Me'ing
Changeling
But still crazy!
Posts: 16
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Post by Me'ing on Nov 10, 2006 0:18:17 GMT -5
It never failed to amaze her how calm the world was after a sea storm, half way through the wind and rain she’d managed to claw herself free of the ropes and prevent the small wooden craft from slamming into the rocks not far out from the coastline, opting instead to continue on south, it was warmer south, or so she’d heard, she had not the skills or the supplies to survive a harsh winter. She knew little of shipcraft, it was only through luck and sheer force of will she managed to ride out the storm, her little craft damaged and her sails full of holes, her only choice was to let the current take her where it would as she collapsed, exhausted, against the mast she’d been bound to not three hours ago. As the sun rose with the dawn, the calm sea reflecting the sunrise so it seemed she was floating on the sky, flying, a child’s fancy but more than enough to lull her to sleep; the cry of the gulls when land was near did not wake her.
The little gods were angry, she thought, as a second, albeit smaller, storm shook her little boat, and her in it, brief and furious like a mother’s whipping, it dashed the craft against ragged stones she could do nothing to avoid; she clung to the mast as she floated, dazed and bleeding from a gash on her head, eyes glazed as she slowly lost her grip, sinking into darkness. While the thousand little gods may be hateful whatever gods dictated fate and fortune, it had to be them for the strange die she imagined within her head, she struck sand; a strong current dragged her up until she lay gasping on a beach, tired and waterlogged; she had only enough left in her to pull herself up far enough to keep from being sucked back into the water, there she passed out once more.
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Taltor
Human
Scholar and Librarian
Posts: 15
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Post by Taltor on Nov 10, 2006 0:38:51 GMT -5
Meanwhile, approaching the beach from another direction:
Taltor sighed, yet again. How many times had they brought the lad to this very spot? And yet it never seemed to help. The fiery young man had a love of alchemy that was rarely seen in one so young. However, he also seemed to have a predilection for explosive failure. This 'vacation' was actually planned in order to keep the boy as far from flammable objects as possible until the tempers of some of the Masters were cooled. And, as always, Taltor was dragged away from his books to escort 'everyone's favorite student.' He supposed they were doing as much for him and the boy as themselves. Master Nikore had expressed his concern that Taltor never seemed to leave the library. Well...I guess I do spend most of my days down there. Finally the silence was too much to bear. Even though he didn't consider himself a social person, Taltor was fairly socially adept and long silences tended to bother him.
"So, Kaltro. What was it this time?" He smiled gently to erase any misunderstanding.
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Post by Kaltro on Nov 10, 2006 0:50:17 GMT -5
“Fruit; and it worked, I swear! They lasted two whole days before exploding, and I didn’t even use any flammable chemicals, honest! Master Revon was so proud I even got to send a basket of them up to Head Master Nikore…but then they blew up after forty eight hours…fruit juice everywhere. I was trying to make apples look like oranges and vise versa...” Kaltro started off rambling excitedly, he always beamed and gloated over his projects, explosive or no; and thanked Osyris when they remained stable for one hour, though at the end he trailed off into a sullen grumble, he hated being forced from the tower, none of the books were any good down here and he’d read them so many times he could recite them cover to cover without blinking, and had on more than one occasion.
“No matter how many prayers I offer they always explode! I’m beginning to think I’ve been cursed with Incompetence…again.” It had happened before, though it was a long time ago, before he’d been dropped off at the tower; a whole barn had exploded, no one was hurt, just terribly inconvenienced. “I fear I’m on his bad side again, or there’s something else he wants me to study.”
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Taltor
Human
Scholar and Librarian
Posts: 15
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Post by Taltor on Nov 10, 2006 1:40:08 GMT -5
"Inconvenience? You mean Osyris? Strange that such such a god would take personal interest in you. But exploding fruit...You could make a career in prank items! Imagine, someone sending the Empress an exploding apple..." Taltor laughed at the notion. The mental image of the regal Empress covered in apple - or would it be orange?- juice was just too funny to pass up. He immediately felt bad for laughing at Kaltro's expense. Here he was, supposedly taking the boy on a trip to 'help him recover from his disappointment' and he was acting like it was all a joke! Perhaps he had been holed up too much...
