"But the dream, the echo, slips from him as quickly as he had found it and as consciousness comes to him (a slap and not the gentle waves of oceanic tides), it dissolves entirely. His muscles relax as the cold claims him again, as the numbness sets in, and when his grey eyes open, there’s nothing but the faint after burn of a dream often trod and never remembered." --Brigade, written by Laura
It hasn't been but a year since his birth, and already he is seeing the horrors that life has to offer. As soon as the monster had revealed himself Kryten had frozen in place. Those eyes, he would never forget the grinning malis that they held. The blood of his mother dripping from the petruding thorns. The angry gashes that left the black lady lifeless. He was her replica, and thus tragedy seemed to weave itself into fates loom for his life just as it had hers.
This was his fault. If he had not come, maybe the monster would have stayed away. Silence followed the cracking thud of bone and flesh. He couldn't turn away, the boy was stuck watching as the insane creature began to mutilate her form. Blood and tissue sucking at his odd hooves. Clinging to the creature the remnents of his mother choked out a gurgling breath. Horrified the colt inched closer to her. It couldn't be real, this had to be a dream.
Coming to her side after the monster had left he nudges at what would have been her cheek. She chokes out a breath muttering what might be made out to be his fathers name. Unable to move, the lights flickering dimly searching for him, searching for the stallion that had brought her peace. This wasn't right, mother had always had that lost almost souless look about her, every so often drifting from this world, but as soon as father came around, she would light up. The shadows would lift and she would be the soft sweet creature that she was ment to be.
It only takes a moment in time, for the world to spin out of control. It only took a moment in time for Kryten to understand hatred. Setting his teeth he looks up to Demian So this is war. He doesn't ask it, he states it. He had heard whispers of this thing that was supposed to happen. But looking at his mother, this was what they were excited about? This is what they wanted? They WANTED to see his mother bleed out before him? They wanted their young to watch parents die and bloody themselves. In hopes of what? What would this gain them? What would this cruel act gain him?
He spins around leaving the corpse of his mother, she was dead, there was nothing he could do about it. There was other things he could do though. Things that later he would do. Phasing into a jaguar the little prince took off running to the valley, as dangerous as it was, as difficult as it is adrenaline allows him to keep the flickering form, every so often flickering when distractions draw his attention away from replication.
Thundering through the trees claws tear at the soft dirt, grass flies behind him, elongated teeth reveal themselves in a snarl. Green eyes dance with hatred, burning the malicious gaze into ashes. His rage blinds him. The colt races blindly back to the valley, ripping his way through the kingdom until he is in the very center. Stopping the jaguar lets out a vicious roar, hopefully Gallows and Fennick would hear him.
Exhausted the colt tumbles to his knees, sides heaving, sleek with sweat. His lungs burn aching for air, but they needed to know. The shaky pain was worth every bit. Glossy black, the colt had flickered out of existance for a moment before returning as himself. He wasn't strong enough to stand. No not this time. Fear began to clutch his heart, terror ripping through his body, icy tendrils of everything bad trickled down his spine. His adrenaline had run out, the shock morphing itself, until it manifests into something other then what it normally does.
Fennick loved his family. He loved his home. There were few things that the large black stallion could call his own. So that which he could was especially dear. He could have been a powerful man, he was a king, after all. However, Fennick never wanted to be. He wore the crown like a dubious, heavy burden. These days, with war looming on the horizon and Beqanna splitting down the middle, certain things became more dear. Hestia, his children, they were precious.
As he stared moodily off into the sunset, the black stallion let his mind wander. He was troubled, though he knew not why. Some darkness niggled at him like a worm boring into his brain. He felt his soul writhe against its container, and the horse pulled his lips back into a snarl, growing more and more doglike as he did. It was his other form now, the wolf. It was his like the others were not his. He could be a bird, but only if he saw one, he could be fire, but only if the flames were already there. The wolf was him, just like the towering black stallion was him, as the creature of stone he became each night.
When he heard the jaguar snarl Fennick recognized it as his son. He always did, somehow. He knew they could recognize him as their father too, or at least he knew Eona could. They way his oldest child would smile up at the bird in the tree and know it was him. They way she would kick at the log, knowing that was him as well. Perhaps shifting ran in their blood, it certainly ran in Kryten’s. Still, today his son didn’t bring light to his heart. The boy’s feral snarl confirmed something, it confirmed the dark that was wiggling in Fennick’s brain.
