Darmus By Night

[LadyDarkFire]

Thorne:

Shocked at the physical contact, Thorne jumped back, "What are you doing Cervantes?" She looked down at his hands on her wrists, her eyes growing wide as her powers began to lash out without her knowing. Her hair began to crackle with power, the red streaks glowing faintly. She didn't know how to handle touch.

 

[Valdimer]

Valdimer


Watching as the events unfolded, Val shook his head. "Cervantes....you idiot." he whispered to himself. He got up, and pushed both chairs back to their proper place. Pulling his sword off his belt, he leaned it agianst the fireplace, and walked outside. "I have to feed...." he said to himself. Making his way to the darkened forest, he took off, leaving the arguments, and everyone behind, for a short while.


In the forest, Val hunted. He needed human flesh, and he would find it. Pausing, he sniffed the air. "Human blood, and it's close." he said softly to himself. Taking off quickly agian, he moved, for almost 15 minutes, following the scent of blood in the air. Stopping agian, Val watched, his infravision working for him, as two of the bandits from the bridge, attempted to find their way through the dense forest. "My prey......I have found you." he said, loud enough for the bandits to hear. He could hear their hearts begin to beat faster. They ran, and Val followed suit, staying close behind them. Taking two giant steps, he lept into the air, and landed roughly 2 feet from his prey. "My friends, please, dont run, it will just delay the inevitable." His hands reached out, and grabbed the first of his victims. The man, his face in horrid shock, just uttered and mumbled something about a curse. Val roughly tilted his head back, and sunk his fangs deep into his neck, draining him quickly. Letting the man fall, he looked around for the other. He was gone, but had not run to far. Val listened for the heart beat agian. "Close you are. I'm coming." he said loudly agian. Running in the direction of the man, Val caught up with him in mere seconds. The man had stumbled on an uprooted tree, and lay there, trembling. "Fear not, it will all be over soon enough." he said, pulling the man up. Tilting his head roughly back, Val agian sunk his teeth into him, taking his time draining the last man.

The feeding completed, he let the man fall. Val headed back to the camp. After a while, he finally came out of the forest, and saw Cervantes, Thorne, and the cabin. Still a bit intoxicated from the feeding, Val whiped his mouth and chin, and headed for the door........

 

[Ravenloft]

Cervantes:

"I am simply holding your hands Thorne..." Cervie replied as he looked down upon the light grip held upon her. "My lord Thorne, touch frightens you doesn't it? Simple touch..." He gave her a look of concern over it.

 

[LadyDarkFire]

Thorne:

Snapping her wrists out of Cervantes light hold, Thorne backed away quickly, her movements a bit shakey. "I just don't like touch, it's not something that's ever been comfortable." She was trying to downplay her reaction, but in truth, she was terrified.

 

[PmTick]

Orion took his new helmet up and sat on the ground with his legs crossed. He decided he would do something he hadn't done in awhile, meditate. Orion closed his eyes and clenched his muscles, releaving all the stress that had been pent up in his body while he was in the dirt. He inhaled deeply as images of his past flooded his mind. Thought to the pub, 11 years ago.

Orion had just come back from his weekly fishing trips and managed to make a small fortune from his catch. To drink at the pub with his mates after a succesfully catch was a ritual for him. Orion and his friends drank, fought, and then drank again. Nobody usually minded because it was pretty much their bar, the only other people who usually hung out there were old sailors who enjoyed watching the young sea men brawl. That night was different though, that night he met the love of his life and ultimately his afterlife. Her name was Scarlett, her bright red hair stood out amongst the dingy blues and greens of the pub. After trying to use a few tired pick-up lines he dropped the tough guy act and just talked to her like he would any of his friends. After that they talked until the bartender kicked them out.They spent the night just walking up and down the shoreline, talking as if they had known each other for years.

They talked until the early hours of the next day, only pausing to view the most beautiful sunrise either had ever seen. It was an elegant mix of yellows, reds, and oranges mixed in a purple haze. The sunrise took their breaths away, impowering the two to turn and share their first kiss.

