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 Posted: Tue Apr 02, 2013 12:30 am
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The introduction Thrain received from The Lairs consisted of shadolwings attacking his new home, failing to properly save his one friend's home and then meeting a woman he was pretty sure he was supposed to know. Ok, wait back that up. His maybe friend. Shaheen seemed... A tenuous relationship at best. Still, that did nothing to fix the horribly dampened beginning of return to Clan life for the Death Guardian. What in the world was he supposed to do with... What had just happened!?
Shadow creatures had attacked and he'd done really, downright embarrassingly for a Guardian fresh out of training and ready to show his moves, and then... And then the Priestess that he couldn't place was all slumped over onto the wall and just.... Today was going really poorly, alright?!
"Alright, let's get you... Somewhere other than here..." Thrain began with a sigh, not at all bothering to ask if it was aright before he bent down and scooped up the Priestess. It was an easy task for she was not at all heavy and he was honestly used to carry way larger things than just a ghoul.
"I... Am not a healer. Is there one you know of or prefer that I may take you to?" He asked with a very serious look, half because he was worried about her and half because he was trying to figure out why she was so horridly familiar. Part of the reason he had not yet asked her name was because he wanted to figure it out on his own, but the rest of him was afraid to ask because if he was wrong, then it would mean whoever she reminded him of was probably dead. And that was a reality he was continually facing without having to actively seek it out.
Beejoux Sorry for the late and short post! ;3;
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Posted: Thu Apr 04, 2013 7:55 pm
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Considering how very hurt she was, Nergui wasn't about to argue with the offered assistance, though she did wince when he picked her up, hissing gently before settling carefully into his arms. It wasn't comfortable, but if she held very still, and he walked smoothly, then the wounds along her sides would tug or bunch painfully. Honestly though, she wasn't at all sure where he should take her. Normally she'd have said her hut, but it had been infested with shadows when she'd run out into the night to investigate the state of the liar. Judging by how gluttonous the beasts had been, she had to imagine her home was in rough shape.
Hetero-chromatic eyes rolled up as he asked about a preferred place he could take her, and she was sorely tempted to request he take her to Soren. The dark skinned guardian had not been present throughout the chaos thought, and that made the priestess wonder after him. It also made her a little cross, feeling as though he should have been there. It was not an emotion she'd ever associated with the tall, muscled stallion, but it made her hold her tongue on saying his name now.
Bastion also came to mind, but he too had been absent, along with Mjoll. If by some miracle of the goddess her cousin had mustered up the courage to confess his feelings for the other jewelcrafter she would not dare intrude.
Finally she shook her head. "No, just get me away from here." Preferably somewhere well lit. The mare held no fear of the dark, but after the shadows, the light would be welcome. She studied the warrior that held her, missmatched eyes trailing over blonde hair and strong features, familiarity nagging at her, until suddenly it clicked.
No, it couldn't be. Could it? Had he made it, by some lucky chance, and they'd simply missed each other all this time? A frown tugged at dark lips, and she almost did ask, almost kept quiet, but now that she suspected she had to know. "Thrain?"
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Posted: Thu Apr 04, 2013 9:20 pm
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Even though he had tried very hard to be careful when he picked her up, there really was no way around making the injured Priestess just a little more hurt by trying to move her. Thrain winced when she hissed, murmuring a quick apology that he repeated a few times as he stood still in hopes she would adjust herself to the least painful position. For a few additional moments he stood there, large arms held out from his own body and still, worried he was doing this all wrong. Oh, who was he kidding? Undoubtedly he was, but there was little else to be done at the moment. The time for gentleness had ended once he'd scooped her up, so now all that could really be done for the Priestess was to get her somewhere she could be helped. Which, given how much of their home now seemed destroyed... Left little option.
It also did not help one bit that Thrain knew almost next to nothing about the place. Maybe two days had passed since his arrival and he had not yet worked up the nerve to go exploring. At least not until now.
A small chuckle left him as he stood there, the small ghoul in his arms considering her options. The irony of the situation was that should she tell him of the healer she wanted, he could not honestly find it without her help and therefore continue to be a burden on her when he was supposed to be the opposite. And no matter how he felt horribly silly over the whole thing, it would not do to mention it so he let it slip from his thoughts, grateful that she finally spoke up.
Only, it was not in any general direction and he was left to stand there a moment longer to decide for himself. His mouth twisted slowly with consideration before he nodded softly. A group of thoughtful Horsemen a bit back from the battle had begun to set up some lights, as well as what seemed to be healing of a sorts. That would be the place then.
"As the lady commands." He told her with a small smile before he shifted his weight carefully onto his other foot. It would be a slow go as he did not want to rock her too much, but he started softly at the sound of his name.
A puzzled face turned down to the woman, eyebrows knitted for a moment as he studied her. How could she know--
"Nergui, by the Goddess you're alright." It came out all in one breath, a quick offering of thanks as he gingerly pulled her close into the best imitation of a hug he could offer at the moment.
