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 Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 6:59 am
 The black stallion's hooves thudded into the soft earth and he jogged a few paces onward until he had lost enough momentum to halt. Snorting softly, the morbidly adorned Nequus bowed his head to drink from the babbling brook that snaked through the grass under his hooves.
The water was cool, crisp and incredibly refreshing to his parched throat. He had pushed himself again today, fought again to build up stamina in both flight and running. Though his legs felt a little shaky, he decided that the day had been a success. He had gone on for longer than he had managed in the last few weeks and didn’t feel as awful as he often did after stretching his body’s limits so.
Perhaps I am finally getting truly well, the red-maned aeri mused with some satisfaction as he raised his head from the stream and set off along the bank at a steady walk. It was important to let his body cool down gently, simply stopping where he was to rest would result in stiff muscles the next day and that was the last thing he wanted, especially when he was doing so well. This was a somewhat uncomfortable lesson that he had learned long ago and these days he seldom if ever gave in to the temptation to stop and rest right away. ((Hope this is alright))
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Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2006 6:45 pm
 Nothing to compare to this pain and desperation. "AWAY!" she shouted at them, tramping the ground underneath in a fury unmatched. None the less they persisted, driving into her skull. Every second she thought they had climaxed, but they kept getting louder. The visions had gone momentarily, replaced by frevalant whispers bombarding the thinning outer shell of her mind. Any second her head would burst, sending her brains leeking out the side of a broken head. She wouldn't have it! She shoved her elongated nails into the earth farther and harder; hoping maybe it would chase these mobbers away. At times she had managed to piece together these voices, but not now. They simply went on striking, never stopping until they reached her demise.
Then at last they faded, slowly dimming away into nothing. There was still a slight bit, but she found if she didn't concentrate on them, they stayed lowed and unknown. A sigh of relief shuddered through her body. It had been so long since she'd been able to carry a decent thought, and shoving these others away had become her single task in the world. To be able to make whole sentences without interruption was bliss and she found her mind floating heavenly, until they were brutally interjected by another's thoughts. She wailed of her turmoils, but for once listened in. There were faint flickers of remembrence, and she found the harder she tried to listen, the more the object fled away. They seemed to be flikcers of thoughts?
The question occured to her suddenly, her blurring vision seemingly backing up her hypothesis. Could it be? She had only heard legends, but it seemed so true. If so, she wasn't going mad at all. In fact. . . The thought brought a bitter smile to her lips. She might use this to her advantage, she'd just have to figure out how. The voice increased, as though it was getting closer. Sometin stirred within her mind and a few images washed before her eyes. They were not her own, that much she now knew. The only question came into what to do, and how to harness this strange thing.
Yet none of it explained the change that she had undergone. Perhaps it fortold something. Maybe it was the change she went through instead of going blind. She could still see, for the most part, though not when the voices clouded her mindset. They were too strong to penetrate. She jerked her mind back to the creature at hand. Ears flicking in rythymn to her tail she waited. If this thing with the thougts was coming nearer, perhaps she'd be able to listen in on thoughts, whether or not she'd be able to decipher what they meant was a different story. She certainly didn't know how to go prying. Not yet.
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Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2006 12:14 pm
Lucius paused to sip from the stream once more, bracing his hind legs against the slight bank to prevent a graceless slide into the shallow water. The aeri gave a soft snort of amusement as the image played across his mind.
A fine sight I would make, falling tail-over-mane and landing with a big splash.
Chuckling softly to himself, the black stallion raised his head from the cool water and turned to clamber up onto level ground once more; no sense chancing the stones on the small river's bed after all.
The amusement in his orange eyes died however, as a flicker of movement drew them to a figure some way away from him.
It was a Nequus, a potential foe and he had utterly missed it's golden pelt until now. How could he have been so foolish? The red-maned aeri changed his course to intercept the horned creature, internally berating himself for his oversight. Backing away now as his wearied body urged him to would seem like cowardice and that was not something he ever wished to be accused of.
No help for it now, none at all. Perhaps... she? it looked like a she, is friendly. One never knows, I suppose.
The bone-clad stallion halted some meters away from the white-winged Nequus and gave a quiet snort to formally announce his presence.
The next move is up to her, I suppose, he thought, eyeing the long spiralling horn warily; if she did mean him harm he was at a serious disadvantage. She don’t look about to attack me though she looks… odd… Frowning to himself, the ruddy marked stallion awaited a response.
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Posted: Sat Nov 18, 2006 10:22 am
Her ears rotated as she listened in to his whispering. His image of faling into the river made her chuckle silently to herself. Just as soon as he'd finished he was coming her way, though, and it made her start from nervousness. Quickly she composed herself, not wanting to look like she'd been shocked. It was never good to look scared from the appearance of another - you looked weak.
