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Post by saintpumpkinmuffin on Mar 21, 2015 12:03:36 GMT -5
Of Kings and Shepherds Private RPParticipants:- ponybones | Cain | Bachelor King- saintpumpkinmuffin | Klaus | Lurker Stallion[Setting: The Fallen City, about a month after the draw between the Olde and the Bachelors]
The sun was in a state of twilight. Raphael couldn't seem to tell if it was sunrise or sunset, his feverish body squandering most of its energy on trying to stay alert. To think, the once greatly feared bachelor king had been reduced to a shadow of his former self. Now he waited for his fever to pass, praying to Horod that no grass beasts would stumble upon him in this state. In the past he'd had many healthy infantry stallions and scavengers lost in the Fallen City to the beasts. At least those horses had a herd to notice their deaths. What was to become of Raphael should a predator happen to find him? Perhaps his paranoid prophetic dream had yet to play through. There was time to die yet.
The stallion shifted to stop the numbness from creeping into his furled limbs. Like a vulture, Raphael's eyes retained their sharpness despite his agony. The room was dark and cluttered, full of old couches and tables from the humans that came before. Not that Raphael would know anything about that. Nor did he understand why the ancient construct he resided in even existed, but it wasn't like him to dwell too much on the past. It was easier to forget and numb oneself.
Oh how Raphael wished he could do that now. The large, deep, puss-filled scab across his chest ached and burned. There was no doubt that some kind of infection had set in after he'd parted ways with Asalah the brood, and Dandelion the young druggy. Perhaps he should have waited on the Southern Island to allow the wound to heal... but what was the point of waiting? To be found by his old herd? For the bear to come back? To see Leigh again after all the awful things he'd admitted to her? No, travel had been his only option. How horses survived as loners, the dark friesian would never understand. Life on Chevalin was harder than most coddled, herd horses even realized. He scoffed. So many broods wished for 'freedom'. All they would ever get from leaving the safety of the Bachelor herd was death.
The fallen leader sighed and lowered his head, simply wishing to survive. |
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Post by ponybones on May 22, 2015 20:52:08 GMT -5
Cain sharply exhaled as he put his weight down on his wounded leg, and looked down at it with his dead, pale stare. It burned incredibly badly, the feeling of bone grinding against bone within his flesh. His curled ears flashed against his skull in a moment of irritation at his own weakness, but it passed easily as most strong emotions did - staying for a moment before passing like a leaf on the autumn breeze. Even if he wanted to, he couldn't grasp at it again. Had the strange Olde 'stallion' permanently destroyed him, or had she done her best, and this was all that could be done? How long would he be able to live this way?
Cain's eyes crept up the crumbling buildings of the Fallen City as he passed them at his slow pace. There was something eerie about it, intriguing as well. Could the Bachelors use it as an outpost if there was to be another onslaught from the north? Suddenly his mind began calculating, his eyes bouncing from one place to another, and his hooves led him in. Lunar ravens cawed from above as he passed under their perch, then took flight, their silvery feathers fluttering down around him. His lip curled slightly as he crushed them underfoot. Creatures would need to be cleared of this place before it could be used for anything tactical. All he needed was to lead the herd here and something 'tragic' happening. The stallions were, for the most part, softer than the Bachelors liked to appear. Most of the mares were downright pathetic. He shook his head free of the thoughts, and continued limping through the decrepit city of old.
Day was starting to dawn on the city, the shadows long and grasping. He had time enough to inspect the structures before returning to the group, though the limp was making it quite the trial to move at all. He passed through, until something snagged on his gift - anger, frustration. Knowing that he had never had any sense for animals, it could only mean another horse was among the ruins, but where? He came to a halt and his eyes, heavily lidded, turned into mere slits as he cast his gaze around. Seeing nothing, he walked slower and more deliberately, looking in every window, until he saw the moving of a hulking black shape, betraying its breath. Cain stuck his nose through the broken window to try to get a better look, and the pungent smell of decay shot through his nose, causing him to recoil in distaste. Whoever it was was in a bad position, and his curiosity compelled him to investigate. Stepping gingerly over the threshold, his leg throbbing, Cain neared the dark form and rounded it like a circling carrion bird over a fresh corpse.
