12-13-2018, 12:46 AM
The cold had settled into Nocturne’s bones, ice that sank so deep into him there was no thawing it, no melting it with warmth even as the weather turned. At least the ice stopped hurting. Somewhere along the line, the cold became a part of him instead of an enemy his body needed to fight off to stay alive. He began to understand what the fairy had meant by gifts; they had taken what caused him pain and turned it into a friend. A constant companion that didn’t fend off the lonely ache in his chest, but at least made sure it had company.
Ice formed itself into a pillow for him to rest his weary head on, wrapped him up in a blanket to tuck him in and keep him cozy, if not warm. Ice trailed after him as he wandered on restless feet, searching for...he didn’t know what. Now that the fairies’ request was fulfilled, he had nothing left to search for. No reason to be, other than the inevitable fact of his existence. His days felt oddly empty, and his nights stretched into endless oblivion cut through with fitful tossing and turning as nightmares claimed his dreams and twisted them into darkness.
And his only company was the ice the fairies had given him.
When he heard the fairies’ call again, it was almost a relief. Yes, the first had been difficult, had forced him to the edge of his endurance and beyond, but it had given him purpose, distracted him from the nightmare of his birth and how very alone he was. So he answered.
He hiked back to the Mountain on legs that were stronger now, a body that was a tiny bit bigger and a little more ready for the task at hand. He still had his thick, fluffy baby coat that glowed almost white under the light of the Cheshire cat moon, and it had grown in a little thicker in answer to the cold and the ice.
When another fairy stepped forward to give the gathered crowd instructions, Nocturne listened carefully and nodded along. They had to travel to a place called Silver Cove, walking through unsafe lands to do so, gather up stones from the Cove’s shore, and do so as quickly as possible. He could do that.
As soon as the fairy finished speaking, the ice they’d given him so recently thawed, leaving him feeling warm for the first time since. His skin prickled with it, almost uncomfortably so, and now there was no friendly growth of frost along his coat, or radiating out across the ground from his feet as he stood still. The sudden cessation was almost enough to throw him off balance, but he figured just like last time, this quest was to be done without the fairie’s gifts.
Fair enough. He turned and set out. On his way down the Mountain, he sought out Silver Cove on the horizon, doing his best to plan the fastest, easiest route there. It seemed like if he followed the border between the hilly mountain land with the giant lake and the canyons of Pangea, he’d walk a relatively straight line right to the Cove.
So he picked his way down the Mountain once again, a trek that no longer made him want to curl up and collapse in an exhausted heap and not move for a week. Still exhausting, of course, but his body knew depths of exhaustion he couldn’t have fathomed the first time he’d climbed this Mountain, and wasn’t it all relative anyhow? And when he got to the bottom, he followed the clashing lay of the land, staying just to the Hyaline side of the border. If he strayed too close to Pangea, his chest tightened and his heart started to race nervously and his ears flicked back with unaccustomed anxiety. Felt like a pretty big clue that he should Stay Away as much as possible, so Hyaline it was.
As he wandered the foothills along the edge of the land, Nocturne came across a copper and white spotted stallion curled up on a rock. The man sneezed dramatically and his body turned into that of a strange and fearsome beast, seemingly as a reflex of the sneeze itself. The creature shook his head, rubbed his face against his lizard arm, and looked around with an annoyed expression on his odd, predator face. His eyes widened, pupils dilating as he spotted Nocturne, and his large mouth gaped open, revealing a row of wickedly sharp teeth dripping saliva tinged just a little red. Possibly from the blood that dripped from his nose.
Ew.
“Well hello there,” the beast crooned , and Nocturne’s eyes widened in return, a nervous snort his only answer as his ears flicked back and he drew himself up, uncertain and ready to run.
“My name isssss End,” the monster continued, and his tone was almost friendly. But Nocturne wasn’t entirely stupid, despite his youth and inexperience. He huffed and gave the creature a wide berth and kept walking. “Wait,” the scaly lizard thing coaxed. “I won’t harm you. I need ssssome help. You sssssee, I sssseem to have come down with a nassssty case of the plague.” He broke into a coughing fit as if in punctuation to his statement, sending noxious saliva and nose blood flying Nocturne’s way.
Gross.
Nocturne shied back, avoiding the spray of bodily fluids to the best of his ability. “Rude. I wassss wondering if you could help me. I’m ssssearching for a healer, ssssomeone who could ease my sssssymptomsssss at leasssst. But I’m not feeling well enough to keep looking. I don’t ssssuppossssse you could heal me?” he asked, forked tongue flicking out with each sibilant hiss.
Nocturne shook his little head. No, in fact, he couldn’t heal anyone of anything. “Drat. Well, could you perhapsssss help me find sssssomeone who could? I promisssse I won’t eat you.” Nocturne stared for a long moment, somehow skeptical of that particular promise. Seemed like the kind of thing you shouldn’t have to say unless there was a good chance it wasn’t true. He shook his head again, ‘cause he didn’t have time to help a scary stranger who felt the need to promise not to eat him. Maybe once he’d delivered stones to the fairies, but they said it had to come first, and the scary monster didn’t look like he was close to dying. Sick, yes, but not dying. Probably.
The lizard thing growled and his eyes sharpened, and he gathered himself to charge. The only thing working in Nocturne’s favor was the fact that the monster was sick and had a hard time getting to his feet and propelling himself forward. So Nocturne took advantage of the creature’s weakness and got the hell out of there as fast as his little legs would carry him, racing away from the snarling beast and the sounds of frustration and rage escaping his terrifying mouth. Add that to the list of things that would give Nocturne nightmares.
He kept running ‘til he reached the edge of Silver Cove, turning the spike of fear and adrenaline into fuel for frantic little legs to devour the distance.
