, this’d all be forgotten in the sands of time…Or at least, for Elst. The name Rugovin won’t even ring a bell…doesn’t even do so now, either. Who exactly is the mysterious Essentic?
“Who….who are you…?” His voice was strained with the remnants of past choked-back sobs. “Half dead…is too…optimistic.” He tried to sit up, feebly, but soon fell back painfully against the tree once more. He simply stared at his palms, the occasional flecks of blood scattered upon them, heavily congealed, having rubbed off the cheap wooden handle of the machete. He made a half-effort to wipe it off on his shredded jacket, giving up quickly to let his hands fall to his sides.
“No one is…following me…there’s no written record of me…ever existing, and no one knows who I am, not anymo-” He was cut off by a splitting agony through his body as he was lifted off the ground, each and every bullet wound a monolith of pain spearing through his weak form. He did not resist, however; he simply fell limp as he was carried. His eyes languidly watched as the machete was hefted up, slid into the Essentic’s belt, and they began to move. Where? Elst didn’t know, didn’t care…as long as it was away from everyone else.
“Why lucky…to finally get away from this all…‘s all I want…“ Elst was much like a rag doll as he was carried; limp, limbs swaying to and fro helplessly, torn at the stitches. Without a heart; not anymore.
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Gracious Conversationalist
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Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2009 5:25 am
Okay then, nice to uh... meet you, mister messed-up. Been a while since he'd been in touch with someone this depressing, his most recent preferred group of people had a sort of attitude that made them appear decidedly less eager to give up. There was no room for feeling beaten down as a combat essentic, wallowing in misery, no matter how hopeless things felt, was not an option, never.
”I'm nobody particular, just Vin. Rugovin.” Meh, if you ask me that directly, why not. It's not important now, not to you. ”And you?” Don't mind me asking in return then, exchange of information is the polite thing to do. Oh well, it was already clear he wouldn't have any trouble with this guy. Someone so disinclined to struggle for his own gain surely wouldn't waste energy on taking someone else down.
Hyuppa, time to move, sorry for causing you pain sir, but I'm not in the mood to spend half an hour trying to coax you into getting up. Yeah, you just 'hang in there' and brood and mope about whatever happened to you, that's just fine. Just don't struggle, you wouldn't like me falling on top of you. I'm quite sure I'm heavier.
Really now, Vin wouldn't even try to talk all of that stuff out of his head. If there was any situation where words couldn't be emptier it was when trying to convince a hurting person of the fact the world is made of sunshine and cookies. You wallow, I'll walk. That's already hard enough.
Over the paths, over the roads! -wait, what paths. The entire forest was nothing but dense plantlife and all kinds of things scrawling in the dark the rogue didn't want to waste half a second worrying about. Ploughing through determinedly, he was completely focused on his own movements, and the man he was carrying. As he went he became more and more aware of the agony Elst was in, and feeling particularly stubborn, he allowed his overshooting gift to connect.
Yeow.
Alrighty then, that's unpleasant... This would take a moment to get used to and lock away, and while he tried to get that new element under control he quite audibly struggled -read: cussed- and winced and had to fight to get his rhythms back, both heart and breathing. Thanks for the practice chap, this'll do us both some good. I take your pain away from you, and... I take your pain on me. Perfect, right? Just ignore me grunting, I'm still in-training in this.
”Oh don't worry, I'll take you away from it all... Anywhere's better than out there.” Trust me on that one... Just keep going, never stop, never falter, that's the only way to escape, to live. The Essentic's grimness eased a little when other, welcome sounds reached through the jungle. Water, an open space maybe, at least a spring or a small river. ”Why would you listen to that.”
The stallion smells a sanctuary, time to speed up a little more -nooo, knees of mine, don't you dare give out now, resting time is later, soon, hang on. Soon indeed, and with a most grateful sigh Rugovin made it out into a clearing, with a little stream murmuring along on the edge, off a rocky slope that could actually provide decent shelter. ”Well THAT looks more like it.” Woohoo, finally some dumb luck!
With quite some difficulty Vin managed to restrain the urge to literally drop everything and drown himself in the water, but he recalled the speed-course 'survival' he'd received in the short time he'd been with his now lost pack, and actually took a better look in all nooks and corners. He couldn't tell if he'd been thorough enough, but things looked fine. Once he'd convinced himself the place 'would do', he carefully put Elst down under the overhang, close to the stream. While clearly eager to go and drink, he stayed by him though, and didn't break tactile contact.
