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| Vale of the White Horse | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: 5 Jan 2010, 13:03 (19,332 Views) | |
| Sonja | 3 May 2010, 22:13 Post #2161 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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Gwenllian wanted to throw her arms around him and never let go, but restrained herself and simply nodded. Yes, she knew he'd be on his way soon, and that a girl like herself couldn't possibly go with him. But the thing was... she didn't want to stop feeling the way he made her feel. 'Yes... yes, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked you that.' She bit her lip and turned around. 'Let's go back to the caer, so that you can have your rest.' |
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| Marieke | 3 May 2010, 22:19 Post #2162 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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He was sorry for the look on her face. It told him that she wished he could stay. Rhywallon had never considered staying anywhere; there was no reason to start with that now. His hand brushed hers briefly. He thought of holding it, but feared that it would breed a commitment that he’d be forced to let go. Instead he told her: ‘I’m not the only man who will ever please you, Gwenllian.’ Reaching the caer he parted in silence, leaving her for a place to sleep. She had to think about his words and he, he found, had to think about them too. |
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| Sonja | 4 May 2010, 10:26 Post #2163 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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It started raining halfway through the day. And not just a modest sort of rain, either - Essylt and Morcant were drenched to the bone within a few minutes. They found shelter in a shallow cave, which was more of a dent in overhanging rocks. Morcant built as big a fire as he could to warm and dry them and stared moodily at the rain, chafing at the delay. It continued raining throughout the evening and the night. In the morning, the shower turned into a soft, dreary drizzle. It wouldn't be nice to travel in that type of weather, but it would only get worse as autumn progressed. He dug into his bag and found an old oiled cloak, which he gave to Essylt. He'd buy another when they reached the next settlement. |
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| Marieke | 4 May 2010, 10:34 Post #2164 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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The cloak was a small blessing, but by now she already doubted that she’d ever feel dry and warm again. Her clothes, through warmed by the fire, where still moist and sticking to her chilled skin. Essylt’s hair snaked around her head, dried and wet and dry again; enhancing the curls until she could barely plait them in her neck. Something slushed in the soles of her boots with every step she took. ‘I’d welcome a settlement,’ she said through lips that had turned pale from cold. ‘Even a Roman encampment, I’d take it.’ |
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| Sonja | 4 May 2010, 10:40 Post #2165 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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'Same,' he grunted. Though he definitely preferred a settlement over a Roman encampment. He led Essylt through the woods, directing their steps to the lightest patch in the sky. The only comfort he had was that this rain soaked the Romans as well. 'There should be one not far from here.' |
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| Marieke | 4 May 2010, 10:48 Post #2166 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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She pulled the cloak tighter; the drawstrings were ragged and thin, the heavy material kept sliding down her shoulders. She heard a rushing in the distance, thinking it was more rain finding its way to them on the wind. But then they drew closer and the rush changed into the roar, like from a beast with a large, otherworldly mouth wide open. The river ran wildly through the wood, not considering trees or ferns but beating against the banks as if it had a mind of vanishing it altogether, expanding into a sea. It reminded her of her own river, the one she kept inside of her and that had thrashed against the insides of her body not so many nights ago. ‘Past that river?’ she asked shrilly, raising her voice to be heard at all. |
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| Sonja | 4 May 2010, 10:50 Post #2167 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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Morcant rubbed the back of his head. Well, this certainly didn't look promising. 'We'll just follow it for the time being,' he shouted back, 'maybe there's a crossing upstream, or a bridge.' |
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| Marieke | 4 May 2010, 10:53 Post #2168 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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She’d prefer a bridge. Only half an hour upstream and the sky had begun to leak another spell of rain. Essylt rubbed the drops from her eyes with the back of her hand. ‘What if there’s not? We’ll have to wait, then?’ |
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| Sonja | 4 May 2010, 11:03 Post #2169 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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'We can't really swim across,' he answered, throwing an occasional, disgusted glance at the roaring river that had dared to impose itself between them and their goal. They walked on for the better part of an hour, but every thinning in the river that looked like it'd be crossable onder normal circumstances was definitely not crossable now. There had to be a bridge here somewhere... As it turned out, there was. Or well - it was supposed to have been a bridge at one point, but all that was left now were a few planks at both shores where the bridge had been secured: the entire middle was washed away. 'Fuck,' he growled. |
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| Marieke | 4 May 2010, 11:06 Post #2170 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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'Oh,' she breathed, staring at the damaged bridge and the coarsing stream underneath. |
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| Sonja | 4 May 2010, 11:11 Post #2171 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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Morcant scratched his sodden beard. 'Well, we gotta get to the other side some way,' he muttered. 'Let's walk back a bit, I think there was a thinning in the river narrow enough to make our own bridge.' |
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| Marieke | 4 May 2010, 11:12 Post #2172 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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She followed behind him, casting apprehensive glances into the water. The thought of crossing this made her feel sick. |