"Well, it's been said that those the Gods curse or bless have destinies ahead of them. The rest of us just fumble through life without attracting any special attention. You must truly be special for one of the Chaos Gods to turn his attention on you!" Hoping he wasn't presuming too much, Taltor put a friendly hand on Kaltro's shoulder. "I know this trip is one you've made many times, but maybe this time it will be different! Maybe your destiny is approaching and will whisk you away to better things! Or maybe it'll end up that your true talent will come out soon. After all, the Masters' experiments tend to explode just as much as yours do. They just have more time, student assistants, and they only display the ones that work. When you become a Master you'll be able to pretend your experiments are perfect as well!"
By this time they had almost reached the beach. The raucous calls of seagulls filled the air, followed by the briny smell of ocean spray. The cultivated, foresty path had first dissolved into shrubbery and now into reeds and grasses. The ground was increasinly more sandy. Taltor imagined he could hear the surf from here.
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Post by Kaltro on Nov 10, 2006 12:34:49 GMT -5
“Prank items you say?” Rather than being offended Kaltro tapped his chin with his thumb, seriously considering the proposition; “…yes, people do tend to find harmless explosive items amusing, don’t they? Have an aunt coming over you don’t care for, give her explosive fruit…or a rose that becomes a bird that becomes a pineapple!” Eyes flashing with the fervor many of the teachers have grown fond and wary of Kaltro began to ramble on about the possibilities of his explosive items, hands gesturing wildly until his whole body was gesturing the explosions, complete with sound effects; laughing as he danced his way down to the sands, pausing in a striking pirouette as he spotted a form on the sands near the water.
“Look Taltor, a body!” True to his ‘touched’ nature he giggled manically and scampered down, mindless of the grit he got on his apprentice robes, skidding to a halt next to the lithe figure drenched in seawater and sand. “Do you think she came from the islands? No matter, no matter…can I use the corpse for parts Taltor, please? The masters won’t let me near the store rooms for animal and human scraps anymore, and I found her first! Ooh! Can I make anatomical sketches with her first? Just look at her! She’s even taller than you, and look at these markings, oh! Taltor you must come and see this, look at her hands!”
Heedless of the danger Kaltro reached up and massaged the palm of the unconscious woman’s hand, frowning as he felt tendons and muscles that shouldn’t be there. “It’s all tense and sinewy like a cat’s…Gah!” He jerked back, dropping the hand as long arced claws popped from the soaked fingers with a sharp skizt akin to metal scraping metal; he scrambled away and huddled behind Taltor as the figured moaned and rolled over; curling that hand to itself. “Claws Taltor, she’s got claws! And blast, she’s still alive; I so wanted parts….” Now aware that the woman was alive he switched gears completely. “Look at what she’s wearing, it’s positively indecent!” The young woman was clad in a ragged top of some sort that only covered her bosom and what may have been a long skirt that looked more like a loincloth to Kaltro, most of her tanned skin was plainly visible to the young man. “Savages, those islanders, to wander about like this!”
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Taltor
Human
Scholar and Librarian
Posts: 15
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Post by Taltor on Nov 10, 2006 13:44:28 GMT -5
Taltor barely had time to process Kaltro's macabre rant before he realized that the woman was indeed alive. He rushed up and knelt beside her. She was battered and bruised and filthy, but alive. A succinct glance about the beach revealed that she had been lucky to make it to shore alive. What he had mistaken for driftwood was indeed the remains of a small boat. Strange...There hadn't been a storm last night. He would have to ask the resident mages if they'd been fooling with the atmosphere. Sometimes the more powerful students forgot what effect they truly had on others. It wasn't that they were cruel or careless, it was just that they worked with forces that cared little for the value of mortal bodies. With a gentle brush of his suede-gloved hand he pushed sandy clumps of hair out of her face. A short wave of deja vu made him study her tanned features closely, but he shrugged it off as mere paranoia. Where would he have seen an islander, anyway? He knew of the reclusive island tribes from his readings, but knowing of a people is not the same as knowing about them. No researcher had ever ventured into their realm and returned. He knew next to nothing about this woman, but he knew that it was useless to conjecture and hypothesize while she lay here half conscious and possibly injured. "Kaltro, help me lift her. We need to get her to the beach Facility."
