Before anyone has to bleed

the Rift

[PRIVATE] Before anyone has to bleed

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

11-19-2013, 09:06 PM (This post was last modified: 12-05-2013, 01:48 AM by Torleik.)

Gah, these two have so many depressing feels. Poor babies :(

Torleik
A lone man loved by none:

How long can he live?

A sad smile briefly contorted his face, a grimace more than anything else, and he nodded. "A much welcomed spring it will be, if it ever comes," he murmured. Torleik was not so blinded by his pain as to be unable to enjoy life on a day to day basis; his was a deeper loneliness that convinced him he would never be truly close to anyone ever again. He had lost so many that had been so near to his heart, and that pain was so great that he never wished to feel it again.

Faelene claimed these doppelgangers lived and died like normal mortals, so it was unlikely they were shades. Curious, confused, and somewhat unsettled, the stallion spoke once more. "How did...these copies come about? How can there simply be another of...you running about?" Each equine, pegasus and unicorn was special in their own way, unique; no other would ever be like them. To have a copy of yourself...Torleik did not think he would like that.

"The shades from my home...they were horrid things. We referred to them by a few names, wights, or draugrs," he explained, feeling as if he should share based upon her open, uncertain look. "Wights are...more like the undead without magical abilities. They are hard to kill, but that is their only real threat. Draugrs are trickier and can use magic; they can rise from rocks like wisps of smoke, change their size, cast spells on those whom they wish to harm..." he paused, glancing down. "They even possess the power to drive a living being insane. I have fought some in my time, and the battles were..." Torleik could not find the right words. "I would be unnerved, were this land also subjected to the influence of wights and draugrs. It would be a much more dangerous place."

He paused for a moment, then gave her another brief smile. "I am sure you do not wish to hear more of the undead and cursed corpses," he murmured apologetically. From the undead to the divine, their conversation shifted. Torleik was not ashamed of his belief in the gods and his faith, though a quiet, powerful thing, was obvious when he spoke of it. Falene asked him if he was a follower of some gods and he considered her question carefully. "From a very young age, I have been partial to the Moon Goddess - what you call her here, I believe. We called her Máni, daughter of Nótt, the night," the rabicano stallion shared. "I wish to know as much as I can learn about all deities, though. Our gods and goddesses were rarely seen, but they often sent us symbols, signs and omens."

The winding path of their interchange wove its way towards more recent matters and Torleik expressed his frustrations to a well-performing listener. She seemed irked by Deimos' conscription of him and this made Torleik wonder. Was there something else going on he wasn't aware of? Was the Basin strapped for soldiers? Why? The stallion would have been amused to know Faelene neglected to tell him she was going to discover why Deimos had acted in that manner due to an attempt to avoid, or perhaps protect, his male pride. It would not have wounded his pride to allow her that quest; Torleik's ego was not something that was easily wounded by others' offers of help or intent to aid.

The mare did not move away from his touch and he was glad for that. It had been a long time since he had been near anyone to touch them and he feared overstepping proper boundaries. Nodding quietly at her admonition that home was more than a place to eat or sleep, he continued to listen, explaining to her as best he could his people's policies for slavery. His muscular shoulders shrugged when Faelene apologized for her prying. "You did not pry," he stated simply, flatly. The emotions were coming to the surface again, overflowing that well he tried to keep boarded up and capped off. The glacial-eyed stallion set his mouth in a hard line when she offered that his brother must have been missed. "Terribly so," he admitted quietly, for if he spoke any louder he feared his voice might shatter. His skin twitched at the mare's unexpected contact and he looked at her curiously, the light in his eyes almost afraid.

He didn't want to feel pain anymore. He didn't want to let someone in and have it become another hole inside. She was being kind, and it was hard to push that away. The red-maned mare's words distracted him from his thoughts and his brows knitted together in sympathy. "Falene...I am sorry," he rumbled, shifting to arch his neck over hers and offer a brief embrace. Torleik could understand this pain of hers better than most, save for the loss of children. He had none of his own and so could not fathom that gaping absence within her heart.

Still, he would offer what warmth and comfort that he could. He would have suffered less had there been anyone around to give that to him when he lost everything.

@[Faelene]

Credits: Image by Eagle