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 Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2016 5:59 pm
The sudden change from warm weather to a cool rain barely made him flinch anymore. It was almost too familiar now. The chill was oddly not as bad as it used to be as well, when he had his coat. Odd how that was. Shun let out a breath as he began to wander around the dreary landscape that was Other Ashdown. As always, there didn't seem to be anyone or anything around his immediate surroundings. Which, was good. He supposed. Better to have nothing than something potentially hostile. Though, as he walked along, he paused as he heard something from somewhere nearby. It didn't sound like the normal patter of rain or wind. Slowly, he began to approach, erring on the side of caution as he crept closer to the source. If it was something dangerous, he didn't want it to be aware of him if possible. Once he reached a corner, he poked his head over the side, peeking around the edge.
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Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2016 12:10 am
Thorne didn't really know what he was expecting when he ended up in Other Ashdown again. Certainly not wandering around with Mare, whispering his greetings to the small plant otherbeings that existed here, that remembered him. He was in the middle of trying to appease a cluster of them now, in the shadows of a mimicked parking garage eerily empty in the grey drizzle and hush of the mirror world.
Mare loitered outside. She was obvious for two reasons. The first: she was a rotting skeleton.
The second: she was wearing Thorne's scarf. It was oversized and smelled really nice, and there was no viable proof that she was actually cold, but Thorne had felt bad when they'd wandered off together, and had offered it to her in some form of a - peace treaty.
Mare wasn't stupid though, and she noticed the shadow flicker of Shun before long, peeking around the corner. The jaunty, skeletal tune she'd been humming dried in her throat.
"Who are you?" she asked suspiciously.
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Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2016 6:36 am
There were actually two figures that Shun was able to see here. It looked like Thorne was a little further off, tending to what appeared like a cluster of plants on the ground. The other figure he saw was much more alarming to see. His eyes widened as he saw the skeletal visage of what could be nothing but a fetch. His eyes darted from it to Thorne, wondering if it was one of Melany's agents, there to try and reclaim what she had lost. Or maybe to just kill Thorne out of spite. The detective had just begun to move when the fetch noticed him, asking who he was. Narrowing his eyes, he stepped out and began to rush towards her, reaching for his pocket knife as he advanced. He was not about to allow Thorne be taken again. "Thorne!" he called out to alert the other man, raising his voice just enough so that it'd carry, "Run. I will hold off the fetch."
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Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2016 4:17 pm
Thorne moved at the same time Mare did. The problem was, Mare was far closer than he.
"How dare you address him like that!" Mare said indignantly, whuffling out a noise like an angered horse. "You are a little sack of skin, how do you intend to hold off anything at all! It's not right, you know, pulling out a knife anyways, I was just asking for a name and now we must battle because of your pride!"
Mare was rambling, stepping closer to Shun with every word, her hollowed eyes disdainful and unhappy. She was about to butt heads with him when Thorne grabbed her by the scarf he'd wound around her neck.
Shun was coming too fast though. He was rushing at them both, and in a second - two - they would collide.
Thorne blinked, felt his body hush and -
Mare screamed.
And then they were in the air.
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Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2016 4:28 pm
"You will not take him again," he hissed sharply, coming in full speed. He saw Thorne running towards them, rather than away, reaching out to grab the fetch by the scarf. If he wanted to help take this thing down, fine. To him, it seemed like he planned on restraining the creature so that it couldn't get away. The detective shifted, ready to plunge the dagger into the body of the skeletal form when both she and Thorne vanished. His eyes widened and he stumbled, having expected an impact right then and there. Shun began to look around sharply, trying to figure out where they had vanished off to. Did the fetch manage to steal the guy away after all? He didn't really know how any of the taken had been kidnapped in the first place, after all. Nor did he know the full extent of a fetch's abilities. Had he failed yet again? "s**t. Thorne?" he called out, gritting his teeth as he tried to keep an eye on his surroundings. The detective was still very much on high alert.
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Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2016 4:47 pm
"You blathering imbecile," Thorne's voice came ringing down from the air above Shun's head, "Don't you know a knife when you see one?"
Mare sulked.
"I know a knife when I see one but he called you Thorne."
"Mare," Thorne said, "I really hate to break this to you, but that's my name."