”.... can you handle it?” It didn't really occur to him the man might not have realised he fact he was shunting his pain away, into his growing reserves of pain, somewhere, but he didn't want to just break off without a warning.
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Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2009 4:05 am
Oh, if only messed up could even begin to cover it all…But it wouldn’t; no need to divulge into pointless things like hope. Question was, what was it, exactly, that he was wallowing in? Self pity? No, as far from it as possible…Physical pain? Oh yes, but…that wasn’t the major part of this equation. It was…it was the remorse, yes, that was it, hatred of one’s very own existence, the desperate desire to die in a cataclysmic battle against the mindset that claimed he did not deserve such reprieve.
But back to tangibility; the far too kind Essentic had asked a question. His…name? What was the name he’d been given, anyway, by that kind, kind person who had given him life, that wonderful person which he had heartlessly s- Wait. No. No thinking about this. Manual reboot begun; denial V2.0 installing, light preview begun. Be sure to use the subversive8 hardware patch to make sure the self-loathing V4 firewall doesn’t catch it running. There. No thinking about her, about anything…except his name.
Why would someone ever want his name? Just a useless label thrown on by humans, on a far more useless plant. “My, my name…” Sickly ochre eyes blinked in the darkness. “I’m…Elst, probably…lower than no one in particular… Ah, nothing like a nice neurosis, make sure to include every single ingredient a sentence could have to make this conversation really pleasant.
Take someone else down? Oh no, the thought never crossed the plant’s mind, unless he could figure out a way to just provoke them into throwing him into a fire. No, no struggles here, either; perhaps being carried will aggravate the wounds enough to somehow kill him…Wait, that would never work, see, no use getting your hopes up, leafy.
Wait, why was Vin cussing? Didn’t seem provoked to, wonder why… Elst hadn’t quite realized the Essentic had begun draining his pain; it would not be a pretty sight when Elst finally noticed. Even now, though, a subtle reflex tried to withhold as much of the pain as possible from Vin. “Oh…nothing’ll take me away from it, no…”
Was that the sound of water? Why, yes it was, must have been, why else would his carrier be speeding up. Soon enough, there was a river, or something like that – Elst’s mind yearned for the sweet liquid; he hadn’t drank in who knows how long aside from when it had rained a week or two back, yet now…he simply pushed that urge away, no water for such an abomination and taker of life, no reprieve allowed. He was soon laid out on the ground; now more than ever he looked like a corpse. The hand fused with the orchid was beginning to become rather intimate with the ground beneath it; falling apart into vines and sinking in like roots to search out the nourishment Elst refused to give himself.
A numbness had begun to spread across his body, and all at once Elst became far too aware of the source; the contact Vin kept from him, finally explained...The numbness was rooted in the Essentic’s touch. A crazed expression of mortified shock, utter horror vanquished the look of fatigued submission Elst had taken on, spread across his face like an apocalyptic wildfire. He jerked himself back, with sudden strength, scrambling backwards on all fours away from Vin, as far away as he could, slamming hard into the stone when he reached it; a noticeable series of snaps could be heard from his back. More likely than not, Elst had just shattered a few nutrient-starved ribs.
“Stop draining it! Give it back dammit don’t you dare take it away! I deserve every bit of the agony and don’t you goddamn dare numb any of it!” He yelled, his voice still quite quiet and raspy from the dehydration he’d induced upon himself; the desperation showed through quite clearly nonetheless. He seemed to be trying to shy farther from Vin, as if he were trying to push himself through the rock, but he eventually collapsed, sobbing with a fierce, yet feeble intensity rather unnerving to even witness. He slumped against the stone, sinking to the ground despite his weak yet strong-willed attempts to prop himself up. The last few flecks of green his irises once held were now far gone, drowned in a fiery pool of madness.
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Gracious Conversationalist
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Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2009 1:15 am
Way to be depressing... Oh well, at least I know your name now.
"Err... nice to meet you, Elst." Don't you give me that other crap though. Lower? In a technical sense, I'm carrying you so I'm lower, and you're definitely not short either. In any other sense, ... let's not go there.
