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 Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 12:29 am
 The chilly November air bit at the long coat hairs of the tall stallion as he made his way alone through the forest. Though certainly not unusual in any way, Alexiel had not been alone with his thoughts for quite some time and it was both reassuring and unsettling for him. His children were grown now, flown off to lives and adventures of their own and he could only stay back and watch as they took on the world, worrying as he always did about them and hoping he had taught them well. His mate was off visiting her family and that left Alexiel with time on his own. Truthfully, it had been such a long time since he had been alone he wasn't quite sure what to make of it.
Stopping for a moment, he paused at the edge of a small pond to look down at himself. The face that stared back at him was different than he remembered. His was the face of a father, of a stallion with a loving mate and children who worried about normal things that normal soquili worried about. And yet, the faint scars still remained, long since faded and less visible but there. The scars of his youth, of a youth wracked with loss, with guilt, with anger. The soquili that had once stared up at him from these waters had been filled with those emotions. The soquili he was now had, eventually and with a good deal of help, come to terms with his past.
He lifted his head, his past was not something he would normally choose to dwell on, he had left it behind. Now his life was meant for the future, for his children and the other young soquili who had yet to write their futures. All he could do was guide them as best he could.
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Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 7:30 am
 Karloff felt desolate. His meeting with Terra Stryker left him weak. His mind went over and over the encounter. What had he been thinking all this time? He had wanted, for the longest time, to meet a Skinwalker. To see the life he was going to take on. He'd never really thought about the idea that this life wasn't for him. Why would he have ever questioned it? He was suppose to be a Skinwalker...then he'd never feel again. It must be nice not to feel. But that wasn't quite right, you experienced lust and rage. And hunger, above all hunger. Wasn't that better than this? This life he had now, it was an existence full of hate. A life filled with hate because he retained his humanity. What better way than to get rid of the humanity? But he couldn't and now he was lost. He couldn't become one, and he couldn't live with this guilt and pain. What was he to do? He stumbled alone, once again, oblivious to everything around him.
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Nyx Queen of Darkness Crew
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Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2010 1:26 am
A noise broke Alexiel out of his musings and immediately his head jerked up, ears swiveling around for the source of the sound. Always alert now, he had a hard time relaxing ever, every sound, every breath of wind was a potential enemy and he would not be caught unaware. Yet as the sound drew nearer it sounded small, the footfalls were light, a bit careless as if the creature making them was not making any effort to be silent.
Quietly the stallion waited, watching as a small shape emerged from the trees near him. For a moment, all his senses were in full alert mode and his muscles automatically tensed as a furry, fanged face made itself known, accompanied by the smell of blood. Yet, as quickly as the panic had come it subsided. This was no skinwalker foal. Lucky, he would have hated to have to kill a creature so young, even one as horrid as a skinwalker. Still, the foal that stumbled closer bore the mask of one, and Alex could only wonder why he would bear such a face. A skinwalker was a creature of hatred, of malice, of unbridled psychotic rage. Why anyone would bear any resemblance to them, even so simple as a mask, was beyond him.
And the colt was bleeding. Alexiel walked towards him, concerned for this foal. "Hello there, young one. What are you doing in the middle of a forest alone? And what gave you that wound, have you been attacked?"
If there was a predator in the area, he wanted to know about it. He would not stand for a beast attacking young foals. And he wanted to make sure this one was okay, and find out what on earth was with that mask....
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Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2010 11:44 pm
Karloff glanced up at the sound, hoping that maybe it was something that would put him out of his misery. But he was out of luck, the stallion standing above him was more likely to help him than kill him. Talk about luck.
He looked up dazedly at the stallion. But all he could think about was blood....blood...there was blood everywhere.
Death....
Decay....
Blood...
He shook off his morbid thoughts. Terra had put them there, and fear. He'd shown fear to her. But that was over, this was now. He had to focus.
"No, I'm...fine. It's a wound from after I was born. It bleeds sometimes." He didn't want to answer that he was alone.