Orion felt his heartache as he missed his dear Scarlett terribly. He would give anyting to see her again, but at the same time he didn't want her to see his remains. In fact for the first time he felt like he had to cover up his ravaged figure from the rest of the world. He grabbed his spare horse blanket and wrapped it around himself thinking to himself, "Why and how have I been brought back to life after losing everything?"

 

[Ravenloft]

Cervantes:

"You're lieing." Cervantes said flatly. "You were terrified... I could smell it... Why on Darmus would you be so terrified of something so... Human as simple touch? A simple caress... It was not ment to harm you, nor to evock such fear..." Cervie gave Thorne her space, but did not back away...

 

[LadyDarkFire]

Thorne:

Looking away from Cervantes, Thorne tried to calm down. Her heart was still racing a mile a minute, and she was keenly aware of how close other people were after the touch. She could handle her hair being touched earlier, but skin to skin contact was something that utterly terrified her. "Just drop it" she whispered in a shakey voice before scrambling over to Talesin, trying to put him between her and the others.

 

[Valdimer]

Valdimer



Valdimer came to the door, and sluggishly pushed it open, holding himself up alongside the wall of the cabin. He stepped in, and made his way to his sword, still leaning by the fireplace. Strapping it on, he pulled a chair out, and put it in the far left corner of the room. Sitting down, he pulled out his ivroy pipe, shaped in the form of a dragon, lit it, and sat quietly, waiting......

 

[Ravenloft]

Cervantes:

"No, I won't touch you again... Unless you wish me to, but I will not drop it, I want to know why you are so fearful of it... Tell me and we will leave it at that..." Cervantes said calmly as he stayed by Thorne's side, not letting her evade this question.

 

[PmTick]

Orion now looked similar to a druid, with his spare horse blanket curled around him. He still felt exposed and wanted to hide, he decided to do something he wouldn't normally do, go inside the cabin. He knew the stench of death certainly wasn't the most pleasurable smell to his associates so he had made it a point to stay outside where he could "air-out" a bit. He pushed open the door to the cabin and saw Valdimer sitting at the fireplace with a pipe in hand. He immediatly felt embarassed but could'nt simply run back outside, so he flashed a grin and said a simple, "hello" before scurrying in the far dark corner to brood a bit more.

 

[LadyDarkFire]

Thorne:

Looking at Cervantes, her eyes slightly wild, Thorne kept creeping towards the cabin, trying to put distance between them. "I... I've just never been around touch, it isn't comfortable to me to be touched." She hoped he'd accept the pass off, because the truth usually scared people away, and made them think she couldn't do her job. It had never interfered with her work, and this was the first time that an actual quest party had found out her "affliction."

 

[Valdimer]

Valdimer


"Hello Orion. It seems you have been busy." Val said, taking a long pull off his pipe. Slowly letting the smoke out, he turned to look at Orion. "Are you prepared for tomorrow? It's going to be a very busy day." Val said with a smile.........

 

[PmTick]

Orion squirmed a bit in the corner, "What are we doing tommorow?"

 

[Valdimer]

Valdimer


"Going after the dragon......of course." Val shook his head. "That wine of yours really did a number on you, didnt it? Aged a bit too much??" Val said, rasing an eyebrow........

 

[Ravenloft]

Cervantes:

"Thorne..." Cervie said, just as calm as ever. He walked casually about her to keep her from shying away. "I've seen women act as you are now... Many times... Its never been a sign of a good past, I can tell you that much. This has nothing to do with 'not being used to touch... We both know that... In our hearts... And as you say, treat you as a person, so shall I... You have had something happen to you... In your past... It scarred you in a way that you just don't know how to heal from... Now, I am not psychic, so I don't know what it is... That is why you must tell me..."

 

[PmTick]

"Yeah the wine is a little old, I suppose being buried in the dirt for that long will do that though. My liver probably isn't up to snuff as well." "Can you tell me more about this dragon?"

