Lore: Behind Stone Walls

Mizuki · Post by **Mizuki** » Fri Nov 24, 2006 2:20 pm

"Ah! hey! My hair's not food!" She pulled away and laughed playfully for the first time since getting home. She looked at the horse in a mock glare then patted his muzzle again, rubbing the area between his eyes.

"You're very soft." she told the dark horse like he could understand. She felt at ease now, as if she was able to move on without the pain in her heart. She felt light.

Post by **Soran Nightblade** » Fri Nov 24, 2006 2:31 pm

Adonis accepted her touch without flinching this time, reassured by the wave of peace he could feel in her now. God, he was going to hate himself for this after she'd gone and he was free of her spell. But now, he couldn't resent her. Quite the opposite. He snorted in would-be frustration at the confiscation of his food supply, but stopped trying to eat her hair.

A faint wail of pain came from down the street, somewhere out of view, and the sound of a man yelling. Probably another incident related to the soldiers in the city. Adonis's ears flicked to the sound and back to Neko. He wondered what she or her family intended to do in such a village. He hoped they weren't goign to stay long; the pain of the people here was like a jumble of distant noise in his head. It had become much easier to control with Neko directly in front of him, because he could focus on her.

Mizuki · Post by **Mizuki** » Fri Nov 24, 2006 2:36 pm

Neko snapped her head in the direction of the pained wail. Anger flared in her eyes. This was her home and evil men were violating its peace and tranquility. She felt as if she was one of the men again as she dashed to unhook Adonis's stable door and moved to his side to mount him bareback--she didn't think that Adonis may possibly throw her off.

Determination ran rampant through her as she mounted his back and took hold of Adonis's mane in one hand and brought out her retractable staff in the other. She wasn't thinking clearly, only to save whoever needed her assistance.

"Go, please go," she said to Adonis below her, not kicking her heels into him. She felt that if she asked, he would go.

Post by **Soran Nightblade** » Fri Nov 24, 2006 3:04 pm

Adonis stiffened uncomfortably when Neko jumped on his back. What did she want? To go get involved in some stranger's problem? "Go, please, go," she pleaded.

His muscles locked up and then burst into motion, carrying them out of the stable at a brisk trot. He ran in the direction her eyes were facing, not sure why he was obliging her on this.

Mizuki · Post by **Mizuki** » Fri Nov 24, 2006 3:09 pm

Neko breathed a silent thank you to Adonis and rode him without really looking towards where the cry had been heard. A young woman was being harassed by the warlord soldiers. How typical, Neko thought in annoyance. She suddenly stopped Adonis before they advanced further. It wouldn't be smart to show her face... Thinking quickly, Neko grabbed the sash around her waist and tied it around the lower half of her face. Now her shirt was loose and flying open but that was the price she paid for not being reconisable.

After she tied it to her face securely, she urged Adonis on fast towards the three soldiers harassing the girl. As they flew by, Neko crashed her staff in the soldiers heads causing them to falls away from the girl. Neko circled around the men and kept bashing them with her staff.

"Leave her be!" she called out, altering her voice to a bit of a deeper tone that sounded steely.

Post by **Soran Nightblade** » Fri Nov 24, 2006 3:27 pm

Adonis cringed at each crack her weapon blew down on the soldiers. He tolerated it, barely; he just wanted it to be over. He glanced over a second too late as two of the men collaborated to rise up next to him and grab Neko's leg, hauling her off his back to land hard on the ground. They moved in on her quickly.

Mizuki · Post by **Mizuki** » Fri Nov 24, 2006 3:34 pm

Neko cried out as she fell but lashed out at the men. Cracking whatever possible limb she could of theirs with her weapon. The girl had taken the initiative to run away but now Neko was in trouble and she knew no one was going to come to her rescue.

One of the men has discovered her loose shirt and he grabbed it, throwing her shirt open for the world to see.

"A woman!" he said expasperatly.

"Good, hold her down! Our original target got away!" said another and he advanced on Neko eagerly as she was held in place. Damn, she thought. Nothing she did was ever smart, but Neko accepted it. She didn't have enough strength to fight these guys off herself, but at least the innocent girl got to get away with her purity. Grinning deafetedly under her mask, Neko watched the men around her. She accepted that now she was about to be ripped in two.

What was a woman's virginity away? A false sense of purity... Neko figured she wasn't all that pure anyway.

"Do your worst." she said bravely and hardened her body and mind to what was about to happen.

Post by **Soran Nightblade** » Fri Nov 24, 2006 3:42 pm

Adonis's mind tingled with rage as he saw what the humans were going to do. Something his human soulmate had done many times, something he'd had to live through his mind over and over. He lowered his head angrily, and a pulse of black magic swirled in the air, barely visible through the darkness. The men who'd been attacking Neko suddenly paused and grasped their heads, disoriented. A moment later the disorientation turned to pain, and they began screaming as black magic burned out their minds. Adonis didn't wait around to see the end of the spell. He bit onto Neko's half-torn shirt and tugged her up to her feet, dragging her to run with him.

