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Post by Zappy on Aug 13, 2010 16:49:40 GMT -5
The man stood at the edge of the world, looking down at the blackness, visibly shuddering as he felt the cold touch of absolute darkness as he fluttered his fingers out over the edge. He cursed his luck once more, then turned on his heel, stomping away and pulling the loose cloak tighter around his neck. He swore openly with each step in the knee deep snow, the slush's cold touch seeping through his trousers. His yellow eyes darted around through the forest, searching for something, any sign of life besides himself and the damned trees. He shivered violently, the cold getting the best of him. His gloved hands dug into the snow, looking for the ground he knew was there. After reaching the ground he stood up, snapping off a few branches of the dead trees and throwing them in the hole he had dug. He held out his hand after taking off his glove, muttering the words of command. A steady stream of fire emitted from his palm, reaching the wood and burning it. The man looked up to the sky, breathing a sigh of relief. Somehow, he'd made it through another day in this hell hole. He sat down beside the fire, warming himself.
He reached his hands up to the cowl of his cloak and pulled it back, revealing his handsome features. He brushed some of his sandy blond hair out of his eyes, and sighed, tired of being stuck here. It hadn't always been like this. He'd once been a powerful, wealthy man. People all around the land had declared him the luckiest man in the land, but lately, his luck had ran dry. He'd been stuck here, at the edge of the world for almost fifteen years now. At least, he supposed it had been fifteen years; here, at the end of the world, it was eternally night, never a cloud in the sky. Time was an illusion here, and he supposed he hadn't slept in almost a year now, the edge of the world was indeed a tiresome place. Cold and dark, the man was tired of it and wanted nothing more than to leave. But his luck had run dry. The only thing he had left at his home was an adulterous wife and a worthless son who frankly wanted nothing to do with his once powerful father. So, at the end of the world he would stay until his entire legacy had faded away from history. Here, at the edge of the world, he would not age, and could stay there for all of eternity.
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Like it? Dislike it? Reasons? ect, ect, ect.
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Post by Zappy on Aug 14, 2010 13:26:20 GMT -5
His name was Ciorve.
Ciorve jumped when the fire in front of him went out, and he groaned, fearful of the death that would certainly take him now. He looked up at the sky and opened his mouth to speak, but could say nothing. In his solitude, he had nearly forgotten how to speak, and he couldn't decide which words to call upon to curse whichever God had chosen to send him here. To end his luck, and now, most likely, his life. He groaned again, closing his eyes as he rubbed his temples. He laid down and closed his eyes, welcoming his eternal sleep.
He opened his eyes and shielded them almost instantly. The woman standing over him as he lay in the bed was blindingly beautiful, her skin slightly pale. Her hair was shoulder length and a swirling golden shade of yellow. Her eyes were the color of dark emeralds. She leaned forward and kissed him. Ciorve made no move to resist, figuring he was dead, and this was his gift. After a few minutes, she pulled away, "You cannot give up now, pet," she purred to him in a beautiful sing song voice. "You have a destiny, and it must be fulfilled."
He sat up bolt right after she had spoken, eyes snapping open as he looked around. He sighed when he realized that the woman had been part of his imagination. He was still in that cold, miserable wasteland that was the edge of the world. He looked up at the sky. And then, he screamed, all his built up frustration and rage carried with it, the sound of it racking the normal peace and quiet of the edge of the world. After a few minutes he closed his eyes and shut his mouth, though the echo of his scream would carry on for hours, days even, if nothing came forth to stop it.