"That is your name!" Mare gasped, indignantly, "That is your name which you should only be allowing equals to call you! He should be addressing you as Sir or Lord or what have you in your mortal world, the times change so fast! Oh, put me down and I will return your honor to you!"
Thorne sighed loudly.
"My honor is still in tact, dear one," he said, and dropped down in front of Shun, letting Mare out of his arms. With care, he pulled the scarf up so that it covered her head too. Bundled in such an oversized thing, she looked nearly cute, apart from the obvious rotted flesh.
Her grumblings were also well muffled.
It did wonders for Thorne's sanity.
There was a neat sound of wind slicing as Thorne folded his wings, the talons glimmering over his shoulders. There was no point in dropping out of the form now. He hadn't wanted anyone to see it, but Shun was sharp. If Thorne simply dropped out of the air, he would ask questions.
"It's alright, Shun," he said, "the fanatical one is mine. She won't harm anyone unless I tell her to."
"Or you insult his honor again," Mare added tersely.
"Or that."
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Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2016 5:20 pm
Shun looked up upon hearing a very peculiar discussion coming from the other two. Taking a step back to try and get a better look, he found himself just staring, somewhat dumbfounded at the exchange that was going on above. Once the two finally came back down, he just furrowed his brow, looking over Thorne. The wings were rather impressive, but his overall appearance was not what he had expected. For a few moments, he regarded the pair warily, mostly due to the fact that he had no idea what the hell was going on right about now. There were a lot of questions going on through his head right now, and despite the fact that Thorne said the fetch won't harm anyone, he still didn't trust her. Eventually, he put his knife away, slowly, and finally spoke up. "Thorne..." he started, "Care to explain why you have a fetch worshiper now?"
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Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2016 5:36 pm
"It's Lord Alexander," Mare hissed at Shun. "Be mindful of - "
Thorne gave a tug to her scarf and she fell silent, sulky and belligerent.
"This is my fetch," he said, looking back at Shun, "for lack of a better way to explain it, my trials in the court ended with a - " he worked his jaw, thinking. "I told you I wasn't who I was before. Mare is part of my new existence. An unfortunate package deal, but you get used to her volume quickly enough."
Mare straightened and whuffled and sighed.
She was a lanky fetch, graceful in her wreckage, burning with a powerful resonance. Like called to like, or so the saying went. And Thorne and her were not entirely unalike.
With the threat abated, Thorne let his form melt away, forcing himself back to the mundane hands and feet, the antlers dispersed into a cloud of gentle stars.
"It's alright," Thorne said softly, looking at Shun, "She isn't allowed to tithe anyone unless I allow it."
"Which you should," Mare said with a huff.
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Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2016 6:45 pm
Shun lifted his head, taking this in. He didn't entirely like what he was hearing here. "So you are like one of them now? One of the court?" he asked, furrowing his brow. He looked to the fetch, keeping his eyes on her for the time being. He folded his arms. "Why should Alexander take any tithes?" he asked cautiously.
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Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2016 11:03 pm
"I'm on equal footing with Melany and Ezra if that is what you are asking," Thorne responded, crossing his arms behind his back and glancing at Mare. "As per the laws of the Court."
He sighed.
"Why should a moonwalker make another moonwalker?" Mare shot back. "It's the cycle of the world. Do you get angry when the dogs snip-snap at new people, or is only my Lord and his kin? Oh, you are frustrating."
"Mare," Thorne said, gently. She whuffled again, the sound blurry against the scarf.
"Speaking of," Thorne said, glancing up at Shun. "According to Pax, the nobles are in some part related to the moonwalkers. That worries me."
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Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2016 6:36 am
That implicated a few things, backed by the fact that Thorne now had a fetch of his own ready to do his bidding. "What are the laws of this Court, exactly?" he asked before turning back towards Mare. Shun's voice flattened out to a deadpan, "Considering the last time I saw new moonwalkers be created, it was a result of one of them going batshit insane and causing a huge mess. So. I cannot say I particularly care for that either."Of course most of the moonwalkers he knew weren't like that at all. He hadn't known of anyone willing getting bit, though. "Related to them? How?"
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Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2016 11:40 am
"If I knew them, I would tell you," Thorne responded mildly, glancing at Shun. He reached out a hand and Mare hovered closer, winding her arm around his and whuffling again, a soft and pleased noise.