Never, not even for one moment since he'd been told in that dead cold of winter, did he dare believe he would be given the grace to honestly know someone who survived. But, oh, how wrong he had been.
"You have changed." This time he spoke more fondly, though still with a mix of wonder in his low voice. Now he pulled her back, still in his arms, to look her over. It was those eyes! They had changed most of all and confused him! How very interesting...
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Posted: Thu Apr 11, 2013 9:07 am
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Nergui got to watch as first confused puzzlement, then shocked relief as realization struck him. She smiled, despite the pain, and lifted her arms to wrap around the now guardian's neck, making more of the hug then the gingerly squeeze he was giving her. Certainly he hadn't wanted to hurt her, but in that moment she could ignore the way the movement pulled at the wounds on her side. This was Thrain, childhood friend and close confidant. Surely he was worth a proper hug.
She moved carefully when they released each other. Settling into his arms with small winces of pain, but there was a smile on those dark lips. Here now was another she had thought long parted, and never to see again. Though unlike her cousin, she had not had the luck to know of his survival before now. Bastion had been watched over as he'd acclimated to the reserve, but she had known he was there, healthy, alive.
At his comment about change, however, the smile faltered a little bit. It had been sometime since she'd hidden away the Insanity that had marked her as other. She still kept her veil, but most often now it was used as shawl, rather then a means to cover the golden glow. Now she wished for the comfort of the gauzy drape. "Yes," she answered simply, delicate fingers brushing a strand of spider silk hair behind the point of one ear. "I suppose I have, but it is still Nergui behind the mismatching eyes."
The old insecurities were back. Would Thrain still embrace her, knowing that she was different, infected? The voices in her head offered no comfort. They were preoccupied with with notions of home, and she did her best to ignore them. Thrain's presence, and the memories he stirred, had riled the whispering into a crescendo.
aye avast I'm sorry! I coulda sworn I tagged this. D=
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Posted: Thu Apr 18, 2013 11:29 am
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An odd emotion overtook him, something like a deep shift somewhere within himself. Everything felt raw suddenly and he ducked his head for a moment in attempt to push the emotion back down. Now was not the time to examine what he felt, to realize that the sight of the small Priestess all grown up and here safe in his arms when he'd thought her dead was enough to unhinge all his carefully crafted protection against sorrow. This small ghoul was breaking him and she'd hardly said a thing.
With a small noise that sounded like a mix of a growl and a 'harrumph', he frowned. Honestly it was just an attempt to gain control over his threateningly rampant emotions, but it was still a frown.
"Change is not always a bad thing, kind lady. You look fretful, but I like your changes. They are pretty." Oh except wait that was kind of forward. Uhhhh-- "N-not that I mean-- Well unless your changes are due to something negative which now that I think about it they probably are? But Goddess knows you are still beautiful, they have not changed you unless--" Filter, what was a filter?
The Guardian huffed a sigh, screwing his mouth up into even more of a frown as he suddenly refused to speak. If all he was going to do was insert his foot into his mouth, then it was best just to hush up altogether.
All of this was too much, her being here alive, what had just happened to the Lairs, everything. Flustered and fretting, Thrain hurried them both over to what looked to be a small stone fence, or a barrier of some sort with a relatively flat surface. He needed to sit down, just... Just a moment. His resolve had been shaken and a moment to collect himself was necessary.
Without words he lowered the Priestess onto the wall before he seated himself next to her, one hand rising to fist against his temple. It was an old habit, a physical embodiment of stress. Unaware exactly that he was doing it, but wanting more news he cast golden eyes to the ghoul at his side.
"Did... Is anyone else here?"
Beejoux No worries honey bunch! I took even longer to reply ;;;; Sorry about that XD
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Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2013 5:56 pm
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There was a raising unease spreading from the pit of Nergui's stomach as she looked up at the guardian that held her. His expression was odd, and she couldn't read what lay in those eyes, not like she once could.
He's judging you. You're not normal now.
She shook her head, dropping her gaze as her eyes narrowed. Accursed whispers, despised and needed, how that tore at that hard earned confidence. The growled harrumph pulled her from the inner voices in her head, and she blinked up at the stallion, features smoothing once again in a desperate bid for neutrality. She really needn't have bothered though, as comfort came in the guardian's next words. Enough to make her relax once again within the strength of his arms. The murmuring doubts were a lie, Thrain would never turn from her.
"No," she agreed, a small smile tugging at the corner of dark lips. "Change is not always bad." And she chuckled as he tumbled over his words, compliments and corrections alike. Had he always been so awkward? She was having difficulty recalling. She waited until he'd managed to say his fill on change, all hint of worry and doubt erased, from her visage before she gave his arm a soft pat. "Some changes do indeed come from mishap and lose, but we learn to accept them and move on." She would surely tell him of the Insanity and how very far it's taint stretched, but now was not the time.
