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 Posted: Sun Feb 18, 2007 4:51 pm
Kechara sat against a tree, eyes wide but sightless. She was trembling, shivering all over her body. Terror still clung to her, after meeting that monster, she wasn't even sure she could ever sleep again. Her wings were outstretched cocooning her in a bubble of physical warmth, though she was not comforted.
"S-s-scary." She whispered, tears leaking down her blood-stained face. Her leg wound still bled, though it was beginning to slow. She pressed her paw against it again, hoping it wouldn't get infected. Mother wouldn't like that. She hugged her legs to her and continued to weep. She couldn't help it, that creature had been terrifying and she had humiliated herself once again. "I-I-hic-I'm horrible..." She whispered and pressed her forehead against her knees in sadness.
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Posted: Sun Feb 18, 2007 5:00 pm
After waking from a nap, Briar stretched until his back popped. He leaned his head far to one side then far to the other side. Once he had finished stretching, he trotted off in search of things to do and people to meet. It wasn't long until he spotted a Numa sitting at the base of a tree. A frown settled on his face when he noticed how the Numa's wings were wrapped around her, making it hard to see who she was.
Cautiously, not wanting to scare her, Briar approached. "Excuse me," he said in a gently voice. "Are you all right?"
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Posted: Sun Feb 18, 2007 5:10 pm
Kechara reacted instinctively when she heard a voice. Her wings instantly retracted themselves enough to allow her to see what creature lay outside their protection. She blinked once and rubbed her eyes to clear her vision from the effect of tears, "Ah...." She moaned recognizing the red form. Tears poured down her cheeks again and she hung her head in despair. This was even worse now; Briar could see how much of a fool she was. "P-please...hic..." She whispered, hugging her legs tighter, "J-just...l-lea-ave me a-alone..." Her wings spread again, hiding her form from the outside world.
This was the worst day of her life, first she had acted like a complete fool toward a monster--now Briar was seeing her like this. She let out a sob, the only way this could get worse was if her family saw her like this. Thank the gods they were far away from here. She hiccupped again, squeezing her eyes shut and hoping that Briar would just leave her to her misery.
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Posted: Sun Feb 18, 2007 5:21 pm
Kechara! Briar knew her instantly once she had spread her wings open wide enough for him to see her face. But then she hid herself from him again. Leave? Briar could see something was obviously bothering Kechara. When he heard her sob, he knew he couldn't leave her side.
"What happened, Kechara?" Briar asked gently, trying to prod out the information. "And don't tell me to leave again because I'm not going to. Did someone hurt you?"
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Posted: Sun Feb 18, 2007 5:27 pm
Kechara shook her head, not that Briar could see it. "N-nothing." she whispered, "J-just m-me be-eing my s-stupi-id self." Her wings drooped in defeat, held up only by the ground and allowing her to see her surroundings--not that she could. Her eyes were still squeezed shut and tears matted her fur until the blood was pink. "N-no one h-hurt me." She replied, pressing her paw against her wound, "I-I-I trip-ped." She held back a sob, not wanting to concern him, "I-I'm fine, n-nothing t-to worry about." She replied, attempting to make her voice more firm. She failed miserably; it came out as a squeak, "S-sorry."
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Posted: Sun Feb 18, 2007 5:35 pm
"You're not stupid," Briar insisted, frowning sadly at Kechara. His attention was drawn to her wounded leg, and he gasped at the cut. "That doesn't look good," he said, referring to the wound. "We should get it cleaned and bandaged so it doesn't get infected." He looked up Kechara and spoke with worry and concern in his voice. "If you were all right and this was nothing, you wouldn't be crying." He reached up and wiped at her tears with his paw.
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Posted: Sun Feb 18, 2007 5:40 pm
Kechara avoided his eyes, "I-I'm fine." She whispered, not looking at her cut, it throbbed painfully, but all she wanted to do was curl up somewhere quiet and where she was alone and just cry herself to sleep. Briar was her friend...and she didn't want him to think she was a horrible weak person. It was bad enough she was so shy! Who would want to be friends with someone who was scared of monsters?
She flushed with shame, "I-I was-s just scared." She hiccuped, "A-and I prob-ably sh-shouldn't be c-crying either. H-he was j-just so s-s-scary!" She buried her face against her legs again, muffling her sob, "I-I couldn't d-do- anything!"