This wasn't the time to voice his dissapproval though, too many other things to focus on. Who's talking about a conversation anyway. More like two monologues, because either refused to even discuss the other's perceived errors.
Something was seriously off with this guy though, something Vin didn't like one bit. In all his life he'd felt like he was being pushed into giving up often, only to retaliate violently and come out on top. Surviving was all that mattered, to attain a new day, another moment to actually have a choice. So far he'd only survived though, and never gotten around to the choosing-part.
THIS miraculous piece of work seemed practically incapable of succumbing under his gruesome injuries, yet appeared to wish nothing more than to die.
How fast can you say irony?
Facts remains Rugovin held little sympathy for that kind of defeatism, even if he did have his heart opened to the person behind that layer -or rather, concrete wall- of despair and rejection. That was the reason why he didn't want him to be in pain anymore. It was his 'terrain', and he knew very, very well how physical pain could really mess up your mood, no matter how positive you were, so no question how nefarious it could act on a bogged-down spirit. Maybe he was indeed underestimating the amount of emotional anguish in this equation, but what could he do about that? Tsh. The Essentic was a warrior, not a shrink.
That was exactly why Elst's rather violent reaction to his warning confused him so. If he hadn't been so worn out he might have even had a righteous temper flare himself. What WAS that guy thinking? I did what I could here, why's he being so pissy about it now?
Yes, for a short moment, Rugovin was every bit as irritated as Elst was reproachful to him for taking his pain away. When the plant-man had so abruptly severed contact, the suddenly severed ends up the connection sparked and sizzled, black lightning in the dark, providing a nice double-up jolt of backlash. Not a pleasant sting that was, like a whipping on an already cornered animal.
"Will you SHUT UP!" Talk about twisted, ********, abhorrently crazy ungrateful basta-
... ah hell no. That's not what it was. No, forgive him, he's not doing this with any ill intent. After that initial burst of agitation about all this, Vin settled down again, if a bit more cautious than before.
"... alright then, I won't. It's all yours again, I'm sorry..." I don't think I was doing the wrong thing, but I really, really am sorry. Augh. By the gods, why was it that just when you believed you'd about seen people at their worst, that you were through the succession of negativity, something worse always showed up? Damn it all, that sorry, pathetic pile of human right there was breaking his heart, man.
With a long, heartfelt sigh, Rugovin turned away from him, just for a moment, forced himself back to his feet, and not without some difficulties keeping his own pain under control, trudged to the stream. If Elst wanted to get away from him, then he'd make it easy for the man. No need to exert yourself, buddy... Once he'd crossed the short distance, trying his best to completely ignore Elst, he sagged down again, and rather unceremoniously dunked his head right into the cold, cold water.
A short display of the concept of 'birdy-bath' followed as the Mimicker forced-quietly refreshed himself, relishing in the stinging sensation of the icy water on his face, feeling it take away the heat of a building fever. It did feel great to just drown in his own sensations for once, growing naturally numb to everything else, feeling the exhaustion slowly fold away, yield to the cleansing springwater. When the cold became just a little too much, the balance being tilted towards 'headache-inducing', he gave it a rest, and drank.
Woohoo, tasty stuff. Better than the most exquisite liquor, and a few times as rejuvenating. Yup, the demoted noble is learning to appreciate nature's gifts at a breakneck speed. Again ironic to notice how mister nature's gift had grown weary of it all. Maybe he just needed to be reminded not everything was tainted? Come on now, you can't be hatin' on a spring, na. Poor spring.
Quite efficiently refreshed now, Vin stood up, the dull ache in his legs feeling bearable again, and looked over at Elst once more.
Tsk.
Alrighty then, time for some intervention. No weapons, no energy, not much of anything but the biological desire to survive and the emotional desire to snuff it, preferrably slowly and painfully. So what if he's pissed at me, I can't just leave him there to turn into dead wood or something...
Without a second thought about the matter, Vin strode over to him, picked him up, turned around, and went back. A moment later, he'd stepped into the little river, soaking his boots and pants right through, and laid Elst into the shallow stream.
Ready for anything.
