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 Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2009 12:53 pm
Nestled deep in the heart of a secret place, safe from the corrupting influences of the world, lies a serene forest. Very few people know of this place, even fewer have ever seen it with their own eyes. But there is an inhabitant. The only sign of that however is a particular glade in the forest, lined with soft moss on the forest floor. The glade is a short distant from an ancient and ornate tomb, hung with mysterious mirrors.
This glade is hung and decorated with the oddest trinkets. Everything from children's picture books to shiny shells and shards of valuable looking crystals. Not that the inhabitant was aware of any item's potential value beyond what they meant to him sentimentally.
And it was here that the large man slept. Dressed in a pair of simple sweatpants he curled up around a rather ragged looking doll he'd found in an abandoned shack a few nights ago. It smiled lopsidedly as he slept, occasionally twitching or kicking a foot. Otherwise he slept deeply, allowing the scar on his forehead to relax and give him a peaceful expression.
Who knew what unicorns dreamed of?
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Posted: Sat Oct 10, 2009 7:36 am
Flutter stumbled out of one of the mirrors in the tomb. She scraped her knee against a stone that jutted out from the ground. It had been a part of the walls that surrounded the place, but had succumbed to the test of time, and pressures of vegetation that insinuated itself into the cracks that had developed over time.
The passage of time marked everything around her. The stale smell in the air, the muted noises of some insects, and the lazy floating of fuzzy white stuff that came from some flowers that had gone to seed.
She waved her hands in front of her to prevent the fuzzy stuff from being inhaled. She hopped a couple of times until the sting of the scrape on her knee subsided. It wouldn't be the first time that she'd been bumped or bruised, she had learned too early in life that this was going to be a regular part of her existence.
Pain, and suffering.
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Posted: Sat Oct 10, 2009 7:48 am
The unicorn man curled up and snorted a little. The floating white seeds danced around him as he slept, catching the light and mingling with the snow white of his hair. A couple danced along his lips and nose, making him snort. Only lightly disturbed, he rolled over. He was warm and comfortable. Unfortunately he'd managed to roll out of the sunbeam that had been warming him.
Slowly he woke, blinking his pale silver-blue eyes. He yawned and squirmed a little, looking as innocent as any waking child despite being exceptionally large. He kept hold of the doll as he sat up and rubbed his eyes. Another yawn and he glanced around. Everything was as still and as peaceful as it always was here. He frowned as he tried to remember his dreams. Something about running through a forest.
He licked his lips. He was thirsty. There was a nice crisp stream not too far away. Dragging the poor rag doll along for the ride he pushed himself to his feet and wandered leisurely towards the stream. There was never a rush for him. At the stream edge he would kneel and set the doll aside as he bent over to drink.
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Posted: Sat Oct 10, 2009 7:56 am
The stream ran past the tomb, and mirrors. Flutter spotted Corwin at the water's edge without any trouble. He was the only living thing that seemed to be awake at this hour. One look around the glade gave her the impression that there were other things that were awake, and alive around her.
They were too small for her to notice, but cumulatively they added to the air of serenity, and peace that this place exuded. Flutter quietly made her way through the tall grass, and knelt down beside Corwin. She picked up the doll that he had set down beside him. She turned it over in her hands, the rough wear and tear of the doll telling a story of long disuse.
Had something bad happened here? She couldn't imagine that the owner of the doll would have easily parted with it. Most children obsessed over their objections of affection. Not so different from adults, only the objections of affection became people.
Still treated like objects though, depending on the maturity of the particular adult in question.
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Posted: Sat Oct 10, 2009 8:09 am
Corwin was far from the only thing alive and awake, but he was certainly the only thing of any noticeable size around. The gentle hum and buzz of several insects filled the air, occasionally peppered with the trill and chirp of some tropical or rare bird species. Staying still for a while (as Corwin often tried) would occasionally coax other creatures out into the open. Rodents, small deer, reptiles and the occasional small predator would appear. But as soon as he moved to interact with them, they'd run away.
It was sort of lonely being the biggest creature around. If there were any bigger, they were avoiding him.
Still, he wasn't the sort to sulk or mope about such things. He'd run through the wide open spaces and he'd bathe when and where he pleased. He'd eat whatever he found and he's nap wherever he fell. Life was pretty good, all things considered.
All the same he was becoming somewhat concerned about the odd things that seemed to be missing from his mind. They were getting replaced with new thoughts and ideas, of course, but there did seem to be conspicuous gaps these days. Not that he wanted to give up the knowledge he was acquiring.
A movement nearby and he looked up. His serene face pulled into a smile widely. As Flutter picked up the doll he'd found and examined it he hummed in delight and gave her a little nudge with his cheek in greeting.
