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 Posted: Wed Jul 10, 2013 7:57 am
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Posted: Wed Jul 10, 2013 8:13 am
Durriyah has never run like this before. She barely ever ran in her life; she was used to lazily flitting about her cushioned, heavily planted, shaded, and perfumed corral. Her muscled ached and burned and her beautiful snow white fur was turning a dusky yellow/brown color as sand from the dunes got caught in it. Her beautiful and delicate bells and chains beat against her rhythmically as her hooves thudded against the soft and sandy ground. Her bloodlines were strong, and though she was not used to exerting herself like this, thankfully her stamina kept her going as she followed Kasim deep into the desert.
Everything had happened so fast! The endorphins from her marathon like canter across the dunes had kept the worst of it from 'sinking in' just yet, but it was like a giant, shadowy monster lurking on the edge of her consciousness. What would happen when they stopped running? What if they were caught?
What if they weren't?
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Posted: Wed Jul 10, 2013 10:32 am
Kasim was no stranger to running for his life. Be it running from someone he had stolen from, running from the law, or running from any number of others who had a problem with his tainted heritage. Kasim never lost sleep over turning tail and doing the dishonorable deed of running away. However, he typically had the benefit of his wings to aid in his escape. But today, he had stolen something more precious than any trinket, and something he would never entertain the thought of ditching to save his skin. Durriyah, the first soquili to have shown him genuine kindness - he never would have expected such a beautiful, pure mare such as she would have ever even looked twice at him to do something other than spit upon him.
No, for her, he would run the desert until he had sweat out all of his water into a froth and died from exhaustion. He... just prayed that it would not come to that.
And Durriyah managed to surprise him a second time. The delicate desert flower he had made her for had held her own in the maraton. He knew she was of a superior breeding, but to see her run alongside him, doing what she was bred to do -it was breathtaking. All of the sand and sweat just made her more beautiful in his eyes. She wasn't JUST a pampered princess... but a breathtaking Arabian mare.
"It.... should not be too much further until the sea..." Kasim called to her between huffs as the falcon returned to his shoulder and perched, calling to him. "Haytham says that he can see the glistening waters. It is a port town. I hae not been this way before, but I know my way around a city."
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Posted: Wed Jul 10, 2013 11:28 am
Durriyah looked over to him, surprised. They had said a surprising lack of words to each other since the great escape had began; she had assumed he was busy hatching a grand scheme and she didn't dare interrupt his concentration. After all, according to the stories he had told her in the caves, this was far from the worst scrape he had gotten out of.
"The sea?" she asked, her delicate and melodic voice hindered by a thirty, sand-riddled harshness. She had never seen the ocean, save for in a few paintings. "Are we going on a ship?" she asked, her voice tinged with disbelief and a bit of excitement. However, she had heard some horrid tales about 'port towns' and the kind of ilk you could find there. She licked her lips nervously, but once again found herself trusting Kasim and his experience with these types of matters.
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Posted: Wed Jul 10, 2013 11:36 am
"The noise and bustle of the town will be our ally." Kasim continued, his pace slowing just a bit as he whickered something to Haytham, who set off again, this time flying high and circling great wide circles above them.
Eventually, the hawk returned, landing on Kasim's wing, and reported back.
Kasim gave his head a great nod and slowed down to a trot, his chest taking deep pulls of air.
"We have put a great distance between us, and the winds have been blowing strongly - Allah is merciful. I think for the moment, we have a few moments." He smiled back to Durriyah, eyes wandering over the soiled beauty. But he looked at her not with disgust, but with a shrewd eye.
He opened his saddleback with his mouth and looked over to Durriyah with a serious gleam in his eye. "My lady, if you trust me... that golden jewelry and those gems will attract a great deal of attention... attention that we cannot afford in the city. Will you place them in my bag?" Kasim knew exactly how this sounded, but his voice was earnest.
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Posted: Wed Jul 10, 2013 12:04 pm
Durriyah shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. She imagined she must look terrible! Her hair was falling out of their wraps and ties, falling around her in a long, windswept, tangled mess. Her fur was chock full of sand - she shook it out as best she could, her trinkets clanging together like a choir of bells.
When Kasim opened his bag, she blinked at him with her wide violet eyes. Go naked? She had been draped in veils, blankets, and gold chains since she could stand as a little filly. Sure, she was no stranger to watching other horses shed their saddles and bridles when they were off-duty, but that was just another thing that set her apart. "All of it?" she asked incredulously, her voice upturned into a whine.
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Posted: Wed Jul 10, 2013 12:19 pm
An ear flicked back, and Kasim couldn't help but smile despite the circumstances. He was asking for all of her valuables and she was more concerned with being seen naked rather than worried about him stealing from her.
"I insist, my lady - but do not shake all the sand from your coat! It will... assist in your disguise." He proferred the satchel to her again, giving it a small jingle.
"I do not know how much of a respite we have before we need to move once more."
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Posted: Wed Jul 10, 2013 12:32 pm
With a pout and sigh, she relented. Again, she was defaulting to his wealth of knowledge on these more shady dealings; if he said it was necessary then who was she to question him? She slid the gold chain off her horn first, then used it to unlock and unhinge the rest of her chains, bobbles, bells, and loops.
She deposited them all with great care into his satchel, finally frowning to herself as she removed the veil from her face and placed it on top with a bit of blush in her ears. Her hair fell around her in a cascade of white, no longer pinned in place or gathering in delicate gold bands.
