Lore: Behind Stone Walls

Post by **Emora Deen** » Tue Sep 04, 2007 11:20 pm

Laya's heart pounded harder in her chest as one of the men grew closer enough to grab her up. She hugged Telanis tightly. She could only think of one thing that she would be of use to them for. Since that was her worst fear.

"N-no... please!" she said, shaking her head warily. One of the men grabbed her from behind and drug her away from Telanis. Her kimon riped and a peice of fabric was left hanging from his horn.

"Telanis run!" she screamed, kicking and struggling to try and get away.

Post by **Soran Nightblade** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 8:06 am

Telanis had enough energy to grow suddenly furious at this turn of events. He bolted to his feet and spun on the man holding Laya captive, lowering his horn aggressively.j

"Well, look what we have here. My word..." said the leader, admiration and pleasure mixing together in her voice.

Telanis snorted fiercely and shot forward with his horn, but the unicorn was still so drained that the man easily dodged it, hauling Laya with him.

"Don't let it bloody its horn! It'll be no use to us for days," warned the woman, running to her horse with a few others to fetch ropes.

"Thanks for the concern, boss," chuckled the man holding Laya.

"Rease her, n..." Telanis's stern voice crumbled as the man who had caught the ape head earlier came up with the brilliant idea of shoving it next to Telanis's face. "Please..let..." Telanis's voice died entirely and suddenly it was all he could do just to stay standing. His eyes still delivered a fierce warning, but at this point the men were unconcerned about his aggression.

Then the ropes arrived, tossed over his head from three directions. "Get them back to the ship," the woman commanded. "The girl rides with me," she added, noting the interested looks some of her male colleagues were shooting her.

Telanis found himself being led by the neck toward the center of their caravan, the guidance of the ropes so secure that he couldn't even look to see where Laya was going.

* * * * *

Adonis stumbled dizzily along the trail, impressed he could walk at all with these two blood-bathed humans on his back. His resistance to blood was better than his brother's, but still no match for this. The necessity of the moment was the one thing keeping his joints from locking up. He felt like vomiting, before remembering that horses couldn't.

The sound of running water grow louder, until he finally made his way to a shallow stream. He went to let his cargo down, but collapsed instead, barely landing upright enough to spare their legs from being crushed (although he weighed little more than a human anyway.)

"Get him in the water," Adonis choked, not caring if she heard his voice right now. He needed to pull himself together..

Post by **Emora Deen** » Thu Sep 06, 2007 10:48 am

They tied her hands in front of her. Two had to drag her struggling form towards the leader and her horse. She looked over her shoulder, trying her best to see if Telanis was alright.

"If you harm him you will be cursed by the Gods..." she proclaimed. "He is a sacred creature, blessed and protected by the Gods. You doom yourself as well as your men by harming him!" Laya was pushed up onto the horse to sit infront of the woman so they could make sure she did not slip off the back and try and escape.

At the moment Laya forgot about what might happen to her once they reached the ship. The only thing she could think about was what might happen to Telanis...

Post by **Soran Nightblade** » Thu Sep 06, 2007 10:54 pm

Telanis stared ahead at Laya protectively as he trotted to keep pace with the group. Spring had returned to his step enough to allow him free movement, although he was doing his best to mask his exhaustion.

"Oh, we aren't going to harm him, love," the leader guffawed from the saddle behind Laya. "Aye, his trophy fetches a mighty price, but as you mentioned, a curse as well. His kind is far more use to us alive. We have a...client who's been in the market for some time for an opportunity like this. And he'll pay a large fortune...enough to buy us a new ship carved in mahogany," she grinned, her voice rising so that her words roused cheers of approval from her men.

"And the girl? What plans have you for her?" Telanis's silver voice caressed the minds of everyone in the group, sincere and bold.

The leader spun in her saddle to stare at the Unicorn. "Well I'll be. So it speaks," she wondered out loud.

"Do not play with me, trophy hunter. If you truly mean her no harm, release her here."

