Mirror, Mirror, On the Wall, Who is the Least Welcome of All?

the Rift

[OPEN] Mirror, Mirror, On the Wall, Who is the Least Welcome of All?

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

#13

12-22-2013, 10:48 PM

Torleik
A lone man loved by none:

How long can he live?

The pegasus that had swooped down incited fear and hatred within the rabicano unicorn out of habit and self-preservation, but the words that burst forth from the winged male erased any such prejudice Torleik was tempted to hold. This flying one was defending him, a unicorn he did not know, for what purpose? To what end? He could not quite comprehend the selflessness of this pegaus, but he was grateful for the aid. “No, my griffin seems fine, thank you,” he murmured, looking over Irelyn once again. Only her pride seemed damaged from what he could glean through their mental link. “Abdicating your title is unnecessary, even if she were; I would not ask that of you, only the aid you offered to heal her,” he added, concerned that this pegasus was too vehement in his defense. Torleik would not want anyone to lose anything simply for the sake of Irelyn’s stupidity and a bad situation.

Offense bloomed through his bond and Torleik tersely reprimanded his companion. She knew it was foolish and she needed to own up to her stupidity. At the moment it did not seem she was willing to do so, the emotional argument something roughly translating to needing to protect him from the flying lizard. ‘I protect you, not the other way around,’ he grunted firmly, silencing the female griffin for the moment. From the winged one he learned of the basis for the web-head’s hatred towards him – and likely the loudmouthed mare’s as well. So the Basin had invaded the Edge. He had been wholly unaware. There was no reason for that subject to be broached between himself and anyone in the Basin, no reason for him to ask about invasions and wars since he was still barely settling in. Inferring that the term the pegasus used meant ‘brother,’ Torleik cocked his head to the side curiously. A winged demon was calling him brother. It felt wholly wrong but…the male meant well, and Torleik did not argue. “I see,” he murmured quietly, thinking on this new development in the history of Helovia for a few moments.

Then the cobweb-skull spoke again. The anger within Torleik burned white-hot as Lace opened his mouth once more, but to his surprise, the dark stallion felt his emotion fizzle and splutter quietly into a deep, abiding pity. This stallion was so self-absorbed, so blinded, so horribly stubborn and prideful that he could not see beyond himself and what he thought. He was incapable of empathy, of stepping into others’ hooves – even of friends, it seemed – and that was…sad, to the dual-horned male. For the many faults he would admit to having (stubbornness and self-absorption chiefly among them), Torleik had been taught early in his childhood the importance of empathy and how it could prevent him from becoming a tyrant or a cruel master. “If you were in my place, if you were ignorant as I, would you not want what I want? Simple answers? Explanations? What reasons would I for discussing past wars with…whom, in the Basin? Leadership has changed, ranks are shifting – where in that turmoil would I have thought to ask, ‘Oh, hey, by the way – would someone mind giving me a list of all the people we’ve previously pissed off before I arrived here’? I have barely found myself in the Basin, let alone figured the places of others, and the history? That is the last on my list, since I bear no one ill will,” he grunted pointedly.

“Suspicion doesn’t warrant vicious hostility and absent manners,” the Viking returned simply, seeing yet another approach. She seemed calm and quiet, though unafraid to voice an opinion. Annoyance and an indignant rage bubbled up when this mare explained that this Qian had originally taken the Edge from the unicorns first – and here this hypocritical bastard was telling him he had no right to be curious and wander on lands that had been taken by bloodshed by the webhead’s very own people. “Seems you do not have such a firm footing on your pedestal, now do you…” he trailed, glacial blue eyes boring into Lace’s stony orbs. Torleik swiveled his ears towards this mare, this Evangeline, and nodded respectfully. “Evangeline, I am Torleik and my companion is Irelyn,” he returned.

A unicorn approached from within the Edge lands and that familiar rage flared for not even a moment before Torleik acknowledged he didn’t have the energy to nurse and stoke such burning hate any longer today. She did not address him and he remained silent while she spoke, thinking it must be hard for a unicorn who’d found a home there to realize how much her leader hated her kind. The dual-horned stallion looked once more at Lace. How long before his hatred of unicorns harmed this one living within his land? How long before he would rationalize and justify banishing her, harming her, killing her? He hoped it would not come to that. Much to his surprise, the loudmouthed bitch whom he was not fond of from a prior instance spoke to him, offering her name. Kahlua. She appeared desperately contrite in body language, though not so much in speech, but Torleik understood words were sometimes hard to force out. He would not shame her further than her friend, the winged one, had. That was not his place and would do him, nor her, any good. He did not feel the need to introduce himself again as he had just spoken his name to the other mare a few moments ago. “The wall is impressive, Kahlua. I do not know how you managed to craft it, but it is a spectacle to be sure,” he replied, glancing at Irelyn when Kahlua said she was cute. This pleased the griffin who fluffed her feathers proudly. “Irelyn is an owl griffin. She is young and foolish, but has a good heart that makes her act braver than she should,” Torleik stated, more for Irelyn than the equine mare.

Looking around at the many faces, the unicorn realized this had become a much larger event than he’d ever planned. “To think that when I set out I merely wanted to go on a walk with my companion and have her learn more of the land,” he sighed.

Credits: Image by Eagle