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 Posted: Sat Sep 01, 2007 2:03 pm
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Posted: Sat Sep 01, 2007 2:17 pm
It had been quite a few months since the mare had experienced what some would have considered to be a life changing event. By now the wounds had healed and the scars had cleared to the point that there would be no indication of what she had previously endured. However, this did not mean that the young mare was by any means completely 'healed', during these months she had taken the time to consider everything most carefully.
Had she deserved what she had experienced?
Had the stallion purely been at fault?
...Why her?
Many questions filled her mind and for the first few weeks she had received no answers. At times she had thought that the light had left her and that she would be permanently silenced. At times she had believed that the Spirits she had once loved had abandoned her in favour of another and then in one unforgettable moment she had received an epiphany from what she viewed as the heavens. Sure, everyone questioned her sanity! She claimed she could hear voices...whispers in the wind that coaxed and encouraged her. They settled her nerves, allowed her to see what was deemed to be more important.
It was complicated and few understood it but she was happy in the knowledge that she did. She couldn't explain it but these silent teachings were enough to keep her going and so the reassurance she had searched for, for so long, finally came on one of her darkest nights. No, she hadn't decided she wanted to slaughter anything but the mare was terribly afraid of the dark...one of the reasons she had sought the company of males so often.
Long ago she had discovered that feminine wiles enabled her to keep their company until dawn, when she was safe again.
Alas, on this particular evening she had been alone when the whispers returned. They weren't apologetic, they didn't provide her with sympathy but they did utter words of encouragement and reassurance. Despite her fear of the dark they had promised that she wouldn't be alone and that she had gained their favour. She had endured their test and so they would reward her accordingly.
...This alone had steeled her on and she had viewed the world in a new light. She then understood what her father spoke of when he informed her that the world presented many challenges that one must face to grow and mature.
However now as she thought back on what had occurred she couldn't help but afford a smile. Her wounds might have healed but the days spent in the company of those who viewed her with pity had given her a new sense of modesty. Yes, she might have been beautiful but that did not mean she had to flaunt it and more to the point...there were those in life who were not so fortunate. Whether they looked beautiful but failed to realise it or were simply cursed, they were born accordingly and it could not be helped.
Sometimes, life had to be cruel to be kind. She knew that now.
It was with this in mind that she now drifted across the ridges that lined the lower regions of the mountains. Picking her way tentatively across the rocky surfaces her mind wandered to and fro. First she thought of those she had been with and then she thought of those who she had not. Secondly she thought of those she had loved and those she had not...And then she thought of all those who had hurt her.
While the pain had been unbearable at the time she had pulled through and now that she had time to consider it - it wasn't their fault. Fate had played a cruel game upon each in turn and caused them to make the decisions they had. It was unfortunate but bad things had to happen and bitter cruelty (though some would deny they were such) needed to exist in the world...
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Posted: Sat Sep 01, 2007 2:36 pm
More often than not there were reasons behind the actions of another. It was rare (though it did happen) that there were individuals who existed purely to kill and torture. There was no denying this fact but more often than not there was some form of emotional pull that resulted in the actions. It could simply be impure thoughts which again, were not rare or it could have been suitably more complex - as was the case of the individual who had attempted to murder the mare.
Ah, the guilt he had felt upon hearing of what he had done was beyond words. He had struggled to come to terms what he deemed to be an utter failure. Alas, he hadn't wished to kill anyone and had taken measures to prevent it but his careful planning at proven futile. As far as the mutant was aware the unfortunate unicorn was dead. She had perished at his whim and her body had probably been dragged away by roaming pests.
She had of course left her mark, the huge wound in his chest had since become infected and oozed in the most undesirable of fashions. It stained his fur a peculiar yellow and stank to high heavens. Bathing had become a problem, the very touch of water absolute agony and yet he had borne it as he had deemed necessary - this was his penance. He had committed a violent crime and he would pay for it, this was a small price.