 

[LadyDarkFire]

Thorne:

Looking at Cervantes, Thorne sighed and sat down on the stoop of the cottage. "All right, you want to know the truth? The truth is Shadowfax farms was closed down when I was 8 due to the fact that my family was killed. One of my cousins was disgruntled with the fact he'd gotten tossed off the farm for trying to beat a horse. He came back with a couple of friends, really drunk, and really mean. Mama hid me under the stairs when she heard them coming. They stayed there until all the food was gone, and then took a couple of the horses. They were found, caught, tried, and are still somewhere in a jail, but I can still hear my mother's screams in my ears sometimes, and I know how much just simple human touch can do to people. There, that is the truth, happy?"

 

[Valdimer]

Valdimer


"The dragon? Well, let's see, it's big, it's green, it has my bloodstone, and I'm going to get it back. As far as how we are going to get it? We'll just have to see what happens." Val said, giving Orion a wink. Turning his attention back outside, Valdimer listened as Thorne spoke. Sitting there, somewhat shocked at her response to Cervantes, Val could do nothing but sit there, and watch, his eyes looking to Thorne, filled with compassion and helplessness for her........

 

[PmTick]

Orion shifted nerviously in the corner. He had never fought a dragon before, not even when he was alive. His self-esteem was shaken enough today, having thought about Scarlett. At least he finally armed himself.

 

[Ravenloft]

Cervantes:

Sinking down next to Thorne, Cervantes sat quietly, not touching her. He lowered his head and listened. And even after she was done, he sat silently.

 

[LadyDarkFire]

Thorne:

Hugging her knees to her chest, Thorne rested her chin on them. She looked detatched, almost as if she was lost in her memory, the cold days and nights, a little girl not daring to creep out from her hiding space even after they were gone. She remembered trying to wake up her mother, being found and pried away from her mother by human hands. Thorne closed her eyes and continued to remember, the pain washing over her.

 

[Ravenloft]

Cervantes:

"Everyone has their pain Thorne... Some fall to the hell of their own worlds... Then there's us... We push on, we mourn, we cope, and though the pain may never fully go away, we still live. And when ye live, ye learn. Mayhaps, one day, you'll learn that a touch will not always lead to pain..."

 

[LadyDarkFire]

Thorne:

Opening her eyes, Thorne looked at Cervantes. "When doesn't it? Even you, who carry a reputation of being wonderful to woman, cause pain by leaving, and with violence. Human hands tear children away from parents, "for their own good" and refuse a child the properties of a farm that was her only home. All I want is to go back, with enough money, and start up Shadowfax Farms. It's my home, and I will see it return to where it was before. I can handle touch, a handshake here or there, or even casual brushing on the street, but I can not stand someone restraining me, touching my neck, or touching my throat, even in a gentle way. It just brings back those memories.

 

[Ravenloft]

Cervantes:

"That is why you adventure? To get enough fortune to reclaim your old home? Thats it?" Cervantes wasn't trying to be rude with his words, it just surprised him that her life long quest was so simple... Well, to him anyway... He'd been adventuring for a long time, far too long truth be told... His goal was something that seemed nearly impossible for him, considering the way he was... He thought he had seen the end of his searching with Vixen, but it wasn't to be...

 

[LadyDarkFire]

Thorne:

Sighing, Thorne nodded. "Talesin is the last of the trained horses of Shadowfax Farms, there are still the heards roaming free on the land, which is still firtile, I checked on it when I was traveling to Browning. With this quest, I'll be able to go back their, reclaim the ranch, and get it in working order again. I keep going by there as often as I can, keeping up the buildings with what money I get, and letting the horses stay familiar with me. With that, all I need now is the money to live on while taming the foals of this year's spring to bridles and saddles. That done, I have at least 6 offers to take horses from my father's strings. I can live in peace on my own land, quiet, comfortable, and with nobody around to try and convince me to settle down and get married, or take up questing again. I can live a peaceful, quiet life, alone."