Her eyes swept over his dark body, blood red spins standing out against his flesh. The sight made her shudder. It was a repulsive vision, no creature should have bones on the outside of their body. She felt her hooves sliding back a few steps into the earth, glaring at the creature as he snorted out his presence. Then again, perhaps he couldn't help it, so she'd be nice enough, for her.
She snorted at his questions. They weren't adressed to her, but they were still comical. "Do I look friendly to you?" she cackled, raising an eybrow and flexing out her wings to maximum level. "It wouldn't be to hard to wring this pretty little horn on your flesh." As if she looked odd, she wasn't the one with death clinging to her back. She created death, she didn't bear it.
With a smirk she slid down towards the water, her ears focused on him, but her eyes elsewhere. There were more whispers as she neared this place, but his still remained the strongest to her. She tried prying in further, trying to weed through all the visions and thoughts that circulated, but it only made her head start to ache, and her body sweat from exertion. It would seem a bit odd if she were suddenly drenched in sweat. Letting out a sigh she flopped her side into the water to try and appear wet all over, instead of just on her brow and neck.
She'd have to get used to this gift, and be careful with it. At least the thoughts weren't has harsh now. They didn't completely destroy her skull or her vision, yet. Who knew where things would go from here. She knew seers had never been said to live long lives.
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Posted: Sat Nov 18, 2006 10:59 am
The stallion's ears laid back at the horned creature's threat and her disquieting insight into his mind. I like this not at all, he thought, uncomfortably aware that she probably heard that thought too.
"No, I suppose you don't took that friendly," he said once he had recovered the ability to speak. He watched her in silence for a few moments with a slightly bemused set to his ears as she dropped into the water. "I imagine it would be quite easy for you to make holes in my person with that thing," he went on eventually, "I don't see any reason for you to do so but I suppose you could."
"Apparently you also find it easy to read my thoughts..." that made her a seer, didn't it? I thought... damn, she can still probably hear me. Having one's thoughts answered is uncomfortable. There was nothing he could do about her apparent ability but he could at least make himself feel a little better about it by voicing the words within his mind that the golden-coated mare seemed to see as easily as he saw the grass under his hooves.
"I thought your kind were supposed to be blind," the black stallion called to her, keeping a respectful distance away. Clearly this mare had power, great power and there was little in the world he respected more than that.
Hopefully I will live long enough to appreciate it, Lucius thought as he eyed the horn dubiously once more. He was larger than she, true, but despite the protection that the bones he wore gave to him he didn’t fancy pitting hooves and teeth against the long, serrate spike that jutted from the white-winged mare’s forehead should she decide to attack him.
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Posted: Sat Nov 18, 2006 11:19 am
Storm winced at your kind. As far as she knew, she had no kind. Even the other seers would look upon her with scorn. She had heard the whispers of half breed, when in her heart she was still full Jala. It pained her pride to hear them talk about her as though she was something else. That was one thing she had left, her dignity, for however long.
"I'd rather not read your thoughts," she growled, her tail flicking disdainfully. Did he know what it was like, the pain she had went through, that she would yet go through now. He'd caught her in her prime, she'd just managed to chase away some of the thoughts and visions that plagued her to eternity. "Do you know what's its like to hear everything and everyone without a choice. It floods your soul until you can no longer think. You cannot see through the images that hurtle through your mind forever. They take your sleep, your own thoughts, until you lose yourself. This gift is not what its perceived to be." Pain, that was the only answer.
Her one blue eye and one golden gazed over him uncertainly. Sure his surface thoughts were evident, but more than that his emotions and images proliferated through her body. His fear was not great, but there was a sense of wisdom about him, showing he had a better mind than most. She'd taken them all to be fools, but reading their small toughts gave her an insight on just how foolish they were. Perhaps that was why she felt so scared near Velg. There simply was no emotion to read. It was simply unnerving.
"I'm not going to kill you," she scoffed. "No point. As of yet you are little threat, seeing as I can sense everything your thinking, that which your mind gives me anyway." It was true, she couldn't go digging, searching, or piecing. She only heard what he wanted and she supposed he could prevent his thoughts from being heard by thinking simply too much far at once. It would give her a good headache as well.
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Posted: Sat Nov 18, 2006 11:52 am
The aeri paused for a moment before bowing his head slightly in apology. "I did not mean to insult you, I freely admit that I know little or nothing of what it means to be a seer. I know only what they tell in stories to foals, I have no had opportunity to learn more to date."
Lucius smiled slightly and swished his curly tail at an errant fly. "I am glad you have decided not to kill me, that would be most inconvenient. I assure you, although I expect that you already know, that I have no intention of becoming problematic to you. I respect power and power you have, whether it be a gift, a curse or a combination of the two."