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Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2009 4:08 am
Yup, Vin had quite the case on his hands here…but Elst wouldn’t be dying anytime soon, oh no…in his mind, he had some repentance to do, and it would be a long time before it was finished…
So no. No cliché ‘sweet embrace of Death’ for Elst here, no, not yet…
However…the question was, long into the future, when this man has finally satisfied himself in that he realizes he’s made up for his crimes…Would he choose that one way path, into the fire? Or would he break his inner pact, to burn some fatal day in ultimate punishment for his ‘sins’, and finally…
Finally be free of the chains which had bound him all these years.
To walk amongst the others of this world, and finally feel at home. To finally end this constant self-hatred…
Only time would tell.
For now, though, the plant man was an absolute wreck, nearly convulsing in his own misery, smashing himself into the rocks time and time again, a few more brittle snaps issuing from his fatigued bones. Yet…an unlikely savior was here, he’d forgotten…A savior which had condemned himself in his own way, yet still came to the aid of this miserable wretch. Rugovin came over, Elst hardly remembered the moments between…He’d been picked up, in a haze…And in a single overwhelming incident, a cool numbness jolted through every aspect of his being, an aqueous salvation as he was submerged in the waters of this seeming river Styx. Vin’s shout of SHUT UP was lost on him, earlier…and now the Essentic had saved him.
Elst slowly stood, drenched in the merciful waters which had brought him life. The yellow in his eyes…was fading, being replaced by the usual lush green. The sunken-in look to his entire body was slowly reversing, coming back to life as the bones beneath his skin slowly rectified themselves, pulling together and mending. Elst looked like…Elst again, almost, though something was still off. He stood, and looked Rugovin straight in the eyes.
“I am…so sorry…”
Without another word, tears staining his skin, he fell, dropped to the wonderful current of life, face-first into the chilled waters. He did not move. He did not speak. He simply succumbed to the thirst he had neglected for over two weeks, drank in through his skin the redemption for his sin; began to forget what could have been.
Once more…Elst lived.
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Gracious Conversationalist
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Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2009 4:54 am
No... flailing? No more 'don't do that's and 'stay away from me's? Hah, Rugovin had almost ducked away, halfway feeling as if he'd just tossed a good chunk of potassium into the water, ready to combust. But people didn't explode and start to emit sparks and smoke, so he'd controlled himself enough to at least remain standing, remain by his side incase he uhh.. drowned or something.
Good gods this water was cold.
Ah well, we can be drenched and cold and lonely together. Oh look at that, how... convenient. Yes, even mister biology failure somehow seemed to retroactively realise plants and water yield good things when put together. He wasn't sure if watering a plant usually had this kind of instant results though. Guess not. Wait, are you alright there? Just a moment ago you were turning yourself into a pile of broken fragments...
"Hey, take it easy..." Don't overdo it now, okay? Worry shone through clearly in the Essentic's pale eyes, uncertainty, and he voiced those feelings quietly. Hey there now, welcome back...
Wait, what? "Uh..." Sorry for what now?
Initial wave of concern washed away by sheer non-understanding, and then -MOTHER IRIS WHAT- Vin actually did jolt away a few steps. Urghhhh when would this guy start making sense, he'd almost had a heartattack there. That had looked a creepy lot like a dead man falling over, only with that odd expression. Also dying people generally didn't apologise to him. Also they didn't falter right after starting to look better.
So then we had Rugovin perched on the riverbank, looking rather mixed up in confusion and wonder, like a feline taken by surprise. Not too sure wether to hiss or laugh now, he'd reflexively resorted to distraught clicks.
Only a little later did he convince himself that everything appeared to be just fine, no zombie-business, only a bit of an odd man who'd voiced something he couldn't understand, but there was nothing to stress over. Yup, he could live with that.
"Nothing to be sorry for..." he muttered quietly, smiled as he splashed back into the water, moving back towards Elst. Better stick around before he does something stupid again, hm. Feeling he'd given him enough time to indulge, and too little to drown, Vin flipped him over in the water with a bit of a nonchalant shove. There you go, strange guy.
Friend.
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Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2009 3:40 am
No there’d be no more flailing, no more violent impulses from this particular plant. He was far from stable, no...not even close. He just wasn’t freaked out, now. He’d come to terms with a few things. He was submerged.