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Post by Zappy on Aug 14, 2010 19:34:45 GMT -5
Ciorve's scream did last a day, it could have even been two days; he didn't know. His sigh was what broke the echo, a resigned and defeated sigh as he finally gave into the fact that the lady that had entered his dream was indeed correct; he had a destiny and it appeared that he could not outrun it or deny it. He would accept it. The echo of his scream died out as he stood to his tired feet and he began to walk, going again to the edge so he could look over it and marvel at the absolute blackness that is there once again. He trudged through the knee high snow and stomped towards the edge of the world, he looked over it, eyes glazing over as they always did when he looked over the edge, staring down at the darkness. He stood there for what seemed like an eternity, then turned and walked away, going to set up a new camp for the night. He started a fire and sat beside it, warming himself once again, his chilly body hungrily devouring the warming heat that brought life into his body once more. He realized at once how cold he truly was and looked up at the sky, "I-I'm c-cold..." He stammered to the gods, hoping they would give him some insight and restore to him some of his luck. He sighed after a few minutes, then turned his gaze to the fire, allowing it to absorb his thoughts.
Ciorve stiffened as the cloaked figure stepped out of the frozen wasteland that was the forest at the edge of the world. He looked up into the eyes that hid behind the hood and shivered as he felt the evil energy that radiated off the figure. "Ciorve, former leader of the Shadow Force, mercenaries of the northern land. Your time is up. You will now die." Ciorve's eyes widened. " C-cold..." He stammered. The figure nodded. "Yes, I suppose you are. But I do not care. You will die." Ciorve shook his head in denial and spat at the figure. The figure growled inhumanly, a gnarled hand snapping out at his throat, clutching it tightly. "YOU WILL!" He shouted as he slowly choked the life out of Ciorve, whose eyes had widened and were seeming to pop out of his skull. The figure's grip loosened as he heard the hissing that was certainly a cat. "N-no..." He stuttered, his own red eyes widening. "She would not be here." "W-who..?" Ciorve stammered out, his air line restricted and his lips blue. The figure dropped Ciorve completely, who fell to the ground unconscious, then ran. The black cat stepped out of the forest and looked at Ciorve, "Oh, pet," she muttered. "What have you done this time?" She licked his cheek and sighed. Ciorve tossed and turned as he slept the sleep being barely peaceful. The cat sighed again.
Ciorve froze as his eyes darted about the forest, having heard a noise in the distance. He stood up and headed towards the sound slowly and cautiously, assuming it was a deadly, malevolent force, as everything here seemed to be. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw it was just a cat. He jumped when the cat turned to him, it's eyes the same shade of dark, emerald green as the woman in his dreams had been. The cat motioned to him with its tail, beckoning him to follow. He sighed and blew at his bangs, his ever horrible luck only taking yet another turn for the worse as he decided he would follow the cat, and see where it wanted to lead him. The black cat took off, it's tail raised high into the air as it ran through the snowy wilderness. "W-where are w-we g-going?" He panted as he jogged after the cat, his once long and powerful strides weak and short. The cat turned its head to him and purred, "To the house, of course, pet." He jumped and stared at it with wide eyes, amazed it had spoken. He'd never heard of a cat speaking before, even though he had dabbled in the art of magic for quite a while before then. He shook his head, but nodded. Very well, he would find out what 'house' this strange new creature in his life was speaking of. He smiled thinly as he realized he was about to embark on an adventure and new life pumped through his veins and bones, willing him on after the cat that just continued to run, ducking through brush and flowers alike. Ciorve blinked when they came about the house.
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Post by Zappy on Aug 15, 2010 1:58:19 GMT -5
The house was huge and magnificent, seeming to be a mountain to the small human Ciorve. The cat in front of him continued her frantic run and Ciorve kept up with her, though barely. The cat, whom he had decided to call Emerald, due to her dark, emerald eyes turned to him and purred, something it had been doing more and more lately. Ciorve shook his head, wondering how long they had been running. Here, at the end of the world, time ran at a different pace and it could have been any amount of time, so far as he knew. He sighed but followed the cat up to the door of the house. At her instruction, he opened the door and stepped in, followed by her.
He looked around at the slightly lavish household and couldn't help but allow a slight smile to touch his lips.
The house reminded him of his old house of a few years ago, back when had been a lavish man himself.
Now, however, he was a vagrant at best, constantly moving, though staying close to the edge of the world, not wanting to die, but not wanting to go back to his old life as a disgustingly greedy merchant, who drove deals that were always in his favor, even if the one who was selling him the goods was poor and desperately in need of money.