Slowly, almost reluctantly, Fennick walked to him. He could feel his boy’s rage. He could feel it rolling off him like blood, and so Fennick did just he opposite, he went cold, steeling himself for what was to come. He felt himself turn slowly to stone, though he was not asleep.
Fennick stopped near his jaguar son and tilted his head, surveying him with icy dread. Was that Kryten’s blood? His stony heart quickened. Was he hurt? Instantly, Fennick looked around for Hestia, though he knew not what he expected her to do. Finally, when she couldn't be found, Fennick turned back to Kryten. Fennick spoke in a slow, deliberate voice, as if his calm was the only thing holding the situation together.
“There’s blood on you, son.” It was a statement, but really it was a question. Fennick reached down and wiped some of the blood off his child’s body. He smelled strongly of Hestia, but of course he would, they almost always did. The whole Valley smelled of her, of them, of the herd. Now Fennick looked around for his daughter. Where was she? Where was their mother?
His green eyes blink in a daze. He could still remember the one time that their family had been completely whole. He had been snuggled up to his sister, smashed between the parents on a beautiful night. A night when all was right in the world. She had been so happy in those moments, had loved all of them so dearly. Those that had known her before, would have never recognized the cynical creature that they knew in this vibrant soft lady.
She had smiled, she had laughed, she had loved. And now he had lost. The world was loosing its sunny warmth on him. The age of realization had dawned on him. One day everyone has to grow up. It just should not have been this day for the colt. He looks up to his father. Their connection just as strong as ever.
He takes courage from the man. Gallows needs to see my memories. He looks to the stallion his jaw clenched. She went to see Demian, and I followed. His father points out the blood on his body. And he trembles in horror, had he smashed her face in? No it couldnt' be. she needed to be alive, he wanted his father to be happy. Wanted their family to be happy. They didn't need this. They needed to be together. They deserved to have a good life in their home. They should be safe.
He frowns, watching as the man cleans him up, taking comfort in the warm his father provides. He was luckier then most, his family wasn't disfunctional. His family loved him, and he loved them. They were stuck together like velcro what ever that was. You could never find one without the other. His tone is quiet almost a whisper. Could he say it?
It was going to make it all the more real. What would happen? He was afraid his father would dissapear, would they be together for always? Just like the family had always promised one another? Would father abandon them in his greif? What would this do to his happy little world? As if it isn't shattered enough. Someone murdered her. he seethes with hatred, his mouth frothing with the desire to kill the man responsible.
All of his fears dissapear in that moment, he stands to his hooves, looking his father in the eyes, Demian and I both didn't see him. I dont think Demian saw him at all. The sphyco revealed himself to me after he was done... He couldn't say the words. Smashing her face in? Mother deserved better.
Your name was hehr last breath. He hoped it would provide some comfort to his father. That even in the last moments, even as tragic as her life had been, she was still all consumed with her love for him and their family. That they had been the only thing on her mind as she passed into the afterlife. Maybe...
He remembered something of a breach being spoken of, a place where the horses could commune with the dead. Maybe he could visit her there, maybe he could see his mother once more. Maybe he could find closure to that gaping wound in his chest.
Fennick felt like the world had frozen. He blinked stupidly at his son, listening to the words that tumbled from his lips without really comprehending them or acting on them. He had listened at first, intently even. When Kryten asked for Gallows Fennick nodded and looked around. Surely, she would be here soon.
The details began to get increasingly dodgy after that. His boy’s rage felt scalding and hot. The Valley King sank a little further into himself, trying to find a place that was cool, where the truth of the situation did not exist. There was only one part of Kryten’s story that he understood, and Fennick kept hearing it over and over again.
Someone murdered her.
Fennick didn’t need to ask who “her” was. It was Hestia, he had known it, somehow, from the moment their son had come running in and she was nowhere to be found. Fennick felt himself slip into something like a stasis, he felt like he was loosing control of his form. This hadn’t happened in a long, long time. The black stallion felt his bone’s crack and twist. His teeth grew long and pointed, his hair grew course and thick. When he hoped his eyes they were yellow, canine and predatory. Through his face of mismatched teeth the Valley king growled.
“What did he look like?” The question came out as eerily calm, and was uttered in a low, predatory growl. He would find the man and he would open his throat.
Eona felt like the wind. She felt like she could fly, though her feet never left the ground. Beneath her thundering hooves hills and mountains breezed by. She knew little other than the wind in her mane and the sun at her back. She was feral, wild and free, the Valley princess.