As he set her down she gave a small wince, but quieted again once his hands had left her. If she kept very still she was fine, so she lay there, watching him, hands folded across her stomach so a palm pressed against the injuries at her side. He looked a little overwhelmed, and honestly she couldn't blame him. Having only just found them, life was confusing enough without the add of the shadowling creatures that had attacked them. His fist touched his temple, and she reached up to lay dark fingers over his own, pulling his hand down. "Bastion is here." There were more, many more, but of those he might know, only her cousin came to mind.
ayeavast Oops, totally didn't quote you right for this. xD
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Posted: Mon May 06, 2013 7:53 pm
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In a way Thrain really was judging the woman he kept close, but not in the manner the whispers might goad her into thinking. The consideration he gave her now was something more like comparing a flower to a seed. The seed had burst forth bright and colorful and new, similar to what it had been but different. All the potential had been there, it was just time for Thrain to realize it had come true. Whatever small, budding creature he had known Nergui to be, he had left her as that and returned to a glorious flower.
The shake of her head accompanied by the averted gaze momentarily made the Guardian bristle, not so much in something angry but certainly in the regard that he was worried. Yet before he could say anything else, or even before he could shift her, the worried expression turned into some semblance of a smile. A part of him realized she was mostly just laughing at his awkwardness, which was something he'd developed recently. Feeling so displaced in his new home, especially given how little he'd be around anybody else but other Guardians in training, Thrain was now much less confident than he'd once been. Even if his former confidence had been something silly and naive.
"And we make things even better than it once was... Yes?" He offered with his own small smile. At least, that was what he had hoped to accomplish. That was what he could hold onto now.
Surprise colored his expression when Nergui took the hand he was quick to turn over into her grasp, having not realized he had put it to his temple. The remark she made was a surprise and he did grin in actual warmth now.
"Ah! Bastion! That is good to hear!" But that left more questions than answer. Why had she said Bastion first? What about her older sister? Her parents? Thrain wanted to ask, he really did, but the two-toned color of her eyes still his tongue.
Something had changed her, something had crept into her when she had fled the Islands. But what was safe to ask after and what wasn't?
"And what else have we managed to keep?" It was the best way he could think of to ask after the changes she had sustained.
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Posted: Tue May 07, 2013 7:51 pm
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The priestess nodded to his question, smiling up at him as she gave his hand a soft squeeze. "That is the plan." Survive, rebuild, and once again thrive as they once had. It would not be easy, and there would certainly be many more bumps along the road, but Nergui believed in the hopeful glimpse of what she'd seen in the wake of the phoenix's echo. It had not been their lost isles, but something new, and she longed for it.
That peaceful little smile did not linger though, not as Thrain asked, without asking, who was left. She could not fault him his curiosity, because she was no better. Hard questions had slipped from her tongue numerous times in the past, both recent and not so recent. She wasn't a cold individual, but she was practical, and she had a thirst for knowledge that lead her to speak of things she really shouldn't. But she was also honest.
Dark fingers interlaced with his, and she brought his hand down so she could hold it in both hands. "Our lives, and our prides." Of her own family, only Bastion had survived, at least that she knew of. There could be aunts, uncles, cousins about that she had not yet been reunited with, but those closest to her, her parents and sister, were lost. "Little else has been left to us, and what remains is precious and dear." Each and every horsemen life was to be protected. Nergui might not have liked some, but that didn't mean she wouldn't defend them, protect them, fight for them.
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Posted: Thu May 16, 2013 2:18 pm
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"I can work with a plan." And he could. Never one to be without a goal, Thrain found it all the more distressing that there seemed so little he could do at the moment. The fact that he had been mostly unable to help the further destruction of the Lairs from the shadowlings attack did not help that feeling either. That was a defeat he would carry with him for the next few weeks, regardless if he hadn't been alone in said defeat or not. Nergui was helping soothe his otherwise hurt ego, but she could not mend such a blow, not when he was still so new to this starkly different life than the one he had hoped to return to. Not when he still continued to fail his people.
An odd feeling overcame him as the Priestess's smile fell, as her face took on a sadder countenance. Though he was not privy to such, the Guardian was sure that memories rose in her mind to play out their sad little story. He was sorry that he had asked, but at the same time he was not. He knew the mare was strong enough to stand a few reminders of her pain, or at least had learned how to cope with all of it. No, the odd feeling he experienced was a sort of dread.
Bastion had survived the fall of the Islands, but the others in Nergui's family, others that Thrain had once known, had not.
The realization of such left him feeling suddenly hollow and on edge.
That awful feeling might have persisted had the Priestess not taken his hand, had not woven her fingers with his. That small touch made another feeling take over the other, something he could hold onto. This was Nergui, his old friend. The little filly who he had promised to protect, who had seen him off to his training and who had been waiting for him upon his return.
The words she spoke moved that feeling in his chest through the form of the hand not held in her grasp. That free hand reached up to clasp lightly at the space between Nergui's shoulders and push her forward into a hug.
"And I will protect what we have left." Thrain told her in a low, solemn voice. Naturally larger than she, he was able to duck his head down and momentarily rest his chin atop her head, a small moment to pray to the Goddess that all this would turn around. That he could change his failures and protect what had been left behind.
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