The woman seemed to consider this for a moment. "Now that seems like an awful waste, seeing as how she's already gotten you so tame. I believe we'll have GREAT use for her. If her safety is such a concern to you, be more cautious with your words."

As they spoke, the trees finally gave way to the thin brush of the shoreline. A large 3-sail ship sat at anchor just off the sands. The men began dismounting and loading themselves up onto dinghies, leading their horses to swim beside them into the water to get to the hoists at the sides of the ship.

Telanis hesitated as they reached the shore. Swimming was not his strong point.

Post by **Emora Deen** » Thu Sep 06, 2007 11:01 pm

Laya looked towards Telanis. "I'm not leaving you," she thought to him, hoping he could here her. "I would never leave you."

She moved her wrists back and forth until they were almost raw. She was trying to losen the ropes enough to get her hands free. Maybe, if she could get to Telanis he could get away. She could escape later. "Telanis... If I can get to you..." she thought to him. "I'll try and help you escape. I'll escape later, okay?"

Post by **Soran Nightblade** » Thu Sep 06, 2007 11:18 pm

Telanis was unable to hear Laya's exact thoughts, but her feelings reached him, and he was touched. He couldn't even answer her without everyone else hearing his voice, but he tossed his head in graceful defiance, his long mane sweeping the wind in a gesture of approval. If she could do this, he would do this.

He stiffened as the ropes beckoned him into the saline water. Now, what could he do about his swimming? He stepped gingerly in up to his chest and hesitated, trying not to lose his footing. The ship was too large to bring up to shore, so swimming was the only way over. He'd have to try...even if the men were somehow able to keep him afloat with the ropes from their precarious boats, the concept of being dragged through the water by his neck wasn't especially appealing. He glanced over at Laya, who had been seated in one of the Dinghies off to his right.

Then a wave caught him up, and he felt his legs lose contact with the sand. He whinnied and began kicking furiously...but ineffectively. His head dipped below the waves, and the men pulled hard to bring it up again, his horn bursting up like a narwhale. Unfortunately, the boats floated together quickly, and the tension on the ropes dropped again.

The leader rushed to the edge of Laya's dinghie, watching the spectacle in astonishment. "Can't he even swim?" she muttered, and looked at Laya accusingly. "Is this some kind of trick?"

Post by **Emora Deen** » Thu Sep 06, 2007 11:23 pm

"He's a unicorn you idiot. I creature of the forest. He's never had to swim!" Laya yelled angrily. "Telanis! Telanis are you okay! Please come up Telanis..."

She jerked when someone tried to pull her back from the edge of the water. "Kick your legs," she thought... "Keep air in your lungs, it will help you float." Someone tried to pull her back, and she feared Telanis would drown so much that when she jerked away she imediatly jumped off the dingie and into the water. She dove down, pushing against Telanis to try and help him up to the surface so he could get a good breath of air. She didn't know how much help she could be, but she would at least try and save him.

Post by **Soran Nightblade** » Fri Sep 07, 2007 8:04 am

Telanis tried to stop flailing and listen to Laya's directions so he wouldn't maim her underwater, but he still couldn't get back to the surface. He felt her start pushing him up, and stretched his nose up enough to take one sputtering breath before going down again. The ropes that had gone slack started to become tangled aroundhis neck and legs.

This was crazy...he'd swum once before, when he'd jumped off the cliff into the river, but he hadn't been this panicked at the time, and he'd still been fairly inefficient with it. It was pretty embarrassing. Anyway, in a matter of seconds, he too tangled to move much at all. He felt his feet touch the bottom as he sank as far as he could for the moment. "Laya..." he called out for her uneasily, not sure what she could possibly suggest that would help him get up again.