"They're a messy sort," Mare responded haughtily to Shun, "But you do not huff and puff so aggressively at them even during the moon-time period, do you? So it would do you well to not huff and puff so loudly at me for simply existing at my Lord's command!"
Thorne sighed. He'd been growing used to this rambling attitude, and wondered how like called to like if this was his deliverance.
"Pax told us they used to be engaged in a manner to help prevent wars between the Nobles," he said, looking at Shun. "But as far as I'm aware, the moonwalkers are simply - existing here in Ashdown. If their true purpose existed once, it's been extinguished long ago."
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Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2016 11:57 am
Shun narrowed his eyes at Mare, "I have seen more of you do worse than anything they have done. Do you want Alexander to take a tithe just so you may steal someone else's livelihood?"He huffed, then decided to leave the fetch be for the time being. As mildly disturbing as it was that she seemed so attached to Thorne, he did seem to have a decent reign on her. For now, anyway. "They bring you into their Court and... did not explain any of its rules to you, but expect you to follow them?" he asked flatly. Shun felt that he shouldn't be surprised, honestly. The other side seemed to have a lot of expectations out of them all without actually being willing to explain much of anything. "Lucas... mentioned that the moonwalkers were meant to be enforcers of this realm, and that they were supposed to learn their role from Michael. While he plans on taking up that duty how he can, I do not think the other moonwalkers will really be able to step up to that necessarily... not without proper guidance."He couldn't imagine Jamie being any sort of enforcer, for one.
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Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2016 12:18 pm
Mare whuffled indignantly at Shun, eyes narrowing.
"Oh," she said, "And at the whim of terrible masters, our kin can do very terrible things. You blame the tool for what it was being used for rather than the hands that held it. Do you not place blame on those above and not below?"
"Mare," Thorne said lowly.
"No," Mare hissed, "I am not some wretched little beast with no manners whatsoever. Even if you were to beg me I would not steal your sack of flesh. If my lord asks it of me, I would submit grudgingly, but I would no more want your body than you would want mine. I have standards." She paused. "And anyways, I would like my lord to take to grow and strengthen the court. My sufferance is only in so long as he maintains the honor you humans have instilled in him that to suffer is not to learn and grow and be stronger."
Thorne sighed and glanced at Shun, eyes imploring and apologetic.
"Welcome to Other Ashdown," he said ruefully, "I know what I am and what I am allowed to do. Past that, well... we shall see."
He shook his head at the mention of Moonwalkers, eyes flaring.
"If they were to rebuild, that might be a step in the right direction," he said, cautious, "but leaderless direction and chaos and a non-unified system will only collapse on on itself. And what bearing does a supposed leader have to take the on a responsibility without knowing the details themselves, if they will not even step into these situations?"
He laid a hand on Mare's head and she rumbled. Even in her wreckage, he found a strange sort of beauty to her. A gruesome loyalty. She was nothing like Corr, and even her nature did not deter him as much as he thought it might. But that might have been because he had an inhuman nature as well.
"I would want the nobles and the moonwalkers to talk before ever enforcing on one another any idea of superiority against one another," he said, looking up, "the last thing I want is in-fighting. But you've seen it already, Shun. Ideals amongst Ashdown clash. To give any one group - or any one person - an idea of superiority, the rashness of making decisions alone for what they might consider the good of all - is a dangerous trap."
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Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2016 1:16 pm
"I blame both. The noble that sends the fetch to steal the life is even worse, but that does not make the fetch any less guilty," he hissed, "Now if you do not mind, I have words to speak with your master, not you."Shun rubbed his face in irritation. The fetches seemed to be stupidly obedient to whoever their master was, which was a little unsettling. He had to wonder if it was something magical that bound them to their master's will. "Honestly, we are all effectively headless chickens now. Not just the moonwalkers, but I see your point and agree. For that matter, it may also be worth trying to figure out where the wargs and the rest of us are supposed to be in this apparent hierarchy," he grumbled. Lucas was willing to take up the mantle, but he did admit that he didn't really know what was supposed to be the right course of action as far as what they were supposed to do. None of them knew for certain. They all still knew next to nothing. "Did Pax tell you anything else of use?"
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