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| Sonja | 4 May 2010, 11:33 Post #2173 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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When they arrived at the spot he had indicated, Morcant slipped his bag off his shoulders and looked around for a tree thick and tall enough. Preferably one that had already fallen over, because he didn't exactly look forward to cutting a tree in this weather. Unfortunately, the only tree that looked as though it would serve the purpose he had in mind was still standing and didn't look as though it'd fall over in the near future. Morcant bit his lip and looked at Essylt. He could of course ask her help, but he didn't know if he should... Well, they had to get across somehow. 'Do you think you could freeze only the first ten inches of this tree?' he asked carefully. 'If you don't want to, that's all right. Then I'll look for another way to cut it down.' |
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| Marieke | 4 May 2010, 13:18 Post #2174 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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She looked at him. His hair fell heavily over his forehead, sticking to his skin. His whole face was dripping with rain. Essylt raised her arm; she had already seen a trace of grey and black between the dark tree branches. The owl soared down, perching just above her wrist. Again she marveled at the weightlessness of the creature, as though he was made from air and wind instead of flesh and bones. The stem of the tree was drenched with water, making the bark almost black, emitting a strong smell of wood and moss. Essylt spread her fingers against it, balancing the owl on her other arm. She’d never tried to freeze something with such accuracy. Keeping her eyes wide open and fixed on her hand, she watched as the fine tendrils of glistening frost spread out on the bark like a cobweb. |
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| Sonja | 4 May 2010, 13:25 Post #2175 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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Morcant held his breath as he watched Essylt freeze the base of the tree. He knew she had never done this before, but was sure she could and mentally urged her on. How long they sat there, he didn't know, but eventually the bottompart of the trunk was a clump of solid ice. He released his breath and put a hand on Essylt's shoulder, squeezing it lightly. 'You might want to move back a bit,' he said as he walked around the tree to decide where best to kick it. |
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| Marieke | 4 May 2010, 13:30 Post #2176 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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She did so, rubbing her hand and putting between her armpit and breast in an attempt to warm it. Her fingers were snowy white and nearly hurt from cold. The owl fluttered up to settle on her shoulder. She watched in silence as Morcant kicked the tree again and again, until she heard a low moaning and knew that it had given in to the forcers of gravity. Slowly, dignified, the stem leaned sideways until it crashed with a loud rustle of boughs and leafs over the river. Water shot up, dancing around it. |
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| Sonja | 4 May 2010, 13:33 Post #2177 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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When the tree had fallen, Morcant took his time to make sure it wasn't going to slip into the water the moment they put a foot on it. Finally satisfied, he turned to Essylt. 'I'll go first,' he said tersely, 'you follow closely. We have to move slowly, because this thing is gonna be slippery.' |
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| Marieke | 4 May 2010, 13:39 Post #2178 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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Essylt nodded stiffly. She feared the sodden trunk and branches, thinking that it was too easy to miss a step and slip down into the heaving mass of water. She wanted to tell him that he had to help her, hold her arms or hands because she’d surely lose the strength in her knees once she was on there. Carwyn, my brother, it is good that you’re not here. A river-crossing such as this would surely have been impossible with the small babe pressed against her chest, wrapped in linen. Too small to realize the danger but also too small to swim if the current swallowed him. Essylt closed her eyes. ‘Alright. Go. But if I fall, will you catch me?’ |
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| Sonja | 4 May 2010, 13:42 Post #2179 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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'Jump after you if I have to,' he told her. He put one foot on the trunk, then stopped again and rubbed his chin. 'You could try it sitting down,' he said then. 'You'll get soaked, but there's less of a chance to fall off.' |
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| Marieke | 4 May 2010, 13:47 Post #2180 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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The oiled cloak would only burden her now. Essylt took it off to wind it around her waist as a broad girdle. She pushed her shoulders down and blew out hard through her nose. The tree felt like seaweed underneath her hands as she crouched down on all fours, gingerly shifting her weight unto it. Morcant was right, it was slippery and she did feel more secure in this position. Her fingers sunk into the soggy bark. The tunic beneath her legs and knees darkened with cold water. |
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| Sonja | 4 May 2010, 13:54 Post #2181 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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He'd crossed rivers in this way more often, and he preferred the standing approach. It was slow going, carefully feeling around before comitting his foot to another step. Morcant kept his eyes fixed on the other shore, knowing that looking down at the water would only serve to make him dizzy. It seemed to take ages, but they were more than halfway now. Now and again he glanced at Essylt to see if she was still managing. It was at one of these moments that he'd half-turned his head that it happened: a strong gust of wind came out of nowhere and he lost his balance. He had time for a single swearword before he toppled off the trunk and fell into the raging waters. |
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| Marieke | 4 May 2010, 14:00 Post #2182 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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It felt like the water had rushed over her to penetrate her body and fill her lungs with nothing but airlessness. The owl flared up like a warning sign, flapping his wings in the air without being of any use. Essylt flung herself forwards on hands and knees, as best as she could, freeing her foot violently from a sticking branch. Now she reached the part where he had gone under. His head bobbed somewhere further away. She couldn’t see if he still had his eyes open. ‘Morcant? Morcant!’ |