No, in Ciorve's old life, it had been him and only him that mattered. Perhaps that was why his son had given up on him and announced himself no longer a member of Ciorve's family. Perhaps that was why his wife had slept with a different man each night as he worked his life away, adding to the growing hoard of money in his safe.
The house he now stood in, the house at the end of the world, was, Ciorve noted, warm and nicely so. He let out a happy sigh, figuring he would be allowed there for at least a few days.
The cat looked at him and purred, and Ciorve jumped, thrown out of his concentration. She smiled as only a cat could and jumped up to his shoulder, "This way, pet," she purred into his ear, nodding towards a hall. Ciorve shrugged, putting his trust into Emerald and started off down the hall.
After they had walked a few feet, she nodded to a door and he stepped in. He blinked when he turned and say that the light brown wooden door he had opened to get into the room had disappeared and in it's place there was only a stone wall. He glared at Emerald. "What have you done, demon cat?!" He snapped, seething with anger and almost shaking with rage. "Demon cat?!" She hissed at him, "Demon cat?!" She spat at him, though his glare did not diminish in least.
"I just saved your life!" She snapped with a hint of finality, and jumped off his shoulder and onto the lush bed that was near where the door had been, and covered in beautiful furs for the blanket. Ciorve sighed, rubbing his temples. He grew tired of the treatment he was receiving from the gods and Emerald's idea of 'just' must be quite different than his, as his life hadn't been in danger in almost twenty years now!
"Oh..." She muttered. "You must not remember, pet..." She looked down and her ears fell a bit, feeling bad for what she was doing to Ciorve, one of her favorite mortals. He sat down on one of the four chairs in the room, rubbing his temples, sighing. She jumped in his lap and patted his cheek with her paw, "There, there, pet. We'll get through this," she nuzzled his chest and he could say nothing, fearful of angering her and even more fearful of saying the wrong thing to the creature that would hold his life in her hands for however long she chose to keep him there.
He looked at her, "H-how long have I been o-out there...?" He muttered, pointing out the window to the cold darkness of the edge of the world.
"Oh, you won't like the answer to that one pet," she purred, nuzzling his chest again. He paled at his words.
It couldn't have been more than fifteen years, it couldn't have been possible!
"Answer the question," he said sternly, still slightly pale.
"Fifteen hundred years, pet." She replied, nuzzling him once more as he paled even more.
"I-I...there...n-no way!" He said, stuttering and breaking off as he tried to decide what to say.
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Post by Zappy on Aug 15, 2010 20:05:46 GMT -5
"There is a way, pet," Emerald said as she nuzzled against his chest. Ciorve huffed and pushed her away. She responded by batting at his head with her paw, smacking it hard then curling up on her bed, cleaning herself slowly.
Ciorve closed his eyes as he sighed, completely miserable. He laid his head in hands, sighing again as he allowed his mind to drift off to memories long untouched by the conscious part of his mind.
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"Ciorve!" The lady standing at the kitchen counter shouted, swinging at him with a wooden spoon, narrowly missing his head. The young boy grinned, showing his two missing front teeth and waved at her with the hand that still held the pastry he'd lifted off the table.
"Don't worry, Auntie! You can always make more!" He grinned again, ducking as she swung at him with the spoon yet again, and he sped off, heading to the apple tree in the front yard. He sat down and leaned against it, bringing the pastry up to his mouth and biting into it happily. He smiled as he savored the warm apple pie flavor, as delicious as his aunt's cooking had ever been. After finishing it, he licked his lips and pushed his tongue through the gap where his teeth had once been, marveling at the fact that he had truly lost the two front teeth. He shrugged and shook his head. Oh well. He was the first kid he knew of to lose his teeth in the village, and that set him aside from the rest of the children that lived there. He folded his hands over his chest and closed his eyes, drifting off to a peaceful nap.
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Ciorve lifted his head up off his hands and looked around the drab, stone room. If only he could have the apple tree at his aunt's house here. Then, life would be okay, livable, at the least. He could nap peacefully if that was case.
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