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Posted: Sun Feb 18, 2007 5:51 pm
Briar gazed at her sadly. Sad to see her crying, sad to see her shaking from fear. He didn't like seeing her afraid and crying. He wanted to see her happy and smiling. He combed a paw through her hair in as comforting a manner as possible.
"It's okay to be scared," he told her. He swallowed nervously before admitting his own fear. "I'm scared of going near the Molasseses Swamp. It makes my fur stand on end and sends shivers down my spine."
Briar glanced at the wound again. "I really think it would be best if we bandaged that."
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Posted: Sun Feb 18, 2007 6:09 pm
Her eyes widened in surprise as she felt him run fingers her hair and she looked up, blood and tear-stained face revealing that surprise. She glanced off to the side, "N-not where I c-come from." She whispered and looked back at him again and nodded once, slightly and slowly, "Oh." She whispered, avoiding his eyes again, "I-I've never b-been to A 'Molass-ssess Swamp'." She murmured, "B-but it must be re-really scary, if you're afraid of it..." She closed her eyes and tried not to think about such a place.
She opened her eyes again and looked down at her wound. "Oh...b-but I don't ha-have any bandages." She whispered, staring dully at the cut.
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Posted: Sun Feb 18, 2007 6:19 pm
"Not where you come from?" Briar echoed in question. People had told her she wasn't allowed to be afraid of anything? The thought angered him. Everyone felt fear, even if it was a silly little fear like being afraid of candy canes. "It's probably a good thing you haven't been there," he said, voice gentle. "It's a dark place." He shuddered at the memory of having gone there.
"Then we shall go find some bandages," Briar said, smiling at her. "And fresh water to clean the wound. If it hurts too much walking, you can ride on my back," he offered.
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Posted: Sun Feb 18, 2007 6:27 pm
Kechara nodded, having no clue that this wasn't the case around here. She had grown up being told that fear was a weakness and she had always known she was a disgrace to her family. She shook her head slightly, that was the past and this was the future. She glanced at Briar again and nodded, "Yes." She agreed, the thought making her heart beat faster.
She blinked and stared at him for a minute, "Ride...?" She surprised herself with a giggle. The thought of her riding Briar and the image that came with it was amusing to her and she couldn't help it. She shook her head, smiling faintly, "I...can walk, I think. I mmade it this far."
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Posted: Sun Feb 18, 2007 6:33 pm
Briar blushed slightly as he rubbed at the back of his neck. Perhaps suggesting she ride on his back had been silly. "I just thought maybe it would be best to keep you off your feet," he mumbled in embarrassment. "You know, keep the weight off your injury."
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Posted: Sun Feb 18, 2007 6:39 pm
Kechara shook her head, shifting and folding her wings more to help support her as she stood, "I'm okay." She told him, smiling to reassure him, "I've had worse then this before." She released her grip on her leg and looked down at her paw. It was dark with blood. She looked down at her leg; from this angle, it was hard to tell if she was still bleeding, or the wound was clotting. It was probably best to do as Briar said and clean it to see how badly it was.
She glanced at him and saw his blush which seemed to inspire one of her own, "Ah..." She shook her head a bit and looked around, "Do...do you know if there's water around here?" She asked, her voice softening into a whisper once again.
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Posted: Sun Feb 18, 2007 6:50 pm
Worse? his mind screamed out. Perhaps she thought that would comfort him, to know it wasn't as bad as previous injuries, but instead, it angered Briar. Had those injuries been simple accidents or had someone purposely hurt her? He prayed it was the first. The latter filled with anger toward whoever would dare to hurt Kechara.
"I know of a lake nearby," Briar explained. "Perhaps we can find some cloth to make bandages out of along the way."
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Posted: Sun Feb 18, 2007 6:59 pm
Oblivious to Briar's inner anger Kechara nodded simply and waited for Briar to lead the way, "Ah..." She replied, fingering her bows nervously. She could use them to bind her wound, but that would mean...she shook her head, she mustn%u2019t; what would Briar think? She flushed with shame, he'd probably send her back to her family or think of her as a freak and she just couldn't let that happen. Everything was so much better here! She couldn't just throw it away.
She nodded absently at Briar, not looking at him, "Yes...Shall we go then?" She asked, pretending as if nothing had happened.
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