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| Sonja | 4 May 2010, 14:10 Post #2183 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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The water was cold and before he fully realized his predicament, he'd already swallowed a couple of mouthfulls. Morcant tried to swim to the surface, but he was dragged under. It felt just like that dream... Was this the end, then? Would he drown now, leaving Essylt at the mercy of the Romans who would surely come spilling out of the forest any moment? It couldn't be! Somehow he managed to kick his way back up and take a gulp of air before the water took him again. Think, you idiot! Everytime he lashed out with his feet or arms, the pulling of the tide got stronger. How far had the current dragged him off, now? He was starting to get breathless and made one more desperate attempt to swim towards shore. But it was as if his body worked against him, his clothes dragging him downwards again. He smashed his head against a rock, the shock paralizing him for long moments. At the same time, the raging of the water seemed to lessen and he was suddenly filled with new hope. He struck out again, but just as soon as he got to the surface and gasped for breath, the tide pulled at him again. Then he realized that he shouldn't fight, but simply let himself be carried along with the water. With the thought came the action, and Morcant spread his arms and legs, closing his eyes and holding his breath for all he was worth. After what seemed like an eternity, he got caught in the roots of a tree and managed to pull himself on shore, coughing and spluttering and utterly breathless. |
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| Marieke | 4 May 2010, 14:25 Post #2184 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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Had he gone? Was he taken down by the undercurrent? Essylt thought she’d seen one flash of his body, but which way he had gone, and if he was still somewhere trying to breathe, she did not know. She plunged her arms in the stream , feeling around for anything, like a tuft of his hair, or his splayed arm. All that brushed past her hands were broken branches and cold, cold water. With fumbling hands she managed to reach the other side of the river. But this was a bad dream. He couldn’t have drowned now, so suddenly! Essylt glanced around, feeling as if she had just caught a fever. ‘Morcant!’ No answer, only the silence of the forest. She shuddered, then got up and staggered along the shoreline. Upwards. If he had gone anywhere, it must be upwards, the direction that the river was wildly running to. Just when she was about to give up and slump down to the ground, she caught something of a dark lump, propped up against a looming oak. Hardly daring to hope, she scuttled forward, squinting her eyes until she was sure that the form was human, and breathing. ‘Dear lord of oaks, you’ve saved him,’ was all she could breathe before kneeling down by his side and turning him over with his face to hers. He looked drained, almost carved out of marble and wet like a creature of the sea. If she hadn’t known better, she’d thought that this face had emerged from the otherworld. ‘You’re alright. Can you hear me?’ She patted him on a cheek. ‘Morcant?’ |
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| Sonja | 4 May 2010, 14:31 Post #2185 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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Had he been unconscious? He felt cold fingers on his cheek and for a moment he thought death had gotten him after all, but then he recognized Essylt's voice and he was sure there wasn't a sweeter sound in the word. With some effort, he pulled open his eyes and tried to sit up straight, still coughing and feeling absolutely drenched, inside and out. 'Please,...' he gasped, 'tell me we're..on the good side - of the river?' |
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| Marieke | 4 May 2010, 14:37 Post #2186 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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He was alive and conscious, though his voice sounded half-broken. ‘Yes,’ she answered, studying him from head to toe, ‘but nevermind that now.’ She pulled off the cloak from her waist and wrapped it around his shoulders. ‘You’re bleeding…your head…’ |
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| Sonja | 4 May 2010, 14:41 Post #2187 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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Oh, thank the gods. He didn't know what he would have done had he washed up on the wrong shore. Morcant tried to push the cloak back to Essylt. 'It's nothing,' he said bravely, 'had worse...' He had to protect her against the Romans. With numb fingers he fumbled in his belt for his heavy dagger, while trying to see where the soldiers would be coming from. |
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| Marieke | 4 May 2010, 14:47 Post #2188 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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‘What are you doing?’ she asked, pulling the cloak tightly shut around him. ‘Sit still for a moment. You’ve been under and I think you hit your head.’ His temple was bleeding, running a small stream down to his cheek. She batted it softly with the soaked hem of her tunic. His clothes were ragged and torn in several places. He must have hauled himself to the shore. The palms of his hands were open too, wet and red with bruises. The oak spread his broad leaves over them like a large hand with wide fingers. It was a bit of a shelter against the constant drizzle. The roots were covered with grass and the last sweet, blue forget-me-nots of the year. They had the same colour as the clothes he’d given her. |
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| Sonja | 4 May 2010, 14:52 Post #2189 |
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Red & dangerous! Rawr!
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'The Romans,' he said feverishly, pushing her hand away from him and trying to get up, 'your dream...' He fell down against the treetrunk. It felt strangely soft and comforting, almost as if the oak wanted him to stay and rest. But no, he should be protecting Essylt. |
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| Marieke | 4 May 2010, 14:54 Post #2190 |
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Lief! <3 (and powerful!)
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Her eyes followed his feverish movements, but then she understood. Essylt put her hands against his shoulders again, pressing him down softly. ‘This is nothing like that,’ she told him quietly. ‘You don’t see me flying, do you?’ |
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