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Wild and Free - Isla - 11-05-2018
{Made for
A new world. A new, potentially dangerous world to boot.
But given that they were in sore need of medical supplies and it didn't look as though they were going to wake up back home any time soon, Isla did what any reasonable medic would do. She set out alone into a foreign place, found the first bit of dense and promising woodland, and delved right on in.
Alright, she was a little safer than that; she'd taught herself enough landmarks to get back to the Sanctuary (or so they had named it) and had made certain not to wander beyond the treeline. Now all she needed to do was actually find some medicine.
Herbology was not her strong suit - she was a surgeon by nature, after all - but that wasn't to say she couldn't identify anything useful if needed. With that in mind she walked slowly, with purpose, her boots crunching in the deadfall of leaves. Hopefully she'd not return empty handed.
RE: Wild and Free - Rory - 11-06-2018
Rory
There were
people
(Shit—)
He didn't even know how to formulate the thought. He didn't know how to break it into words he could understand. He tried to process it, but got stuck where he started: there were people.
Sweet, sweet Safrin... Strangers; foreigners; outworlders; and they were here, and now they were all stuck together.
Yes, of course he had bashed his head against the barrier to make sure it still bit him, and yes, it had bitten him right in the face and left him lying on his back, staring up into Bakshi's questioning face.
He hadn't made it back home yet, so he still had the scruffy bay pony with him. For a good long time he'd simply let the creature amble on, away from the bizarre encounter, away from the barrier, away from everything but the one thing he could outpace: his own mind. Sunken deep into his own thoughts he'd only returned to his senses when he noticed Bakshi had taken them into the forest.
Feeling a little guilty about their long outing, Rory dismounted and pulled the reins over the pony's head. He stuffed his hands—reins included—into the pockets of the greatcoat, hunched his shoulders against his demons, and set off on foot, Bakshi obediently picking his way along behind him. The pike was a grim omen strapped across Rory's back.
It wouldn't have taken a lot to kill him: he was distracted and unfocused.
Fortunately, he had a horse with him. Bakshi stopped momentarily and turned his head to the left; the reins grew taut and the pressure against his fingers jerked him back into the present. Rory, more of a startled animal than he wanted to admit, held his breath and turned his head in the same direction.
A woman was walking along. Again, everything about her screamed foreign: her clothes her face her posture her focus her movements her presence
He froze, a deer in the headlights.
people
(Shit—)
He didn't even know how to formulate the thought. He didn't know how to break it into words he could understand. He tried to process it, but got stuck where he started: there were people.
Sweet, sweet Safrin... Strangers; foreigners; outworlders; and they were here, and now they were all stuck together.
Yes, of course he had bashed his head against the barrier to make sure it still bit him, and yes, it had bitten him right in the face and left him lying on his back, staring up into Bakshi's questioning face.
He hadn't made it back home yet, so he still had the scruffy bay pony with him. For a good long time he'd simply let the creature amble on, away from the bizarre encounter, away from the barrier, away from everything but the one thing he could outpace: his own mind. Sunken deep into his own thoughts he'd only returned to his senses when he noticed Bakshi had taken them into the forest.
Feeling a little guilty about their long outing, Rory dismounted and pulled the reins over the pony's head. He stuffed his hands—reins included—into the pockets of the greatcoat, hunched his shoulders against his demons, and set off on foot, Bakshi obediently picking his way along behind him. The pike was a grim omen strapped across Rory's back.
It wouldn't have taken a lot to kill him: he was distracted and unfocused.
Fortunately, he had a horse with him. Bakshi stopped momentarily and turned his head to the left; the reins grew taut and the pressure against his fingers jerked him back into the present. Rory, more of a startled animal than he wanted to admit, held his breath and turned his head in the same direction.
A woman was walking along. Again, everything about her screamed foreign: her clothes her face her posture her focus her movements her presence
He froze, a deer in the headlights.
RE: Wild and Free - Isla - 11-07-2018
|
Isla
this won't hurt a bit At first Isla was lost - if not physically, then in her own thoughts and in the dense undergrowth she walked through. The stranger and his horse went unnoticed for what was perhaps a shameful amount of time; if he had wanted, she'd have made a very easy target indeed. The medic paused to crouch at the tangle of roots before a skeletal tree, her coat splayed out around her. As an ex-duchess the garment was of fine fit, a dove grey in colour; it would be some time before it truly sank in, that this was not Northaven and she might never own anything like this again. Granted, her mind was not really on what she was wearing. A cluster of mushrooms sprouted out from beneath one of the roots, capturing her attention, and she reached out to pluck one in a gloved hand when, with the eerie instinct of one being watched, she turned her head to look up. And locked eyes with the stranger. Both froze, Isla's fingers halting over the mushrooms. She swallowed hard - the presence of the horse alone should have told her that he was not a recent arrival like them. "Hello?" she called, her voice soft but strong enough to carry through the trees. Slowly, she held her hands up as if to show she meant no harm. "I'm sorry, I meant no harm." |
RE: Wild and Free - Rory - 11-08-2018
Rory
She was a drop of a dream: pristine, even though she bent towards the ground with its soil and its fallen leaves. She was reason to believe in all the stories he had heard of a Caido beyond the barrier, a time so different he couldn't have imagined it. He found his gaze drawn to the gloved hand—such a small detail, yet it eclipsed his attention. He didn't care about her bright blonde hair; he didn't care about the luxurious quality of her ethereal coat; he only cared about such a tiny, pointless detail as the quality of the glove, the perfect fit.