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Post by Kaltro on Nov 10, 2006 17:00:30 GMT -5
“Right! We must study her as a specimen for the islander people, Osyris be praised, I’ve got a new project! He hasn’t forsaken me after all; we were supposed to find her!” Whooping with joy and bounding back down with all the exuberance and maniac energy he used in any experiment or hypothesis; skidding to a halt next to the woman and eyeing her tall form without blushing at all; he was a scientist, an alchemist, he had no time for frivolous thoughts…nor was there any room in his skull for anything but his eccentric mind. “Alright sir, do you want her legs or her torso? I dare say she’ll need a bath and a hot meal; though I don’t think there are robes long enough for her in the hut.”
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Taltor
Human
Scholar and Librarian
Posts: 15
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Post by Taltor on Nov 10, 2006 17:33:12 GMT -5
"Kaltro! That's enough. She's a living person, not a fruit!" Taltor turned a fierce glare on the boy, hoping it would quell any more hair-brained schemes. No wonder they didn't let Kaltro use the stored animal parts; his exuberance seemed to know no caution. But Kaltro might be partially correct in his assessment of the fate of the woman. She might have been sent by a god to this very spot! Local myth decreed that all shipwrecked survivors were god-guided, sent to perform some task. Taltor was not a superstitious person, but he had to admit that the records did support some of the sailors' stories. Taltor examined the woman again. Adrenaline was beginning to wear off, and he finally realized that she was rather scantily clad. I have to carry.... A bright red blush spread its way across his face. "I-" His voice caught, and he coughed to clear his throat. "I'll carry her torso." After all, he was the taller of the pair, and theoretically he should be able to hold her head higher. He silently thanked the laundry incident that had ended with him wearing his long-sleeved tunic instead of the summer outfit he normally donned. He didn't have to touch bare skin... Swallowing frequently to wet his suddenly dry throat, he slipped his hands below the woman's armpits and raised her torso. She was rather tall and he wasn't in the best shape. Hopefully they'd be able to carry her. "Kaltro?"
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Post by Kaltro on Nov 10, 2006 17:39:49 GMT -5
“That’s not what I meant! I meant we could clean her up, teach her our language and present her to the masters; she could teach us more of her people’s culture, sheesh. Not even I’m that touched.” It would get him back on the Master’s good side again, and there would be no doubt that the twin lordlings would want to get an earful of this, Kaltro would mention it next time he spoke to them with one of the few experiments of his that worked. Muttering irritably Kaltro scooped his own sand coated arms underneath the woman’s legs, blinking at Taltor’s discomfort and blush before snickering, the man certainly didn’t get out much.
“See something you like sir?” He chuckled again, firming up his grip on the woman as they stood and worked their way up the slope and to the aforementioned facility. “Really sir, you must get out of that library more often if this display of indecency draws your eye, ladies that cover themselves properly are much more desirable than a savage as this. Bah, I’m willing to bet she can’t even understand us when she wakes, oh, ware the claws.”
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Me'ing
Changeling
But still crazy!