Mizuki · Post by **Mizuki** » Sat Sep 08, 2007 10:26 am

Obeying without a word or question, Neko helped her severely wounded brother to the stream to clean he and herself up. Kratos communicated with Neko by grunts and low, harsh whispers. After she had cleaned Kratos up she was better able to see the damage inflicted upon him. Long, deep whip gashes that covered most of his upper body and deep, but clean cuts from the ropes on his wrists and ankles. Neko tried to clean them to avoid them getting infected, but without bandages and proper ointments Kratos might never heal correctly.

Neko's own wounds were minor cuts and scraps, and black-blue bruises on her body. Her more severe wound was internal, it would heal, but not properly enough for her own satisfaction. Neko might always flinch away from a man's touch.

Post by **Soran Nightblade** » Sat Sep 08, 2007 10:57 am

Adonis leaned shakily against a tree, feeling immense relief as his adrenaline slowly cooled. He felt completely exhausted, but no longer dizzy and weak. When his legs would accept his weight, he moved away from the tree and walked over to where Neko was treating Kratos at the stream bank. The man's wounds would need salve and covering. He paused, briefly fascinated by how calmly the girl was treating him, when her own wounds must have stung far worse. In his personal experience, abuse and betrayal stung far more than whips and spears.

Suddenly moved to relieve her of her responsibility to this man, Adonis decided reluctantly to seek out the materials for his care himself. He stalked off, irritated, as he made his way along the edge of the stream in search of the small berries that usually grew in such places. He finally found a large bush of them and collected them at the stems. When he had nearly half the bush hanging from his mouth, he returned to Neko and dropped them at her feet.

Mizuki · Post by **Mizuki** » Sat Sep 08, 2007 11:07 am

Neko jumped at the sound of the bush dropping near her. She looked at the berries, then at Adonis, a question in her eyes.

"What are they...for?" she asked the horse carefully like it could answer her. But it could, she did hear a voice before, didn't she?

Post by **Soran Nightblade** » Sat Sep 08, 2007 11:11 am

Adonis glanced moodily away. Did she have to spell everything out for this human? Then again, maybe it did seem obvious only to him, since he'd been an herbalist in the human village where he'd lived. He briefly pondered how much speech he could get away with before it struck her that he wasn't a normal horse, and decided it might be necessary to prove his intelligence in order to get her to follow his advice.

"Pop these and spread the juice on his wounds. It will sting. I will be back with bandages," he said curtly, turning away from her to find leaves large enough to cover his wounds.

Mizuki · Post by **Mizuki** » Sat Sep 08, 2007 11:18 am

Neko paled as the horse turned away. It talked! Well, at least she wasn't going nuts anymore. She started to tenitively pick berries from the bush at her side, and she squeezed each one until they popped and a dark liquid seeped from them. She hesitated smearing the juice on Kratos' wounds, a small shred of doubt crossing her face before she finally shruged, trusting the horses words.

Once the juice touched Kratos' open wounded, he grunted and twitched in the pain of it. Neko cringed but kept smearing the berry juice into them until Kratos finally calmed down. Neko had used most of the berries on Kratos' whip lashes before she finally moved on to his wrists and ankles.

Post by **Soran Nightblade** » Sat Sep 08, 2007 11:58 am

Adonis wasn't used to the plant species that lived here in Ongoreth, but he soon spotted a plant similar to one he knew back in Ighten. It was a tall palm-type tree with long, flat leaves wide enough to cover wounds. He pulled several fronds off, having to hold his head to the side to keep from stepping on the things, and brought them back to the edge of the stream. He slowed slightly as he approached, the pain of both humans penetrating his soul. He half-sighed as he lay the leaves next to Neko. Heaven help him, he wanted to protect them. He wasn't very happy about it. It seemed like a weakness to him.

He stood beside Neko and touched his nose very lightly against her arm. Her wrists were raw as well. He looked her in the eye as if to remind her that she was hurt as well.

Post by **Emora Deen** » Sun Sep 09, 2007 6:48 pm

Laya's lungs were burning as she sank down with Telanis. "You have to transform," she thought. "Your human body is smaller than your natural body and will easily escape the ropes. I can help you to the surface easier then." It was the only thing she could think of...