Today, the familiar scents were on the wind. There was pine and dirt after a heavy rain. There was the earthy scent of moss and the sharp scent of water. There was the familiar, heady aroma of the wolf pack, of her father who often roamed with them.
But, there was something else as well, something sharp and bitter that clawed at Eona’s nose. Blood, it was the scent of blood and fear. Without missing a beat the lithe, carefree, reckless girl changed directions and cleanly leapt off the side of the mounting, slipping and sliding her way into the herd lands. Her dark form broke through the trees in time to see her brother collapse to his knees.
Eona’s heart was wild, quick to jump to conclusions, but even it had not been touched by the full realization of blood and fear. Whatever it was would be handled, and it would be handled before the chaos that caused it was allowed to wash over her hooves. She trusted her father to make things right, she trusted her mother to see to the mess. She had never dreamed of a world in which her brother would be on his knees, covered in blood.
Eona, the female reflection of her father and brother, danced into their midst streaked with sweat. She looked at Kryten’s face with round, fearful eyes. She kept glancing between them, her father and brother, fear turning into outraged denial.
“Father!” She screamed, her voice coming off as petulant and childish in her fear.
“Kryten, you can’t mean —“ She trailed off, her mouth opening and closing in disbeleif.
“You can’t be saying —“ Again, she trailed off, for she could not say it, would not say it. Her mother was dead.
Kryten was slowly starting to come out of the shock. Slowly starting to come to himself. As he does his father turns into the creature that he hardly ever showed the children. The side that Fennick seemed to never want to show. Now it comes out in full glory, fur changing tail growing stiff. The dull crack of bones announcing the change that was happening. Yellow flickers in his fathers eyes. His sister announces her presence. Closing his eyes Kryten looks to her.
Yes I do mean... He couldn't bring himself to say it once again. But his father askes what he looked like. Kryten has to think on this for a moment. How to describe fear? He is fear imbodied, he whispers it absently. Palomino, red eyes, splayed hooves, horns. Yea that pretty much covered that vivid moment of the smiling creature that had his mothers blood dripping from his horns. . He blinks bringing himself back to reality.
Reaching for his sister his nostrils touch her shoulder hoping to offer some solice that she still did have family left. That their mother had given them more than they could ever hope for. Well if they had known her before Fennick had entered her life. Standing he looks to his father once more. I want to help. he says it firmly. Part of him still seething with controled anger, something that he was starting to like. It felt... powerful, felt like it could fuel him to control the ability that his father had gifted him better. Felt that the adrenilane was unbarely sweet. Yes this was quite enjoyable.
It had been at the point of Hestia's murder that Demian had felt the fire stripped from him. Suddenly the world went dark entirely and a searing pain shot through his head and then throughout his body, a silent scream hiding in his throat. The only thing that seemed to pull him out of his pain was the smell of blood and the crack of bone. "Hestia?" His voice is quiet in the eerie silence that split through the forest at the moment of the sweet mares death.
Slowly he steps forward, and leaning his head down slowly he presses his nose to the mares cheek. It was then he felt the temper that lay dormant within him and with solid steps he began to make his way after Kryten and towards the Valley. It took him longer to reach the kingdom then the younger boy due to his lack of sight and when he finally approached the small group he was huffing slightly.
For a while he stood there listening to the short yet fully emotional exchanges before stepping forward silently and moving up next to Kryten, unaware of the boys changing. "Kryten," his voice his soothing yet deep, "when seeking revenge you must do so with a calm mind. If you allow your emotions to rule you, you will make mistakes and we do not want to see you harmed as well." He turns his head slowly towards where he heard Fennick's voice.
"Hello old friend," his voice is kind as it slips through his lips. "I'm sorry I could not get here sooner. I'm unable to use the fire as a guide." The fact that he could not use the cosmic fire as his own eyes was almost heartbreaking yet there was no time to process. Not when the boy he had taken under his wing was in the situation of having lost his love.
"I'm sorry I could do nothing, Fennick. I wish I had been able to. Hestia was a wonderful mare." It was a simple statement with an apology full of emotion. One that Demian would not normally feel comfortable to give. "If there's anything I can do..." Rolling his shoulders in a soft shrug he sighs softly. He knows the words are meaningless to them. Yet like most do, he feels the need to say them because to him it was all he had to offer at a time like this as unfortunate as that was.
:| doing as i was told and joining this. xD sorry for the shabby words. i promise i'll do better next time <3
