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Abandon
Could you bear to be
alone, if I were the only one
in this world?
Could you live in light
forever, if I were not part
of this word?
ASHAMIN
BEAUTY IS PERCEPTION
BEAUTY IS PERCEPTION
The intelligence of the youth before him did not go unnoticed. Though perhaps she did have a tendency to prattle on, and perhaps she was a bit oddly versed, she knew more than him about this land in many ways, and he deferred to her for that. And the respect she had for him, too, once he was finally able to speak himself, was not unappreciated. He was tired, his body a long, cold ache, but he was still able to smile at her kindness.
He did not have a moment to thank her before she edged into the water, and did not have moment to breathe before she leaped back out. Ashamin frowned--concerned, not disappointed--and listened as she spoke on.
He cast a quick look back at his leg, fearing less for the egg now that the kitsune had parted from it, and considered her question. Why had he gone in, and were they frozen? Perhaps that was why, now, he started to notice the slowing of blood in his body and from the wound. What red remained in the water was red from an earlier time. He shifted his leg experimentally, hesitantly expecting more pain than he received.
"I had hoped," he said in a quiet reply, "that it might hurt less than being out there." And it did, he think, hurt less. There was a numbing quality to it. So, if the little one would not come to him, he would do his best to come to her. "I... I will try, to move. Thank you."
There were many steps to moving. The first was to clear away the odd object about his hocks. This, he arranged about his tail, carefully lifting the chain out of the water by its shuddering strength. And then, the egg--he nudged it further up the shore as best he could, extending his reach and shutting his eyes tight with the ache of the effort. When it was settled, Ashamin knew what came next.
And so, with a steeling of his heart, he bit down on the air and pressed his weight onto his fore, pulling himself up and grunting weakly, painfully, as he did so. His hindquarters followed slowly, dragged behind until his stronger left could carry him into a three legged hunch. The water stirred about him, the fish scattering as he disturbed their muddy homes with his now-stained alabaster hooves, and the strange amulet that had appeared in the waters skimmed the surface of the water, hanging delicately and loosely just below the bite on his tail.
Ashamin made it almost completely out of the water, crying mournfully and softly as he went, before he could stand and drag himself no longer. He collapsed with only a fraction of his body still submerged--just the back legs below his knees--and his tail floating on the water's surface with all the habits of looking like a snake.
Though the buck should have been concerned, then, for his own health, he thought only of the egg. He was splayed and shivered, utterly weak and exposed, at the mercy of this filly who, even in her youth may have had the strength to hurt him now, but it was the creature in the orb for whom he worried. He tried to speak but could only produce a weak moan. Maybe, though he could not express it, his mind was really broken.
When he looked up to meet the filly's gaze, to find in it confirmation that she could maybe know what he was thinking and what he needed, he saw her concern and the way she avoided his eyes.
It had happened before, another turning from those deep pools of black, for fear of what they would or wouldn't see.
Ashamin didn't let it hurt him.
He let nothing hurt him, now. Nothing but the thought of dying here, exaggerated as that may have been, and leaving this unhatched beauty alone in this long, twisted life.
[[@[Zahra]]]
Table by Jen, with help from Avis
See Ashamin's profile for more information about Lochan, Rakt, and his various items.
All magic and force allowed, barring death and permanent injury.
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