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Posted: Sat Oct 10, 2009 8:21 am
Flutter's hand rubbed against Corwin's cheek, and down his neck. She would massage his neck, much the same as she would had he still been in an equine form. She felt a wave of sadness whenever she saw him, because all she could think about was all that he lost when his horn was taken from him.
She had managed to track down the people who had poached his horn. Unfortunately they had ground the horn down, and used it to make potions of immortality. There was quite the market for such things, especially in a culture that was obsessed with it's youth.
Corwin might be able to fully live in the moment, but Flutter was filled with regrets, and a lot of bitterness. She'd lost so much, that she had a hard time appreciating the finer moments when they came to pass.
How could she tell Corwin what she'd found out? Simple, she couldn't. It would be one more thing that she would keep to herself to save him from a painful discovery. Hope was such a fragile thing to try to hold onto. And slippery.
She set the doll back down on the grass.
"This is where you ran off to. Much better environment than the Sands."
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Posted: Sat Oct 10, 2009 8:35 am
Corwin cooed softly as Flutter treated him to a gentle massage. Equine or human that was always a welcome gesture. And unlike many other men who would see it as an act of flirting or desire, he just enjoyed the casual affection of it. Perhaps he would never grow out of seeing the world in his own unique way. Only time would tell on that one.
Corwin had no idea what had become of his horn. He probably wouldn't understand how it had been used in such a way as it had. He couldn't understand why it had been taken at all, why he had been cursed in the way he had. Or blessed. His human form had a lot of advantages over his equine form, certainly. But it did feel like he was playing pretend or dress-up most of the time.
So he lived in the moment. It was all he had, all he'd ever had no matter his form. That was just the way he saw things. His kind had little concept of the future, and the past was over and done with. Good to think about sometimes but ultimately gone.
That may change. Eventually he may forget how he got the scar on his forehead at all. He might not understand why he was plagued with dreams of hooves and manes and an inhuman magic. He would just be a man, and nothing more. An odd man, but just a man.
"Safe here." He nodded in agreement with a smile. "Very quiet. No bad smell. No bad sound. No moving dead people. No people." He shrugged. he definitely hadn't liked zombies.
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Posted: Sat Oct 10, 2009 8:50 am
There was decay here, but it was a vegetative type that was normal to most forests that had some age to them. She agreed with most of what Corwin had shared with her.
"Yes, this is a good place."
She twirled his hair in her fingers, enjoying the casual affection that the gesture afforded both of them. Unlike most men that Flutter had met, Corwin was one that wouldn't misinterpret her actions to mean more than they did.
Or consider that they gave him a license of some type of ownership over her.
She had thought that Corwin was out of place amongst so many undead things. He had too much spark, and zest for life to be holed up anywhere that they proliferated.
"Safe?" she asked, looking at the tomb behind her and lack of people around.
"There were people here once upon a time. I wonder what happened to them."
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Posted: Sat Oct 10, 2009 9:11 am
The decaying vegetation buried underneath the undergrowth was not the same as the decay he had encountered at the beach. that was the filth of rotting, of rotting from the inside like a disease, the unnatural way that rotting could still be living. It gave him the creeps. No, the decomposing here merely served to feed the growing life all around them. Any creature that died here was very swiftly cleaned up by the wildlife and the insects, going on to provide sustenance to a new generation. The way it should be, as he was taught as a foal. They did not have a single life, all living things belonged to a great whole. And it was to that they returned when they died merely to some day break away and live again.
He seemed undisturbed by her toying with his hair. He never minded it at all. There was plenty of it and it was a sort of quiet comfortable gesture. The light touches of two people familiar with one another. It always reminded him of the lazy days spent grooming herdmates with nibbles and licks, getting hair into order (or making it stand up in amusing ways) and just reaffirming the bonds between them that were necessary for survival and cooperation. It was less primal in this form, far more social and comforting than necessary.
Though he certainly didn't feel like he owned her. He was still struggling with the concept of ownership at all. If he saw something and he liked it, he'd take it. If someone else wanted it, they'd take it. It was very simple. And there was no way anyone could own people or natural things anyway.
"People gone." He shrugged. He picked up the doll and held it. It looked tiny in his large hand. "Smells almost gone too. Long time. Left stuff though. Come see!" He stood up suddenly and reached out a hand. He'd take her back to the glade he slept in, full of all the things he'd found and liked.
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Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 8:52 am
Flutter felt herself relax, and put her small hand into Corwin's. He was a large man, tall, long of limb and other appendages. She would note this absently the same way that she would notice that a leaf had turned from green to a shade of red in the fall.