Soaking in the clean water for the longest time, Elst just...floated, for a while, face-down. Now and then, bubbles of oxygen escaped his mouth, his skin covered in countless tiny duplicates as well. He could hear most everything happening in the water flow; small movements from Vin, fish swimming around loudly after their prey....Yet everything seemed so quiet, all at once...
He opened his eyes, saw the pebbles, a few thin fish moving around, saw his hair, cleaned by the chilled water, filtering in tiny slivers of moonlight through the blonde strands. It all seemed so peaceful, the quiet flow of the current, the fish, the solace... He closed his eyes again, and suddenly he was flipped over to stare up at the sky, the stars, and the velvety backdrop upon which they sat. He simply laid there, for a little while, his body desperately taking in water as he floated.
He was not smiling, yet...the misery that wracked him did not show in his expression, either...instead, a simple serenity seemed to grace his face, simply staring up into the cosmos...His eyes opened once more, a slightly healthier green having taken over his irises, at least for the moment. He slowly stood, the only sounds in the air being a lonely hoot or two from an owl somewhere in the distance, and the dripping of the cold, cold water dripping from his clothes back into their mother river.
“I apologize for...making this so difficult for you...All you have shown me so far is kindness, maybe some caution, some curiosity too, but...it all led to kindness. Yet...I resisted due to my own petty, pathetic reasons, and made it hard for you.” He walked out of the water, towards dry land; the chill of the night upon his damp form seemed to hold no ill effect.
“I…refused your aid, caused you pain when I pulled away from that strange…drain you were causing. I have done nothing but complain this entire time. It seems I have done everything in my power to make helping me as difficult for you as possible. That…is what I am sorry for.” He seemed to have entered a period of eerie calmness, of absolute clarity of mind, yet…the guilt, remorse, even anger, hatred…was still all quite active. Why did it not show, then?
Elst had just begun the first stage of what would become more than four decades of denial.
But maybe…just maybe, it was because somewhere deep inside of him, he felt safe. With Rugovin there, he at least had someone, had…a friend.
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Gracious Conversationalist
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Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2009 4:54 am
Was this guy for real?
Goofball.
Anyone else would've been dead years ago, with that sort of behaviour, attitude, but this Elst-man managed to drift through life, in misery, and still somehow pull through. Yeah, the sky's rather nice today, me and my hectic manner hadn't even noticed.
Oh well welcome back to the surface, nice to see you calmed down. Without even the slightest clue of how to act now, Vin merely stood and watched him quietly, his only clear feeling one of relief. Maybe now the spaz was over? At least Elst looked... considerably better, if not mentally then at least physically. He'd already been worried about how to deal with a person so severely injured -what HAD he been thinking, taking him along?! Good gods, he really was losing his grip.
"What now? Oh sheesh, karmically speaking I should've been gutted for approaching you. I can only thank you for keeping me in one piece... What kind of an idiot even does that, saying hi to what could just as easily have been some sort of criminal. Not to suggest you are one..." Way to sound sheepish. Kindness? Seriously now, me and kindness are two subjects that shouldn't be in the same sentence together ever, don't be ridiculous. I'm just an idiot who happened to chance upon you and made some weird decisions, that's all there is to it, really.
This water's cold enough to make it hurt, mother Iris. Havin' a lovely time soaking here with you, but alas, I'm not a living vegetable. Ah, you're coming, nice.
When Elst made to get out of the river, Rugovin eagerly followed. HE surely did feel the chill, for the uptenth time regretting getting this wet, and then deciding it was all worth the trouble anyway. Despite his ability to be just fine on his own, there was no telling how valuable a companion could be to him, sometimes. Being left alone with only your own thoughts and experiences for too long generally isn't a good thing.
"Oh that..." Yes, that little gift of mine, funny story about that. Sitting down by the waterside rather heavily, the Essentic let out a dull sigh, then shrugged it off. "I got me some backlash, but's nothing bad." Muttering that quietly, he had to tell himself not to turn away from Elst too far. He just 'had this thing' he did, no use trying to deny its existance. He could only hope the other wouldn't pry into it or reject him for it, not that Elst seemed like the type to do so.
"Everybody complains, that's what you have other people for." Shrug. I guess. It's fine, it's normal. You're not a pain in the a** for it...