Rory knew leather. How supple and fine it must be to wrap so effortlessly around her fingers. How difficult the stitching, to not tear the fine, thin skin. He couldn't even begin to fathom the process used to tan it and somehow keep it so supple.
It certainly made him self-conscious of his own crude garb, and the shoddy work of Bakshi's worn not-quite-saddle.
He'd worked some inlay into the pony's browband though, but you hardly saw that under the thick, black forelock.
Then she looked up, the movement catching his eye, drawing his attention away from the gloves and to her eyes. They were blue. They were the kind of blue you only noticed just how blue the were because you were staring straight into them.
Bakshi's warm breath fell on the back of his neck.
Rory's heart was about to leap out of his chest.
She slowly raised her hands as if he was a skittish animal that might bolt at any moment—not an incorrect assessment, as every muscle in his body was taut, his brain screaming run as if that would help. There was no getting out. They were stuck in here with him and the others.
At least this one wasn't pointing sharp weapons at him in a threatening manner.
"Me neither," he ended up saying after what was definitely an awkward silence of Rory mostly trying to fathom what to say to her. Hello? Go away, go back where you came from? I can't deal with you right now, this is all too much? "I, uh... I'm Rory."
Rory knew leather. How supple and fine it must be to wrap so effortlessly around her fingers. How difficult the stitching, to not tear the fine, thin skin. He couldn't even begin to fathom the process used to tan it and somehow keep it so supple.
It certainly made him self-conscious of his own crude garb, and the shoddy work of Bakshi's worn not-quite-saddle.
He'd worked some inlay into the pony's browband though, but you hardly saw that under the thick, black forelock.
Then she looked up, the movement catching his eye, drawing his attention away from the gloves and to her eyes. They were blue. They were the kind of blue you only noticed just how blue the were because you were staring straight into them.
Bakshi's warm breath fell on the back of his neck.
Rory's heart was about to leap out of his chest.
She slowly raised her hands as if he was a skittish animal that might bolt at any moment—not an incorrect assessment, as every muscle in his body was taut, his brain screaming run as if that would help. There was no getting out. They were stuck in here with him and the others.
At least this one wasn't pointing sharp weapons at him in a threatening manner.
"Me neither," he ended up saying after what was definitely an awkward silence of Rory mostly trying to fathom what to say to her. Hello? Go away, go back where you came from? I can't deal with you right now, this is all too much? "I, uh... I'm Rory."
RE: Wild and Free - Isla - 11-08-2018
|
Isla
this won't hurt a bit He hadn't advanced closer and he hadn't drawn the weapon on his back. That Isla attributed to luck and luck alone - stupid, careless - and she let out a breath she didn't realise she'd been holding as it became clear that they did not bear each other any ill will. That she could have caused him any harm was almost laughable in itself. Her hands were made to mend, and while she would defend herself as fiercely as any who strived to stay alive, she took no pleasure in violence. They regarded one another and Isla allowed herself the chance to glance over him properly - a lean and agile frame draped in a greatcoat, and from the pike she guessed he led an active life. Of all the things she had been expecting in that moment, his name was not one of them. Surprise caused her to smile, and she straightened slowly from the ground. "My name is Isla," she murmured. "You... do you live here, Rory? I mean... where is here?" |
RE: Wild and Free - Rory - 11-20-2018
[say]"Caido,"[/say] he said, his frazzled brain seizing onto the easiest thing to focus on. [say]"This is Caido."[/say]
She was almost as tall as him, but that was not surprising: Caido offered them all a sparse and lean diet, and you could not eat dreams. Some had it better than others, of course, for such was the nature of humans. Some could—and chose to—take from others, to better their standing. To produce taller offspring, too. Rory watched her, somewhere halfway between a man and a deer, all slow blinks and one hand subconsciously tangled up in Bakshi's mane.
It wasn't a lie when his mind declared her the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, though he placed no value on the notion, really, but he couldn't deny it—perhaps it was her breeding, or perhaps it was just whatever life she had lived previously, for there was a sort of radiance to her that he'd not quite seen before.
