Who is the Light and Who is the Devil?

[PRIVATE] Who is the Light and Who is the Devil?

Torleik the Bloodskald Posts: 354

Outcast atk: 4.5 | def: 8.0 | dam: 7.5

Stallion :: Unicorn :: 16.3 :: 11 HP: 66.5 | Buff: SWIFT

Irelyn :: Plain Griffin :: Molten Dagger RedGod

11-12-2013, 06:52 PM

Torleik felt he was being appraised as this mare’s gaze slid over him, searching, inspecting. Did he mind? Did she like what she saw? Did it matter? He watched her expressions and tried to read her, their eyes locked. She was hiding. He could tell that much. It wasn’t hard to tell, really, those who put on a mask. It was always just a hint too frigid, a touch too happy, a fraction too indifferent. Had he known directly she didn’t want him to get too close, his curiosity would have been aroused even more; Torleik wondered why others hid themselves so thoroughly, why they buried their souls so deep under a mountain of lies and falsehoods that even they forgot who they really were.

He understood being reticent, being taciturn, being aloof. He understood neglecting to share particular details about the past because you weren’t sure you wanted this new acquaintance to know or you weren’t sure your lover would accept you – but neglecting to share the whole of a person? Of an entire being? It baffled him. It meant every interaction, everything that happened was a lie. Nothing was real. No reality that horse existed in could ever be true. That she swished her tail when he provided the answer that he would not have asked if he didn’t want to know told Torleik more than she thought. She was alone, pretending to be an island, and she wanted someone to care – but they shouldn’t dare show it, lest she cut them with their own foolishly weak emotions. The stallion had seen it before in broken males and females: the desire for love and overwhelming fear of it by the same turn.

Torleik wondered what had happened to her to make her this way. What evils had been perpetrated on this attractive mare to push her to that place? He would likely never know. She answered that she had nowhere else to be, so why not be here in this godsforsaken pit of hell? “You have a strange sense of ‘why not’,” he murmured, amused. A worried thought took him, then, and Torleik felt anxiety crawl up his spine again – but not for himself. Why not be here, if indeed her life was so desolate? That fiery maw in the ground had likely claimed more than one equine. Would it soon claim another? Surely she was not here for something so dark. Still, the thought that he might be preventing a life from ending would not leave his nagging mind, and Torleik vowed he would walk out of this place with her either in front of or beside him.

She called him Grumpy and he snorted, chuckling at her insult. Returning the favor, she seemed pleased and he gave her a handsome, lazy half-grin. Her answer about family resonated deep within his muscular chest and he dipped his head for a moment. “I am sorry,” he said softly. “I know what it is to lose everything like that.” He paused, assessing her. “I also know it’s the loneliest thing in the world, hiding and waiting to be found,” Torleik rumbled, cautiously offering a sense of companionship through those words. Being alone was sometimes necessary, but one should never feel they had no one if they needed someone. This strange, interesting mare offered to show him to where he intended to go, and remembering his earlier vow, he nodded in assent. “I would appreciate the guidance,” he admitted and focused on turning. Picking up each hoof felt like hefting the world, and his tail swished momentarily in an attempt to expel his stress. He would follow this mare, even if she intended him harm. At least he would be comforted by the knowledge that she was still breathing, thinking and feeling.

TORLEIK
"It's hard to say that I'm back on a straight line. You see, my path is, in fact, just a fault line. It's in my blood, it's in my lungs and it won't die."