Nevertheless it had taken a considerably long time for him to gain the confidence to walk beyond his normal territories again. Even stepping out of the deepest regions of the forest caused unspeakable terror and as fierce some as he might have been he chose more often than not to shy away and hide. It had only been when his darkest side had called him a 'coward' that he had acted and so, found himself wandering the regions of the mountains bordering the lowlands.
Unfamiliar with the terrain, his hoof steps were sporadic and uncertain - it almost mimicked his mind which was in turmoil. The orb in his chest pulsed and swirled in response to each changing thought and more often than not he paused to look at what lay ahead. There was nothing for miles, not even a rabbit - or there hadn't been until he had rounded the next hill.
To say he nearly had a heart attack would be an understatement.
As amber eyes clapped down upon the mare he came to an abrupt halt and found himself breathless. Surely she was a ghost! Completely unharmed, with her steel eyes trained upon the horizon that lay beyond the lowlands...it was as though he hadn't even touched her. Was this a trick of the spirits? A cruel joke to make him face yet another demon that threatened to engulf him or just another warped form of redemption?
Again he was uncertain but he crept towards the mare, pausing a mere distance away until he was certain she was solid. It wasn't possible!
"...You." He whispered softly.
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Posted: Sat Sep 01, 2007 2:54 pm
The words had been barely audible but the mare was so used to listening to the 'whispers' of the spirits that she heard it all too well. In a way it made her smile, 'speaking of the devil' would be deemed a rather inappropriate phrase in the given circumstances but he sounded so surprised. Or rather, if she really thought about it the male seemed more disturbed than surprised.
Thus it was without further a due that she drew a breath and turned down very slowly. At first she only shifted her head in response to his words but then she eased herself round limb by limb to come face to face with the stallion. What she met was not quite what she was expecting - the spirits had been right when they said that one must look beyond first impressions it would seem.
Instead of the cruel 'kalona' in which she recalled, she instead found herself face to face with a rather astonished looking stallion. His unusual features seemed to be alien when compared to his expression, almost as though they had simply been attached as a costume and yet she knew they were real. If she was so bold as to say, he looked a little worse for wear and she could certainly smell it as well.
Something was amiss, not just from his tone of voice.
Canting her head to the side, she placed an easy smile on her lips and continued to watch the stallion for a brief time before her eyes fell on the wound she had given him.
All things in equal measure...
She had been cruel too, it would seem.
"Me," she confirmed though she was unaware of his name and could say nothing more in relation to his statement. "You seem surprised, Sir?"
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Posted: Sat Sep 01, 2007 3:01 pm
Surprised? The mare was DEAD for the sake of the Spirits!
All sense of decorum went out the window (figuratively speaking) as the stallion gawked at the mare and simply shook his head in absolute astonishment. It was as though the mare had either forgotten or simply didn't care about the events that had transgressed. Perhaps it was indifference? That in itself was a painful thing for him - he could stomach hate and come to terms with it but indifference was beyond that.
"You are dead," he stated, sounding more a foal than the adult he was. At a total loss for words he wasn't entirely sure how to approach the situation in which the mare now stood in all her former glory. But it wasn't 'all' now was it? As he watched the mare shift he could see something different in her eyes and by the way she looked it was as though she knew exactly who and what he was.
...It bloody terrified him.
"I -" he choked and shook his head, incapable of proper words. He struggled to come to terms with the possibility that this mare was alive after all he had done to her. The fates must have been exceptionally cruel to grant her life and to ensure that he suffered every waking moments for his own failings. They knew he had tried so hard to prepare and yet they now did this!
"I killed you!" He rasped, stumbling back in favour of being approached by the mare who now held an almost 'ethereal' quality about her now. She may have looked normal to everyone else but by the way she glimmered in the faint light of the moon, she looked every bit the 'angel' to him...Every bit the ghost.