Slowly, Rory have his head a shake, as if to clear it. [say]"I live here. I am from here. Are you from.. Northaven?"[/say] The name had an unfamiliar shape in his mouth.
RE: Wild and Free - Isla - 11-20-2018
[say]"Caido,"[/say] Isla repeated, the name as clumsy on her tongue as Northaven was on his. [say]"At least that's something..."[/say] Knowing the name of the place they'd been dragged to, she meant. More than something, of course, was the fact that he even knew Northaven to say it, Isla's blue eyes widening a fraction. She smoothed out her coat absently, more to do something with her hands than anything else. [say]"Yes,"[/say] she said slowly. [say]"Do you... do you know it?"[/say]
That would have been... well. She didn't know what that would have been. Isla was not to know, of course, that Rory had met her fellow Northaveners already. In her mind if this stranger knew of the town behind the Wall that meant it must exist on this plane of existence, at least. Could it be possible that they were simply on the other side of the Wall somehow? Was this what lay beyond it?
She was lost in thought, blinking a couple of times to refocus. [say]"Where do - I mean to say, the place beyond that big spire looks pretty abandoned. Where do you live if not there?"[/say] It was precisely why the Northaveners had taken up residence there. It was empty... but apparently not.
RE: Wild and Free - Rory - 11-21-2018
Something indeed: a piece torn from something rumored to be grander, a memory locked away behind this barrier they could not cross. A heat-haze mirage beyond certain death. Most of the time, Rory tried not to think about it—which was precisely the reason he so often took a pony to scout the outskirts for something out of the ordinary—and sometimes, he even chose to not believe it.
If he had no proof, but secondhand memories passed down from mouth to mouth, of something else being out there; why should he believe in it?
In the dark, when the walls of the world pressed in close and his heart fluttered against the bars of its cage, then he believed: not out of conviction, but out of necessity. Where others ran on blood, Rory ran on dreams.
[say]"No,"[/say] he responded after half a heartbeat, as if it pained him to crush whatever faint hope she might've clung to that she was not, after all, quite as lost as she was. His fingers did something in Bakshi's mane, twisting and untwisting, tangling and untangling. [say]"I met Remi and some El-something,"[/say] he explained, using his free hand to point in the direction he'd come from. [say]"If you know who they are?"[/say]
It wasn't strange that she used the Spire as a means of navigation—you saw it from almost everywhere, after all—but the casual way in which she mentioned it sent a shiver down his spine. Few ventured there of their own free will, and of those who did, well, you mostly just found pieces of them after that, and not enough to put them back together. [say]"You should stay away from the Spire,"[/say] he said, suddenly feeling old and worn and tired. [say]"And I live on the border between the fields and these woods. With my sister."[/say] As if that was somehow an important detail. As if it was somehow vital to establish that Rory was not the lone wolf haunting the woods at night.
His fingers kept working themselves into Bakshi's black mane.
RE: Wild and Free - Isla - 11-24-2018
No.
Her face fell into a sad smile, almost one of knowing - of course it would be too much to assume that he would have the faintest idea about where she and her fellow Northaveners had come from. He fidgeted and Isla's hands remained steady, as always, at her sides. The names he mentioned did not ring any bells with her (yet, but she was not in control of time), and she shook her head to Rory.
[say]"I don't know them personally,"[/say] she admitted, [say]"but if they said they were from Northaven I have no reason not to assume they were dropped here along with me."[/say] Which was another mystery entirely. Why were they dropped here all together? Did this happen often? Were there other strangers who had appeared in this strange bubble of a place?
Isla sighed, glancing back down at the mushrooms she had been about to pick as if wondering whether it might be worth asking Rory about them - she'd figured them to be edible but if he was a native of this place then he might know for sure. But then the conversation turned to the Spire and his warning spilled out into the air between them.
She frowned, nodding slowly and reaching up to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear. [say]"...Can you tell me why?"[/say] she asked. [say]"If it's dangerous, maybe I can spread the word to the rest of my people, make sure everyone stays away. And you have a sister?"[/say] A more geniune smile flickered across her face at that; perhaps it was the normality of family in an otherwise otherwordly place, but the notion comforted her somewhat.
[say]"If you need anything... well, we're hardly in a position to give away supplies or anything. But I'm a doctor and I'll be happy to help if you need."[/say]
RE: Wild and Free - Rory - 11-26-2018
He wondered what this Northaven was, and why it had chosen to regurgitate its inhabitants here.
He felt too jaded to question such an occurrence at all; wasn't everything that happened in here some flavor of strange? Wasn't his ability to summon creatures a similar thing? It made him think of the stranger's accusations, that this was all somehow his fault: perhaps there was someone in this blighted land who had a power similar to his own, only on much stronger. It was an uncomfortable thought.