It was a relief to be away from unnatural things, she understood Corwin's discomfort with it. She always had felt badly for the people who had lost their loved ones, only to see them dragged out of the earth long after decay had settled into their flesh and bones. It was disturbing to bury Aunt Mildred one week, and have to lob her head off the next when she crawled out of the grave to join the other undead in an uprising.
She was pulled along behind Corwin, another of his traits was his strength. He was gentle, no doubt he wouldn't hurt a fly. Or her. But he was strong, something of what he had been must have gotten mixed up with what it was that he was now.
"Show me" she said, interested in what Corwin was excited to show her.
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Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 9:13 am
Even Corwin had noticed he was much bigger than the other people he had encountered. Despite being in human form, traits of his stallion heritage definitely shone though, and not just in his snowy colouring. Long legs could still run for hours even if there were only two instead of four. A powerfully muscled chest gave him strength to his upper body as well, something he hadn't really taken full advantage of. He was not a fighter, except when there were things that required defending. Not to mention other stallion-like qualities that had brought the wandering eyes of a few females across his form, all while he was contently oblivious of his physical blessings.
So he retained the gentleness of his kind as well, something he hadn't really noticed himself but was no doubt appreciated by the people he interacted with on rare occasion. Even now it was his strength that allowed him to lift Flutter over a fallen log that he was able to step over, but it was his gentleness that set her down carefully on her feet once again.
All the same he tugged her along relentlessly. When people used the phrase Wild horses couldn't drag me away... they were not really accounting for Corwin's single-mindedness and power. He could have ploughed a field without assistance, just him and a harness. Except he didn't know how to farm. Good thing fruits and berries grew wild here.
It didn't take him long to pull her into the mossy glade he had made his home. Underfoot everything was soft and bouncy, warmed by the sunbeam that still broke through the canopy above. Thick green moss was his bed and his pillow. But that was not the focal point of the area. Strung from the trees, balancing on tree limbs and rocks, stacked between roots and everywhere in sight the glade was full of various trinkets. Here and there strings of jewels or carefully positioned glass caught the light and sent a rainbow of colours into foliage. Here was a solid gold religious idol and sitting next to it a simple, chipped mug. Strips of lace hung from the branches as silk ribbons fluttered in the lightest of breezes. Everything from the new to the antique, pristine and broken, valuable and trash seemed to blend together here.
He let go of her hand and reached out to a nearby stone figurine of some ancient and probably long forgotten god. He held it up to show her with a smile before he pulled down a pearl necklace from the leaves above her. The pearls draped over his large fingers.
"See? Left many good things. Make home pretty." He nodded in satisfaction. Who knew what could be found in this unusual and yet strangely organised chaos?
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Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2009 6:30 am
Flutter would gently pull the pearls from Corwin's hand. She twirled them back a forth, her gaze shifting around the area that he had made into his home. There were so many items strewn about, it was hard to take them all in.
"These are people's memories. Keepsakes."
She ran her hand through the ribbons on the tree, and set them to fluttering around in the warm breeze that blew through the branches. Corwin wanted to be surrounded by pieces of other people's lives when they were living. That's how she understood what he had done. He was nesting, creating a personalized space, and beautifying it with bits of stuff that he had come across.
There were enough things around them to have belonged to several families.
"What about the rain?" she wondered out loud.
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Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2009 7:54 am
Corwin smiled widely as she took the pearls from him, taking it to be approval for his form of decorating. His pale eyes danced as she looked around. He stepped further into the glade and nodded brightly. He was quite satisfied with the way things were. Almost. He had a feeling there was something a little off about things being left the way they were. It would have been nice to see the people these things had once belonged to.
"Memories." He repeated, tasting the word as though it was a piece of succulent fruit, and yet not quite understanding the term. He reached to a tree branch and took down a small wooden horse, looking at it with a sigh. It had probably been a child's toy once. Now it was one of his own memories.
He looked up at Flutter as she toyed with some ribbons and watched the brightly coloured silk waving in the gentle wind that kept the glade at a warm temperature and always fresh. Hints of exotic fruits and flowers often rode in on that breeze, scenting the glade pleasantly. He had really chosen well when he'd settled here.
"Rain?" He tilted his head a little and looked up. The thick canopy above actually kept off the worst of the rain, but of course some still got through. Especially when it was heavy. Such things never really seemed to matter to the man though. He'd grown up outside. Rain was important. Rain wasn't something he ever really sought shelter from, though he'd learned quickly enough that paper items like books and water did not mix. He kept the books and papers he'd found tucked into sheltered corners and hollows, or underneath waterproof things.
"Rain makes trees grow. Makes fruit grow. Makes moss grow soft." He smiled, looking down at her and dropping onto his rump on the bouncy moss below his feet that provided his bedding. It never occurred to him to build some form of shelter for himself and his treasures.
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