((End is my komodo dragon shifter. He appears briefly as horse and then in scary shape to help move Nocturne along and not tempt him to linger and try to help with the healing. :| I hope that's okay.))
Ice formed itself into a pillow for him to rest his weary head on, wrapped him up in a blanket to tuck him in and keep him cozy, if not warm. Ice trailed after him as he wandered on restless feet, searching for...he didn’t know what. Now that the fairies’ request was fulfilled, he had nothing left to search for. No reason to be, other than the inevitable fact of his existence. His days felt oddly empty, and his nights stretched into endless oblivion cut through with fitful tossing and turning as nightmares claimed his dreams and twisted them into darkness.
And his only company was the ice the fairies had given him.
When he heard the fairies’ call again, it was almost a relief. Yes, the first had been difficult, had forced him to the edge of his endurance and beyond, but it had given him purpose, distracted him from the nightmare of his birth and how very alone he was. So he answered.
He hiked back to the Mountain on legs that were stronger now, a body that was a tiny bit bigger and a little more ready for the task at hand. He still had his thick, fluffy baby coat that glowed almost white under the light of the Cheshire cat moon, and it had grown in a little thicker in answer to the cold and the ice.
When another fairy stepped forward to give the gathered crowd instructions, Nocturne listened carefully and nodded along. They had to travel to a place called Silver Cove, walking through unsafe lands to do so, gather up stones from the Cove’s shore, and do so as quickly as possible. He could do that.
As soon as the fairy finished speaking, the ice they’d given him so recently thawed, leaving him feeling warm for the first time since. His skin prickled with it, almost uncomfortably so, and now there was no friendly growth of frost along his coat, or radiating out across the ground from his feet as he stood still. The sudden cessation was almost enough to throw him off balance, but he figured just like last time, this quest was to be done without the fairie’s gifts.
Fair enough. He turned and set out. On his way down the Mountain, he sought out Silver Cove on the horizon, doing his best to plan the fastest, easiest route there. It seemed like if he followed the border between the hilly mountain land with the giant lake and the canyons of Pangea, he’d walk a relatively straight line right to the Cove.
So he picked his way down the Mountain once again, a trek that no longer made him want to curl up and collapse in an exhausted heap and not move for a week. Still exhausting, of course, but his body knew depths of exhaustion he couldn’t have fathomed the first time he’d climbed this Mountain, and wasn’t it all relative anyhow? And when he got to the bottom, he followed the clashing lay of the land, staying just to the Hyaline side of the border. If he strayed too close to Pangea, his chest tightened and his heart started to race nervously and his ears flicked back with unaccustomed anxiety. Felt like a pretty big clue that he should Stay Away as much as possible, so Hyaline it was.
As he wandered the foothills along the edge of the land, Nocturne came across a copper and white spotted stallion curled up on a rock. The man sneezed dramatically and his body turned into that of a strange and fearsome beast, seemingly as a reflex of the sneeze itself. The creature shook his head, rubbed his face against his lizard arm, and looked around with an annoyed expression on his odd, predator face. His eyes widened, pupils dilating as he spotted Nocturne, and his large mouth gaped open, revealing a row of wickedly sharp teeth dripping saliva tinged just a little red. Possibly from the blood that dripped from his nose.
Ew.
“Well hello there,” the beast crooned , and Nocturne’s eyes widened in return, a nervous snort his only answer as his ears flicked back and he drew himself up, uncertain and ready to run.
“My name isssss End,” the monster continued, and his tone was almost friendly. But Nocturne wasn’t entirely stupid, despite his youth and inexperience. He huffed and gave the creature a wide berth and kept walking. “Wait,” the scaly lizard thing coaxed. “I won’t harm you. I need ssssome help. You sssssee, I sssseem to have come down with a nassssty case of the plague.” He broke into a coughing fit as if in punctuation to his statement, sending noxious saliva and nose blood flying Nocturne’s way.
Gross.
Nocturne shied back, avoiding the spray of bodily fluids to the best of his ability. “Rude. I wassss wondering if you could help me. I’m ssssearching for a healer, ssssomeone who could ease my sssssymptomsssss at leasssst. But I’m not feeling well enough to keep looking. I don’t ssssuppossssse you could heal me?” he asked, forked tongue flicking out with each sibilant hiss.
Nocturne shook his little head. No, in fact, he couldn’t heal anyone of anything. “Drat. Well, could you perhapsssss help me find sssssomeone who could? I promisssse I won’t eat you.” Nocturne stared for a long moment, somehow skeptical of that particular promise. Seemed like the kind of thing you shouldn’t have to say unless there was a good chance it wasn’t true. He shook his head again, ‘cause he didn’t have time to help a scary stranger who felt the need to promise not to eat him. Maybe once he’d delivered stones to the fairies, but they said it had to come first, and the scary monster didn’t look like he was close to dying. Sick, yes, but not dying. Probably.
The lizard thing growled and his eyes sharpened, and he gathered himself to charge. The only thing working in Nocturne’s favor was the fact that the monster was sick and had a hard time getting to his feet and propelling himself forward. So Nocturne took advantage of the creature’s weakness and got the hell out of there as fast as his little legs would carry him, racing away from the snarling beast and the sounds of frustration and rage escaping his terrifying mouth. Add that to the list of things that would give Nocturne nightmares.
He kept running ‘til he reached the edge of Silver Cove, turning the spike of fear and adrenaline into fuel for frantic little legs to devour the distance.
((End is my komodo dragon shifter. He appears briefly as horse and then in scary shape to help move Nocturne along and not tempt him to linger and try to help with the healing. :| I hope that's okay.))