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Posted: Sat Sep 01, 2007 3:09 pm
"You left me for dead. There is a world of a difference," the mare corrected the stallion though her tone was not one of anger or bitterness. Instead, her tone was plain and matter-of-fact, he hadn't ensured she was definitely dead after all and had been chased away by the 'Spirit Bear' before he could make the mistake he imagined himself to have made. "That is not to say it was not close, that is not to say it did not hurt but the Spirits favoured us both in ensuring we both survived the ordeal," she wasn't attempting to guilt trip at this point, it was merely an observaiton.
Nevertheless, as she watched the stallion shift uneasily in her midst she released a small sigh and shook her head. Those amber eyes, surely captivating to some held such troubled and uncertain thoughts. The flickers and the struggling facial expressions were evident to the mare who (despite appearances) could be exceptionally observant. He had been plagued by this for some time, probably another thing to add to his list given his demeanor.
"Although you are a little worse for wear," she observed, motioning towards the wound which she knew smarted. It looked painful even from a distance and while she didn't feel guilt for what she had done (it had been necessary), she did feel that it needed to be fixed.
"And you are so far from home."
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Posted: Sat Sep 01, 2007 3:17 pm
She didn't mean it as such but each phrase was like a bullet. They hit him right between the eyes each time and he physically flinched as she spoke to him. Considering their previous encounter she was eerily calm, her expression passive and otherwise unreadable. It was a role-reversal for the stallion and an unsettling one at that as usually he was the controlled one...Yet the more she spoke, the more he knew the cards were in her hands and her hands alone.
That being said, she didn't seem angry or sad, she seemed content and perfectly capable of being sociable with the stallion. Had she always been like this? He couldn't recall if she'd even tried to speak, his memories of the night ad been fleeting and brief, the images distorted and very rarely in order. With the chain of events an utter mess in his own head it was difficult to grasp whether or not the mare had spoken and yet she was here.
Here.
And as the minutes passed those eyes bore into his frame and made him feel like a complete and utter midget. Given his size this was positively laughable but words simply couldn't describe how affective her stare was in terms of making him shrink. With her in control, he had never felt so vulnerable in his entire life but he was at her mercy - after everything he had done.
"I will endure," he managed, his voice (somehow) steady as he continued to watch the mare warily, although by now her gaze had fallen to the wound in his chest...the wound she had given him. "Home is not so far as one might assume though." He wasn't about to mention how much courage it had taken to come out in the first place.
But he just couldn't...he had to.
"How?" He blurted out at last, "...How did you live?"
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Posted: Sat Sep 01, 2007 3:29 pm
Spirits worked in mysterious ways, to aid her in her life lesson they had given her the aid of a passing Wind Soquili. To aid her in her lesson they had encouraged her to walk, pushed her on and made her see through eyes that were not clouded by pride and admiration for her own appearance. To do all this they had needed to cause her a great deal of pain but they had it all planned out - she had never meant to die.
"The spirits always have great things planned for us," she replied after a great deal of consideration, her smile still warm. It was almost as though this stallion couldn't fathom how she could live, didn't believe in miracles. It was utterly ridiculous to the mare to find that he had no faith in anything - he seemed empty. He was just a shell.
Their herds had lived so close together (though neither knew) and yet they were worlds apart in terms of up bringing. While he had been tortured, she had been raised with love and care. There had been no chance to become 'empty', to become a 'shell' - it made her wonder what in the world had happened to him to cause him to be so bitter. What else had he done?
"Sometimes it's so painful that we wish ourselves dead and other times it is wonderful. I lived because the spirits needed me to realise something, as strange as that may seem to you," and probably painful as well if she was so inclined to add, "It was necessary for me to endure what I did but they never intended for me to die...they send help."
She motioned towards the hillsides in which the wind had flown over to help her and released a small, yet contented sigh as she recalled all that had occurred. The pitying glances, the words and yet none had realised that really she hadn't wanted pity - she wanted to be treated like herself. It was so hard and they had all struggled - she'd seen it, none could look passed appearance.