As Cain circled to the horse's other side, his expression did not betray his mild surprise. Though they surely had heard much about one another, they had never met in earnest, Cain and Klaus, but the stallion's countenance was unmistakable. His questioning eyes scanned over Klaus for the source of the terrible stench, before finding the gaping wound in the other's chest. "How the mighty have fallen." Cain said quietly, looking at him for a moment, analyzing whether he would be able to get away if Klaus' hatred overflowed and caused him to pursue in spite of his wound. |
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Post by saintpumpkinmuffin on May 23, 2015 16:31:02 GMT -5
There was the soft crunching of hooves behind him, and Klaus perked his ears. Raphael's lips twitched as he resisted the urge to snarl at the approacher. It only took one glimpse for the loner to identify his successor. Turning his neck, Raphael watched as none other than Cain himself approached, his pale form visible in the faint light.
The black stallion remained deathly silent as the bachelor king came closer. Raphael's eyes were cast in shadow as he scrunched his brows. He was waiting for Cain's move, planning this encounter as one would a chess match. Underneath his cold expression, Raphael was bubbling with nerves. The loner flattened his ears at Cain's words. "And how the weak have risen, it seems," Raphael countered.
Many times Raphael had imagined what the meeting between the current and former king would be like. He had hoped that when they did meet, it would be on Klaus' terms. Not at all like this, with Klaus too unfit to battle a dandelion, never mind another stallion. The loner stirred where he lay, shaking his head. His mind was still as dark and sharp as ever. His body was not. There was nothing quite as irritating.
"I've not completely fallen yet." The words were delivered not as a threat, but as a warning. Cain was a snake; who was to say that he wouldn't take the opportunity to strike Raphael down in his weakened state? Like any animal with their back to the wall, Raphael capable of defending himself. Maybe that would be enough to deter Cain from trying anything too rash.
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Post by ponybones on May 26, 2015 21:31:59 GMT -5
Cain felt the waves of disappointment rippling from the other stallion, however the cause of the disappointment wasn't clear. Was it Cain himself, his lithe appearance, his relatively unscarred, pale pelt? Was it the circumstances? Would the loner rather have met when it was most convenient to him, when he could rend Cain's flesh from his bones and retake his throne? The Marwari stallion stood his ground in spite of it, and chuckled faintly. "Weak in some ways, yes." Cain gave him, mild amusement on his graceful features. Cain felt the other's irritation acutely - it was a familiar emotion, one that he had grasped onto and understood intimately. Other, more consuming emotions were beyond his grasp without his Gift, especially now that it had become stronger in the face of war.
"The thought of harming you hadn't crossed my mind." Cain said honestly, staring down at him intently. "You seem to have done a job of it yourself. I could smell you from outside." Cain added, glancing away as if looking at him suddenly turned his stomach. While his eyes were still cast aside, toward the coming dawn that was delayed for the crumbling buildings' facades, he added "to kill you would be a mercy in the state you're in, don't you think?" He took a few steps closer to Klaus and sighed. "I must ask why you are here, in Bachelor territory. I had held hopes that you would stay away out of some sense of shame or continuing lapses in sanity, to be frank." Cain murmured, watching the former leader. His knee shot through with pain again and he visibly cringed, before bending it slightly, taking his weight off if it. The flesh was still open, but it was on the mend, merely unhealed on the surface now, like a large abrasion. |
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Post by saintpumpkinmuffin on May 27, 2015 10:38:57 GMT -5
Klaus frowned as the newcomer chuckled. Cain's pale eyes bore down into Raphael's own, the black stallion refusing to look away. Raphael scoffed, a perhaps a bit of dark humor in his projection, as Cain turned away. He was about to make some snide comment about how Cain would fair against a quiver bear when the ghostly figure spoke again.
"And neither of us are particularly fond of mercy, eh?" Raphael grumbled. His attention shot back, however, as Cain stepped forward and flinched. Raphael had hardly noted the large wound on Cain's forelimb, whether it was because of the poor lighting or simply his poor health. Either way it brought one of his eyebrows up. The former leader paused, glancing between the limb and Cain's face. Not one to question wounds, is he. "Sorry to disappoint," Raphael began slowly, "But to be frank my mental issues never stopped me before." A small chuckle escaped his nostrils. Sometimes Raphael wished they had.
This whole encounter was borderline dream-like. Raphael was surprised his temper wasn't flaring. But perhaps that was because he was painfully aware that he didn't have the upperhand of this encounter. Caution and honesty would have to do. Klaus really wasn't feeling the emotional capacity to do much else. "I plan on uprooting you, Cain. And now that we both have lined out where we stand..." The friesian flicked his head in the direction of Cain's forelimb, "Feel free to lay down."
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