Well, apparently they weren't going to be enemies; that was good. I suppose I had better introduce myself properly then. "My name is Lucius and I apologise once more if I have caused you undue annoyance by my ignorance." How well he knew how frustrating Nequus who failed to grasp certain concepts were.
Perhaps I will have a chance to rectify a little of that ignorance... perhaps.
If the mare didn't tire of his presence and drive him off this could prove to be a most advantageous meeting. The chance to improve either mind or body is always to be taken when offered. In truth, the black stallion realised that his body still lagged quite far behind his mind but passing up such a unique chance to learn just because his endurance couldn't match his intellect was beyond stupid.
Either it would come in time or it wouldn't, all he could do was keep working at it and be glad every time he was a little slower to tire.
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Posted: Sat Nov 18, 2006 12:06 pm
He spoke as if he tried to be smart, or that he was too smart for his words. That last bit made no sense, she told herself, but it didn't much matter. What he wanted to get across she understood, whether it was by his words or not she'd never know. It was the one good thing about this seerdom. She could truly understand. She had to be so careful, though, not to lose herself in his thoughts. Careful baby steps were all she could safely take with this - disease.
Wait, had she decided to kill him to begin with? It was a threat with no substantial background. Killing things did no good, especially when they couln't find back. "Respect all you will," she paused to give him a serene smile. "It doesn't matter to me." It was true, she loved respect, soaked it up like a sponge, but coming from someone's mouth, it seemed corny. She'd rather have them display it than speak it. But she wasn't going to tell him that. Inside she was eternally grateful that she was the seer, and not the other way around.
"Storm," she told him, with a nod of her head and rose from the water to trot towards him. Perhaps he wasn't so bad, or maybe she was just on such high spirits she couldn't hate him.
"Lucius," she repeated, toying on the syllables with her tongue. "Tell me, how did you come to house death upon your back?" She narrowed her eyes. "Surely you have a spine of your own?"
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Posted: Sat Nov 18, 2006 12:50 pm
The black stallion twisted his neck to inspect the blood red bones upon his back and paused, wondering how to being the explanation. "They belonged to an elemental that lived long ago," he said after a while, turning his orange eyes back onto Storm.
"He was killed by a group of ordinary Nequus who feared his power. I was often teased as a colt by my peers, I had been a sickly foal and I wanted a way to prove to them that I was stronger than they believed me to be."
The red-maned aeri shook off the lingering disgust for the trembling legged creature he had been and went on with the story. "So, I climbed up to the plateau where he had been killed and... Well the bones were just lying there. It felt wrong to leave them to be destroyed by the elements so I took them back with me. Needless to say, I didn't get teased anymore."
Lucius glanced at the bones once more, a slight frown on his face. "I do not know how it is that the spine is flexible and I doubt I ever shall..." Pushing away the vague wondering, he turned back to Storm once more, wondering but not fearing what she would make of his tale. "It was a rash and hastily made decision," he admitted, "but I can honestly say I do not regret it."
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Posted: Sat Nov 18, 2006 12:59 pm
Elementals. . . Storm wrinkled her nose. Anything that could control the very being of the earth should be dead. They were to awesome a force to let live. To be able to bend fire, water, wind, earth to your will, if not more, well it was a fearful thing. Nothing in the earth should be that powerful. Even with seerdom it wasn't a power that could be used for ill. She couldn't affect another with her mind, simply read in on her thoughts. Though she might be able to destroy lives, she couldn't inflict any real pain with it.
It took a brain to work out these powers, for an elemental, well even the idiots could kill. Her body quivered at the thought. There wasn't much Storm feared, but the elementals were one. She could not think that anything with such power could remain uncorrupt for long.
"Just make sure you do not come across the powers he once had," she hissed, her ears flat and wings folding in an out with anger. Her eyes searched about for something to distract her, but she could find nothing. "You should have let them stay. Let a dead Nequus stay dead."
Giving him a sharp disproving glare she left, walking away with a proud stature and letting the visions take over her with force. She wanted to be washed away. For a brief moment her conscious made her wonder if perhaps she'd been to harsh and sudden, but the thought of kindness was swiftly taken away with the emotions of the many.
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Posted: Sat Nov 18, 2006 1:15 pm
Lucius flicked an ear at the mare's outburst; it was similar to the reaction he usually got. He could understand why people balked at the thought of what he had done but it didn't trouble him; everyone was entitled to an opinion but he wasn’t obligated to be moved by them.
"Little fear of that," he commented, pacing after her. "I have never felt any such talents within me and considering how rare his kind are I see no reason to believe that I will ever become one."