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Posted: Wed Jul 10, 2013 2:07 pm
Despite his haste, Kasim found himself pausing to take in Durriyah's visage with her mane spilling freely over her form, her unbound tail cascading behind her.
He shook his head, stirring himself from his distraction and pulled the cord of his pouch, tightening it and securing it back around his waist.
Next, he tugged on his shawl, adjusting here and there until it covered his kalona wings. Finally, he shook his head until his scarf came off, and then profered it to Durriyah.
"I know this is not the fineries you are used to, but hiding your features would be advised. Even without your jewels and covered in sand, a fine eye can spy your fine breeding, and... of course that horn of yours."
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Posted: Wed Jul 10, 2013 2:17 pm
"What's wrong with good breeding?" she asked, taking the scarf and fussing with it. She haphazardly bundled as much of her glittery mane around her horn and then tied the scarf around it, letting a few tendrils fall around her face. She also spent a few minutes putting her tail into a bun.
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Posted: Wed Jul 10, 2013 2:29 pm
Kasim assisted nudging and tugging here and there to help Durriyah get the wrap both concealing some of her features as well as not looking too out of place compared to the head wraps that many demure mares wore.
Finally, he nodded in satisfaction.
"There is nothing wrong with good breeding. But where we are going it will stick out like a shining jewel among rocks. And we do not need that kind of attention right now. If you are spotted, then surely we will be found, and the sultan will have our heads." He said this with hardly an elevation of his voice.
"Now, stay close by my side, try not to pay attention to the others in the town if you can help it. Are you ready?"
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Posted: Thu Jul 11, 2013 5:33 am
Durriyah sighed dramatically; there sure were a lot of rules and such she was expected to follow. In the palace she was always instructed to act and speak certain ways; she figured this would at least be different. But at the mention the Sultan she sucked it up a bit, as that impressed the importance of this 'mission' so to speak.
"I'm ready," she said softly, pawing at the ground and frowning at her once beautiful golden hooves which were now nearly completely covered with the grime of their escape. She took a step closer to him, taking a breath to steady herself.
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Posted: Thu Jul 11, 2013 8:59 am
Kasim paused for just a moment before they continued, walking forward and giving Durriyah a reassuring nuzzle. "I promise, this is just temporary," he said quietly to her.
And then he set off again, this time, it was a steady trot. "Once we reach the city, do not run, just walk, as if you are any other visitor."
And then, before long, the desert ran up and lapped against the walls of a bustling city. The city looked old - the walls pitted and cracked where it had weathered sandstorm after sandstorm. Carts and people and horses traveled in and out of the gates, bustling and going about their lives. Already, cries from barkers, whinnies of horses, and smells and sounds filled the once silent air.
Kasim kept his head low, his wings pulled tightly against his sides and under his wrap, and made sure that one of his sides was in contact with Durriyah as he slowed his pace to a leisurely walk.
They approached a set of guards at the gates, but they hardly even gave the pair of bedraggled soquili a second glance as they passed the gates.
Inside the city was a bustling, loud market town - the sounds amplified tenfold from the muffling walls and sand from the outside. Everyone seemed like they were busy doing something. There were exotic smells - merchants carrying fruits and spices, jewelry and elegant bolts of cloth. Jingling of bells, and clinking of swords as men and horses of every walk of life squeezed by each other on the narrow streets. Beggars and children pleaded for attention and hand-outs from any who even cast an accidental glance their way.
Lowly, very lowly, almost under his breath, Kasim commented, "We can get lost in here and buy ourselves some time - but we cannot stay here forever. We have... options, but none of them are simple."
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Posted: Thu Jul 11, 2013 9:06 am
Even though Durriyah had promised not to stare, she found herself unable to tear her eyes away from ... everything. She had never been anywhere like this before! So crowded - she never had need seen so many different two-leggers or Soquili in her life in one place. Her head kept jerking around, looking with interest as every merchant they passed called to her and offered her their wares - it would be rude to ignore them, would it not? Her heart ached when she saw all the fine silks and jewels and once again became rather self-conscious that she was virtually naked and looked nothing more than a common horse in this state. She liked being beautiful and smelling good, and being comfortable! It was one of the only things she had never really been good at...
But she made sure her front should kept in contact with Kasim at all time. As fascinated as she was with the hustle and bustle of the city, she was too terrified to even dream of going off on her own. "What options do we have?" she asked back, trying to keep it quiet, but still high and melodic in his ears in the sea of sound.
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Posted: Thu Jul 11, 2013 9:31 am
Where Durriyah paid attention, it was returned threefold by the merchants in the city, shaking fine cloth closer for her to see, to tempt her, or polishing an apple.
Kasim sighed, he knew how wonderstuck she must be, "Don't take anything. We cannot afford to flash money or goods around or to get into a conversation."
For all the horses in the city, however, Durriyah saw none that bore the signature horn of a unicorn. Most were old cart horses, or working with the merchants.
"We can try to continue on by hoof... keep wandering... but... I fear that today I might have overstepped even my own disregard for the law... if they find us, they will kill us." Kasim had stolen valuables before, but nothing he couldn't sell. And certainly nothing this personal of an insult to such a high ranking figure.
"The other option... is to go far from here... take a ship. If we leave this land, go somewhere where none know us... you would not need to stay disguised. But... I have never left these desert lands before. For as unforgiving as they can be, I have learned their ways... their dangers and how to navigate them..." Kasim turned a serious blue eye to Durriyah. He was willing- it was... a risky move - and an intimidating one, even to the thief. But he did harbor a sense of adventure, and seeing new lands all together, things he had just heard stories of...? It might be even more wondrous...
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