So she needed to. She had to.
"I'm just sorry it had to be you who was to play the painful role that you did."
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Posted: Sat Sep 01, 2007 3:41 pm
Spirits? Plans?
He shook his head in amazement, he could have sworn that he was imagining things and yet... She made not even the slightest attempt to coerce him into believing her words. She made not even the slightest attempt to make him see and instead she simply informed him. It was clear to him now that she was exceptionally religious, deeply spiritual in her dealings and this made her most unusual.
Did the spirits really do that sort of thing?
He had never been religious, the 'spirits' had done nothing more than torture him as a child and he had forsaken them in return but now he was presented with this mare. A beauty (he knew), one he had brutally attacked and should have been looked down upon with distaste and yet she didn't even seem angry. She seemed to think that what she had experienced had been necessary - while the pain was unfortunate...it had occurred.
She wasn't angry?
He was confused and his expression said as much as he fixed troubled amber eyes upon her and shook his head. The braids clapping against his neck he could do nothing more than act the child, the village idiot at best. He felt so small...
"You are not mad," it was more of a statement than a question, a mere attempt to voice his surprise and utter confusion at the mare that now stood in front of him. He would be perfectly honest when he had said that he had met very few mares who were pleasant but had Bella, that tiny young mare been right when she said that he just hadn't seen them?
He could do nothing more than laugh. He was a lunatic at best.
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Posted: Sat Sep 01, 2007 3:48 pm
"Mad?" A rhetorical question at best but it made her smile deep and she shook her head slowly. This served only to emphasise the delicate contours of her neck and just how pretty she really was. Now that he had discerned she wasn't a ghost or an angel (or so she assumed) she could safely continue without him questioning her existence. That being said, he also seemed intelligent enough to fall right where she had wanted him - he'd asked the right question.
...The voices said it would help him see. She didn't know what they meant but she obeyed them and chose to answer accordingly.
"No, I am not mad...what happened hurt but was necessary..." she released a small chuckle and began to move toward him. Her steps were small and movements subtle but she seemed to be intent on dealing with the wound in his chest as soon as possible. "I will never forget what happened, I will never forget you either but in a way I'm glad it happened," she gave a lose shrug, coming to a halt as she came within inches of his muzzle.
"You let me see things that I would have been blind to otherwise," she confessed gently, canting her head to the side once more as she continued to watch his ever changing expression. "If you hadn't gave me those wounds I would have never understood why others grew so angry when they were pitied," she explained in the same soft tones though she did hesitate for a few moments.
"I can't say I was ever looked upon with hate while wounded, but I already knew how that felt in a small measure anyway. Why should I be mad when you gave me so much?"
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Posted: Sat Sep 01, 2007 4:02 pm
He forced himself to remain still, he was at her mercy and hers alone. He had hurt her and he would face the punishment! This was enough to make him quiver and yet as she came nearer, ever closer to his expectant form he received no blow. Unlike those times in his childhood in which he had been 'disciplined' for the slightest of mistakes, she hadn't touched him...instead she had uttered her thanks to him!
Her expression was gentle and no doubt if he had been younger he would have whimpered. Already something inside him quivered, threatened to creep up and burst. He didn't know what this was, perhaps something hidden since he had fled from his old herd. It felt similar though...similar to the time in which that elder had lost her life for him, she had screamed for him to run and he had. He'd been so young and all he'd wanted to do was cry but he'd run and let out choking sobs the entire way.
...Then he'd promised it would never happened again.
Not long before her death he had killed a foal, he'd always been quiet as a baby and had tried to stay out of the way. He had always tried to hide so that no one could find him or touch him...but other foals always had a way of spotting him. They'd been so cruel and he had always been so upset - he didn't want to hurt them though he'd known he was stronger. One day he just snapped and found a side he'd never know had existed...that colt hadn't stood a chance.
The lashing he had received still rang clear in his ears and his mother had been so appalled and so ashamed. Those eyes, her eyes had held nothing but loathing for him.