"...Can you tell me why?" In a sense, he was pleasantly surprised that she didn't question him, nor accuse him of having devised the creature lurking around the black tower. Again, his mind went to the idea of summoning such things, and again, he felt something in his gut twist. He thought he'd thought everything there was to think about the Spire and the monster, but here she was, taking his imagination places it hadn't been yet—and not in a good way. But obviously they hadn't run into the monster, which was a small relief. [say]"A creature lurks around it,"[/say] he began, trying to piece together what he knew of it. What was rumor and what was truth was hard to know with a thing that killed mostly everyone who came too close. [say]"A terrible and horrible monster of sorts, killing those who stray too close. It doesn't seem to age nor die, as stories of it go back centuries. Of course, we've tried to kill it multiple times, but in the end, those who go are the ones to die."[/say] Rory shrugged slightly. Either they died to the creature, or the barrier, or some other whimsical horror, or to the cruelty of human nature.
Life within the bubble wasn't kind, but Rory didn't know anything else: he just knew that he'd made it twenty-seven years by choosing kindness, so then why didn't everyone else as well?
[say]"I have a sister,"[/say] he confirmed. He had other things as well, like goats and dead parents. [say]"It is kind of you to offer. We're managing."[/say] Which was Rory for we don't have anything going on right now that I can't fix myself. He really didn't think it was worth taking her time just to have her look at an abscessed hoof—Rory had taken care of many of those successfully over the years—or the infected scratch one of the dogs had acquired in a scuffle. The swelling on that one was going down anyway.
The only thing that needed fixing was his sister, but her problems were not of the kind a healer could treat.
RE: Wild and Free - Isla - 11-26-2018
A creature? Isla felt her brows knot together in a frown, half concentration and half worry as she heard Rory out. It certainly sounded gruesome and fierce and, as he described it, she reminded herself to find some way to get the word out for people to stay well away from the Spire if they could. Odd, though, that they had appeared almost before it when they arrived... goodness knew what would have happened if someone had encountered the creature then, when they were arguably at their most vulnerable and disorganised.
[say]"Thank you for the information,"[/say] she said softly, nodding her head and resisting the urge to curtsey - the duchess in her was irritated at that, but easy to squash down. [say]"I'll make sure the others I travelled through with are aware. A needless loss of life is a terrible thing, especially if that monster has proven so formidable time and time again."[/say] What would rid the place of it, she wondered, shaking her head to clear her thoughts and conjuring a smile for Rory.
[say]"Well, if there's ever a time when you aren't managing, my door at the infirmary will always be open."[/say]
RE: Wild and Free - Rory - 12-17-2018
He had warned Remi and Elyna as well, but something in him though the latter was more likely to go trophy-hunting than respect it. Still, he hoped he was wrong about her. He hoped she was wise enough not to throw her undeath away out of pride, or endanger those she sought to protect by being too arrogant.
Isla, while likely having no proof herself that the monster existed, at least seemed to understand the danger of it. Rory was not the wolf they had to worry about: there were other things out there, prowling in the dark and in the light.
Perhaps he could've warned her about other things as well, but he was tired and confused and sort of bedazzled by the day's unlikely events. He figured that what he needed was some peace and quiet and sleep, but he thought it unlikely he'd be getting a lot of any of it. Goats were noisy. And he had things to do. Things he weren't doing because he'd let Bakshi wander off into the forest.
[say]"Yes,"[/say] he simply said in agreement, not sure what else there was to say. Bitterness made him think that Elyna probably would've bound him up and thrown him as bait to the monster just to see if it was real. This woman was much nicer.
[say]"Of course,"[/say] he went on at her offer. Rory wasn't known for not knowing what to say, but now that the surprise of stumbling across Isla was fading, he was tired from the surprise of them being here at all. [say]"Thank you."[/say] His head tilted slightly as he regarded her; part of him wanted to offer to walk her back to where she stayed, but another part of him suddenly—and desperately—just wanted to get home. Somewhere familiar, with familiar problems, where he could forget for a moment that everything was changing.
[say]"Will you be alright?"[/say] he found himself asking, gentle despite his weariness.
RE: Wild and Free - Isla - 12-21-2018
[say]"No thanks needed - it's what I do."[/say] Isla assured him with another smile, glancing back down at the mushrooms she'd been considering collecting. Her meeting with Rory and what he had to say about this place had given her a lot to think about. Forraging could wait. At his question she nodded reassuringly, as if able to see the weariness that had seeped into his bones. He seemed pleasant enough, and she wouldn't keep him any longer.
[say]"I'll be just fine, I assure you. I can find my way back to the Sanctuary from here. Thank you, though, for all of your help. It was nice to meet you - hopefully we can see each other again. But preferably not because you've gotten hurt."[/say] her smile grew into a brief grin, before Isla checked she had her belongings and turned to head back out of the woodlands. She would look over her shoulder once she was almost on the fringes and, if she was able to see Rory, she'd offer a small wave.
{END THREAD}