Why am I following her when she clearly has no more wish for my company? the stallion asked of himself as he walked patiently after the proud figure. Humm... she intrigues me I suppose and it would still be interesting to learn more of seers. Was he risking an encounter with her horn by allowing his curiosity to lead him on?
...Perhaps, he concluded after a few moments, finding himself only midly concerned by the prospect. After all, if I avoided every risk in the world I would never take a step beyond those needed to find water and food. Such a dull life does not appeal to me in the slightest.
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Posted: Sat Nov 18, 2006 1:34 pm
Storm stamped her foot down hard as he approached. Her spine gave a tingle of something, she wasn't quite sure what, but it was enough to make her stop walking and wait for him to catch up. Persistant little bugger that he was. Too damn patient.
"You don't feel it," she mused, though still fuming from his stupidity at such an act. "It just happens. I can't say I believe such a thing could cause talents, but I don't know." She couldn't help but overhearing is various thoughts. She wouldn't be much good to him, she didn't know a thing about seerdom. Only that it hurt, and for the most part, she regretted having such a 'talent'.
"Some risks aren't worth taking," she concluded, and began to walk again. The wind blew lightly past her, twirling about to tease her senses. She had a flurry of thoughts as she wondered where on earth that blasted Velg'larn and pretty pony Attia had gone to. No doubt Velg was busy trying to convince the world he was emotionless and Attia was letting emotions go too far.
"What?" she asked him as he persisted to follow.
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Posted: Sat Nov 18, 2006 1:50 pm
Lucius' paused slightly at her aggression but soon set off after her again. "You interest me," he explained. "Probably mostly because you don't seem to be scared of me. Most Nequus are at least a little perturbed by my appearance, so far as I can tell is disgusts you a little but does not intimidate you. Besides, you are proving to be interesting conversation; you don't try to cushion your opinions as most do, quite refreshing."
You couldn't tell until it happened? Was it possible that he did have some kind of talent or other? Would it please me, if I did turn out to have some kind of power? The stallion frowned, unable to find an answer. True, discovering he held some talent or other would be elating at first but would he feel as though he had earned it?
I have always worked to be what I am. Would being handed something like that change how I see myself?... Would he want to have the side effects? Presumably there were disadvantages to other talents as well as seering. Everything comes at a price... does the price increase with the reward?
Lucius snorted softly to himself and shook himself out of his thoughts; if he went on like that he'd utterly forget that he was in company or even that he was walking. End up stopping dead in my tracks and jumping out of my skin if she tried to attract my attention.
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Posted: Sat Nov 18, 2006 2:00 pm
It was certainly strange to interest someone. She couldn't say that she'd interested anyone except for blasted Velg'larn. Horrid race of emotionless Bae. She cursed their very being. He was, however, right. She wasn't afraid of him, as strange as the bones were. Then again, she didn't fear much of anything at all. Perhaps she knew that true fear lay in only those without the strength to wield it. Every bright wanton star had some fears, without it you were simply thick headed and destined for death.
What surprised her by far was the fact he did appreciated her blunt attitude. It gave her a sense of pride, and it felt odd that another had given it to her. Near to always she gave herself dignity and fought for she and only she, but to find comfort in the fact that another found her intriguing, well it was new and rare.
"Its just odd." She paused to turn her head towards the sky. Often she found comfort in its blue depths, but today it was overcast with grey. She wondered if perhaps it foreshadowed a story to come, but she did not believe in such superstitions. "I know I would give this burden away if someone could take it, but you chose your path." She turned to look at him, her eyes actually potraying a curiosity she hardly ever felt. "Why?"
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Posted: Sat Nov 18, 2006 2:38 pm
The stallion frowned thoughtfully. "I suppose... I think I wanted to be frightening. Not to frighten all but to be intimidating and strange enough so that cowards and those who judge on outward appearance alone will not bother me; I have little patience for such Nequus. I accept and agree that outward, physical strength counts for a lot but I feel that inner strength hold the most value."
Lucius twitched an ear absently and sighed. "I think I also did it because... I felt it wrong that the owner of these bones was killed the way he was. I know you say that the dead should be left so and in a sense I agree but..."
The red-maned stallion sighed. "He had such great ideas, Storm. The elders tried to make it sound as though he was evil, as though he just wanted to hold power over others. I think there was that factor but... he could have done great things but they betrayed him; made him think they were his allies and then struck him down unawares. That in my opinion is evil, treachery is the worst of all crimes."
"Also I wanted... I wanted to be worthy? Maybe. To be strong, like he was and to let at least a part of him live on, I suppose."
The black aeri turned his face to Storm and smiled, slightly amused at his own lack of eloquence. "I don't think that was very clear but it is the best I can do; I do not really understand why I did it myself. I just knew that... of all the things I have ever done in my life nothing has felt quite so right as that decision."
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