...Now that urge to break was there again, not to lash out but simply to weep as though it were his only way of expressing how he felt. He was so confused and he just couldn't understand. Soquili had always been so angry with him, so afraid and bitter regardless of what he had said and done because he wasn't an avid socialite.
...Yet here she was, and she wasn't mad. She was thankful.
It was then that she said it and he slowly lifted his eyes to stare at her in the most unusual of ways. She understood what it was like to be pitied and loathed? Surely the spirits weren't capable of giving her such lessons and yet here she was, despite everything and she wasn't mad.
She wasn't mad!
"No spirit, no entity can plan such things..." he croaked, unprepared to accept that the spirits had potentially laid out an entire life of suffering for him. "If they can then they are the most biased and cruel that I know of..." he could barely speak, he felt like he was choking yet his mouth was beginning to run away with him - he couldn't help it.
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Posted: Sat Sep 01, 2007 4:50 pm
Aha, so he had been hurt and badly!
The mare resisted the urge to smile in sympathy and kept the small yet warm smile on her lips instead. There was no point in provoking him in relation to that topic. Everyone had their reasons and given that stallion's age she could only assume that the years of solitude and darkness had left him exceptionally bitter. If his previous actions were anything to go by he hadn't had the company of a mare in a long while too.
...If ever.
That fact alone was painful as she couldn't even contemplate what that must be like. That being said his entire demeanour didn't help matters as he fought what appeared to be a constant battle inside his head. Solitude was bad for a person, a form of torture at best and slowly but surely pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place - the spirits definitely had things in store for this one but in order to achieve their goals he needed to receive a foul hand from fate.
Sacrifices had to be made sometimes, the spirits knew the risks they undertook when attempting to plan out a soquili's life. They were all instruments to be played and one day they would blend together in what could be considered perfect harmony - if only for the briefest of moments.
"They dealt you a rather difficult card," another statement, another observation and her smile grew faint as the topic at hand grew grim. Sometimes smiles weren't appropriate and could be considered patronising so for the time being she let it lie - left it be so to speak.
"That can only mean that they expect great things for you, when you are ready those things will happen," she would have held up a hand if she could have to stop him speaking but instead she steeled herself on. "I can't even begin to imagine how hard it is to hear that, how...patronising almost but it's hard not to be misunderstood some of the time."
...She had no idea how true this was.
"That doesn't mean I can't help a little though, just as you gave me a gift I can give you one," she wasn't sure how he would take it but she lowered her head just a little and brushed her horn close the wound - he smarted but it was enough to cause the healing magic to take affect. It was slow, its progress hindered by infection but the wound began to heal and close over.
"Some pain is easily dealt with, it's just a shame my horn can't heal other forms too..."
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Posted: Sat Sep 01, 2007 5:09 pm
It was gone...Just like that the weapon used to puncture his chest had been used to seal it again. A double edged sword to be used accordingly, in self defence or to aid. Truly, whatever magic a unicorn possessed was a wonder to him and he could do nothing more than look down at his chest. It seemed he was doing a lot of 'nothing mores', anything that didn't require speech in order to express himself.
That pain was gone. The constant reminder of his failure had been taken from him in the swiftest of movements. Admittedly the stench was still there but it didn't pulse and cause him to wince at every step. His leg was able to move much more easily, it didn't creak and he didn't wince - he didn't feel so much the cripple.
He gave her a gift and she gave one to...
His almost juvenile mind struggled with this fact and for the longest time he simply looked at her. Those eyes that were filled with such warmth... She didn't try to 'understand' him, she didn't ask questions - all she did was give him a gift and words could not describe how that felt. He hadn't even asked for it, he'd been expecting the treatment he received from everyone that met him.