The start of ages of denial, and the one beside him right now was in no mood, no condition to have even the vaguest idea of what was going awry, let alone of how to help. The Essentic had no way of knowing what lay beneath Elst's sudden calmness, the only reasonable thing would be to assule he just was that way. He had a bad runin with some folks, now he's feeling better, what's the problem with that...? At the very least he seems trustworthy, odd needless fussing or not. It didn't even feel so strange to talk to him, which was quite something considering he most likely recognised Vin as what he was, and yet didn't treat him very different from what he was used to from the people who had once been around him, back home. So, so far way that seemed, a reality that would never come back again.
"Talking about complaining, you wouldn't happen to know what's edible around here? Or do I go see if there's anything I can hunt for, my stomach's being a sulking b*****d right now." Not to mention everything else, I'm beat, fella.
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Posted: Sat Aug 08, 2009 2:33 am
Yes, as odd as he was…this particular plant was all-real. As much as he wished he didn’t exist, he most certainly did, in the flesh. Anyone else? Yes, they’d be dead at this point, their bodies long ago having given up the struggle against self-loathing and abuse, but not Elst’s. No, his body was…stubborn, and it refused to go down without a fight. And a fight is exactly what was had, with Elst’s instinct for survival arising the victor over his suicidal mind. But hey, at least he stood up, at least he was actually speaking in full sentences now.
“I know not…of your past, just as you know next to nothing of mine. I know not of whatever it is…karma has in store for you, but I do know that you have been kinder to me than…than I think anyone else in my long, long life ever has. That is what I know, and what matters to me. That and the fact that I have been making everything worse for you.” A long sigh was had by the plant, his newly moisturized breath turning to vapor in the chilly air.
“A criminal…I might be that, though…I know not the details of my own crime, to be honest, I know only the results.” He wistfully looked down, to the back of his own right hand, where a lonely-looking violet orchid had rooted. Ah, what matters Vin, is not that you just happened upon this wreck of a plant, not that it was complete coincidence that you arrived here, no…What mattered were the decisions you chose to make, the decisions that likely just saved Elst’s life.
Upon hearing Vin comment on the ‘gift’, he…decided to not ask questions; even for someone as oblivious as Elst was, the unwillingness to talk about it any more was quite obvious in Vin’s words. Elst wasn’t exactly in any sort of state of mind proper for curiosity, anyway. Essentics were capable of astounding things, why should this be any different? Elst simply couldn’t imagine why humans committed such a genocide upon them…terrible, even in concept to this particular plant.
“But maybe…maybe I can start reversing my uselessness…you look cold, here, take my coat, I certainly don’t need the warmth it provides…” He steadily removed the thick, heavy, but quite insulating jacket, almost a trench coat, and held it out to Vin, a soft smile on his face, not meaning happiness, but good intent. It was soaked, yes, but still much better than nothing; it was well made, after all. And what? Rugovin was hungry?
“Oh, yes, I can find plenty of things edible here…No problem at all, this is a rather…lush area, too…I carry some food rations in my jacket, though, the, uh…which was it…left top buttoned pocket, I think.” He scratched the back of his head for a moment, before continuing. “There should be some…what is it called…dried meat? Jerky? Yes, that’s it, jerky, and some small cheese wheels in wax, I think…I…before all this happened, I made sure to always have food with me, at all times…good for, uh…snacking I think it’s called…”
And yes, the denial was settling in quite nicely now; the misery behind his voice was practically undetectable. And therein was Elst’s first later of denial: No matter what your problem, no matter how much it hurts you, it doesn’t matter; it is more important to furrow it away inside, so as to avoid inconveniencing others.
Inside the pocket he spoke of, though, there was indeed several thick strips of beef jerky, rolled up in a plastic bag, as well as three miniature waxed cheese wheels, good in quality. A whiskey flask as well, filled with one of the many odd teas Elst drank on occasion. The pocket was rather large, and luckily hadn’t torn and spilled its contents while Elst had been fleeing. He didn’t need food, but he enjoyed it, and the food hadn’t gone bad since he’d packed it, a day before the ‘incident’, so to speak. Hopefully enough to feed a hungry Essentic when accompanied with whatever Elst managed to find in the forest.
An apt title for this layer of denial, it so happens, would be ‘Mr. Helpful Mode.’
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