Take Me There [Torleik]

the Rift

[PRIVATE] Take Me There [Torleik]

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

#10

03-04-2014, 01:20 AM

TORLEIK
Long is the winter of a man's soul

Torleik’s bearded expression fell at Brisa’s words, the pain in what she spoke reflecting clearly in his glacial orbs. He, too, knew loss. He knew what it was to wish to die every day simply because continuing to live was a reminder of who was no longer with him. The guilt that weighed upon him for living too much to bear, the thought of the effort it took to make it from dawn to dusk one more time too much to fathom. It hurt him to know someone as gentle as this felt such pain. Coming alongside the pristinely white mare, Torleik touched his muzzle to her cheek softly. “Taken?” he asked quietly, deep voice reverberating through both of their bodies where they touched. He wished to say more, but Torleik knew delving into hurts such as these needed a careful touch. He had not wanted anyone barreling in with even well-intentioned inquiries, and he was well aware that she may reject his probing and choose to say no more. If so, the stallion would accept that. Her space was to be respected.

Being this close to her made him cogently aware of her scent and what it called for him to do. That made…proximity more difficult, tempting as the lure of her pheromones were and the larger male shifted somewhat on his hindquarters in response to feeling his loins stir in reactionary response. That Brisa had no control over when she came into this…phase…of her being was something he had learned long ago, so part of him felt for her. Being male, of course he wished to mate with any pretty, healthy young thing at all times, but it was almost easier that way, to feel it always and thus learn to block it out, learn to live with it, find other outlets. To not have that and suddenly be inundated with need… He had to suppress a dark snort as he found black humor in the thought that such an existence might turn him into a rapist. Could he honestly live like that? Could he control himself? Females were strong creatures in many subtle ways, the Viking mused thoughtfully.

She sighed and he cocked his head slightly to the side, looking at her with patience and curiosity. What was she thinking? Was it sad? Her soft voice broke the silence finally, asking him how he dealt with his demons. “Easy? No,” he said quickly, though not harshly. “My demons still find weak moments to torment me, as I suspect they always will. For a long while I didn’t deal with them; I let them control me. I wandered for months, alone, without any real equine contact, exhausted, starving. Many times I wished to simply put myself to the ground and never rise again.” Torleik smiled grimly, trying not to delve too deeply into the sadness he still felt for his past. “I had no one. No home. No family. Nothing to live for – or so it seemed. But one night, looking up at the full moon high in the star-studded, velvet sky, I realized that if I gave up, all of my loss would be for naught. I would be shaming my family, telling them their sacrifices had meant nothing, their love and hard work were not enough to sustain a life beyond their passing, and I realized I could not spit in the face of my family that way. So I made a choice to live. It is still a…meager living, even now. I have no family of my own, few friends, no comfortable place to call home, but I am alive, and I will continue to be until such time as I can no longer manage it through sheer power of will.” The warrior ceased his soliloquy, hoping that perhaps it explained to Brisa the journey he had been through, and still traversed even now.

Nodding, he gazed around, pensively silent for some time. “Words, useful as they are to communicate to others, are fairly crude tools to express anything,” he spoke. So many equines spent so much of their life filling it with words and useless, idle chatter when they would do better to be silent and listen or feel or see. This was why Torleik always tried to speak his words once they had been measured, or speak little unless spoken too, that his ramblings would not take up more air and precious seconds than he deserved to steal from the universe.

Credits: Image by Flowering Fatality @ DA