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Nyx Queen of Darkness Crew
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Posted: Fri Nov 19, 2010 12:14 am
"Ah....I see." So there were no predators in the area, good to note. Though a wound that bled for that long surely couldn't be healthy it appeared as if the colt had had it bleed many times before. Still....there was something about the gaze and the manner of the child that was off. As if his mind was not completely there but wandering some other topic while a small part of him remained here, just present enough to answer Alexiel's question.
"But are you alright? You seem as if you have much on your mind young one, come, you should rest, we'll get that wound of yours cleaned up as well" the stallion said, motioning over towards a tree by the stream with his wing. He was concerned, the foal did seem like the thoughts in his head were feeling about too quickly for processing, and what was more the child seemed weak. Though he was still curious about the mask, that would have to wait until after the child was settled. Maybe then his story would come out.
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Posted: Sun Nov 21, 2010 3:03 pm
Karloff nodded half-heartedly and followed the Angeni. He was alarmed after what he experienced that he could talk to someone like him, or even be in their presence. He had the mask, a new one, of the very thing the Angeni hated.
Karloff dipped his muzzle into water and drank deeply, the cold water soothing his throat and easing some of the cramps in his muscles. He'd had a horrifying experience.
The meeting with Terra, then with Ailbhe had changed his life forever. He didn't know what to do, but he found himself humbled by the experience. There was a want for something more meaningful with his life. But he didn't know how to make it meaningful.
"I'm sorry to have intruded on your home," his voice was low and morose.
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Nyx Queen of Darkness Crew
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Posted: Mon Nov 22, 2010 1:03 am
He watched the colt with worried but observant eyes, noting as he drank the water and a bit of colour returned to his face. Of course it was hard to tell with that strange mask he wore. Alexiel frowned. He still didn't like it. But he'd get to the bottom of it, eventually. He didn't want to frighten the child off as he might have done in his youth. Thankfully he was older now, calmer and not so much consumed with thoughts of revenge and hatred.
"Don't worry about it, you are a guest. Albeit an unexpected one, but you are welcome to stay as long as you please," Alexiel said as he dipped his nose into the water, rubbing the water onto the wound on the colt's neck, hoping to stem the bleeding a little.
Stepping back, he looked at the child, wondering how to approach him. Talking had never been his forte, it was really too bad his mate was not here, she could probably start this off better than he could. But he did notice the haunted look in the foal's eyes, and it disturbed him. Almost like he was looking at a younger version of himself, at a small grey pelted angeni who lost everything in one fell swoop. He did not want this colt to be him. And yet...how could he say as much outright?
"Now. What's really the matter. I can see it in your eyes and your movements that you have a burden on you. One that is probably not yours to bear." He hesitated, wondering, again, if he should ask about the mask. But if not now then when right? Maybe it would help get the foal's story out. He cleared his throat.
"And that mask, I've been wondering about. Why do you wear the face of such a beast?"
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Posted: Tue Nov 23, 2010 1:29 pm
Karloff felt the cool water on his neck, maybe it would finally stop bleeding. It always bleed, like some cursed wound that never closed. He'd never understood it. It started and stopped of it's own free will.
He heard the questions, he had known they were coming. But it didn't much matter, after everything he'd done...everything he'd seen. What was the use in hiding it anymore?
Taking a deep breath, he spoke--his voice dead. "My mother was killed when I was a foal. I was there with her, I was...injured. Disfigured horribly. My father came home, took one look at me and left. He didn't come back."
Sighing, he continued, "I was alone three days before I buried her. I left, the place forever. I took up a mask of a skinwalker, determined to be one. I didn't want to feel again. I didn't want to be evil, but I couldn't deal with the pain.
"Then....then....I met Terra Stryker. She stole my mask, made me see that I had too much humanity to become one. One other saw my face for what it really was, I was ashamed. I found another mask and wore it again. I don't know what to do anymore....Too much humanity to lose it, and too much guilt to go on the way I was before."
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Nyx Queen of Darkness Crew
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