"In ten years, I have seen no great things..." he offered at last, his voice still struggling to remain steady as he avoided her gaze and stared off into the horizon. There was something about the unicorn and her calm demeanour that made his tongue loose - to him she was the world's secret keeper and most of all...a very unique soquili who had accepted his failing and deemed it a blessing.
No one had ever seen his appearance nor his 'moods' as a blessing!
"In ten years I have done nothing more than rampage or guard my lands with a steel claw. Chased those from my forests and made certain they never returned to knock on my door..." He released a small snort of amusement and released a sigh.
"It was always so quiet until recently, now no one seems to be capable of leaving me alone."
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Posted: Sat Sep 01, 2007 5:23 pm
Now she smiled, now was the time. She wouldn't laugh just yet but a smile was most definitely appropriate. She wasn't smiling at his confession but more in relation to what he said after it. It seemed she wasn't the only one who had been blind and the voices were once again right, he had needed her and she was to be the one who spoke the words of wisdom he had probably been hearing all his life.
...But this time he would listen, just a little.
"And you don't think that was a sign, even a little one?" She asked in a bemused tone, trying her best to hold back the laughter that threatened to ruin the mood entirely. She didn't want to make him feel like a boy (although she already did) and most certainly didn't want to offend him but seriously, how could he miss that?
"Maybe you're ready and this is just their way of telling you that you are," she pointed out softly, coiling her tail around her leg in a lazy fashion. If his quiet world had been interrupted all of a sudden with life and opportunity then why did he hide? The past no doubt clouded his judgement but...
"Life is too short to 'think' about everything, life is too short to worry about what happened in the past." She could be one to vouch for that in some ways, "Sometimes it's easier to just learn from it and move on, to creep carefully through life will make you miss out on so much." Giving a shrug, she turned back round to face the lowlands again, the smile still lining her youthful features.
"You have to admit, ten years is a long time to tip toe about...No one should deem it necessary to hide."
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Posted: Sat Sep 01, 2007 5:42 pm
He did.
Hiding had meant that no one had gotten killed like the last two victims. Granted both had occurred when he was a baby but they had still happened and for over nine years he had kept everyone safe. Well, that was until he had failed and this unique mare had entered his life - she hadn't been the first to enter his life...Lovey had come first followed by a number of others but they hadn't come at the wrong time.
There was something almost akin to relief in terms of failing, all that effort and all the stress of trying so hard not to kill anyone had gone up in smoke and as he looked upon the consequences (Sparkles) she wasn't even mad. Sure, others probably would but her good natured demeanour and her social skills had put him at ease. He didn't hurt any more - the guilt was still there in part but he felt lighter.
He had failed, nine years of 'tip toeing' had led to this.
What had he missed out on? He recalled the numerous encounters as of late and found it hard to place exactly what she was referring to. He had been disturbed more times than he could count, wanted to bash his head off a brick wall more often than not and then it hit him - very much like a brick wall actually. He had missed out on so much.
...He had two adoptive daughters and he hadn't even watched one grow up, he had heard from a third party. He hadn't watched her play, he hadn't watched her make friends and he hadn't been there if she had needed to cry.
It was like an epiphany, he had turned into his mother...he hadn't shown he cared or that he had wanted her.
"No one can change the way they are completely," he murmured at last, pulling a face as he wondered just how hurt his daughter's were by his weakness...just how hurt Bella was by his refusals to let her try to prove herself. He had stereotyped that beauty and she would no doubt disappear into the void with another more deserving male - hell, his daughter's were probably mated off by now as well.
He'd never even got the chance to scare the living hell out of their mates like a normal father would!
It was comical really.
"You all view the world in such an optimistic light, without faults or pain and yet if I were to enter that world I would not fit," it was his biggest fear and one that had been confirmed time and time again. His manners, the way he spoke and the way he expressed himself were 'all wrong' for lowland soquili and even if he wanted to be sociable he was alone.
"I have never fit," he confessed as he cleared his throat and released a bitter chuckle, "Even when I tried to talk to your kind, I was odd...my ways strange and outdated..."
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