Posts: 16
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Post by Me'ing on Nov 10, 2006 17:48:16 GMT -5
Voices were muttering over her head, she could feel the grit of sand irritating her still open wounds, her clawed hand twitched, she didn’t remember unsheathing them; they promptly retracted with a skazt that was comforting in it’s familiarity, the claws were the one shift she kept almost permanently, though she’d wept for days from the pain when she’d first earned them. As her torso was gripped she started, golden eyes snapping open, her pupils shrinking into dark slits against her irises, glazed in confusion as she looked up into a face that was not of her kind; the main land, she’d made it to the mainland. Blinking she frowned, there were arms on her legs, a cautious glance, wary of her head, showed a second mainlander holding onto her legs; his bright red hair made her wince as she let her head fall back against the chest of the one holding her up.
She fumbled for words, but her mouth was dry and her head was muddy, all she could mumble out was a soft, rumbling, “O’nde…o’nde souxz? Qu’xem szão vozcê? Meu naz’vio…” Her eyes slid closed with a soft groan, her head hurt so much, and she passed back into oblivion.
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Taltor
Human
Scholar and Librarian
Posts: 15
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Post by Taltor on Nov 10, 2006 21:47:44 GMT -5
Taltor glared at Kaltro from across the woman's body. "So you're an expert on indecency now? I 'get out' often enough; I just don't...." He felt himself flushing again and let the conversation drop. If Kaltro only knew part of his revulsion to physical touch...But that was a secret no one else knew. He couldn't even explain it to himself. He wasn't sure he wanted to know.
Fortunately, the facility was situated on the beach, not far from the islander's crash site. It wasn't that far, relatively, but the scholarly Taltor had lost muscle tone in his years at the Mage's Tower. I vow to start exercising again if I survive this trip... Just as they reached the threshold of the small cabin the woman began to babble in a foreign language. Taltor gasped in surprise and almost dropped her, but caught himself in time to avoid disaster. He dared not meet Kaltro's eyes after that slip...
Luckily for them, one of the rooms appeared to be open and unused. Apparently the seaside program hadn't garnered a full student load this semester. Taltor navigated backwards around the small, crowded living space and successfully made it into the room. It was small, but it would do for the meantime. His arms felt like they were going to give out any moment. With a last effort he lifted the woman's torso onto the bottom bunk and helped shift the rest of her body onto the mattress.
"Now what...Hm. The Facility has a healer; she lives up the path, back toward the Tower. Do you know where that clinic is?"
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Post by Kaltro on Nov 10, 2006 23:37:14 GMT -5
“Strange, it doesn’t sound like anything in our contemporary records…but it reminds me of what the more ancient tombs are written in, do you suppose that a group of theirs flocked to the mainland and settled here; and from them our culture evolved? That would be amazing, she’d be a veritable keystone to the past!” Kaltro continued to bubble excitedly over ‘his’ find; Taltor was there, sure enough, but Kaltro needed all the acclaim he could get and other than the short brush with the maniac he suffered at the thought of a proper autopsy he was all for treating the Islander with the best of care; the woman was most intriguing, he had to admit, she was more toned physically than a few men he’d met, but not enough to keep her from looking feminine; he couldn’t help but wonder if she walked upright or stalked like the felines she reminded him of, she did have claws after all.
Once they’d settled the woman on the bunk he dusted off his hands, eyeing her coloring and blatant lack, as far as they could see, of paleness, she was either this dark naturally or did not bother with clothing half the time, unaware of it he was muttering his thoughts out loud to himself and started at the question poised by the other man. “Beg pardon? Oh, the healer, yes; I’ll get her, but you make note of anything she says or does when she wakes up, alright? How exciting!” Unable to help himself Kaltro loosed a suspiciously girly giggle before clamping a hand over his mouth, eyes on the woman, not wanting to wake her; most would shrug the giggle off as yet another sign of how ‘touched’ he was. Nodding behind his hand the redheaded alchemist darted out of the room and up the path as fast as the blasted robes would allow.