Mizuki · Post by **Mizuki** » Fri Nov 24, 2006 10:40 pm

Neko didn't ask questions and broke out into a run into the night with the dark horse. They wouldn't follow, she knew that much. When they reached the stables of her home again, she collapsed, panting, on the ground.

"That.....was close......" she panted and gasped for air. She felt scared, she was almost raped but yet she felt noble for taking that girl's place. There was even the question of what the hell was happening to the soldiers.

Post by **Soran Nightblade** » Fri Nov 24, 2006 10:56 pm

Adonis stood tensely next to her, slightly sweaty, though it wasn't from running. He still felt the agony of the soldiers in his head as the spell tortured their minds. There had been no need to use such a powerful spell, and it left him drained. It wouldn't kill them, but it would take several minutes to run its course. He wanted to lie down and relieve the weak feeling in his legs. Instead he turned pensively to Neko, trying to connect with her mind instead and let it drown out the others. The whites of his eyes showed brightly against his jet black coat. Why had the human done that? She went into a dangerous situation for no reason, and was nearly violated in the process. Adonis wouldn't let himself think about what almost happened.

Mizuki · Post by **Mizuki** » Fri Nov 24, 2006 11:05 pm

Her breath finally back to its normal pace, Neko stood up again and untied the sash around her head. Her shirt was torn now, there wasn't even a point in covering. besides, it was just her and the horses. Smiling to herself, feeling proud yet afraid with her heart pounding, Neko opened Adonis's stable and lead him inside.

She washed him down calmly, like nothing had happened. His previous magic on her was still blocking out her negative emotions, not that she knew this, and when she wakes up tomorrow she'll freak out knowing what she just did. But now it didn't matter, they were alright, shaken, but alright.

"Thank you for helping me," she said to the dark horse as if he was just another person. She was brushing and drying him down now with a towel.

Post by **Soran Nightblade** » Fri Nov 24, 2006 11:13 pm

Adonis tried not to shiver as she groomed his coat, tense and nauseous with the knowledge of what he'd done and the uncertain fear of/longing for her closeness.

"Thank you for helping me," she said to him, so naturally that he wondered again if she knew who he was. No, he would have noticed her reaction. She was okay for now, but he feared what would happen when she left his side and faced the full reality of the night's events without his strength behind hers. He nickered quietly in response, the closest a horse could make to a sigh, and rested his head dully against the wall of the stable, leaning into it like he didn't want to hold his own weight.

Mizuki · Post by **Mizuki** » Fri Nov 24, 2006 11:19 pm

When she finished she grinned to herself then sneakily dumped a large bag of oats into a feeding barrel for Adonis. She even cut up apple slices for him.

"For my number one stallion that runs into battle with me!" she declared, high-spirited and patting his mane. She hugged his neck lovingly and rubbed her cheek against his coat. Thinking to herself, Neko marveled at the horses' behavior. Unless this horse was miraculously smart, or there was some kind of magic to him, this horse wasn't like any other horse. And she felt like he was a long lost friend. Closing her eyes she said softly,

"Don't leave my side, and I wont leave yours." she had a child's vuneralbility, she was an amazing woman to come across.

Post by **Soran Nightblade** » Fri Nov 24, 2006 11:29 pm

Adonis's thoughts shuddered strangely at Neko's words. Don't leave my side, and I won't leav eyours? Part of him wanted to melt into those words, and believe them, and seek permanence and comfort in her. But he'd done that before. He was still paying the price. He would always pay the price for dedicating himself to a human. He leaned away from the wall and stood on his own weight, suddenly not wanting to be weak before her. He glanced at the food she had put there for him, feeling his pride bristle at the thought of eating from a bucket like some horse. But the apples smelled sweet, and he felt like he'd never been so hungry before, though he wasn't sure it was for food. He dipped his muzzle into the bucket and ate the apples almost daintily, still above the concept of gnawing oats. He lifted his nose up again, watching her thoughtfully.

Mizuki · Post by **Mizuki** » Sat Nov 25, 2006 2:57 pm

Neko ran her fingers through Adonis's mane idly. She even began a small, long braid. She was just thinking, calmly, about what they were going to do about this warlord and his men. They had to do something, at least she and her brother, this was their home! They needed to take revenge for their home... and their father.

The thought of her father's death saddened her more than the village being taken over cruelly. Next to her brother, her father was the second most powerful man in Neko's life. He was the one who continuously tried to convince mother that it was alright for a girl to train and spar like a man. She sighed sadly. The world wouldn't know a better man, she thought to herself.