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Taltor
Human
Scholar and Librarian
Posts: 15
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Post by Taltor on Nov 11, 2006 0:55:57 GMT -5
Silence descended upon the facility the moment the excitable boy left. Taltor glanced toward the door, then back at the woman. Even though no one was watching, he felt intensely awkward. Should he leave? Should he stay? If I leave and she wakes in a strange room she could panic. On the other hand, if she wakes in a strange room and panics and turns violent... The thought of those claws, unsheathed, as weapons made him move closer to the door. Then he looked back at her. No one should have to be alone when they're injured. And that's that. He pulled a chair out of the living area and sat it in the threshold. A escape route might be smart... As the slow minutes passed he found himself studying the strange islander. Where did she come from? Why was she here, alone? And beyond that, he secretly admired her form. She was tall and muscular, a being of physical perfection. He even dared to guess that standing she would surpass even he in height.
After a few minutes he began to fiddle with his gloves, nervous energy coming out in small habits. There has to be SOMETHING I can be doing in here. Ah! He noticed a novel on the bookstand. It was a favorite book of his as a kid, a fantasy tale of dragons, set in another world. He settled into a more comfortable position and opened the book. It would make the time go by faster.
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Me'ing
Changeling
But still crazy!
Posts: 16
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Post by Me'ing on Nov 11, 2006 1:09:58 GMT -5
Dull thudding of her heartbeat slowly lessened in volume as she came back to herself, hearing picked up first of her senses even as she realized yet again that grains of sand had worked themselves into every nook and cranny of her flailed back, and despite her best efforts she could not remain comfortable, though she managed to keep herself still until the shrill chattering of the redheaded one left; the other mainlander had a much more soothing voice and manner, she could still hear the calm thudding of his heartbeat as she finally shifted to curl up on her side, groaning. It took longer for her fuzzy sight to focus again; she reached up and scrubbed the grit from her eyes, and blinked at the strange wooden room she was in. She’d heard tales of stone halls, the wood was comforting, though the make and carving was odd to her.
After a few failed attempts to motivate herself properly she managed to pull herself into a sitting position, the palm of her hand that wasn’t scraped raw from wood pressed to the dried blood on her forehead, the room spun, she was terribly dizzy, and she hunched over her legs until the spinning stopped. Still shaky she turned her head; -carefully- to the direction of the heartbeat she could still hear. The man was propped up in a chair, reading, it seemed; though what he had in his lap looked like no tablet or scroll she’d ever seen, it drew a soft, curious, ‘prrt?’ from her despite herself.
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Taltor
Human
Scholar and Librarian
Posts: 15
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Post by Taltor on Nov 11, 2006 16:22:54 GMT -5
Taltor, thoroughly immersed in the novel, did not hear the bed creak as she sat up. His mind was currently miles away, riding on dragon wings...
But at her curious 'Prrt?' his mind snapped back and his head snapped up. Wide-eyed with surprise, all he could do was stare at the islander. Carefully, cautiously, he set the book down on the dresser. His nerves were on edge; he wasn't a fighting man and had no shame in his cowardice. Slowly...No sudden movements...
The wind blew a tree branch up against the window, causing a loud clacking noise that echoed throughout the house. Before his mind could react, Taltor jumped up. The chair fell over backwards, sprawling across the entrance to the room. He turned to run, but his legs tangled in the chair and he tripped, banging his head on the floor. Scrambling madly, he managed to escape the grasp of the chair. Unfortunately, he hadn't planned on the table being so close to the room, and crashed again into it. His head protested loudly against any more movement. Shaking more from the rush of adrenaline than from any actual fear, he finally managed to regain some sense of control. Slowly, carefully, he crawled out from under the table. His hand reached out and grabbed at the table. He looked down to see a small butter knife on the table. Memory of those claws came back, and he quietly slid the dull knife up his sleeve. There. Now he had a weapon. The thought did not quell his shaking, however. Ever so carefully, he inched his way toward the room. Taltor pressed his body up against the door, listening to make sure she wasn't destroying the room in his momentary absence.
Now what.
He inhaled deeply, summoning up every drop of the courage he didn't possess. Trying to be casual, he leaned around the door frame until he could see into the room. "Um...Hello?"
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